5.3.1 Classification of Compounds

As we discussed earlier, compounds consist of more than one root, but very often these roots do not belong to the same word class. Since the last element of a compound carries the lexical meaning, it also carries the grammatical meaning. As a general rule, the word class of the last element determines the class of the compound. Therefore, we classify compounds according to the word class: noun compounds, verb compounds, adjective compounds, adverb compounds, and special noun compounds.

Noun compounds are the ones whose first component belongs to any word class, e.g., a noun, an adjective, a verb, or an adverb, but the last element is a noun. Examples of noun compounds are the following:

N + N (modifier—head): doorbell, moonbeam, birdbrain, egghead, and eyewitness

Adj + N (modifier—head): blackboard, blackbird, highball, bluebonnet, and greenhouse

V + N (verb—object): daredevil, pickpocket, killjoy, and breakwater

Adv + N (not syntactic): afterthought Verb compounds are the ones whose first component belongs to any word class, e.g., a noun, an adjective, a verb, or an adverb, but the last element is a verb. Examples of verb compounds are the following:

N + V (Object—Verb): brainwash, browbeat

V + V (co-ordinate): dropkick, freeze-dry

Adj + V (not syntactic): whitewash

Adv+ V (modifier—head): downgrade, undercut

Adjective compounds are the ones whose first component belongs to any word class, except a verb, but the last element is an adjective. Verbs do not combine with adjectives. Examples of adjective compounds are the following:

N + Adj (not syntactic): seasick, snow-white

Adj+Adj (co—ordinate): metallic-green, blue-green

Adv+Adj (modifier—head): nearsighted

Adverb compounds are not numerous. The combination of two adverbs constitutes an adverb compound: throughout, into.

The last group contains special noun compounds: V + Adv=Noun compound. This class of compounds is the only one which does not follow the general rule. In this case neither of the components determines the word class of the compound. The noun compound drive-in is formed from the verb drive and the adverb in.

5.3.2 Endocentric and Exocentric Compounds

Compounds express a wide range of meaning relationships. Leonard Bloomfield offers a classification based on the “relation of the compound as a whole to its members” (1935, p.235). He makes the distinction between “endocentric and exocentric compounds” (p.235). He borrows these terms from syntax and applies them to compounds. Most of the compounds are endocentric. A compound denotes a subtype of concept derived from its head, which is usually the last element of the compound; for example, steamboat means a boat driven by steampower. “Headedness is shown most clearly by hyponymy: the compound as a whole is a hyponym of its head” (Bauer, 1983). A compound word in which one member identifies the general class to which the meaning of the entire word belongs is called an endocentric compound (O’Grady, Archibald, Aronoff, & Rees-Miller, 2001, p.713). An exocentric compound does not have a head. A compound whose meaning does not follow from the meaning of its parts (e.g., redneck) is called an exocentric compound. Bloomfield argues that there are some compounds which can be endocentric and exocentric, depending on the meaning realized in the sentence. A good example is bittersweet. This compound is formed of two adjectives; therefore, it functions as an adjective endocentric compound, but it may not be a case if bittersweet is used to denote a poisonous Eurasian woody vine (Solanum dulcamara) or a North American poisonous woody vine (Celastrus scandens). In this instance, bittersweet functions as a noun; therefore, it is exocentric because “as a noun, it differs in grammatical function from the two adjective members” (Bloomfield, 1935, p. 135). Another example is bluebonnet. It is an endocentric compound if it denotes a wide flat round cap of blue wool formerly worn in Scotland. However, when it denotes the official Texas state flower, then it is exocentric. As these examples show, when a compound functions the same as the head member, it is still considered an exocentric compound because it is not a hyponym of its head. In the example of redneck, neck is the head component; however, in the modern usage, redneck is not a type of neck but a stereotyped person with rural, right-wing associations.