11/20/24, 9:33 AM Compounding

Compounding
Compounding (also known as composition or nominal composition) is important in linguistics because it allows for
new words to be made and exists in most, if not all, languages. For some languages (like Chinese) it is a major
source of new word formation.

Fig. 1 - Compounding combines words to create new words.

What is Compounding?

Compounding (from Latin componere, meaning 'to put together') combines two or more words to create a new
one.

Example
Steam + boat = Steamboat
Bed + room = Bedroom
Hair + cut = Haircut
Motor + cycle = Motorcycle

Compound elements

A compound is made up of various parts of speech such as a noun, verb, and adverb.

This means that compounds can be a combination of noun plus noun, verb plus noun, adjective plus noun, etc.

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Example
The word "bedroom" is made up of two nouns, bed and room.
The word "sunrise" is made up of a noun and a verb, sun and rise.
The word "greenhouse" is made up of an adjective and a noun, green and house.

Compounds can be written as one word, two separate words, or a word with a hyphen.

 Note: Compounds are made up of complete words; this process is called nominal composition and should not
be confused with morphological derivation.

Definition
Morphological derivation is when a new word is made from an existing word, usually by adding prefixes or
suffixes. For example, employment is made of the verb employ plus the suffix morpheme -ment.

Classical compounds is another category of compounds, derived from Latin or ancient Greek.

Example
Biography is a compound of the Greek words bios (life) and graphia (writing), which by the 17th century had
become biography.

Agriculture is a compound of the Latin words ager (field) and cultura (growing / cultivation) which became
'agriculture' in late Middle English.

Pronunciation
Pronunciation can help to determine the meaning of words. Depending on how we pronounce a word, this can
change its meaning. One important aspect of our pronunciations is stress. Let's look at this in more detail:

Stress

Definition
Stress in pronunciation is when we place greater emphasis on one syllable or word than on other parts of a
sentence; this usually helps us to recognize and understand the meaning of a word.

Stress is useful in helping us to understand the difference between a compound noun and an adjective with a
noun. In the following examples, note where the stress falls:

Example
A greenhouse = place where we grow plants (compound noun).
A green house = house painted green (adjective and noun).
A bluebird = type of bird (compound noun).

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A blue bird = any bird with blue feathers (adjective and noun).

Compound elements
Noun + noun

Example
bedroom
toothpaste
database

Noun + verb

Example
rainfall
handmade
sunrise

Noun + adverb

Example
hanger-on
passer-by
runner-up

Verb + noun

Example
washing machine
driving license
swimming pool

Verb + adverb

Example
lookout
take off
drawback

Adverb + noun

Example
onlooker
bystander

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Adjective + verb

Example
dry cleaning
public speaking

Adjective + noun

Example
greenhouse
software
redhead

Adverb + verb

Example
output
overthrow
upturn
input

The Suspended Compound

The suspended compound is used to avoid repetition with longer words.

For example, instead of saying: 'There are mostly eighteenth-century or nineteenth-century buildings in the town
centre,' we can shorten the first compound and say: '' There are mostly eighteenth- or nineteenth-century buildings in
the town centre. ''

Other examples:
Short- and long-term plans are equally valid.
Both first- and second-class tickets cost the same.

Compounding across the globe

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Compounds exist in virtually every language.

Let's look at some examples from around the world.

English Italian Spanish

science fiction fantascienza ciencia-ficción

science + fiction imaginary + science science + fiction

Dutch English Composition

verjaardag 'birthday' + calendar

verjaardagskalender birthday calendar
'calendar'

customer service clanten 'customers' + service

Klantenserviceemedewerker
representative 'service' + medewerker 'worker'

university 'university' + library

university library university library
'library'

Chinese English Composition

谢谢 thanks Repeating of 謝 xiè thank

摩 mó touch + 天 tiān sky + 楼

摩天 楼 skyscraper lóu building (with more than 1
storey

學 xué learn + 生 shēng living

学生 college student
being

百 bǎi hundred + 科 kē (branch

百科 全書 encyclopaedia of) study + 全 quán entire / complete
+ 書 shū book

Finnish English Composition

sanakirja dictionary sana 'word' + kirja 'book'

tieto 'knowledge data' + kone

tietokone computer
'machine'

German English Composition

Clouds' + scratches' scraper

skyscraper skyscraper
'

railroad railway Iron 'iron' + train 'track'

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Ancient Greek English Composition

φίλος phílos 'beloved' + σοφία

φιλόσοφος philosopher
sophíā 'wisdom'

δῆμος dêmos 'people' + κράτος

δημοκρατία democracy
'rule'

Italian English Composition

mille 'thousand' + piedi

millepiedi centipede
'feet'

ferrovia railway ferro 'iron' + via 'way'

Compounds and form

Compound nouns can be written in three ways: open form, closed form and hyphenated form.

Open form compounds

An open (or spaced) compound is written as two separate words.

Example
washing machine,
water bottle.

Closed form compounds

A closed (or solid) compound is written as one word.

Example
rainfall,
drawback,
toothpaste.

Hyphenated form compounds

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A hyphenated compound is written with a hyphen.

Example
Check in,
hanger-on,
mother-in-law.

Some compounds are made up of two similar-sounding elements, such as:

goody-goody,
hush-hush,
razzle-dazzle.

These are called reduplicative compounds and are usually hyphenated if each element has one or more
syllables. However, closed form is also common, as in:

crisscross,
knickknack,
singsong.

Compound subclasses

Compounds are usually made up of two words:

One word gives the basic meaning of the whole compound and is called the head, the other word (the modifier)
qualifies this meaning (ie. it gives us more specific information about the head).

Compounds can be divided into four subclasses:

Endocentric
Exocentric
Coordinative
Appositional

Endocentric compounds
In endocentric compounds, the meaning of the whole word tends to be clear and relates to the head.

The first word will be the modifier. The head word comes second and categorizes the compound. This is called
a head final. The modifier will qualify the meaning of the head final.

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Example
In the compound word cookbook, book is the head (it gives us the main meaning) and cook is the modifier (it
tells us what kind of book).

In the compound word doghouse, house is the head and dog is the modifier, and this tells us it is a house
intended for a dog.

Endocentric compounds tend to be of the same part of speech (word class) as their head, as in the case of
doghouse, which is made up of a noun plus noun .

Cat food tells us what type of food (food intended for cats).
Water bottle tells us what type of bottle (a bottle we can drink water from).

Because the modifier gives us a specialisation of the head word, this type of compound is also known as a
descriptive compound.

Fig. 2 - Cookbook is an endocentric compound.

Exocentric compounds
With exocentric compounds, the meaning is not obvious and often seems unrelated to any part of the compound
itself.

Example
Facebook is not a type of book.
Scarecrow is not a type of crow.
Paperback is not a type of back.

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Facebook is a social media platform, yet we couldn't guess this from the words used to make the compound. The
same goes for scarecrow, a figure created to scare birds away from crops, and paperback, which is a type of book.

Exocentric compounds lack a clear head and are also often called headless compounds.

Coordinative compounds
Coordinative (or copulative) compounds are compounds with two semantic heads that work in coordination. The
meanings will be related, or have similar origins, without being the same thing.

Definition
Semantic gives us the meaning or interpretation of a word.

For example, actor-manager means someone who is an actor and a theatre manager.

Example
Producer-director is a person who is a producer and a director.
Camper-trailer is a vehicle that is a camper and a trailer.
Theater-museum is a building that is both a theater and a museum.

Coordinative compounds are often used to describe people's professions and can be made up of as many as five
words.

Example
Designer-builder is a person who designs and builds.
Listener-viewer-reader is a person who lists, watches (films) and reads (books).
Musician-writer-fillmmaker is a musician who is also a professional writer and filmmaker.

Fig. 3 - Musician-writer-filmmaker is a coordinative compound.

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Appositional compounds
Appositional compounds are made up of (two) words that each describe the compound differently.

For example, instead of saying 'these prehistoric tribes were both hunters and gatherers' you could say 'these
prehistoric tribes were hunter-gatherers'.

Example
Player-coach means a person who is both a player and a coach.
Student-teacher is a student who also teaches.
Singer-songwriter is a singer who is also a songwriter.

Table summary

Type Description Examples

A + B = a special kind of B
Endocentric Whiteboard, darkroom

A + B = an external, unrelated
Exocentric Redhead, cowhand
meaning

A + B = 'the sum' of what A and Producer-director, theater-

Coordinative
B denote museum

A and B offer different descriptions Hunter-gatherer, student-

Appositional
for the same thing or person teacher

 Deep dive
Brahuvrihi compounds:
Brahuvrihi compounds are a subclass of exocentric compounds, and are also known as possessive
compounds. This is when the first part (or word) of the compound is a specific feature of the second.

Example
Hunchback is a person who has a hunched, or very curved, back.
Bluebell is a particular type of bell-shaped flower coloured blue.
A highbrow is a brow that is high (and associated with intelligence or intellect).
White-collar is a collar that is white (and therefore associated with office workers).
Barefoot is used when a person walks about without shoes on

The term comes from Sanskrit bahuvrīhi, which is also this type of compound, from bahu much + vrīh rice.

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Possessive or bahuvrihi compounds are often used in English to describe characteristics of people, and can be
figurative, or non-literal, in their meaning.

Example
Green thumb suggests a person who is good at growing green things eg a gardener.
Hothead suggests a person with a quick (or 'hot') temper.
Egghead suggests someone who is studious or intellectual (originally a 'bald person', possibly associated with
academics).
Goldilocks is used to describe locks of hair that are golden in color.
Greedyguts suggests someone who has a greedy stomach or is greedy by nature.
Lazybones suggests that a person is idle or lazy.

What are Compound Sentences?

Compound words are a combination of two or more words.

Compound sentences are a combination of two or more independent clauses.

Example
Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon
them. (Joseph Heller, 1923-1999)

In the above sentence, we have three independent clauses. Note how they are linked by commas and the
conjunction 'and'.

A compound sentence has at least two independent clauses. They can be joined by:
a semicolon,
a comma and coordinating conjunction eg 'and', 'or' and 'but'.

Example
"I love to travel, but I hate to arrive." (Albert Einstein, 1879-1955)

Compounding - key takeaways

Compounding combines two or more words to create a new word.
A compound is made up of various parts of speech such as noun, verb, and adverb.
Compounds can be a combination of noun plus noun, verb plus noun, adjective plus noun etc.
Compounds can be written as one word, as two separate words, or as a word with a hyphen.
Compounds can be divided into four subclasses: endocentric, exocentric, coordinative and
appositional.

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Compound sentences are a combination of two or more independent clauses, linked by 'and', 'but' or a
semi-colon.

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