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Lecture 6

This document discusses English morphology and syntax, specifically compound words. It defines compounding as combining free morphemes to create a new word whose meaning derives from the combination. Examples of compound words are provided like classroom, skyscraper, wallpaper. The document then classifies compounds into noun compounds, verb compounds, adjective compounds, and adverb compounds based on the part of speech of the constituent words. It also describes classifying compounds based on the semantic relationship between the head and modifier(s), including endocentric, exocentric, and coordinative compounds.

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Salwa Aljohani
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56 views20 pages

Lecture 6

This document discusses English morphology and syntax, specifically compound words. It defines compounding as combining free morphemes to create a new word whose meaning derives from the combination. Examples of compound words are provided like classroom, skyscraper, wallpaper. The document then classifies compounds into noun compounds, verb compounds, adjective compounds, and adverb compounds based on the part of speech of the constituent words. It also describes classifying compounds based on the semantic relationship between the head and modifier(s), including endocentric, exocentric, and coordinative compounds.

Uploaded by

Salwa Aljohani
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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ENGLISH MORPHOLOGY AND SYNTAX

Compound Words
Morphological Processes (Compounding)

COMPOUNDING:
In a compound several free morphemes are
combined, resulting in a word that often derives
its meaning from the combination of its
components.
classroom = class + room
skyscraper = sky + scraper
wallpaper = wall + paper
The italicized words in (1) are created by
combining saw with some other word, rather
than with a bound morpheme.
(1)
a. A sawmill is a noisy place.
b. Every workshop should have a chainsaw, a
tablesaw, a jig-saw, a hacksaw, and a bucksaw.
c.Sawdust is always a problem in a
woodworker’s workshop.
d. Sawing horses are useful and easily made.
Such words are called compounds.

Saw-mill, chain-saw, a table-saw, a jig-saw, a


hack-saw, a buck-saw and sawing horses

Generally, one of the words is the head of the


compound and the other(s) its modifier(s). In
bucksaw, saw is the head, which is modified by
buck.

Generally, the modifier comes before the head.


In ordinary English spelling, compounds are

sometimes spelled as single words, as in sawmill,

sawdust; sometimes the parts are connected by a

hyphen, as in jig-saw; and sometimes they are

spelled as two words, as in chain saw, oil well.


In the compounds the main stress is on the first
word; in the phrases the main stress is on the last
word. While this pattern does not apply to all
compounds, it is so generally true that it provides
a very useful test. Compare:
(2)
COMPOUND PHRASE
• 'White House white' house
• 'funny farm funny 'farm
• 'blackbird black 'bird
• 'flatcar flat 'car
The meaning of the compound may differ to a
greater or lesser degree from that of the
corresponding phrase. A trotting-horse is a kind
of horse, regardless of its current activity; a
trotting horse must be a horse that is currently
trotting. So, because the meanings of compounds
are not always predictable from the meanings of
their constituents, dictionaries often provide
individual entries for them.
• in many compounds, the order of the
constituent words is different from that in the
corresponding phrase:
(3)
• COMPOUND PHRASE
• sawmill mill for sawing
• sawing horse horse for sawing
• sawdust dust from sawing
Classification of Compound Words

There are a number of ways of approaching the


study and classification of compound words, the
most accessible of which is to classify them
according to the part of speech of the compound.
1. Compound Nouns
a. Noun + noun: bath towel; boy-friend; death blow
b. Verb + noun: pickpocket; breakfast
c. Noun +verb: nosebleed; sunshine
d. Verb +verb: make-believe
e. Adjective + noun: deep structure; fast-food
f. Particle + noun: in-crowd; down-town
g. Adverb + noun: now generation
h. Verb + particle: cop-out; drop-out
i. Phrase compounds: son-in-law
2. Compound verbs

a. Noun + verb: sky-dive

b. Adjective + verb: fine-tune

c. Particle + verb: overbook

d. Adjective + noun: brown-bag


3. Compound adjectives
a. Noun + adjective: card-carrying; childproof
b. Verb + adjective: fail safe
c. Adjective + adjective: open-ended
d. Adverb + adjective: cross-modal
e. Particle + adjective: over-qualified
f. Noun + noun: coffee-table
g. Verb + noun: roll-neck
h. Adjective + noun: red-brick; blue-collar
i. Particle + noun: in-depth
j. Verb + verb: go-go; make-believe
k. Adjective/Adverb + verb: high-rise;
l. Verb + particle: see-through; tow-away
4. Compound adverbs
uptightly
cross-modally

5. Neo-classical compounds
astro-naut
hydro-electric
Classification of Compound Words

An alternative approach is to classify compounds in

terms of the semantic relationship between the

compound and its head. The head of a compound is

the constituent modified by the compound’s other

constituents.
In English, heads of compounds are typically the

rightmost constituent (excluding any derivational

and inflectional suffixes). For example, in traffic-

cop the head is cop, which is modified by traffic; in

line-backer the head is backer, which is modified by

line.
Linguists distinguish at least three different
semantic relations between the head and
modifier(s) of compounds.
First, the compound represents a subtype of
whatever the head represents.
For instance, a teapot is a kind of pot; a fog-lamp
is a kind of lamp.
These are called endocentric compounds.
Second, the compound names a subtype, but the
type is not represented by either the head or the
modifier in the compound.
For example, redhead, and pickpocket represent
types of people by denoting some distinguishing
characteristic.
Redneck is person with red neck (white people)
Pickpocket is a person who steals from people`s
pocket. (thief)
These are called exocentric compounds.
Third, there are compounds in which both elements
are heads; each contributes equally to the meaning
of the whole and neither is subordinate to the other,
for instance, bitter-sweet. Compounds like these can
be paraphrased as both X and Y, e.g., “bitter and
sweet.” Other examples include teacher-researcher
and producer-director. These can be called
coordinative compounds.
Morphological Processes (Compounding)

compounding of Compounding Compounding


free morphemes of affixed words of compounded
words
girlfriend air-conditioner lifeguard chair

blackbird Ironing-board aircraft carrier


textbook watch-maker life-insurance
salesman
REFERENCES
Delahunty, G. P., & Garvey, J. J. (2010). The English language: From sound to
sense. Fort Collins, Colo: WAC Clearinghouse. Chapter 5

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