What is a compound? The main criteria for compoundhood
This study aims to identify the main cross-linguistic criteria for compoundhood discussed in the relevant literature, with a special focus on English, ranking them from the most reliable to the least. These criteria - orthographic, phonological, syntactic and semantic in nature - have been proposed...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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2016-10-01
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| Series: | ExELL (Explorations in English Language and Linguistics) |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/exell-2017-0007 |
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| author | Altakhaineh Abdel Rahman Mitib |
| author_facet | Altakhaineh Abdel Rahman Mitib |
| author_sort | Altakhaineh Abdel Rahman Mitib |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study aims to identify the main cross-linguistic criteria for compoundhood discussed in the relevant literature, with a special focus on English, ranking them from the most reliable to the least. These criteria - orthographic, phonological, syntactic and semantic in nature - have been proposed to make a distinction between compounds and phrases. The analysis reveals that the most reliable cross-linguistic criteria to distinguish between phrases and compounds are adjacency and referentiality. With regard to the former criterion, no intervening elements can be inserted between the head and the non-head of compounds, whilst such insertion is allowed in phrases. With regard to the latter criterion, the non-head of a phrase is always referential, whereas the non-head of a compound is normally non-referential. Other criteria have been found to be partially applicable, e.g. free pluralisation of the non-head, compositionality, stress, possibilities for modification and coordination, ellipsis, orthography and the replacement of the second element by a pro-form. The study also proposes a definition for compounds that may be the most widely applicable. Finally, the study concludes with ranking the main criteria for compoundhood discussed in the study. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-338c14833c8540a5bf566f53f5fac983 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2303-4858 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2016-10-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | ExELL (Explorations in English Language and Linguistics) |
| spelling | doaj-art-338c14833c8540a5bf566f53f5fac9832025-01-31T08:34:31ZengSciendoExELL (Explorations in English Language and Linguistics)2303-48582016-10-0141588610.1515/exell-2017-0007exell-2017-0007What is a compound? The main criteria for compoundhoodAltakhaineh Abdel Rahman Mitib0Al Ain University of Science and Technology, Al Ain, United Arab EmiratesThis study aims to identify the main cross-linguistic criteria for compoundhood discussed in the relevant literature, with a special focus on English, ranking them from the most reliable to the least. These criteria - orthographic, phonological, syntactic and semantic in nature - have been proposed to make a distinction between compounds and phrases. The analysis reveals that the most reliable cross-linguistic criteria to distinguish between phrases and compounds are adjacency and referentiality. With regard to the former criterion, no intervening elements can be inserted between the head and the non-head of compounds, whilst such insertion is allowed in phrases. With regard to the latter criterion, the non-head of a phrase is always referential, whereas the non-head of a compound is normally non-referential. Other criteria have been found to be partially applicable, e.g. free pluralisation of the non-head, compositionality, stress, possibilities for modification and coordination, ellipsis, orthography and the replacement of the second element by a pro-form. The study also proposes a definition for compounds that may be the most widely applicable. Finally, the study concludes with ranking the main criteria for compoundhood discussed in the study.https://doi.org/10.1515/exell-2017-0007morphologyword-formationcompoundhoodphrasehoodderivation |
| spellingShingle | Altakhaineh Abdel Rahman Mitib What is a compound? The main criteria for compoundhood ExELL (Explorations in English Language and Linguistics) morphology word-formation compoundhood phrasehood derivation |
| title | What is a compound? The main criteria for compoundhood |
| title_full | What is a compound? The main criteria for compoundhood |
| title_fullStr | What is a compound? The main criteria for compoundhood |
| title_full_unstemmed | What is a compound? The main criteria for compoundhood |
| title_short | What is a compound? The main criteria for compoundhood |
| title_sort | what is a compound the main criteria for compoundhood |
| topic | morphology word-formation compoundhood phrasehood derivation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/exell-2017-0007 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT altakhainehabdelrahmanmitib whatisacompoundthemaincriteriaforcompoundhood |