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On “R” in phrasal compounds – a contextualist approach

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Published/Copyright: September 5, 2015

Abstract

In phrasal compounds of the type XP+Y, one can assume a relation “R” that holds between the head and the non-head just as in ordinary N+N compounds. The paper discusses the question how “R” should be understood. Three recent approaches, i.e., construction morphology, parallel architecture view, and indexicalism are discussed. It is argued that all approaches lack a pragmatic component which is necessary for modeling pragmatic inferencing with respect to phrasal compounds. Thus, an “unspecific meaning” approach to the semantics of phrasal compounds, together with contextualist views on pragmatic enrichment, is a serious alternative to the approaches discussed.

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to Jürgen Pafel and Carola Trips for critical comments on an earlier version of this article, and to Björn Technau for checking my English. For the remaining mistakes and shortcomings, the usual ‘All shame on me!’ disclaimer applies.

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Published Online: 2015-9-5
Published in Print: 2015-9-1

©2015 by De Gruyter Mouton

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