Albert-Ludwigs-Universität

Englisches Seminar

Contrastive Linguistics

WS 2008/2009

Word formation processes in English and German ­ a survey

Vorgelegt von:

Sonja Kaupp

Table of contents

1.

Introduction

p.

3

2.

Contrasts

in

the

lexicon

p.

3

3.

The

components

of

words p.

5

4.

Compounding

p.

6

5.

Derivational

suffixation

p.

9

6.

Conversion

p.

10

7.

"Denglisch" word formation in German

p. 11

8.

Conclusion

p. 12

9.

Bibliography p.

13

2

1) Introduction

When German native speakers converse with English native speakers, they are often

astonished how easily and spontaneously new words can be created in English. At the

same time, English speakers are astonished by the number of lengthy compounds the

German use in written language. But still, most word formation processes are very

similar in both languages - both English and German even share some affixes, for

example

be-

in

be-friend

or

be-zahlen

or ­er in

sing-er

or

Säng-er

.

I want to investigate the differences and similarities concerning the major word

formation processes in English and German (compounding, derivational suffixation and

conversion). Firstly, I will provide an appropriate background by looking at contrasts in

the lexicon and will also touch on some diachronic explanations. Then I will explain the

different units of words.

Ultimately, I want to get an insight into a very recent phenomenon, namely the adding

of German affixes to English words in German word formation - the so-called

`Denglisch′.

2) Contrasts in the lexicon

Before I explore the similarities and differences in word formation processes between

the two languages, I want to provide some background information by giving a general

overview of the contrasts in the lexicon and the connection between word formation and

the lexicon.

First, we must be aware of the fact, that words play an active role in the shaping of

items in our imagination. This means, that if a word does not exist in a language, it is

hard to grasp the meaning of it.

(1)

Dunst, Nebel

(2)

haze, mist, fog

We can translate

haze

with `Dunst′ and

fog

with `Nebel′, but it is hard to find an

appropriate translation for

mist

(Mair 1995: 25). It is important to know that there are

limits to the transfer of meaning from one language into another.

3