John Benjamins Publishing Company
Units in compounding
Abstract
This chapter addresses such questions as ‘what kind of linguistic units are compounds?’ and ‘what kind of linguistic units are they made of?’ In order to answer these questions a strictly word-based approach is adopted, in which words (lexemes) are considered as the basic units of morphological and lexical organization cross-linguistically. Several examples in which canonical and non-canonical words appear as inputs and outputs of compounding are analyzed. It is claimed that, unlike derivation, compounding constructs both typical lexical units, and units which are not made to be lexicalized. This conclusion is consistent with the common assumption that compounding constitutes a case of mismatch between morphology and syntax.
Abstract
This chapter addresses such questions as ‘what kind of linguistic units are compounds?’ and ‘what kind of linguistic units are they made of?’ In order to answer these questions a strictly word-based approach is adopted, in which words (lexemes) are considered as the basic units of morphological and lexical organization cross-linguistically. Several examples in which canonical and non-canonical words appear as inputs and outputs of compounding are analyzed. It is claimed that, unlike derivation, compounding constructs both typical lexical units, and units which are not made to be lexicalized. This conclusion is consistent with the common assumption that compounding constitutes a case of mismatch between morphology and syntax.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Why compounding? 1
-
Section 1. Delimiting the field
- The role of syntax and morphology in compounding 21
- Constraints on compounds and incorporation 37
- Compounding versus derivation 57
-
Section 2. At the core of compounding
- Units in compounding 77
- Compound construction: Schemas or analogy? 93
- The head in compounding 109
- On the lexical semantics of compounds 127
- The phonology of compounds 145
-
Section 3. Typology and types of compounds
- The typology of exocentric compounding 167
- Coordination in compounding 177
- Parasynthetic compounds 199
- Synthetic compounds 219
- Corpus data and theoretical implications 237
-
Section 4. Quantitative and psycholinguistic aspects of compounding
- Frequency effects in compound processing 257
- Computational issues in compound processing 271
- Relational competition during compound interpretation 287
- Sign languages and compounding 301
- First language acquisition of compounds 323
- List of abbreviations 345
- Master list of references 349
- Language index 377
- Subject index 379
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Why compounding? 1
-
Section 1. Delimiting the field
- The role of syntax and morphology in compounding 21
- Constraints on compounds and incorporation 37
- Compounding versus derivation 57
-
Section 2. At the core of compounding
- Units in compounding 77
- Compound construction: Schemas or analogy? 93
- The head in compounding 109
- On the lexical semantics of compounds 127
- The phonology of compounds 145
-
Section 3. Typology and types of compounds
- The typology of exocentric compounding 167
- Coordination in compounding 177
- Parasynthetic compounds 199
- Synthetic compounds 219
- Corpus data and theoretical implications 237
-
Section 4. Quantitative and psycholinguistic aspects of compounding
- Frequency effects in compound processing 257
- Computational issues in compound processing 271
- Relational competition during compound interpretation 287
- Sign languages and compounding 301
- First language acquisition of compounds 323
- List of abbreviations 345
- Master list of references 349
- Language index 377
- Subject index 379
