understood as ‘a woman who is at the same time a doctor’ or there can be

traced a difference of importance between the components and it may be

primarily felt to be ‘a doctor who happens to be a woman’ (also a mother-

goose, a clock-tower).

In subordinative compounds the components are neither structurally nor

semantically equal in importance but are based on the domination of the

head-member which is, as a rule, the second IC. The second IC thus is the

semantically and grammatically dominant part of the word, which

preconditions the part-of-speech meaning of the whole compound as in

stone-deaf, age-long which are obviously adjectives, a wrist-watch, road-

building, a baby-sitter which are nouns.

Functionally compounds are viewed as words of different parts of speech.

It is the head-member of the compound, i.e. its second IC that is

indicative of the grammatical and lexical category the compound word

belongs to.

Compound words are found in all parts of speech, but the bulk of

compounds are nouns and adjectives. Each part of speech is characterized

by its set of derivational patterns and their semantic variants. Compound

adverbs, pronouns and connectives are represented by an insignificant

number of words, e. g. somewhere, somebody, inside, upright, otherwise

moreover, elsewhere, by means of, etc. No new compounds are coined on

this pattern. Compound pronouns and adverbs built on the repeating first

and second IC like body, ever, thing make closed sets of words

|SOME |+ |BODY |

|ANY | |THING |

|EVERY | |ONE |

|NO | |WHERE |

On the whole composition is not productive either for adverbs, pronouns

or for connectives.

Verbs are of special interest. There is a small group of compound verbs

made up of the combination of verbal and adverbial stems that language

retains from earlier stages, e. g. to bypass, to inlay, to offset. This

type according to some authors, is no longer productive and is rarely

found in new compounds.

There are many polymorphic verbs that are represented by morphemic

sequences of two root-morphemes, like to weekend, to gooseflesh, to

spring-clean, but derivationally they are all words of secondary

derivation in which the existing compound nouns only serve as bases for

derivation. They are often termed pseudo-compound verbs. Such polymorphic

verbs are presented by two groups:

1) verbs formed by means of conversion from the stems of compound nouns

as in to spotlight from a spotlight, to sidetrack from a side-track,

to handcuff from handcuffs, to blacklist from a blacklist, to pinpoint

from a pin-point;

2) verbs formed by back-derivation from the stems of compound nouns, e.

g. to baby-sit from a baby-sitter, to playact from play-acting, to

housekeep from house-keeping, to spring-clean from spring-cleaning.

From the point of view of the means by which the components are joined

together, compound words may be classified into:

1) Words formed by merely placing one constituent after another in a

definite order which thus is indicative of both the semantic value and

the morphological unity of the compound, e. g. rain-driven, house-dog,

pot-pie (as opposed to dog-house, pie-pot). This means of linking the

components is typical of the majority of Modern English compounds in

all parts of speech.

As to the order of components, subordinative compounds are often

classified as:

a) asyntactic compounds in which the order of bases runs counter to

the order in which the motivating words can be brought together

under the rules of syntax of the language. For example, in

variable phrases adjectives cannot be modified by preceding

adjectives and noun modifiers are not placed before participles

or adjectives, yet this kind of asyntactic arrangement is

typical of compounds, e. g. red-hot, bluish-black, pale-blue,

rain-driven, oil-rich. The asyntactic order is typical of the

majority of Modern English compound words;

b) syntactic compounds whose components are placed in the order

that resembles the order of words in free phrases arranged

according to the rules of syntax of Modern English. The order of

the components in compounds like blue-bell, mad-doctor,

blacklist ( a + n ) reminds one of the order and arrangement of

the corresponding words in phrases a blue bell, a mad doctor, a

black list ( A + N ), the order of compounds of the type door-

handle, day-time, spring-lock ( n + n ) resembles the order of

words in nominal phrases with attributive function of the first

noun ( N + N ), e. g. spring time, stone steps, peace movement.

2) Compound words whose ICs are joined together with a special linking-

element — the linking vowels [ou] and occasionally [i] and the linking

consonant [s/z] — which is indicative of composition as in, for

example, speedometer, tragicomic, statesman. Compounds of this type

can be both nouns and adjectives, subordinative and additive but are

rather few in number since they are considerably restricted by the

nature of their components. The additive compound adjectives linked

with the help of the vowel [ou] are limited to the names of

nationalities and represent a specific group with a bound root for the

first component, e. g. Sino-Japanese, Afro-Asian, Anglo-Saxon.

In subordinative adjectives and nouns the productive linking element

is also [ou] and compound words of the type are most productive for

scientific terms. The main peculiarity of compounds of the type is

that their constituents are nonassimilated bound roots borrowed mainly

from classical languages, e. g. electro-dynamic, filmography,

technophobia, videophone, sociolinguistics, videodisc.

A small group of compound nouns may also be joined with the help of

linking consonant [s/z], as in sportsman, landsman, saleswoman,

bridesmaid. This small group of words is restricted by the second

component which is, as a rule, one of the three bases man–, woman–,

people–. The commonest of them is man–.

Compounds may be also classified according to the nature of the bases and

the interconnection with other ways of word-formation into the so-called

compounds proper and derivational compounds.

Compounds proper are formed by joining together bases built on the stems or

on the word-forms of independently functioning words with or without the

help of special linking element such as doorstep, age-long, baby-sitter,

looking-glass, street-fighting, handiwork, sportsman. Compounds proper

constitute the bulk of English compounds in all parts of speech, they

include both subordinative and coordinative classes, productive and non-

productive patterns.

Derivational compounds, e. g. long-legged, three-cornered, a break-down, a

pickpocket differ from compounds proper in the nature of bases and their

second IC. The two ICs of the compound long-legged — ‘having long legs’ —

are the suffix –ed meaning ‘having’ and the base built on a free word-group

long legs whose member words lose their grammatical independence, and are

reduced to a single component of the word, a derivational base. Any other

segmentation of such words, say into long– and legged– is impossible

because firstly, adjectives like *legged do not exist in Modern English and

secondly, because it would contradict the lexical meaning of these words.

The derivational adjectival suffix –ed converts this newly formed base into

a word. It can be graphically represented as long legs ( [ (long–leg) +

–ed] ( long–legged. The suffix –ed becomes the grammatically and

semantically dominant component of the word, its head-member. It imparts

its part-of-speech meaning and its lexical meaning thus making an adjective

that may be semantically interpreted as ‘with (or having) what is denoted

by the motivating word-group’. Comparison of the pattern of compounds

proper like baby-sitter, pen-holder

[ n + ( v + –er ) ] with the pattern of derivational compounds like long-

legged [ (a + n) + –ed ] reveals the difference: derivational compounds are

formed by a derivational means, a suffix in case if words of the long-

legged type, which is applied to a base that each time is formed anew on a

free word-group and is not recurrent in any other type if words. It follows

that strictly speaking words of this type should be treated as pseudo-

compounds or as a special group of derivatives. They are habitually

referred to derivational compounds because of the peculiarity of their

derivational bases which are felt as built by composition, i.e. by bringing

together the stems of the member-words of a phrase which lose their

independence in the process. The word itself, e. g. long-legged, is built

by the application of the suffix, i.e. by derivation and thus may be

described as a suffixal derivative.

Derivational compounds or pseudo-compounds are all subordinative and fall

into two groups according to the type of variable phrases that serve as

their bases and the derivational means used:

a) derivational compound adjectives formed with the help of the

highly-productive adjectival suffix –ed applied to bases built

on attributive phrases of the A + N, Num + N, N + N type, e. g.

long legs, three corners, doll face. Accordingly the

derivational adjectives under discussion are built after the

patterns [ (a + n ) + –ed], e. g. long-legged, flat-chested,

broad-minded; [ ( пит + n) + –ed], e. g. two-sided, three-

cornered; [ (n + n ) + –ed], e. g. doll-faced, heart-shaped.

b) derivational compound nouns formed mainly by conversion applied

to bases built on three types of variable phrases — verb-adverb

phrase, verbal-nominal and attributive phrases.

The commonest type of phrases that serves as derivational bases for this

group of derivational compounds is the V + Adv type of word-groups as in,

for instance, a breakdown, a breakthrough, a castaway, a layout.

Semantically derivational compound nouns form lexical groups typical of

conversion, such as an act or instance of the action, e. g. a holdup — ‘a

delay in traffic’' from to hold up — ‘delay, stop by use of force’; a

result of the action, e. g. a breakdown — ‘a failure in machinery that

causes work to stop’ from to break down — ‘become disabled’; an active

agent or recipient of the action, e. g. cast-offs — ‘clothes that he

owner will not wear again’ from to cast off — ‘throw away as unwanted’; a

show-off — ‘a person who shows off’ from to show off — ‘make a display of

one's abilities in order to impress people’. Derivational compounds of this

group are spelt generally solidly or with a hyphen and often retain a level

stress. Semantically they are motivated by transparent derivative relations

with the motivating base built on the so-called phrasal verb and are

typical of the colloquial layer of vocabulary. This type of derivational

compound nouns is highly productive due to the productivity of conversion.

The semantic subgroup of derivational compound nouns denoting agents calls

for special mention. There is a group of such substantives built on an

attributive and verbal-nominal type of phrases. These nouns are

semantically only partially motivated and are marked by a heavy emotive

charge or lack of motivation and often belong to terms as, for example, a

kill-joy, a wet-blanket — ‘one who kills enjoyment’; a turnkey — ‘keeper of

the keys in prison’; a sweet-tooth — ‘a person who likes sweet food’; a red-

breast — ‘a bird called the robin’. The analysis of these nouns easily

proves that they can only be understood as the result of conversion for

their second ICs cannot be understood as their structural or semantic

centres, these compounds belong to a grammatical and lexical groups

different from those their components do. These compounds are all animate

nouns whereas their second ICs belong to inanimate objects. The meaning of

the active agent is not found in either of the components but is imparted

as a result of conversion applied to the word-group which is thus turned

into a derivational base.

These compound nouns are often referred to in linguistic literature as

"bahuvrihi" compounds or exocentric compounds, i.e. words whose semantic

head is outside the combination. It seems more correct to refer them to the

same group of derivational or pseudo-compounds as the above cited groups.

This small group of derivational nouns is of a restricted productivity, its

heavy constraint lies in its idiomaticity and hence its stylistic and

emotive colouring.

The linguistic analysis of extensive language data proves that there exists

a regular correlation between the system of free phrases and all types of

subordinative (and additive) compounds[26]. Correlation embraces both the

structure and the meaning of compound words, it underlies the entire system

of productive present-day English composition conditioning the derivational

patterns and lexical types of compounds.

-----------------------

[1] Randolph Quirk, Ian Svortik. Investigating Linguistic Acceptability.

Walter de Gruyter. Inc., 1966. P. 127-128.

[2] Robins, R. H. A short history of linguistics. London: Longmans, 1967.

P. 183.

[3] Henry Sweet, History of Language. Folcroft Library Editions,1876. P.

471.

[4] Zellig S. Harris, Structural Linguistics. University of Chicago Press,

1951. P. 255.

[5] Leonard Bloomfield, Language. New York, 1933

[6] Noam Avram Chomsky, Syntactic Structures. Berlin, 1957.

[7] Ibidem, p. 15.

[8] Ibidem, p. 4.

[9] Ibidem, p. 11.

[10] Ibidem, p. 10.

[11] Jukka Pennanen, Aspects of Finnish Grammar. Pohjoinen, 1972. P. 293.

[12] K. Zimmer, Levels of Linguistic Description. Chicago, 1964. P. 18.

[13] A. Ross Eckler’s letters to Daria Abrossimova, 2001.

[14] Kucera, H. & Francis, W. N. Computational analysis of present-day

American English. University Press of New England, 1967.

[15] Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language.

Random House Value Pub. 1996.

[16] A. Ross Eckler’s letters to Daria Abrossimova, 2001.

[17] Dmitri Borgmann. Beyond Language. Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1965.

[18] The Times Atlas of the World. Times Books. 1994.

[19] Rand McNally Commercial Atlas and Marketing Guide. Rand McNally & Co.

2000.

[20] Prof. Smirnitsky calls them “potential words” in his book on English

Lexicology (p. 18).

[21] Ginzburg R. A Course in Modern English Lexicology. Moscow, 1979. P.

113.

[22] Ibidem. P. 114-115.

[23] Marchand H. Studies in Syntax and Word-Formation. Munich, 1974.

[24] Ginzburg R. A Course in Modern English Lexicology. Moscow, 1979. P.

115.

[25] The spelling is given according to Webster’s New Collegiate

Dictionary, 1956 and H.C. Wyld. The Universal English Dictionary, 1952.

[26] Prof. A. I. Smirnitsky as far back as the late forties pointed out the

rigid parallelism existing between free word-groups and derivational

compound adjectives which he termed “grammatical compounds”.

Страницы: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5