Editing English language (section)

=== Word formation processes ===
English forms new words from existing words or roots in its vocabulary through a variety of processes. One of the most productive processes in English is conversion,{{sfn|Crystal|2003b|p=129}} using a word with a different grammatical role, for example using a noun as a verb or a verb as a noun. Another productive word-formation process is nominal compounding,{{sfn|Algeo|1999}}{{sfn|Kastovsky|2006}} producing compound words such as ''babysitter'' or ''ice cream'' or ''homesick''.{{sfn|Crystal|2003b|p=129}} A process more common in Old English than in Modern English, but still productive in Modern English, is the use of derivational suffixes (''-hood'', ''-ness'', ''-ing'', ''-ility'') to derive new words from existing words (especially those of Germanic origin) or stems (especially for words of [[List of Latin words with English derivatives|Latin]] or [[English words of Greek origin|Greek origin]]).

Formation of new words, called [[neologisms]], based on [[List of Greek and Latin roots in English|Greek and/or Latin roots]] (for example ''television'' or ''optometry'') is a highly productive process in English and in most modern European languages, so much so that it is often difficult to determine in which language a neologism originated. For this reason, lexicographer Philip Gove attributed many such words to the "[[international scientific vocabulary]]" (ISV) when compiling ''[[Webster's Third New International Dictionary]]'' (1961). Another active word-formation process in English are [[acronym]]s,{{sfn|Crystal|2003b|pp=120–121}} words formed by pronouncing as a single word abbreviations of longer phrases, e.g. ''[[NATO]]'', ''[[laser]]'').