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Compounding

Compounding involves combining lexemes into larger words. Compounds typically have a binary structure with one lexeme modifying the meaning of the other head lexeme. There are different types of compounding including synthetic compounds derived from verbs, root compounds from nouns/adjectives/verbs, and attributive compounds where the first element modifies the second. Other types are coordinative where the elements have equal weight, appositional where the elements have the same referent, and subordinative where one element is the argument of the other.

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11 views2 pages

Compounding

Compounding involves combining lexemes into larger words. Compounds typically have a binary structure with one lexeme modifying the meaning of the other head lexeme. There are different types of compounding including synthetic compounds derived from verbs, root compounds from nouns/adjectives/verbs, and attributive compounds where the first element modifies the second. Other types are coordinative where the elements have equal weight, appositional where the elements have the same referent, and subordinative where one element is the argument of the other.

Uploaded by

Raghad Murad
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Compounding:

Its defining property is that it consists of the combination of lexemes into larger
words. In simple cases, compounding consists of the combination of two words, in
which one word modifies the meaning of the other, the head. This means that such
compounds have a binary structure.
- Compounds are not universally right-headed since there are also languages
with left-headed compounds
N+N compounds Apple juice, Carrot cake
V+ V compounds freeze-dry
AV compounds to whitewash
NV compounds to machine-wash
Adj+ N compounds hardware, green tea
Source of compounding could be
- back formation from nominal compounds (to babysit from babysitter) or
adjectival compounds (to machine-wash from machine-washable).
- Conversion of nominal compounds into verbs. For instance, the Dutch
nominal compound voetbal ‘‘soccer’’has been converted into the verb voetbal
‘‘to play soccer’’

Types of compounding
- Synthetic (also known as deverbal) compounds. Synthetic compounds are
composed of two lexemes, where the head lexeme is derived from a verb, and
the non-head is interpreted as an argument of that verb. Dog walker, hand
washing, and homemade are all synthetic compounds

- Root (also known as primary) compounds and Root compounds, in contrast


are made up of two lexemes, which may be nouns, adjectives, or verbs; the
second lexeme is typically not derived from a verb. Compounds like windmill,
ice cold, hard hat, and red hot are root compounds.

- Attributive compound. In an attributive compound the non-head acts as a


modifier of the head. So snail mail is (metaphorically) a kind of mail that
moves like a snail, and a windmill is a kind of mill that is activated by wind.
With attributive compounds the first element might express just about any
relationship with the head. For example, a school book is a book used at
school, but a yearbook is a record of school activities over a year. And a
notebook is a book in which one writes notes. With a new compound (one I’ve
just made up) like mud wheel, we are free to come up with any reasonable
semantic relationship between the two bases, as long as the first modifies the
second in some way: a wheel used in the mud, a wheel made out of mud, a
wheel covered in mud, and so on. Some interpretations are more plausible than
others, of course, but none of these is ruled out.

- Coordinative compounds, the first element of the compound does not modify
the second; instead, the two have equal weight. Both members are on an equal
footing, and they can be paraphrased with ‘and’,

 Appositional compound: both compound members have the same referent.


producer-
Appositional compounds: both compound members have the same referent.
director, prince consort, blue-green, doctor-patient A producer-director is
equally a producer and a director, a prince consort at the same time a prince
and a consort. In the case of blue-green the compound denotes a mixture of
the two colors. Appositional compounds that denote a relation between the
two bases (like doctor–patient in doctor–patient confidentiality).
 For coordinative compounds we can say that both elements are semantic
heads.

- Subordinative: compounds:In subordinative compounds one element is


interpreted as the argument of the other element(verb), usually as its object.
Truck driver, hand mixer, lion tamer

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