4.2 CompoundingDefinition: compounding (or

composition) is the formation of new words by joining two or more bases.A compound is a ‘lexical unit consisting of more than one base and functioning both grammatically and semantically as a single word’.

e.g.: bedroom reading-room dining room

solid hyphenated open

4.2.1 characteristics of compounds1). Phonological features

The compounds and phrases are different in stress pattern.

Compound Free phrase

a ‘bluebird a blue ‘bird

a ‘blackboard a black ‘board

a ‘darkroom a dark ‘room

Sometimes two compounds have similar construction, but one may have a compound accent, and the other may have a phrase accent.‘grass hopper but grass ‘roots

‘red brick but red ‘tape

‘back-formation but back ‘yard

Besides, compounds of the participial adjective-noun kind have phrase accent.

e.g.: split in’finitive

.It is also common for both components of a compound to have level stress.

e.g.: ‘short-’sighted

‘shrink-’wrap

2).Semantic Features

Semantically, compounds can be said to have a meaning which may be related to but cannot always be inferred from the meaning of its component parts.

Sometimes, the lexical meaning of the components are closely joined together to create a compound with a meaning which one can easily recognize.

e.g.: backdoor sunset workday However, one can not always tell what the compound means by the words it contains.e.g.: dog days means the hottest days of the year — in July and August

blue blood means the quality of being a nobleman by birthblue ribbon means an honor given to the winner of the first prize in a competition

3). Grammatical Features The one-wordness of compounds decides that they tend to fill a single grammatical slot in a sentence. They can only make changes at the end of the words rather than in the middle.

e.g.: loud-speaker(扩音器 ) has no forms like *louderspeaker or *loudestspeaker .

He is the loudest speaker.

In this sentence, the loudest speaker is only a free phrase but not a compound.

There are also exceptions, although not very much.

e.g.: attorneys general(检察总长）

chiefs of staff(参谋长）

women doctors

4). Orthographical Features As mentioned earlier, spelling conventions are not often dependable because some compounds can be written in all the three forms.e.g.: airline air-line air line

The general tendency nowadays is for compounds to be written ‘solid’ as they have gained permanent status; otherwise they are written open.

4.2.2 classification of compounds

Compounds are here classified according to parts of speech of the compounds, i.e. as noun compounds, adjective compounds and verb compounds, which are then subdivided by the syntactic relation of the compounding elements

(this relation is indicated by syntactic paraphrase).

1. Noun compounds: This is the commonest type, and new specimens are constantly being formed. Noun compounds are subclassified according to the syntactic relation of the compounding elements:

(a) Subject and verb: The verb may take the form of the base or that of the base plus –ing.

e.g.: crybaby— the baby cries

sunrise —the sun rises

revolving door—the door revolves

(b) Verb and object: The verb may take the form of the base or that of the base+-ing.

e.g.: haircut—to cut the hair

pickpocket—to pick other’s pocket

scarecrow—to scare the crow

housekeeping—to keep house

dressmaking—to make dresses

(c) Verb and adverbial: Verbal noun in –ing +adverbial (consisting of a prepositional phrase)

e.g. : swimming pool—to swim in the pool

diving board— to dive from a board

drinking cup—to drink out of a cup

typing paper—to type on paper

(d) Subject and object

e.g. : sugar cane —the cane yields sugar

steamboat—steam power the boat

honeybee—the bee produces honey

television screen—the television has

the screen

(f) Appositive relation (subject complement): the first element is in apposition to the second one

e.g. : a peasant girl—the girl is a peasant

a pine tree— the tree is a pine

safety-belt—the belt is for safety

girlfriend—the friend is a girl

e) Restrictive relation: the first element restricts the meaning of the second

e.g.: raindrop—a drop of rain

moonwalk—a walk on the moon

evening school—a school in the evening

tablecloth—a cloth for the table

breakfast time — time for breakfast

★ When the first element of a noun compound is itself a compound, such a compound is called a string compound. e.g. test-tube baby --- one conceived by artificial insemination, or developed elsewhere than in a mother’s body.

★ Compound nouns can also be formed from phrasal verbs. This type is very common in contemporary English.

e.g.: sit-in dropout phone-in

breakdown setback take-off

2. Adjective compounds: Adjective compounds are also subclassified according to the syntactic relation of the compounding elements

(a) Subject and verb: The verb is in the form of past participle.

e.g.: thunder-struck (大吃一惊的 )

weather-beaten (饱经风霜的 )

suntanned (晒黑的 )

(b) Verb and object: the verb is in the form of present participle

e.g.: fault-finding ---to find fault

peaceloving ---to love peace

record-breaking---to break records

(c) Verb and adverbial: The verb is in the form of present participle or past participle

e.g.: hardworking---to work hard

well-behaved---to behave well

everlasting---to last forever

(d) verb and predicative

e.g.: sweet-smelling---to smell sweet

good-looking---to look good

(e) coordinating relationship: The two adjectives are in a coordinating relationship

e.g.: bittersweet ---sweet but bitter

Anglo-French---relation between

Great Britain and France

(f) noun and adjective

(1) The noun denoting respect. It is very productive type with certain adjectives that complemented by preposition+noun

e.g.: taxfree ---free from tax

seasick ---sick due to sailing on the sea

fireproof ---proof against fire

watertight---tight against water

(2) The noun denoting the thing with which the adjective is compared (as+ adjective+ as+ noun, adjective like noun)

e.g. :ocean green ---as green as ocean

crystal-clear ---as clear as a crystal

shoulder-high ---as high as shoulders

knee-deep----so deep as to reach the knees

★ Adjective compounds may also be formed from :

(a) Phrasal verbs:

e.g.: No one will listen to your made-up stories.

(You made up your stories.)

We like your well brought-up children.

(You have brought up children well.)

(b) adverbial phrases:

e.g.: They kept a round-the-clock watch on the house.

(they watched the house round the clock.)

The police made an on the spot (then and there)

inspection.

(The police inspected the case on the spot.)

(c) From proverbs and idiomatic expressions:

e.g.: My grandmother displayed a never-to-be-too-old-to-learn spirit. (from the proverb ”One is never too old to learn.” )

He told the whole story in a matter-of –fact tone. (from “as a matter of fact.” )

(d) From an attributive clause:

e.g.: a jet-propelled plane(=a plane

that is propelled by jet)

a machine-independent tool

(=a tool that is independent of

a machine)

3. Verb compounds: Verb compounds fall into two main groups according to their method of formation:

(a) Those formed by back-formation: Back-formation is a “reversal” of derivation

e.g.: house-keep is formed by deleting –ing and –er from housekeeping and housekeeper, which entered the language much earlier.

to vacuum clean---from vacuum cleaner

to babysit---from babysitting and babysitter to windowshop---from window-shopping

(b) Those formed by conversion. In this case, the verb compounds are converted from noun compounds

e.g.: to nickname they nicknamed him “fats” because of his weight. to honeymoon to machine-gun to outline to snowball These verb compounds are very often used in colloquial speech.

For example: among the noun compounds, such words as listed below are not classified:

has-been: a person or thing that was formerly popular or effective but is no longer so

beginner’s luck: good luck supposed to attend beginners at games, etc.

e.g. :up-to-the-minute information is more vivid than the latest information.

a schoolboy is more concise than a boy attending school.

Adjective compounds like coffee-pot-fresh, dew-bright and lemon-fragrant, often seen in advertising, are particularly vivid