Invented-Words

1InventedWordsNewwordsappearinEnglisheveryday.Doyouknowhowthesewordsareborn?ReadthefollowingpassagetofindvariouswaysEnglishwordsareinvented.ScholarsguessthatEnglishhasabout600000words,butthereareprobablymore.Newwordscontinuetocomeintothelanguageatsucharatethatnodictionarycouldpossiblykeepupwiththem.TheoldwordswhichwereborncenturiesagointheAnglo-Saxon,GermanicandFrenchlanguagesmakeupfourfifthsoftheEnglishlanguage.Theotheronefifthismadeuppartlyofborrowedwordsandpartlyofthreeotherkindsofwords:wordsfromthenamesofpeoplesandplaces;imitativewords;andinventedwords.Ampere,voltandwattareallunitsofelectricity,andtheyarenamedforthemenwhodiscoveredthem;AndreM.Ampere,aFrenchphysicist;AlessandroVolta,anItalianphysicist;andJamesWatt,aScottishengineerandinventor.Nowadayswealldrinkpasteurizedmilk,thatis,milkwhichiscleanandpurified.PasteurizedgetsitsnamefromLouisPasteur,aFrenchdoctorwhoinventedtheprocessforpurifyingmilk.TherearemanywordslikethisintheEnglishlanguage.Imitativewordsarewordsthatsoundlikethethingoractiontheystandfor.Herearesomeexamples:buzzclickbangmumblechirpbawlcrashclapmuttergigglehumgulpThereisnoneedtosayanythingelseaboutthesewords,fortheyspeakforthemselves.Youcanprobablythinkofmanymore.Thentherearetheinventedwords.English-speakingpeoplehavealwaysmadeupwordsasitsuitedthem,andtheycontinuetodosoeveryday.Onekindofinventedwordisonewhichismadeupoftwootherwords.Dictionariescallthiskindofwordacompound.Ifyouputplayandthingtogether,yougetthecompound,plaything.Howmanycanyouaddtothislist?2raincoatmilkshakeupstairsstandstillheadlightshutoutsailboatdownstairsincomeheadlineAswellasputtingtwowholewordstogether,wealsoaddpartsofwordscalledprefixesandsuffixestothewholewords.MostprefixesandsuffixescomefromLatinorGreek,andeachhasaspecialmeaningofitsown.Whenweaddaprefixbeforeawordorasuffixattheendofit,wechangeitsmeaning.Forexample,theprefixre-meansagain.Ifweaddre-todoorpaint,wegettwonewwordsmeaningdoagainandpaintagain.Un-meanstheoppositeofornot.Byaddingun-tohappyorkind,wegetunhappyorunkind,meaningnothappyandnotkind.Thesuffix-nessmeanstheconditionof.Happinessandkindnessaretheconditionsofbeinghappyandkind.Itiseasytoseethemeaningsofunhappinessandunkindness.Thewordtowhichweattachtheprefixesandsuffixesiscalledtherootword.Inawordlikeunkindnesstherootwordiskind.Somewords,likeastronaut,aremadeupentirelyofGreekorLatinprefixesandsuffixes.Astro-isaGreekprefixmeaninghavingtodowiththestars;naut-meanshavingtodowithsailing.So,anastronautisastar-sailor.Otherwordscanberootwords,prefixesorsuffixes,dependingonwheretheycomeintheword.Remember,theprefixcomesfirst,therootwordsecond,andthesuffixlast.Asanexample,let'stakethewordgraphandbuildseveraldifferentinventedwordswithitbyaddingprefixesandsuffixestoitorusingitasaprefixorsuffix.Graphbyitselfmeansanythingwhichisshowntousinpicturesorwriting.Forinstance,yourteachermightwanttokeeptrackofyourreadingprogressbydrawingagraphofyourreadingtestscores,orabusinessmanmightdrawgraphswhichshowtheupsanddownsofhiscompany'ssalesrecords.Now,byaddingtheprefixesandsuffixeslistedbelowtograph,wecanmakeseveralnewwords.Noticethatgraphispartofalongersuffixaswellasasuffixbyitself.PrefixesSuffixesauto-self-graphystudyof;artof3bio-life-graphsomethingwrittenphono-sound-icsimilarto;likephoto-light-ologystudyoftele-distant-phonesoundHerearesomewordsmadewithgraph.autograph－signature;aperson'snamewritteninhisorherhandwritingbiography－storyofaperson'slifeautobiography－studyofaperson'slifewrittenbyhimselforherselfgraphology－studyofhandwritingtelegraph－distantwritingphonograph－writingorapictureinsoundphotograph－writingorapictureinlightphotography－artoftakingpicturesgraphic－clearlywrittenordrawnYoumayhavenoticedthatyoucanmakeevenotherwordsusingsomeoftheseprefixesandsuffixeswithoutgraph.Biologyisthestudyoflife.Whatdoyouthinkisthemeaningofbiologic?Iftheprefixanti-meansagainst,whatdoesantibioticreallymean?TherearehundredsofLatinandGreekprefixesintheEnglishlanguage,andthepossibilitiesforinventingnewwordsareendless.Everyday,aswemakenewdiscoveriesinscienceandtechnology,weinventnewwordstodescribethem.ManyofthesenewwordsarecombinationsofrootwordsandprefixesandsuffixeswhichhavealreadyexistedinEnglishforcenturies.Anotherkindofinventedwordisthenonsenseword.Somenonsensewordsareusedforawhilebyonlyafewpeopleandthendisappearcompletelyfromthelanguage,nevertobeusedagain.Others,whentheybecomepopularenoughandareusedoveraperiodoftime,becomeapermanentpartofthelanguage.Ifenoughpeopledecideandagreeonthemeaningofaninventedword,itishereto4stay.Someexamplesofeverydaymodernwordswhichprobablybeganasnonsensewordscenturiesagoare:bad,big,lad,lass,chat,jobandfun.Linguistsguessthatthesearenonsensewordsbecausetheyhavenotbeenabletotracethembacktoanyoftheancestorlanguages.Justwhoinventedthem,andwhenorwhereremainsapuzzle.Puzzleitselfisoneofthesemysterywords.Nooneknowswhereitcamefrom.LewisCarroll,authorofAliceinWonderlandandThroughtheLookingGlass,wasagreatinventorofnonsensewords.Asamatteroffact,hecreatedawholelanguageofnonsense.MostofCarroll'snonsensewordsarenotusedinEnglish,e