Week 12

Question 1

Compounds (definition 1)

Answer 1

Compounds are complex words which consist of at least two free morphemes. Don’t confuse with derivatives (dislike, teacher).

postman
swearword
windmill
computer software manual
toilet roll dispenser
cranberry
scissor factory
synonymy
morphology
eco-friendly
sitcom

Question 2

Compounds with bound root

Answer 2

Cranberry, scissor factory

Question 3

Compounds with neoclassical compound

Answer 3

Synonymy
Morphology

-logy in bio-logy, or geo-in geo-graphy

Question 4

Compounds with neoclassical element

Answer 4

Eco-friendly
Bio-degradable

Question 5

Compounds with blend

Answer 5

Sitcom
Guesstimate

Question 6

Compounding (definition 2)

Answer 6

Compounds are complex words which consist of a combination of at least two roots (one or both of which can be shortened).

Question 7

Compounding (definition 3)

Answer 7

Compounds are complex words which consist of at less two elements,
• The first of which is a root, word or phrase,
• The second is either a root or a word.

Her pipe-and-slipper husband
Some over-the-fence gossip
Their couldn’t-care-less attitude

Question 8

Compound vs. phrase (difference)

Answer 8

Compounds are morphological constructions, and have unpredictable properties.

Phrases are syntactic constructions, expected to be regular and have predictable properties.

blackbird - black bird
redneck - red neck
White House - white house

Question 9

How can you determine whether an A+N combination is a phrase?

Answer 9

By doing the one-replacement test.

Question 10

What is another difference between compounds and phrases?

Answer 10

Phrases have end-stress (green ‘house), whereas the corresponding compounds have fore-stress (‘greenhouse).

Question 11

What is the exception to end-stress in phrases?

Answer 11

In phrases, stress consistently falls on the rightmost element, unless the speaker uses emphatic stress:

I didn’t say ‘of my life, I said ‘in my life.

Question 12

Attributive compounds

Answer 12

Non-head modifies the head

hairnet = ‘net for holding hair’

mosquito net = ‘net for keeping out mosquitos’

butterfly net = ‘net for catching butterflies’

Question 13

Coordinative compound

Answer 13

Both elements of the compound have equal weight

producer-director
doctor-patient

Question 14

Secondary (or synthetic/deverbal) compounds

Answer 14

Secondary compounds do have a transparant meaning (where the meaning is obvious).

Chessplayer
Truck driver
Course coordinator

Question 15

Subordinative compounds

Answer 15

When there is a complementive relation between two constituents.

In a compound such as taxi driver, taxi is clearly the «complement» (most influential part).

Question 16

Which unpredictable properties do compounds display?

Answer 16

1. Orthographic (variable spelling)
2. Phonological (variable stress)
3. Semantic (unpredictable meaning)

Question 17

Headedness can be split into…

Answer 17

1. Morpho-syntactic rightheadedness
2. Semantic rightheadedness

Question 18

Morpho-syntactic rightheadedness

Answer 18

The last part of a word determines the lexical category.

Teapot is a noun because pot is a noun.

Question 19

Semantic rightheadedness

Answer 19

The last part of a word determines the type.

A teapot is a kind of pot, a drawbridge is a kind of bridge.

Question 20

Headless (exocentric) compounds

Answer 20

Forms/words that don’t determine a kind, but refer to someone who is something.

Loudmouth: not a kind of mouth, but refers to someone who has a loud mouth.

Pickpockets: not a kind of pocket. But someone who picks pockets.

Question 21

Two-headed compounds

Answer 21

Having two heads.

Singer-songwriter
Stir-fried
Nature-nurture

Question 22

Bigger compounds

Answer 22

Compounds that consist of more than two elements, and have an internal structure that is dictated by meaning (frequently appear in newspaper headlines).

Christmas biscuit recipes
Looking for Horses review
Spy-tech firm
Conspiracy theory movement