Branches of linguistics. Synchronic vs diachronic approaches to the language study. Lexicology – ‘the science of the word’

living affixes are easily separated from the stem, e.g. re-, -ful, -ly, un-, -ion, de- etc.;
dead affixes have become fully merged with the stem and can be singled out by a diachronic analysis of the development of the word, e.g. admit < Lat. ad+mittere;
Productive vs non-productive affixes:
productive affixes take part in word-formation in modern English, e.g. -er, -ing, -ness, -ism, -ance, un-, re-, dis-, -y, -ish, -able, -ise, -ate;
non-productive affixes are not active in word-formation in modern English, e.g. –th, -hood, -some, -en;
non-productive affix == dead affix
16. Word-composition. Types of compound words. Criteria for their classification.
Word-composition (compounding) is the formation of words by morphologically joining two or more stems.
A compound word is a word consisting of at least two stems which usually occur in the language as free forms, e.g. university teaching award committee member.
The compound inherits most of its semantic and syntactic information from its head, i.e. the most important member of a compound word modified by the other component.
The structural pattern of English compounds
[ X Y] y
X = {root, word, phrase}, Y = {root, word}, y = grammatical properties inherited from Y
According to the type of the linking element:
compounds without a linking element, e.g. toothache, bedroom, sweet-heart;
compounds with a vowel linking element, e.g. handicraft, speedometer;
compounds with a consonant linking element, e.g. statesperson, craftsman;
compounds with a preposition linking stem, e.g. son-in-law, lady-in-waiting;
compounds with a conjunction linking stem, e.g. bread-and-butter.
According to the type of relationship between the components
-in coordinative (copulative) compounds neither of the components dominates the other, e.g. fifty-fifty, whisky-and-soda, driver-conductor;
-in subordinative (determinative) compounds the components are neither structurally nor semantically equal in importance but are based on the domination of one component over the other, e.g. coffeepot, Oxford-educated, to headhunt, blue-eyed, red-haired etc.