Compounding

Compound is a word consisting of two or more stems (or free or bound morphemes).

E.g., user-friendly, scarecrow, in-law, forget-me-not, weekend

Compounding (Composition): the process of forming compound words by joining at least two stems together.

E.g., self-made, seasick, grey-green, wall-flower, whenever

The result of Compounding

1) a compound word: freeze-dry

2) a root word: handicap, twofer, whodunit, helluva

Compound Word Forming Mechanism

1) compounding duty + free = duty-free

2) conversion fr. compounds: to blueprint

fr. phrases: a cutthroat, show-me,

to six-pack, drive-by

3) back-formation to babysit fr. babysitting or babysitter

4) loan translation to brainwash fr. Chinese hsi nao “wash brain”

5) folk etymology go-down n. (in India and Eastern Asia) a warehouse [fr. Malay gĕdong or gudong warehouse]

cat-soup (var. of ketchup or

catchup)

Compounds are

1. Closed (written as one word) outline

2. Open (written as separate words) mountain range

3. Hyphenated (written with hyphens) how-to, two-step

Pseudocompounds are words having the same form as compounds proper (hyphenated or closed, forestressed, semantically united), but whose constituents, however, are non-existent in the English language. Pseudo-compounds are found among phonetic (true) borrowings.

E.g., sang-froid (fr. French)

donnybrook (fr. Donnybrook in Ireland)

Compound Derivative (derivational compound) is a word comprising an affix

(prefix or suffix) that refers to the combination as a whole, not to one of its elements.

E.g., a (red-jacket)ed Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Updike)

(elder-brother)ly way … (Wodehouse)

(bloodthirsti)ness, (lost-soul)ish, mis(understand),

un(wifelike), (up-to-date)ness

Types of Compounding

1. stem juxtaposition top-notch, my-all

2. with a linking element

a) vowel artifact, drunkometer

b) consonant spokesperson

c) preposition four-by-four, hand-to-hand, free-for-all

d) conjunction so-and-so, do-or-die, inasmuch

3. lexicalization of phrases killmequick, know-it-all

Type of Stem

1. simple (root or combining form) world-wide

2. derived touchy-feely, mock-heroically, chair-warmer

3. compound microprocessor-based, highwaywoman

4. compound-derived absentmindedness

5. abbreviated B-ball (basketball), odd-bod (body), lip-sync (synchronize)

6. reduplicating flip-flop, dilly-dally, teeny-weeny

Combining Form (or semi-affix) is a free morpheme (stem) with derivational affix properties acquired through great combining capacity and frequent use.

E.g., phobia n. a persistent, abnormal, or irrational fear of a specific thing or situation. Pete has a phobia on the subject. (Franics. Dead…) I hope mademoiselle does not have claustrophobia. (Sheldon. If…)

bibliophobia fear of books

bathophobia fear of depth

chronophobia fear of time

gamophobia fear of marriage

musicophobia fear of music

rhytiphobia fear of getting wrinkles

telephonophobia fear of using the telephone

verbaphobia fear of words

politicophobia fear of, aversion to politicians

zoophobia fear of animals

man n. a human being, person

Any man could do that.

Businessman, chairman, fireman, policeman, salesman, bottle-man, gunman

happy adj. having a feeling of or showing pleasure and joy; enjoying

-happy somewhat insane over or excessively wrought upon what is

indicated: car-happy, power-happy, slap-happy, trigger-happy

proof adj. fully resistant; impervious

Our security is what you call proof from fools. (Sheldon. If…)

bulletproof resistant to bullets

fireproof that will not burn

foolproof so safe and simple that even a fool can use or do it

kissproof (of lipstick) resistive to kisses

pityproof unaffected by pity

waterproof protected against water

mini distinctly smaller that others of its class

You see him zipping by in the family mini. (Barnhart)

Miniskirt, minibus, minibike, minicomputer, miniseries, ministate, minivan

Coordinative compound is a compound whose components are structurally and semantically independent and constitute two structural and semantic centers.

E.g., actor-manager n. hit-run adj.

willy-nilly adj. walkie-talkie n.

bittersweet adj.

Subordinative compound is a compound whose components are neither structurally nor semantically equal in importance, and one of them dominates the other.

E.g., badlands, color-blind, evergreen, grandma, playgirl

Syntactic compound is a compound that conforms to grammatical patterns current in the language.

E.g., northwest, coverall, double-quick, headfirst, maybe, talked-of,

butter-and-eggs, for-free

Asyntactic compound is a compound that does not conform to grammatical patterns current in the language.

E.g., double-speak n. second-guess v.

least-worst adj. deep-most adj.

arm-twist v.

Endocentric compound belongs to the same lexico-grammatical class as one of its constituents.

E.g., germ-free adj. in-patient n.

she-wolf n. home-made adj.

between-brain n. spaceship n.

Exocentric compound does not belong to the same lexico-grammatical class as any of its constituents.

E.g., top-notch N + N = Adj

wall-flower Nnon-personal + Nnon-personal = Npersonal

also-ran Adv + V = N

killjoy V + Nnon-personal = Npersonal

eighty-six Numeral + Numeral = Verb

Idiomatic compound is a compound whose meaning is not deducible from the meaning of its components.

E.g., killjoy n. A morose pessimist

wallflower n. A person, especially a woman, who is uncourted at a dance, party

greenback n. A note of U.S currency

fifty-fifty adv. Being equally likely and unlikely

soft-pedal v. To make less emphatic or obvious

Non-idiomatic compound is a compound whose meaning is deducible from the meaning of its components.

E.g., mother-in-law, after-dinner, straightforward, day-long, germ-free

Bahuvrihi is a two-stem exocentric idiomatic compound noun denoting a person or thing possessing a certain characteristic. The first component describes a quality possessed by the second.

E.g., lazybones, butterfingers, paperback, egghead, highbrow