Although stipulating what category a particular phenomenon illustrates rather than presenting arguments for the conclusion does not seem like a good way to carry out science, stipulation is frequent in linguistics, not only for categories like inflection, derivation and compound, but also notably for word-classes.

This chapter provides an introduction to the book, defining the topic to be discussed, and looking at alternative ways of approaching it.

While borrowing from most languages does not affect the structure of English word-formation, the number of Greek and Latin loans and new words based on them is so overwhelming that new types of word-formation are created. Because loans and English (or other European) uses of the patterns do not always provide the same outputs, and because classical elements can be added to English elements, the neoclassical formations are difficult to describe.

Although many new words occur in texts without attracting comment, there is evidence that people are aware of novelty in word-formation, and thus recognize new coinages

This chapter raises the question of why we need to study word-formation as well as other linguistic structures, why word-formation is different and what makes word-formation different.

Some words which might seem to be possible words are not used, because sometimes such words never become part of the norm. On the other hand, some words which do not appear to be possible words are used. Just how a possible word is to be defined is not clear, but the norm does appear to be a factor affecting the productivity of morphological processes.

While discussions of English tend to treat examples like pre- and post-war as a matter of coordination, German studies of parallel examples tend to treat them as matters of deletion under identity. The two different approaches give rise to different insights, though neither is perfect. The relevant constructions involve both derivatives and compounds, but constraints are hard to pin down.

In this chapter some of the problems facing the scholar of word-formation are considered, including the nature of the word, the boundaries of word-formation, the question of productivity and problems with determining the nature of evidence for it, whether word-formation is defined by rules, some proposed constraints on word-formation and whether word-formation is part of morphology.

Canonical form is no longer discussed much, but has implications for the distinction between inflection and derivation, for helping us recognize a morphologically complex word and for helping us define a prototypical word in English.

A word like tenderfoot has two possible plural forms: tenderfoots and tenderfeet. Why is a regular plural allowed in this word, and what factors license such unexpected regularity? Various factors are considered here, one of which has previously been ignored, and the fact that usage is divided and apparently unpredictable is discussed.

The use of the term ‘head’ in morphology is inherited from syntax, where it has long been used rather differently. When we try to apply the notion in morphology, we find many problems in attempting to find a coherent way of applying it, despite the fact that the right-hand head rule is often thought to give clear answers in English and other Germanic languages.

The general idea that newly coined words should not be synonymous with already established words, through a well-established principle called ‘blocking’, does not always accord with the data. Some instances of systematic competition, for example, seem to allow for synonymous coinages.

Five examples which appear to show morphophonemic alternations are considered, but none of them is straightforward. In some cases, the application of the apparently morphophonemic rule is not regular, in others the alternations turn out to be orthographic rather than phonological.

Some instances of word-formation are subject to orthographic constraints as well as more obviously linguistic ones. Various types are illustrated. This overlooked aspect of word-formation plays an important role.