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French endocentric compounds

This text explores the concepts of endocentric and exocentric compounds in the French language, as well as derivational morphology and the meaning constraints on affixes. It also covers conversion and suppletion in word formation.

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French endocentric compounds

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  1. French endocentric compounds • bateau-mouche Nmasc + Nfém Nmasc • maison-témoin Nfém + Nmasc Nfém • jaune-citronAdj • citron-vertN

  2. Exocentric compounds • black beltN = blackAdj + beltN • person who has a black belt • neither a kind of belt nor a kind of black • the semantic head is not part of the compound  exocentric compound • problem of the syntactic head

  3. More exocentric compounds • scarecrow (V + N) • porte-manteau (V + N) • blouson noir (N + Adj)

  4. Meaning relations in compounds • windmill, flour mill, pepper mill, etc. • N + mill • morphologically constructed meaning: “mill having some relation to N” • Lexeme meanings: • Windmill = mill that uses wind as energy source • Flour mill = mill that produces flour • Pepper mill = mill that grinds pepper

  5. Derivational morphology • Derivational morphemes • Derivational prefixes re-, dis-, trans-,un- • Derivational suffixes -ish, -ness, -ly • Apply to a stem and give a derived lexeme • Affixes are signs : form + meaning • Grammatical (abstract, instructional) meaning

  6. desirable likely inspired happy developed sophisticated ADJECTIVE undesirable unlikely uninspired unhappy undeveloped unsophisticated Form: UN- + ADJECTIVE Meaning: not + “adjective” Meaning of affixes

  7. Categorial and meaning constraints on affixes: un-Adj → Adj • Categorial constraints: un-Adj → Adj • Meaning: the meaning of the adjective obtained by prefixing un- to an adjective stem is ‘not “adj1” ’, where “adj1” is the meaning of the stem adjective. • un-Adj → Adj + trueAdj untrueAdj • ‘untrue’ = ‘not true’

  8. Meaning constraints on stems • unhappy vs. ??unsad • untrue vs. ??unfalse • unsafe vs. ??undangerous • unequal, unpublished, unquestionable

  9. Categorial and meaning constraints on affixes: un-V → V • wrap/unwrap • wind/unwind • tie/untie • Categorial constraints: un-V → V • Meaning: the meaning of the verb obtained by prefixing un- to a verb stem is ‘reverse of the action v1” ’, where “v1” is the meaning of the stem.

  10. Meaning constraints on stems • ??unanswer a question • ??ungive a gift • ??unmake • Generally, people make acquaintances after saying hi and exchanging a few pleasantries.It's important to know that you cannot unmake an acquaintance.

  11. Categorial and meaning constraints on affixes: un-N → V N  V mask unmask he unmasked the spy horse unhorse he unhorsed his enemy saddle unsaddle he unsaddled the horse Semantics: to un-N NP = remove N from NP or remove NP from N

  12. Meaning constraints on affixes: un-V → V and un-N → V • Fromkin et al. p. 90 • undo: reverse doing • untread: reverse treading • unearth: remove something from the earth • unfrock: remove his frock (from the cleric)  deprive a cleric of his ecclesiastic rank • unnerve: remove the nerve from (=frigthen, bother)

  13. Meaning constraints on affixes: un-V → V and un-N → V • unrip • unloosen

  14. Categorial and meaning constraints on affixes • happy/happiness • faithful/faithfulness • cold/coldness • Categorial constraints: -nessAdj → N • Meaning: the meaning of the noun obtained by suffixing –ness to an adjective stem is ‘state denoted by “adj” ’, where “adj” is the meaning of the stem.

  15. Rule productivity • Synchronic productivity in neology • wideAdj  widthN • longAdj  lengthN • strongAdj  strengthN • One cannot form new nouns from adjectives using the suffix –th, thus -th is non productive

  16. Rule productivity and lexical gaps • Limited applicability of affixes to bases of the correct category and meaning • -nessAdj → N • -ityAdj → N (rapidity, stupidity, certainty) rapidity ??rapidness *slowity slowness certainty ??certainness *sadity sadness stupidity %stupidness

  17. Order of derivations • unhappily = un + happy + ly • 3 possible orders of derivation

  18. (1) unhappilyAdv unAdjAdj happyAdj lyAdj→Adv unhappilyAdv (3) (2) unhappyAdj lyAdj→Adv unhappilyAdv happyAdj unAdjAdj happilyAdv unAdjAdj happyAdj lyAdj→Adv

  19. Conversion (Zero derivation) • nailN nailV • loveV loveN • redAdj redN • cleanAdj cleanV • downAdv/Prep downV , downAdj • to walk down (the street) • to down a beer • to feel down

  20. long  length wide  width flower  florist houseN  houseV permitV  permitN LONG = {//, //} WIDE = {//, / /} FLOWER = {//, //} HOUSE = {//, //} PERMIT = {//, //} Allomorphy

  21. cats dogs bushes PLURAL = {//, //, //} Phonologically conditioned allomorphy

  22. Suppletion • think, thought, thought • drink, drank, drunk • know, knew, known • loaf, loaves • mouse, mice • child, children

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