Building Vocabulary Through Word-Formation Processes

Vocabulary means the words that a language user knows and uses conveniently. Broadly speaking, every individual embodies active vocabulary (words that s/he deploys) and passive vocabulary (words that s/he comprehends but does not use).

Given that words are the building blocks of sentences, every language user, who aims at reaching an impeccable height of linguistic competence, must strive to improve his or her vocabulary. Words are the clothes of thoughts. A thought that is not appropriately worded can be compared to a person who is shabbily dressed.

Consequentially, this treatise will shed light on how a person can substantially upscale his or her vocabulary, and also successfully demystify difficult words through the knowledge of word-formation processes.

For starters, the simplest—yet effective—word-formation process to vary and widen one’s vocabulary is conversion. Conversion is the use of a word in different classes. Such grammatical dexterity enables one to do so much with very few words. The sentences below will exemplify this process by using two words, ‘round’ and ‘like’, as five different word classes.

Building Vocabulary Through Word-Formation Processes

This round (a noun) is over.
I can round (a verb) the corner at high speed.
Have you seen a round (an adjective) chair?
The idea has been going round and round (an adverb) in my head all day.
You are not the first man to sail round (a preposition) the world.
Michael Jackson was a great singer; we can’t have his like (a noun) again.
I like (a verb) her so much.
I responded in like (an adjective) manner.
He talks like (an adverb) his mother.
I felt like (conjunction) I had been kicked by a camel.

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The use of both words in the sentences above shows that the knowledge of how different words behave in contexts can enable speakers of a language to deploy words skillfully. It is, therefore, not enough to presume that a word belongs to a particular word class. One has to be open to the possibility that words can function as different word classes in different structures. For instance, the word, house, is primarily a noun. However, the same word is a verb in the sentence, ‘I house my friends’. What is more, it is an adjective in the statement, ‘The house band did not perform last night’. Hence, conversion should be judiciously utilised in writing and conversations.

Another surefire method of appreciably upgrading one’s vocabulary is the ability to rigorously acquaint oneself with affixes. In the English language, affixes are categorised into prefixes and suffixes. On the one hand, prefixes are groups of letters that are attached to the beginning of base/root words, with a view to changing the meanings of such base/root words. Textbook examples are: dis- (disappear), en- (entangle), ex- (ex-governor), extra- (extracurricular), auto- (autobiography), circum- (circumnavigate), co- (co-author), mono- (monocotyledon), il- (illegal), im- (immoral), intra- (intravenous), non- (non-fiction), Omni- (omnipresent) and post- (postscript), among others.

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On the other hand, Suffixes are groups of letters fastened to the end of base/root words to change the latter’s meanings. These include, but are not limited to: -dom (Christendom), -er (teacher), -ness (appropriateness), -sion (comprehension), -tion (communication), -able (applicable), -ish (snobbish), -less (timeless), -y (hasty), -ise (emphasise) and so forth. Further to this, some words can accept prefixes and suffixes concurrently. Class examples are ‘appropriate’ and ‘establish’, from which ‘misappropriation (mis; tion)’ and ‘disestablishment (dis; ment)’ can be derived. By extension, the meaning of a word can be deciphered by virtue of the affix(es) attached. For context, misappropriation can be disaggregated as ‘mis (poorly/wrongly)’, ‘appropriate (give/take something for a specific purpose)’ and ‘tion (the action/state of)’. Thus, misappropriation is the act of taking something that belongs to others, so as to serve your self-interest or personal aggrandisement.

Mark you, some suffixes are characterised by orthographic distinctions in British English and American English. For instance, in British English, we have ‘theorise (-ise)’, while ‘theorize (-ize)’ is obtainable in American English.

Last but not least, aside from looking up the meaning of an unfamiliar word and ascertaining its word class, I am wont to advise English language enthusiasts to keep a lookout for word families. For perspective, ‘stun (a verb)’, ‘stunned/stunning (adjectives)’, ‘stunningly (an adverb)’, and ‘stunner (a noun)’ are word families. In a similar vein, the undermentioned word families are permissible.
I was stupefied (a verb) by his gross misconduct.
We watched the unfolding development in utter stupefaction (a noun).
Simon’s decisions were absolutely stupefying (an adjective).
The birthday party was stupefyingly (an adverb) boring.

This treatise has discussed some of the ways words are formed in English and how such knowledge can help widen our vocabulary. Ultimately, the general reader should note that the dictionary must always be consulted with regard to the appropriateness of words and their uses.

© Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)
Department of English,
Lagos State University