Neoclassical Word Formation

This is a survey article on neoclassical word formation, which is the creation of new lexemes withAncient Greek or Latin elements. Neoclassical word formation does not only combine formatives ofclassical origin (e.g. hydrophobic) but may also involve native words (e.g. hydrofoil, webology).Despite being borrowings from the classical languages, neoclassical formatives (e.g. hydr-, -(o)logy,etc.) are productively deployed across modern European languages for the formation of new words,returning a shared vocabulary stock composed of so-called ‘internationalisms’. They typically occurin technical and scientific registers, but many are words of common use (e.g. homicide, thermometer,telephone, philosophy, etc.). Since it combines stems with a lexemic value, neoclassical wordformation is usually identified as a type of compounding, with exogenous properties that may differradically from native compounds. Moreover, several other phenomena like shortening, clipping,blends and forms of derivation are attested in languages, like English, where neoclassical wordformation is productive.The article is organized as follows: after the introduction, section 2 illustrates some historical facts ofneoclassical lexemes, showing how borrowings from the classical languages have evolved intocreative patterns across European languages; section 3 overviews the heated debate that neoclassicalformatives have provoked, especially because of their mixed properties and the heterogenouscharacter of the class; section 4 delves into word-formation phenomena characterized as neoclassical,ranging from compounding to derivation, including shortening, clipping and secretion; section 5 dealswith theoretical issues of productivity and language-specific morphological trends in the domain ofneoclassical word formation; section 6 summarizes and discusses relevant theoretical threadsrevolving around the notion of prototype, and the usefulness of prototype theory in neoclassical word formation.