14. Compounding in English

This type of word-building, in which new words are produced by combining two or more stems, is one of the three most productive types in Modern English, the other two are conversion and affixation.Phоnetiсallу compounds are marked by a specific structure of their own.Graphically most compounds have two types of spelling — they are spelt either solidly or with a hyphen. Semantically compound words are generally motivated units. The meaning of the compound is first of all derived from the’ combined lexical meanings of its components.Morphologically compound words are characterised by the specific order and arrangement in which bases follow one another. There are different classifications of compound words: 1From the point of view of degree of semantic independence: coordinative compounds – the two ICs are semantically equally important (oak-tree, girl-friend, Anglo-American); and 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. 2From part of speech they form: compound words are found in all parts of speech, but the bulk of compounds are nouns and adjectives. 3From the point of view of the means by which the components are joined together compound words may be classified into: words formed by merely placing one constituent after another in a definite order; 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, e.g., speedometer, tragicomic, statesman; 4) The description of compound words through the correlation with variable word-groups makes it possible to classify them into four major classes: adjectival-nominal (snow-white, age-long, care-free), verbal-nominal (office-management, price-reduction, wage-cut, hand-shake), nominal (windmill, horse-race, pencil-case) and verb-adverb compounds (break-down, runaway, castaway).

5 Change of meaning in English

Word-meaning is liable to change in the course of the historical development of language. Causes of Semantic Change

1. extra-linguistic — various changes in the life of the speech community, changes in economic and social structure, way of life and other spheres of human activities as reflected in word meanings

2. linguistic —. factors acting within the language system

 ellipsis In a phrase made up of two words one of these is omitted and its meaning is transferred to its partner.

 differentiation of synonyms The word land, e.g., in Old English (OE. land) meant both ’solid part of earth’s surface’ and ‘the territory of a nation’.

linguistic analogy — if one of the members of a synonymic set acquires a new meaning other members of this set change their meanings too.

Nature of semantic change. There are two kinds of association involved as a rule in various semantic changes namely:

Similarity of meanings or metaphor — a semantic process of associating two referents, one of which in some way resembles the other. (He is a fox. She is a Don Juan); Contiguity of meanings or metonymy — the semantic process of associating two referents one of which makes part of the other or is closely connected with it.

Results of semantic change can be generally observed in the changes of the denotational meaning of the word (restriction and extension of meaning) or in the alteration of its connotational component (amelioration and deterioration of meaning).

Changes in the denotational meaning

1. restriction of the types or range of referents denoted by the word

1. specialisation of meaning — if the word with the new meaning comes to be used in the specialised vocabulary of some limited group within the speech community it is usual to speak of

2. extension of meaning—application of the word to a wider variety of referents.

generalisation of meaning — the word with the extended meaning passes from the specialised vocabulary into common use

1. pejorative development — acquisition by the word of some derogatory emotive charge

ameliorative development — improvement of the connotational component of meaning..