What are the main processes of English word formation

What are the main processes of English word-formation? 一．There exist in every language rules which relate to the formation of new words, morphological rules, which determine how words are formed. The study of the morphological rules, which are used in the processes of word-formation, is morphology. So it’s necessary for us to know English morphology so that we can know more about the processes of word-formation.
二．There are three main processes of English word-formation.
1. Derivation
Derivation is the morphological process whereby a derivation morpheme is attached to a root or stem. This process is also known as affixation, by which new words are derived from old ones. In English derivation morphemes are mainly prefixes and suffixes. Prefixation is the way of putting a prefix in front of the base of a word, sometimes with, but more usually without, a change of word class (e.g. pre + determine –predetermine), while suffixation puts a suffix after the base of a word, sometimes without, but more usually with, a change of word class (e.g. friend + ship – friendship).
*But we must pay more attention to the different types of prefixes and suffixes in English.
2. Conversion
Lexical items in English are very often created not by affixation but by
conversion or zero derivation, without any affixes being attached to the root or stem. Conversion involves a change in the word class of a word. The word-form remains the same, but it realizes a different lexical item. Some words may be both nouns and verbs. Words such as conflict, object, subject, can be distinguished as noun or verb by their stress patterns.
e.g.: `conflict (noun) con`flict (verb)
`Object (noun) ob`ject (verb)
`Subject (noun) sub`ject (verb)
Conversion in English is a fairly productive process. Conversion is not restricted to nouns and verbs. Adjectives too can undergo conversion. Conversion from adjectives to nouns is very common in English.
e.g.: The Green (adjective)Party had political clout in the 1980s.
The Greens (noun) had political clout in the 1980s.
* At the same time, we also should pay attention to the different types of conversion.
3. Compounding
While affixation involves the addition of a bound morpheme to a root morpheme, compounding is concerned with the combination of two or more words to form a new word – a compound word or a compound. It is something like adding one base to another, such that usually the one place in front in some sense subcategorizes the one that follows (e.g. download,
heavyweight).
3.1. Characteristics of compounds
○1. Compounds can be distinguished from grammatical structures.
○2. Compounds words have their own ways of spelling and stress patterns.
○3. The meaning of compound words cannot be taken for granted.
3.2. Classification of compounds
1. Noun compounds
(1). Subject + verb (2). Verb + object
(3). Verb + adverbial (4). Subject + object
(5). Restrictive relation (6). Appositive relation
2. Adjective compounds
(1). Subject + verb (2). Verb + object
(3). Verb + adverbial (4). Noun adverbial + adjective (5). Coordinating + relation
3. Verb compounds
(1). By back-formation (2). By conversion
Compounding is a useful way of condensing information and adds a variation to the way we refer to concepts in discourse. Therefore, compounding is an important type of word formation.
Abbreviation, back-formation, onomatopoeia and reduplication are some other minor processes of English word-formation.。