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8 Drinking water and dancing girl: Verb-ing-Noun compounds and noun phrases

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The Many Faces of English -ing
This chapter is in the book The Many Faces of English -ing
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110764482-0088 Drinking water and dancing girl: Verb-ing-Noun compounds and noun phrasesThis chapter investigates English V-ing-N compound nouns and noun phrases. It attempts to show how the V-ing form characterises the V-ing-N combination, specifically, the attribution relation, the compound-phrase distinction and the stress pattern. The complexity of the V-ing-N combination lies in the category of the V-ing form. V-ing can be an adjective, either an ascriptive V-ing adjective or a present participle. V-ing can also be a noun, either a gerund or an associated V-ing nominal. The discussion also involves the attribution relation of V-ing-N, i.e. whether the V-ing form is an associative or ascriptive attribute of the head noun, and how the attribution relation matches the categorial status of the V-ing form. The compound-phrase distinction must be taken into account as well, analysing how the distinction is related to the categorial status of the attribute, as well as the attribution relation.8.1 IntroductionIn the English form X-N where X is the attributive modifier of the head noun, X can be a noun as in boy actor, toy factory, watchmaker, apple pie, or an adjective as in nice dress, dental decay, greenhouse, blackboard. The attribute-head combi-nation is found in both compounds and phrases, and it can show a mismatch in the behaviour associated with syntax and the behaviour expected in the lexicon. There are two topics which are of concern. One topic is the attribution relations of the X-N combination. The second is the topic of compounding in English and the question of the difference between English compound nouns and noun phrases. The attribution relations and the distinction between compound nouns and noun phrases are closely interrelated.The attribute-head combination can be either a case of ascriptive attribution or of associative attribution. In ascriptive attribution, the attribute denotes a property which it ascribes to the head noun (Ferris 1993: 24). Property-denoting lexemes are typically adjectives, such as beautiful picture, lovely girl, cute dog. The func-tion of being an ascriptive attribute to nouns can also be performed by nouns, for instance, attribution in baby girl, toy train, boy actor, luxury flat, bottom line, luxury flat is ascriptive, ascribing to the head the property denoted by the noun. A reli-able diagnostic provided by Giegerich (2015: 16) for ascriptiveness among nouns is their ability to be paraphrased as predicates – an ability which follows from the nature of ascription. Such N-Ns are subject to paraphrases such as “a girl who is a
© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110764482-0088 Drinking water and dancing girl: Verb-ing-Noun compounds and noun phrasesThis chapter investigates English V-ing-N compound nouns and noun phrases. It attempts to show how the V-ing form characterises the V-ing-N combination, specifically, the attribution relation, the compound-phrase distinction and the stress pattern. The complexity of the V-ing-N combination lies in the category of the V-ing form. V-ing can be an adjective, either an ascriptive V-ing adjective or a present participle. V-ing can also be a noun, either a gerund or an associated V-ing nominal. The discussion also involves the attribution relation of V-ing-N, i.e. whether the V-ing form is an associative or ascriptive attribute of the head noun, and how the attribution relation matches the categorial status of the V-ing form. The compound-phrase distinction must be taken into account as well, analysing how the distinction is related to the categorial status of the attribute, as well as the attribution relation.8.1 IntroductionIn the English form X-N where X is the attributive modifier of the head noun, X can be a noun as in boy actor, toy factory, watchmaker, apple pie, or an adjective as in nice dress, dental decay, greenhouse, blackboard. The attribute-head combi-nation is found in both compounds and phrases, and it can show a mismatch in the behaviour associated with syntax and the behaviour expected in the lexicon. There are two topics which are of concern. One topic is the attribution relations of the X-N combination. The second is the topic of compounding in English and the question of the difference between English compound nouns and noun phrases. The attribution relations and the distinction between compound nouns and noun phrases are closely interrelated.The attribute-head combination can be either a case of ascriptive attribution or of associative attribution. In ascriptive attribution, the attribute denotes a property which it ascribes to the head noun (Ferris 1993: 24). Property-denoting lexemes are typically adjectives, such as beautiful picture, lovely girl, cute dog. The func-tion of being an ascriptive attribute to nouns can also be performed by nouns, for instance, attribution in baby girl, toy train, boy actor, luxury flat, bottom line, luxury flat is ascriptive, ascribing to the head the property denoted by the noun. A reli-able diagnostic provided by Giegerich (2015: 16) for ascriptiveness among nouns is their ability to be paraphrased as predicates – an ability which follows from the nature of ascription. Such N-Ns are subject to paraphrases such as “a girl who is a
© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Acknowledgements V
  3. Contents VII
  4. 1 Introduction 1
  5. 2 Theoretical background 13
  6. 3 Adjectives 18
  7. 4 Participles 29
  8. 5 Consequences of analysing participles as adjectives 84
  9. 6 The categorial status of gerunds 96
  10. 7 Distinguishing gerunds from present participles 130
  11. 8 Drinking water and dancing girl: Verb-ing-Noun compounds and noun phrases 160
  12. 9 Conclusions 182
  13. Bibliography 189
  14. Data sources 197
  15. Author index 199
  16. Subject index 201
Readers are also interested in:
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110764482-008

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Acknowledgements V
  3. Contents VII
  4. 1 Introduction 1
  5. 2 Theoretical background 13
  6. 3 Adjectives 18
  7. 4 Participles 29
  8. 5 Consequences of analysing participles as adjectives 84
  9. 6 The categorial status of gerunds 96
  10. 7 Distinguishing gerunds from present participles 130
  11. 8 Drinking water and dancing girl: Verb-ing-Noun compounds and noun phrases 160
  12. 9 Conclusions 182
  13. Bibliography 189
  14. Data sources 197
  15. Author index 199
  16. Subject index 201
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