The word-formation tag has no wiki summary.
33
votes
2answers
1k views
Origin of “-ing”
What is the origin of the suffix -ing used to form gerunds and present participles?
Why is the suffix the same in both cases?
16
votes
4answers
2k views
A murder of crows?
I love the subset of collective nouns known as the terms of venery. These are collective nouns specific to a particular group of animals. Some of the more inventive examples are: a murder of crows, a ...
13
votes
4answers
351 views
The use of “trespasses”
According to a dictionary search for "trespasses":
v. Enter the owner's land or property without permission
n. A voluntary wrongful act against the person or property of another, esp. unlawful entry ...
12
votes
5answers
968 views
How do you form the 'north' and 'south' versions of 'occident' and 'orient'?
How does one correctly form the "north" and "south" forms for which occident and orient are "west" and "east"?
I found boreal and austral, but those look like adjectives and I'm after the nouns.
...
11
votes
2answers
4k views
Word formation with the nominal suffix -tion: when and why do we insert an “a”?
Recently, a colleague became flustered when she used orientate instead of orient. She says she frequently makes this sort of "back formation error" because of the nominal form, which is orientation. ...
9
votes
2answers
216 views
Is there a rule for when contractions are not possible? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is there some rule against ending a sentence with the contraction “it's”?
In conversing with non-native English speakers online, I saw someone type:
...
8
votes
2answers
176 views
Is 'worse' the only comparative that has neither -er nor more?
There was a question recently about comparatives and it got me thinking about how comparatives are formed.
There are those that take -er and those that use more to indicate comparison, but is worse ...
6
votes
1answer
2k views
Why is it “grandfather”, but “great-uncle”?
I know that there are six forms of this word, but "great-uncle" is most common ("great-aunt" has a similar graph). Why is this, if "grandfather" and "grandmother" are common?
6
votes
2answers
351 views
Are the words “sillily”, “uglily”, “friendlily”, “livelily”, etc., valid English?
I have wondered about how to make the words silly, ugly, friendly, lively, etc. into adverbs, so I researched in the Internet. I found many different answers, so I tried checking Oxford Dictionaries.
...
5
votes
3answers
262 views
What's the adjective form of “data”/“datum”?
"Informative" is the adjective form of "information". What's the adjective form of "data"/"datum"?
5
votes
1answer
251 views
Why “USSR” but not “UCSR”?
USSR stands for Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The adjective "Soviet" is formed from the noun "Soviet" which in Russian means "Council". (That was roughly the idea behind the revolution and USSR ...
5
votes
1answer
238 views
How do I present a word ending in “‑f ” that may be plural or singular?
When we don’t know if a word refers to one or more, it is common to use a parenthetical s:
door/doors: door(s)
lamp/lamps: lamp(s)
What’s the best or least awkward way to render this for words ...
3
votes
2answers
131 views
What is the adjective form of “black humo(u)r”?
If one were to describe a statement by referring to "black humour", how should he/she go about forming the adjectival form of the term?
"blackly humourous"
or
"black humourous"
3
votes
1answer
296 views
“Mutexes” or “mutices”? [closed]
When we create new words ending in -ex (mutex being short for mutual exclusion), should we (may we?) use the Latin plural form because the suffix is similar to the latin suffix -ex?
(Personally I've ...
3
votes
2answers
383 views
Is it proper to use ordinal suffixes on fractions?
I know in more formal writing, spelling out fractions is preferred (e.g. two-thirds), and in math no suffix is used, but I frequently see ordinal suffixes being used on fractions (e.g. 2/3rds), even ...
2
votes
2answers
413 views
Why don’t other pronouns get to albe-themselves, à la albeit’s “it”?
YES:
"Euthanizing this particular kitten was a traumatic, albeit humane necessity."
NO:
"The geese, having pooped everywhere, made for hideous pets, albethem delicious as an entree."
NO:
"Most of the ...
2
votes
6answers
482 views
Email Capitalization: “Hi Michael, please bring…” or “Hi Michael, Please bring…”
In an email, if I don't put a new line after the heading, how am I supposed to capitalize the next word?
With a new line, it's straightforward:
Hi Michael,
Please bring the books.
But ...
2
votes
3answers
649 views
Beneficiaries of an action ending with the “-ee” suffix
To refer to the beneficiary or patient of an action, sometimes one can form a word using the verb and the -ee suffix, e.g.
assign → assignee
employ → employee
refuge → refugee
On the other hand, ...
2
votes
4answers
2k views
How are diminutives formed in recent English words?
A large variety of suffixes were used to form diminutives in English. The Wikipedia page on diminutives shows these:
* -k/-ock/-uck: balk, bollock, bullock, buttock, fetlock, folk, hark, hillock, ...
2
votes
2answers
609 views
Mixing adjectives and nouns in scientific writing
I've noticed that biological scientists tend to use nouns as adjectives when detailing experiments both in writing and in speech.
Examples:
The experiment was performed "in monkey cortex" instead ...
1
vote
2answers
161 views
The relation between “temporal” and “time”
The word "temporal" is the XXX form of the word "time". What is XXX?
I can't find the answer anywhere, I don't even know where to look.
1
vote
1answer
225 views
plural of compound nouns [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the plural form of “iPad 2”?
When can an adjective be postposed?
I'm curious particularly with iPod Touch and iPad Mini
The plural would be iPod Touches and ...
0
votes
2answers
219 views
What is the act of self-referencing?
Ok, so something can be self-referencing.
"This sentence contains thirty-eight letters."
or
"This is not a pipe."
But what is "doing that" called?
Along the lines of how self-deprecating is ...
0
votes
1answer
43 views
What's the meaning of “what am I to do” [closed]
Is "what am I to do" be commonly used in daily lives?
Also what do following sentences imply?
What should I do the next?
What am I to do the next?
Please.
0
votes
0answers
29 views
How do I read this format of poem the way the author intended? [closed]
us+shake+the+rattle+to+call+back%22&source=bl&ots=knd6A5_8Bm&sig=dubeTQtHEPk7vc3Ut0byZJbiZ78&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Z5aaUZGgGeSqyAHBwoHwCQ&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=true
...
-1
votes
0answers
296 views
What is the English word for the Hindi word 'Jugaad' which means attaining a result in a crude/easy way? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is there a single noun in English for “jerry-rigged”?
Jugaad in Hindi refers to an object that has been produced/modified in a crude/primitive way. I do not know its ...
