The main manner in which English creates new words is through compounding, or joining two words together to create a new word. Historically, the intervening process of compounding can be seen with the hyphenation of words (white-out)--often with hyphenated word groups having more than two words together (seven-year-old; ten-o'clock). Affixation of standard prefixes and suffixes is a variant of compounding. Affixes do not carry independent meaning, and therefore they are not complete morphemes. Affixation is the second manner in which English creates new words. English creates new words in other ways, as well, primarily through borrowing, through shortening or clipping (advertisement--ad; gymnasium--gym), onomatopoeia (ouch!, Oh!, yelp!), Portmanteau's, or blending of words (hi-fi--High Fidelity), and through changing the syntagmatic or expected grammatical category of a word (to catch [a baseball]--to play "catch" [with a baseball].

Compounds can join a noun to a noun, an adjective to a noun, a verb to a noun or noun to a verb, or an adjective to a verb. Sometimes a preposition is used in conjunction with a noun or a verb and more rarely an adjective to a preposition .(Blackout)

Oftentimes, the meaning of the new word created by compounding has no direct relation to the meaning of the basic words compounded. It can be a challenge to students to guess the meaning of the new words based on the roots that compose it.

Most of the time, the base words of compounds are monosyllabic, though not always.

 barefoot

bareback

blackbird

blueprint

greenback

goldenrod

goldfish

loudspeaker

redwood

sweetheart

sourpuss

shortstop

broadcast

hardpeddle

softpeddle

washcloth

watchman

flashcube

flashlight

runway

driveway

playpen

bedspread

frostbite

snowfall

waterfall

wiretap

airline

anchorman

applesauce

bloodhound

buttermilk

clothesline

cupcake

downdraft

downside

outside

inside

upside

outlaw

underpass

overpass

infield

outfield

underfoot

overhead

outback

backyard

outfit

uproot

overlook

overwhelm

overrate

outbound

underrate

uplift

ripoff

carryon

hoedown

onto

upon

another

everybody

anybody

someone

anyone

In these few examples, it must be noted first that the most common and prototypical form of compound in English is a simple one syllable noun with a one syllable noun. The variation of syntactical categories that can be found in compounding demonstrates the flexibility of the system of compounding in creating new words in English. Note also that in compounds, the exact syntactical category of the base words are not always clear cut--base words may function either as a noun or a verb. For instance, we may overrate something, but we are not sure if it means to "rate" a thing, or to give a "rate" about that thing. Ultimately, in compounds, the exact syntactic identity of the base words are frequently obscured, if not completely lost.

In general, the syntactical form of the final base determines the syntactical form of the compound, though not always. Usually, compounds ending or beginning with a noun base remain a noun, except sometimes the are used as verbs when the final base is a verb.

Because new words are part of the change process in language, they often defy conventional or standard forms of received usage in a language, and are also stylistically part of the vernacular or slang in everyday speech. Journalism is a wonderful medium for coining new words in English by compounding or shortening old words or changing their grammatical usage. This makes the meaning of many compounds not obvious to the foreign speaker, and therefore presents a great challenge for the speaker in word attack to understand the connotative implications within the context of a new words usage.