Understanding Compound Words in English Language

1. Compounding Prof. Walid Amer: Dean of the faculty of Arts Islamic University of Gaza

2. The components of Compounding words:

3. , Noun Postoffice, spaceship, Highschool, Womanteacher, he-goat, Dining-room, Parkinglot, Studentteacher, Paperbasket, self-expression, sunshine, bedroom, *departmentstore, Physicsbook. Verb+Noun: jump rope, pickpocket, flashlight

4. Noun+Verb: handshake, lifeguard. • *gerund+noun: living room, Swimming pool. • *noun+gerund: Fortune telling, House keeping,ice skating • Adjective+Noun:Gold coin, well-wisher, off-white, High school, smallpox, blackbird,*common sense,*blue print. • Particle+Noun: off-year, by-product, overdose • Verb+prep/Adverb: makeup, breakdown, grown‐up. • *Noun+pp: brother-in-law, commander-in-chief.

5. Noun+Verb: babysit, water skie, sleep-walk, sun-‐bathe, • Verb+Adjective: double-check. • Particle+Verb: overdo, outreach, overlook, upgrade. • *Adverb+Verb: ill-treat, dry-clean, cold-shoulder. Compound verb

6. Compound adjectives may consist of: Noun+Adjective: Water proof, Sky blue, air-borne, nationwide, • Adjective +Adjective: Icy cold, easygoing, good-hearted, • Noun+Noun:coffee-table,

7. noun+participle: French-speaking, good‐looking. • *adjective+past participle: absent-minded, blue--‐eyed, near-sighted, short-tempered. • *PP+Na wall-to-wall carpet. • *infinitive:a hard-to-please employer. • *coordinated elements a life-and-death struggle.

8. To combine between the two elements of compound, we have to take in consideration the relationship: • Syntactic relationship:like part of speech, co-ordination, verb and object, qualifier and noun, adverb and noun ,denoting the subject or the object. • Semantic relationship: denoting place or time, purpose, means or instrument, resemblance, and sex.

9. 34. Grammatical classification of compounds • according to Scalise &Bisetto• Subordinate compounds: head-complement relation Example: apple cake• Attributive compounds:the two constituents are in apposition to each other Example: snail mail• Coordinate compounds: no hierarchy between the constituents Example: girlfriend Does this mean that internal word order is arbitrary? Internal word ordering is rather constrained for subordinate and attributive compounds in English because the right hand constituent is generally the most important element

11. Compounds’ formationTypes of Compound nouns: • Solid or Closed form: consists of monosyllabic units. • Examples: lawsuit, wallpaper, makeup. • Hyphenated form: two or more units are combined by hyphens. • Examples: good-for-nothing, salt-and-pepper. • Opened or Spaced form: long words such as : distance learning, player piano, lawn tennis.

12. Analyzability: ( Transparency): • The meaning of the compound can be analyzed in different ways: 1. The relationship is attributive. The meaning of a compound noun is a specialization of the meaning of the head. The modifier limits the meaning. (endocentric compounds) Example: blackboard. 2. The relationships are expressed by prepositions, there is no obvious semantic head. (exocentric compounds) Examples: Footstool, armchair, office manager. 3. The meaning could be a generalization when the meaning could be induced from both units. Example: fighter bomber: it is an aircraft which is both fighter and bomber.

13. Compound Adjectives:It is a modifier of a noun. It consists of two or more morphemes where the left-hand morpheme narrows or changes the modification of the right hand one. Types of Compound adjectives • Solid modifiers: • Overtime usage: blackboard, downtown. • Number with fold as a suffix: sixfold, fifteenfold. • Points of compass: northwest, northwester

15. Hyphenated compound adjectives may have been formed originally by an adjective preceding a noun: • round table → round-table discussion • blue sky → blue-sky law • red light → red-light district • four wheels → four-wheel drive (the singular, not the plural, is used) • Others may have originated with a verb preceding an adjective or on adverb: • feel good → feel-good factor • buy now, pay later → buy-now pay-later purchase

16. Yet others are created with an original verb preceding a preposition. • stick on → stick-on label • walk on → walk-on part • stand by → stand-by fare • roll on, roll off → roll-on roll-off ferry

17. Compound Verbs • It is usually composed of a modifier and a verb. The modifier is usually a preposition but it can be an adverb, an adjective, a noun • Examples: Overrate, downsize, whitewash, browbeat.

18. Phrasal verbs: They are a combination of verb and prepositions. A phrasal verb is used in an idiomatic, figurative or even metaphorical context. The meaning of each word cannot be determined separately. Examples: Give in, find out, look after, blame on, serve as, look up to, etc.

19. Compounding in Arabic:

20. Other categories • Compound Numbers: from 11 to 19 • Numbers from 21 to 99. • Compound particles الحروف المركبة ( انما ، ربما، ريثما، حيثما، كيفما ، سيما ولا سيما ) *Defective verb Compounds: ما برح ، ما دام ، ما زال، ما فتئ *Two interrogative pronouns ماذا و منذا *proper noun: القاموس المحيط التل الكبير

21. Compound Nouns: • The structure (N+ Adj. ): the read seaالبحر الاحمر • A different syntactic structure: قسم من اقسام الكلام • Arabic possessive or Genitive structure: طلوع النهار ، عابر سبيل

22. Compound Adjective • Single-word adjectives: Trustworthyموثوق • Adj.+ Adj. : bitter sweetمر حلو dark blueازرق غامق • Simile: red-hotحار كالجمر blood-redاحمر كالدم • N+ Adj.+ Adj.: usually employing a prep. Sea-sickمصاب بدوران البحر blood thirstyمتعطش للدماء • Adv+ Adj. are rendered by possessive: Ever greenدائم الخضرة ever-ripe زائد الخضرة