Chapter 7. Exocentric patterns
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María Irene Moyna
Abstract
In all the patterns presented so far, one of the two compound constituents can be identified as the head, from which the compound inherits its syntactic properties and often also its semantic specifications. However, it is also true that in most compound classes seen so far, a subset of tokens ‘jump’ grammatical category, exhibiting distributional properties incompatible with those of the head constituent. In those cases, the resulting compound is said to be exocentric. In Spanish this conversion process can lead to the recategorization of any compound as a nominal (bienestar ‘welfare’, lit. ‘well-be’, subibaja ‘see-saw’, lit. ‘go up-go down’), or of nominal compounds as adjectives (muy cararrota ‘very cheeky’, lit. ‘very face-broken’). In addition to these sporadic examples of exocentricity, some productive and stable compound patterns of Spanish are always exocentric, i.e., neither of their constituents is ever the head of the compound. In all cases of exocentric patterns, the resulting compound is a noun. Consequently, rather than proposing ad hoc conversion for each compounded token, it is more theoretically sound to incorporate the process of conversion or ø-derivation into the pattern itself. In Chapter 2, Section 2.4.1.2, it was proposed that the first merge operation between constituents is followed by a second merge with an empty (unpronounced) head, which corresponds to the WCM and is responsible for the conversion of the compound. In Spanish the two most common exocentric compounding patterns are [V + N]N and, to a much lesser extent, [Q + N]N compounds (Table 7.1). Each one of them will be considered separately.
Abstract
In all the patterns presented so far, one of the two compound constituents can be identified as the head, from which the compound inherits its syntactic properties and often also its semantic specifications. However, it is also true that in most compound classes seen so far, a subset of tokens ‘jump’ grammatical category, exhibiting distributional properties incompatible with those of the head constituent. In those cases, the resulting compound is said to be exocentric. In Spanish this conversion process can lead to the recategorization of any compound as a nominal (bienestar ‘welfare’, lit. ‘well-be’, subibaja ‘see-saw’, lit. ‘go up-go down’), or of nominal compounds as adjectives (muy cararrota ‘very cheeky’, lit. ‘very face-broken’). In addition to these sporadic examples of exocentricity, some productive and stable compound patterns of Spanish are always exocentric, i.e., neither of their constituents is ever the head of the compound. In all cases of exocentric patterns, the resulting compound is a noun. Consequently, rather than proposing ad hoc conversion for each compounded token, it is more theoretically sound to incorporate the process of conversion or ø-derivation into the pattern itself. In Chapter 2, Section 2.4.1.2, it was proposed that the first merge operation between constituents is followed by a second merge with an empty (unpronounced) head, which corresponds to the WCM and is responsible for the conversion of the compound. In Spanish the two most common exocentric compounding patterns are [V + N]N and, to a much lesser extent, [Q + N]N compounds (Table 7.1). Each one of them will be considered separately.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of figures xv
- List of tables xvii
- List of abbreviations used xxi
- Preface & acknowledgments xxiii
- Introduction 1
- Chapter 1. Definitions 11
- Chapter 2. The internal structure of compounds 45
- Chapter 3. Finding compounds 67
- Chapter 4. Endocentric compounds with adverbial non-heads 99
- Chapter 5. Endocentric compounds with nominal non-heads 125
- Chapter 6. Endocentric compounds with nominal heads and nominal/adjectival modifiers 163
- Chapter 7. Exocentric patterns 197
- Chapter 8. Concatenative compounds 219
- Chapter 9. Historical developments in Spanish compounding 253
- References 293
- Appendix 1. Compound dataset 303
- Subject index 433
- Word index 443
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of figures xv
- List of tables xvii
- List of abbreviations used xxi
- Preface & acknowledgments xxiii
- Introduction 1
- Chapter 1. Definitions 11
- Chapter 2. The internal structure of compounds 45
- Chapter 3. Finding compounds 67
- Chapter 4. Endocentric compounds with adverbial non-heads 99
- Chapter 5. Endocentric compounds with nominal non-heads 125
- Chapter 6. Endocentric compounds with nominal heads and nominal/adjectival modifiers 163
- Chapter 7. Exocentric patterns 197
- Chapter 8. Concatenative compounds 219
- Chapter 9. Historical developments in Spanish compounding 253
- References 293
- Appendix 1. Compound dataset 303
- Subject index 433
- Word index 443
