WORD BUILDING:

COMPOSITION (Compounding)

Composition is a device by means of which new words are formed as a result of the semantic-
grammatical combination of two or more words.

According to form, in English compounds are classified into:

a. closed forms – in which the constituents are melted together: pickpocket (hot de buzunare), redcoat
(soldat britanic)
b. hyphenated forms – in which the words are separated with a hyphen: lion-hearted, a knock-down, first-
class
c. open forms – which are compounds where the two constituents are written separately:
breakfast room, washing machine

According to the semantic criteria, compounds can be subdivided into four groups:
1. If the compound is a hyponym* of the grammatical head (e.g. an armchair is a kind of chair = the head)
this type of compound will be termed as an ENDOCENTRIC compound. (e.g. also footprint, fingerprint –
the grammatical head = print, the compound is a hyponym of print).
* hyponym = a word that is conceptually included within the definition of another word; a
subordinate word (=a word that is more specific than a given word): x is a hyponym of y if x is a kind of y
e.g. scarlet, crimson, carmine – are all hyponyms of red
oak – kind of tree house - kind of dwelling
- hyponym of tree - hyponym of dwelling

2. If the compound is not a hyponym of the grammatical head (e.g. a redskin is not a type of skin) this type
of compound will be termed as an EXOCENTRIC compound.
3. If the compound is a hyponym of both constituent elements (e.g. a maidservant – is a type of maid and a
type of servant) this type of compound will be termed as appositional compound.
4. If it is not clear which element is the grammatical head and the compound is not a hyponym of either
element, but the elements name separate entities which combine to form the entity denoted by the
compound, this type of compound is termed copulative compound: sun and moon, Alsace-Lorraine.

With regard to their head, compounds in English have a very important feature: their head generally occurs
on the right-hand side (exception: copulative compounds, where it is not clear which element is the
grammatical head). The vast majority of compounds are interpreted in such a way that the left-hand
member somehow modifies the right-hand member:
• a film society is a kind of society (namely one concerned with films)
• a parks commissioner is a commissioner occupied with parks
• to deep-fry is a verb designating a kind of frying
• knee-deep - as in knee-deep water tells us something about how deep the water is

Compound words versus free word groups (phrases):

Stress pattern represents a criterion used for distinguishing a compound word from a free word group
(phrase). In case of compounds, the stress is on the left-hand element (on the 1st word), while in case of
phrases the stress is on the last element.
e.g. nominal compounds: [páyment problems], [installátion guide], [spáce requirement]
noun phrases: [the green cárpet], [this new hóuse], [such a good jób]

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bláckboard (compound) - ‘a board to write on’
a black bóard (phrase) - ‘a board that is black’
gréenhouse (compound) - a glass building for growing plants’
a green hóuse (phrase) - ‘a house that is green’
óperating instructions (compound) ‘instructions for operating something’
operating instrúctions (phrase) ‘instructions that are operating’
instálling options (compound) - ‘options for installing something’
installing óptions (phrase) ‘the installing of options’

Exceptions to the stress pattern rule: geologist-astrónomer, apple píe, scholar-áctivist, Michigan hóspital,
Madison Ávenue, Boston marathon, summer night, aluminum fóil

Classification of compounds according to the parts of speech:

A. COMPOUND NOUNS

1. NOUN+NOUN
This is the largest subgrouping of compounds. (It has also subgroupings according to basic semantic
relationships and morpho-syntactic criteria).
a. The first subgroup is made up of exocentric compounds: e.g skinhead, hatchback
b. the second subgroup is made up of appositional compounds: e.g. boy-friend, manservant, woman doctor
c. copulative compounds: Cadbury-Schweppes, Rank-Hovis-McDougal, Rowntree-Mackintosh
d. Gerund+noun
Since a gerund has both nominal and verbal characteristics, this pattern could be treated as either
noun+noun or verb+noun. Unlike other compounds containing a verbal element, however, the elements in
these compounds all end in –ING and the semantic relationships between the two elements seem more like
those which hold in NOUN+NOUN compounds than those which hold in VERB+NOUN compounds.
e.g. holding pattern or a fishing rod is a rod for fishing just as a bath towel is a towel for the bath
e. Proper noun-noun: e.g. Wellington airport, Utah effect etc
f. compounds made up of two common nouns
This is by far the most productive type of compound.
e.g. cable television, language laboratory, safety razor, domino effect, family planning

2. VERB+NOUN e.g. pickpocket, makeshift, cut-throat (ucigas), hovercraft

3. NOUN+VERB (not so productive) e.g. birth control, sunshine
4. VERB+VERB is extremely rare and probably not productive
e.g. make-believe
5. ADJECTIVE +NOUN e.g fast-food, hot-pepper, blackbird, software
6. PARTICLE+NOUN e.g. over-stock, off-islander, in-crowd
7. ADVERB+NOUN is a very restricted pattern, partly because only adverbs of time or place occur in such
compounds
e.g. now generation, through-train, uptrain
8. VERB+ADVERB e.g. drawback
9. VERB+PARTICLE these are nominalizations of phrasal verbs
e.g. pray-in, teach-in, press down, drop out, put on
10. PHRASE COMPOUNDS are constructions where an entire phrase seems to be involved in the
formation of a new word
e.g. son-in-law, pepper-and-salt, forget-me-not
11. ADVERB+VERB e.g. welcome, welfare, outcome
12. ADVERB+PAST PARTICIPLE by-gones, outcast, outburst
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B. COMPOUND VERBS

They are represented by various combinations:

1. NOUN + VERB: to waylay
2. ADVERB + VERB: to backslide; to backbite
3. ADJECTIVE + VERB: to whitewash, to blackmail
4. VERB + NOUN: shunpike
5. PARTICLE + VERB: to overachieve, to overeducate
6. ADJECTIVE + NOUN: to bad-mouth
7. VERB + VERB: to dare-say, test-market
8. NOUN + NOUN: to breath-test
A subcategory of compound verbs is that of complex verbs made up of a main verb and adverbial
element, which usually modifies the meaning of the verb:
to bring about = a determina, a cauza
to bring up = a creste, a educa
to fall out = a se certa

C. COMPOUND ADJECTIVES are formed according to a large number of different patterns:

1. NOUN + ADJECTIVE: is the most frequent type of compound adjective: e.g. crystal-clear, card-carrying
2. ADJECTIVE + ADJECTIVE: e.g. bitter-sweet, open-ended, ready-made, dark-blue
3. ADVERB + ADJECTIVE: e.g. over-qualified, evergreen
4. ADVERB + PRESENT/PAST PARTICIPLE: e.g. well-meaning, ill-favoured, easy-going
5. VERB + NOUN: e.g. roll-neck (sweater)
6. ADJECTIVE + NOUN: e.g. red-brick (university)
7. VERB + VERB: this type must be assumed to be new and possibly growing
e.g. go-go (dancer), pass-fail (test)
8. ADJECTIVE/ADVERB + VERB: e.g. high-rise (tower), quick-change (artist)
9. VERB + PARTICLE: see-through (blouse)
10. NOUN + INDEFINITE PARTICIPLE/PAST PARTICIPLE: e.g. good-looking, life-giving, moonlit
(luminat de lună), crest-fallen (abătut, necăjit)
Another characteristic device is composition by partial conversion and suffixation:
e.g. adjective + noun + (e)d
blue-eyed, short-fingered, kind-hearted, short-sleeved, double-bedded

D. COMPOUND ADVERBS
e.g. beforehand = dinainte, în prealabil
henceforward = de aici înainte
wherefrom = de unde
E. Compound prepositions – into, onto, because of, throughout
F. Compound pronouns: self-forms and somebody, anyone etc
G. Compound conjunctions: whenever, so that
H. Rhyme-motivated compounds: in these compounds, the rhyme between the two elements is the major
motivating factor in the formation
e.g. roly-poly, gang-bang, teeny-weeny
I. Ablaut-motivated compounds:
Similar in many ways to rhyme-motivated compounds are those involving ablaut, i.e. vowel change or
alternation between the two elements:
e.g. zig-zag, flip-flop
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J. Disguised compounds: are a variety of compounds whose constituent elements have blended to the degree
of being difficult to distinguish
e.g smog (smoke + fog); motel (motor + hotel); cheeseburger (cheese + burger); milkaholic (milk +
alcoholic); foolosopher (fool + philosopher); medicare (medical + care); electrocute (electricity + execute);
fantabulous (fantastic + fabulous); pictionary (picture + dictionary); Oxbridge (Oxford + Cambridge); smist
(smog + mist)
K. Compound derivatives: are words, usually nouns and adjectives consisting of a compound stem and a
suffix:
e.g type-writer, house-keeping, bed-sitter (garsonieră), blue-eyed, high-heeled, rosy – cheeked, sharp-
tongued

CONVERSION

Conversion (“zero derivation” or “shift”) is the process by which a part of speech is changed into
another part of speech without modifying the form of the word (i.e. without adding any affixes or
formatives). Thus, verbs may be converted into nouns, nouns into verbs, adjectives into nouns or verbs,
adverbs and pronouns into nouns, pronouns into verbs.
Verbs may be derived from the stem of almost any part of speech but the most common is the conversion
from noun stems:
e.g. a doctor (noun) becomes to doctor (‘to treat as a doctor’; ‘to falsify’ (e.g. to doctor photos); ‘ to confer
the degree Doctor upon’; ‘ to sophisticate’)
aircraft –to aircraft
slogan – to slogan
a face – to face
a star—to star
a finger—to finger (‘to touch with fingers’)
an eye – to eye (‘to observe, to watch’)
a baby—to baby (‘to treat as a baby’)
a handbag – to handbag (‘to treat ruthlessly’)
room - to room
Verbs may also be derived from other parts of speech, such as adjectives and adverbs or : wrong—to wrong;
better—to better; slow—to slow; up—to up; down—to down; happy—to happy; calm—to calm; ready—to
ready; slow—to slow; clear—to clear.

Nouns are usually converted from verb stems: to make—a make, to walk – a walk, to cut – a cut; to drive –
a drive; to try – a try; to laugh – a laugh; to move – a move; to ride – a ride.
Phrasal verbs are often turned into nouns by means of conversion:
to make up – a make up; to call up – a call up; to pull over – a pullover.

The derived word and the deriving one are connected semantically. The semantic relations between them
are varied. For example,
a. the verb denotes the act accomplished by means of the thing expressed by the noun:
to hand – (the noun: hand) ‘to give a help with the hand, to deliver, to transfer by hand’;
to finger (‘to touch with fingers’).
b. the verb may have the meaning “to act as the person/animal/thing denoted by the noun does”: to cook =
‘to prepare food, to do the work of a cook’;
to dog = ‘to follow closely’ (but also, metaphorically, ‘to worry’);
to robot

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c. the derived verbs may have the meaning “to go by” or “to travel with the thing denoted by the noun”: to
train = to go by train; to bus; to tube etc.
d. the derived verbs may have the meaning “to spend, to pass the time expressed by the noun”: to winter =
to spend the winter; to weekend = to spend the weekend), to summer, to holiday.
Derived nouns denote: 1. the act as…: a knock, a smoke; 2. the result of an action: a cut, a run, a sip
(sorbitură), a call.
A characteristic feature of modern English is the growing frequency of new formations by conversion
especially among verbs.

Other types of conversion are:

1. Adjectives into nouns: legitimate – the legitimate; rich - the rich; dead – the dead(s); injured – the
injured(s); needy - the needy; good - the good; aged - the aged; healthy - the healthy; sick - the sick; mighty
- the mighty; famous - the famous.
2. Adverbs into nouns: backward - the backward; forward - the forward
3. Pronouns into nouns: “You are the cruellest she alive”. (W. Shakespeare – The Two Gentlemen of
Verona); the proudest he.
4. Pronouns into verbs: “Don’t he/she/we… me.”