Word Compounds in English

Definitions • Compound words have at least two free bases free morphemes with or without bound morphemes.. The phonological features: • The elements free bases of a compound word are st

Word Compounds/

Compounds

Instructor: Nguyen Thi Thanh Lan

Definitions

• Compound words have at least two free bases (free

morphemes) with or without bound morphemes.

• Examples: highway, desklamps, northeast, well-prepared, etc

Features of Compounds

1 The phonological features:

• The elements (free bases) of a compound word are stressed

• Word compounds take the primary-secondary stress pattern

• Examples: bluebell /bluːbel/; sweetheart /swiːthɑːt/

Features of Compounds

• Normally, the primary stress falls on the first word of the

compounds However, in some cases, the second word will take the primary stress

• Examples:

well-behaved /wel.bhevd/

ill-tempered /ltempəd/

Features of Compounds

• Some compounds are differentiated from grammatical

structures (GS) by their patterns of stress.

• The grammatical structure consists of a modifier plus a noun

(head), as in blue bell, red coat and green house (structure that

has grammatical relationship)

• In GS, the head takes the primary stress

Features of Compounds

2 The syntactic feature:

• Compound words are considered as solid blocks They cannot

be divided by the insertion of any other elements But

grammatical structures can be so divided.

Features of Compounds

2 The syntactic feature:

Examples:

(1) She is my sweetheart (C)

(2) She has a very sweet heart (GS)

(3) She has a sweeter heart than her sister (GS)

Features of Compounds

2 The syntactic feature:

Examples:

4) It was a very hard ball (GS)

5) It was a baseball (C)

6) This is a greenhouse (C)

7) This is a (really) green house (GS)

Features of Compounds

2 The syntactic feature:

Compounds can be either right-headed or left-headed.

Right-Headed

Singular

• Scissor-handle

• Trouser-hanger

• Binocular-case

• Craftsman

Plural

• Scissor-handles

• Trouser-hangers

• Binocular-cases

• Craftsmen

Left-Headed

Singular

Plural

Features of Compounds

3 The semantic feature:

• Compound words have specialized meanings Therefore, knowing the meaning of each element of a compound word does not make it possible to figure out the meaning of the whole combination.

- greenhouse: a building with a roof and sides made of glass, used

for growing plants that need warmth and protection

- bluebell: a small European plant that usually grows in woods and

has blue flowers shaped like bells

Structures of Compounds

• Compounds can be of different parts of speech: compound

nouns, compound adjectives, and compound verbs

• See textbook (pp 44-47)