Lecture the word and its meaning

IY. Compounding. Classification of compounds. Criteria of compounding. Borderline cases (semi-affixes).

Compounding is a way of forming new words by joining together two or more stems that occur in the language as free forms (separate words).

There are several classifications of compound words.

According to the way the stems are joined we distinguish:

1. 
   compounds made by juxtaposition without any connecting elements, e.g. heartache, heart-beat, heart-burn, heart-attack;
   
2. 
   compounds with a vowel or a consonant as a linking element between the stems, e.g. speedometer, handicraft, craftsman;
   
3. 
   compounds with linking elements represented by prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns: son-in-law, up-to-date, hide-and-seek, forget-me-not.
   

According to the structure of stems we distinguish:

1. 
   compounds consisting of simple stems, e.g. film-star, sun-beam;
   
2. 
   compounds in which at least one of the stems is a derivative, e.g. chain-smoker, mill-owner;
   
3. 
   compounds in which at least one of the stems is clipped (shortened), e.g. math-mistress, lab-test;
   
4. 
   compounds in which at least one of the stems is a compound by itself, e.g. wastepaper-basket.
   

According to the relations between the stems compounds are divided into endocentric and exocentric. In endocentric compounds one of the stems is the main and the other describes, characterizes it, serves to differentiate it from similar ones. E.g. a sun-beam (not moon-beam or torch-beam), text-book (not exercise-book or note-book or reference book). The main component is also grammatically the most important part which undergoes morphological changes: sunbeams, brothers-in-law, textbooks. In exocentric compounds we cannot distinguish the main stem, the status of stems is equal, e.g. a killjoy.

According to their conformity to current grammatical patterns of the language, compounds are divided into syntactic, which conform to the patterns and may be transformed into corresponding word combinations, and asyntactic, which do not. E.g. syntactic: a sea-shore (a shore of the sea), bookselling (selling books), a bookbinder (a person who binds books). Asyntactic: babysitting (not sitting babies), bookmaker (not a person who makes books).

According to the degree of their motivation, compounds are divided into idiomatic and non-idiomatic. Idiomatic compounds are different in meaning from the corresponding word combinations, e.g. a blackboard is not necessarily black and may be not a board at all being made of plastic, linoleum, etc. In non-idiomatic compounds the meaning is equal to the sum of the meanings of its components, e.g. text-book, seagull.

It is not always easy to differentiate a compound word from a word combination. There are several criteria to help with this task. Unfortunately, no one type of criteria is normally sufficient for establishing the status of a lexical unit, is relevant by itself. We need at least two of them to be sure.

1). Graphic criterion: solid or hyphenated spelling proves that the unit is a compound word. However, English spelling is not consistent enough, e.g. airline, air-line, air line; textbook, phrase-book, reference book.
2). Phonological criterion: compounds usually have a single stress on the first syllable: ice-cream, blackboard (compare: a black board – each word is equally stressed). But the rule doesn’t hold with adjectives which are always double-stressed (green-grey, snow-white), the stress may be logical (It’s an express train, not a passenger train) or the stress may help to differentiate the meaning of compounds (e.g. mankind).
3). Semantic criterion: A compound expresses a single idea, which is not identical in meaning to the sum of the meanings of its components in a free phrase (e.g. blackboard). But it cannot be applied to clearly motivated compounds (e.g. sunrise) or to idiomatic phrases (e.g. it rains cats and dogs).
4). Syntactical criterion is based on comparing a compound and the phrase comprising the same morphemes. E. g. black birds can be modified by very (very black birds) and it is impossible with the compound blackbirds. However, the criterion cannot serve to distinguish compounds from set expressions in which the words cannot be modified either: black market, black list (cannot say a very black list).
5). Morphological criteria include: a) formal integrity (e.g. shipwrecks may be wrecks ofa ship or wreck of several ships or wrecks of several ships; window-cleaner does not clean just one window, the same about cigar-smoker or lip-reading. The plural number present in the corresponding phrases is neutralized in compounds.) But such examples are not numerous; b) connective elements (e.g. Anglo-Saxon, craftsman). But there are very few words like that.
No criterion is sufficient by itself.

Sometimes it is not easy to distinguish a compound from a derivative either. Such elements as man, berry, land, etc. have acquired valency similar to that of affixes. They are now unstressed, their lexical meaning is somewhat weakened, e.g. like, proof, worthy. The elements like this may be called semi-affixes. E.g. fire-proof, damp-proof, kiss-proof; mini-bus, mini-crisis, mini-dress. The factors conducing to transition of free forms into semi affixes are high semantic productivity, adaptability, high valency and brevity.