Word Formation Questions Medium
Affixation and compounding are two different processes in word formation that involve combining different linguistic elements to create new words. The main difference between affixation and compounding lies in the way these elements are combined.
Affixation refers to the process of adding affixes, which are bound morphemes, to a base word to create a new word. Affixes can be either prefixes (added at the beginning of a word), suffixes (added at the end of a word), or infixes (added within a word). For example, in the word "unhappiness," the prefix "un-" is added to the base word "happiness" to create a new word with a different meaning.
On the other hand, compounding involves combining two or more independent words, also known as free morphemes, to create a new word. These words can be either nouns, verbs, adjectives, or adverbs. For example, in the word "blackboard," the words "black" and "board" are combined to create a new word that refers to a specific type of board.
In summary, the main difference between affixation and compounding is that affixation involves adding bound morphemes to a base word, while compounding involves combining independent words to create a new word.