词汇学知识要点Compounding

Compounding (P24)

1. Definition of Compounding

Compounding (or composition) is the formation of new words by joining two or more bases (free

morphemes). Words formed in this way are called compounds.

2. Features of Compounds

1）Grammatical Features

2）Semantic Features (P25-26)

3）Phonological Features (P26)

4）Orthographical Features (spelling): Compounds can be written solid, hyphenated or open.

3. Formation of Compounds

Classified according to part of speech (词性)：

Compound pronouns (herself, another)

Compound numerals (forty-four, one-third)

Compound adverbs (however, nevertheless)

Compound conjunctions (whenever, whereas)

Compound prepositions (out of, throughout)

Clausal and Syntactic compound (chicken-and-egg problem, a yes-or-no question, hide-and-seek,

lost-and-found)

Compound nouns (afternoon, eggshells)

Compound adjectives (snow-white, dark-blue)

Compound verbs (overestimate, underestimate)

Major Types of Compounds

1) Compound Nouns (P27)

n. + n.

n. + v.

n. + v-ing

adj. + n.

adv. +n.

v-ing + n.

v. + n.

prep. +n.

v. + adv.

v-ing + adv.

adv. + v.

adv. + v-ing

2) Compound Adjectives

(1) Adjective-centered compounds

n+ adj.:

a.+ a.:

adv.+ a.:

v.-ing+ a.:

(2) Noun /noun+ed-centered compounds

n.+ n.–ed:

a.+ n.:

a.+ n.-ed:

v.+ n.

(3) V-ing/V-ed (Verb Participle) -centered compounds

n + v-ing:

a. /adv.+ v-ing:

n + v-ed:

a (adv) + v-ed:

v-ed+ adv:

3) Compound Verbs (P28)

1) Conversion(转换法) and Back-formation(逆生法):

e.g. footprint – to footprint, housekeeper—to housekeep

2) a./adv. + v.: sweet-talk, overcharge

3) n. +v.: job-hop

4) Analogy (类比): chain-smoke– chain-drink