доцент, канд. філол. наук  Янко Н.А.

National Technical University of Ukraine “KPI”  

 

 Word-class meaning of English compounds

         It is common knowledge that word-formation is the main source of vocabulary development  to meet communicative intentions of  speech community members.

Since vocabulary is the most changeable part of any language system it continues to attract researchers (Васильєва: 2006; Шепелева: 2008; Шток: 2008). The much discussed neological boom is still underway and is growing in its intensity. New ideas and communicative situations, technologies, products, changes in the way of life call for new words. Word creativity is also motivated by various pragmatic intentions. So much desired novelty and expressivity are often achieved at the expense of accuracy, because of violation of traditional functional rules. For example the traditional rule of word-class meaning in English compounds as whole units is predetermined by their leading components. H. Marchand expressed it very clearly: “AB belongs to the same word-class and lexical class to which B belongs” (Marchand 1969: 11). There is no doubt that it is true of  the bulk of English compounds. But we witness a great many English compounds that differ from the bulk by the nature of their word-class meaning. They indicate a tendency that has taken shape in lexico-grammatical features of compounding as a derivational process. It concerns both well-established lexical units and especially newly coined ones.

         Analysis of lexical items shows that lexico-grammatical properties of compounds in English may coincide  with one of the three patterns: AB=B, AB=A, AB=C.

         As the first pattern reflects the traditional view on the problem we think it possible to exclude pattern AB=B from our consideration in this paper. Investigating the words that represent the other two patterns may throw some light on qualitative systemic changes in vocabulary growth as a language  process. We begin our description with AB=C type which seems to be the most unexpected and which is represented by 16 derivational patterns. The formula of the type indicates that the  word-class meaning of  its components is different from the word-class of a lexical item as a single whole. Some of the derivational patterns include only notional parts of speech (7 patterns) and some others include a notional part of speech (or two) and a functional part of  speech (9 patterns). No derivational patterns are comprised of functional parts of speech only. Both subtypes of AB=C compounds are given below:

         I.              Derivational patterns that involve only full-meaning components:

1)    Pattern n + v represents such compounds as: to test-drive (a car when buying); to test-sit (furniture);  to pet-nap (stealing animal pets). These verbs are true compounds and should be differentiated from: to baby-sit, and to kid-nap which appeared as the result of back-derivation correspondingly from baby-sitting and kidnapping. Not only compound verbs but also compound adjectives can be derived after this pattern, e.g. rip-stop (about knitted fabric). Thus the above given pattern stimulates creating compounds belonging to two parts of speech: V and Adj.   

    2) Pattern v + n  is also  correlated with two parts of speech: a) nouns like worrywart; b) adjectives like cut-throat (competition).

    3) Pattern v1 + v2 represents compounds of two parts of speech: a) verbs – to charbroil; b) adjectives: can-do (ready to fall fill any order or instruction).

win-win (an activity the result of which satisfies all the participants).

    4) Pattern num + n  represents compound adjectives most of which are derived ad hoc, e. g. one-parent (family); third-stream (music).

    5) Pattern v + adv  represents two parts of speech as well: a) adjectives: takeaway (about restaurant service); wantaway ; b) nouns: a give back ( a return of profit previously lost in relations of management and trade unions). Such compounds involve two derivational processes: compounding and conversion.

    6) Pattern n1 + n2  represents compound adjectives like entry-level (test); dot. com; client-server, part-time  (as contrasted to full-time); floor-length (dress) cloth-cap (having to do with the working-class people); winterweight (about clothes); field-effect and others. It is interesting to note that compound adjectives after this pattern were registered even in the old English period. The pattern disappeared in later periods and then reappeared in Modern English (Чинчлей   1954: 40).

    7) Pattern (n1+n2) + conversion is correlated with compound derived verbs, e.g. to carbo-load (of a sportsplayer or an athlete) which means “to saturate the muscles with stored glycogen by exercising and dieting and then shortly before a competition eating a large amount of carbohydrates”.

    8) Pattern n+adj is represented by compound adverbs like headlong, sidelong, age- long and others.

 

B. Derivational patterns that comprise a notional component and a functional one:

    1) Pattern prep + n  is correlated with compound adjectives like on-spot (inspection), in-country (about  events or business); in-depth (research); in-company (event, document); on-air;

b) compound adverbs like alongside, indeed; c) nouns like in-patient.

    2) Pattern v + prep  represents compound adjectives like snap-on (hood); drive-through (national park);

    3) Pattern pron + n  is correlated with compounds that belong to two parts of speech: a) adverbs e.g. anyway, someday, someplace, etc; b) adjectives like no-fault (insurance); no-frills, that has two meanings: 1) peeled; 2) simple, without any extravagance. The  negative pronoun “no” has been widely used as a derivational component since 1600 according to the OED.

    4) Pattern pron + v   is correlated with compounds that refer to two parts of speech: a) nouns like no-show which has two meaning: 1) a person that didn’t turn up at the appointed place and time: 2) the fact of not coming;

 b) adjectives: no-win which has two meanings: 1) impossible to win: 2) not aiming at defining the winner; no-go (useless, unsuitable). 

5) Pattern n1 + prep + n2 represents compound adjectives like womb-to-tomb (lifelong), word-of-mouth, business-to-business, e.g. The bank posted net income for the January-to-March period of 1.2. billion,…(International Herald Tribune, April, 29,2009).

6)  Pattern n1 + conj + n2 is correlated with compound adjectives like sound-and-light (effects), meat-and-potatoes (meaning “basic”), nut-and-bolts (practical), bread-and-butter (essential), click-and-motar (related to a business that has both a store and a website that customers can buy things from), rag-and-bone (picker), bridge-and-funnel (route), rag-and-bottle (shop).

7) Pattern v + prep + n2 represents compound adjectives, e.g. stay-at-home (mother, father, etc. usually to take care of their children rather than work);

8) Pattern v1 + conj + pron + v2 is correlated with compound adjectives, e.g. pay-as-you-go

9) Pattern  v1 + part + v2  represents compound adjectives, e.g. need-to-know (about information to be given access to or not)

10) Pattern  part II + prep + nadj  represents compound adjectives, e.g. made-for-mobile (audio-visual material specifically designed to be viewed on mobile phone) 

11) pattern v + prep is correlated with compound adjectives, e.g. walk-in (about business, clinic, any centre that do not require preliminary appointment); die-for (extremely dear and important)

12) pattern adv + prep + n stimulates deriving compound adjectives like just-in-time.

         The number of  derivational patterns that coincide with AB=C type amounts to 20. Their number proves the fact that  AB=B is not the only case in the present-day English compounds. On the contrary it shows a peculiar lexico-categorial shift that may occur in the process of compounding.

The compound adjective patterns under study exhibit a great variety of component structure both from the point of view of  the word-classes involved and the number of components (from 2 to 4). A striking feature is that compound adjective are formed after some patterns which do not comprise an adjective component. How do then compound adjectives appear? The structural approach to lexical semantics allows us to see the very mechanism of transposition (a switch over) from one word-class to another which is based on what can be figuratively describe  as “reshuffle of semes”.

The semes of the manifested part-of-speech get neutralized (disappear) and the semes of the word-class which is being acquired appear in the semantic structure of an AB=C type coinage. The hierarchical structure of semes suggested by prof. V.G. Gak (Гак, 1971) which is based on the achievement of French linguistics has been applied to analyze the word-class peculiarity of English components of the adjective part-time. After prof. Gak V.G., we distinguish such types of hierarchically-arranged semes:

1)     subcategorial

2)     differentiating

3)     potential

 In the first component “part”  the following semes can be singled out:

  subcategorial (countable, inanimate, abstract); differentiating (part of a   whole); potential (being related to the whole).

 In the second component “time” we perceive such semantic structure:

 subcategorial semes (uncountable inanimate, abstract); differentiating semes (an apriori category); a  potential seme (being related to a certain moment).

In the process of composition, influenced by the attributive function, all the noun semes mentioned get neutralized and disappear. The potential seme “being related” which is identical in both components comes out to the foreground. As the result there appears a relative adjective compound “part-time”. Similar “reshuffle” takes place in the semantic structure of other English compounds that correspond to the AB=C type.           

English compounds that correspond to the AB=A type are not so varied as the previous ones. They vary only within 4 patterns, which are given below.

1)                Pattern adj +  n  represents a great number of compounds such as long-time, full-time, green-field, short-life (about medicines and food products); wide-body (about planes); worst-case (sth  that can endure extreme conditions);dual-band, tri-band (about mobile phones); best-efforts; aggressive-growth (fund); industrial-strength.  

2)                Pattern adj + prep + n  serves to derive compound adjectives like direct-to-consumer (advertising which is aimed at the customer who will buy the products rather than at the shops that will sell them),  best-of-breed  (a computer system which uses a combination of the best software from different companies rather than only using the software from one company).

3)                Pattern adj + prep + n has been registered in compound adjectives like free-to-air (television or television programmes do not cost additional money to watch).

4)                Pattern  pron + n  is not  correlated with a great number of coinages since the pronoun as a word-class is not numerous and can be given exhaustive description, e.g. somebody, anybody.

The given above description of word-class peculiarities  of English compounds,  which constitute a substantial part may points out to one more feature  of structural patterns. How many part-of-speech can this or that pattern be correlated with? Multicategorial  patterns after which compounds, belonging to different part of speech, are coined are the following: n1 + n2  (noun, adjective, adverb), adj + n (adjective, adverb, noun), v + n (noun, adjective, noun), v + n (noun, adjective), prep + n (adjective, adverb, noun), pron + n (pronoun, adverb, adjective ), pron + v (adjective, noun), v1 + v2 (verb, adjective), n + v (verb, adjective), n + adj (adjective, adverb).

As we see four patterns have a wider  range of part-of-speech reference. They are: n1 + n2 (N - jam-cam -  a camera that is connected to a website that shows where the traffic is very bad. Adj -  winterweight;  Adv - piecemeal );  adj + n (Adj-short-life; Adv-deadpan); N – redwood); prep + n (Adj-in-country, Adv-indeed, N -         in-patient); pron + n (Pron – somebody; Adv-someplace; Adj-no-fault).

 

         Thus we see the analysis of English compounds indicates their varied nature as to their word-class (part-of-speech) meaning with a growing tendency to their structural complexity and a shift in word-class meaning because of a peculiar reshuffle of semes in the process of derivation.

 

 

Література

 

        1.         Васильєва О.Г. Концептуальна семантика субстантивних композитів-бахуврихі (на матеріалі антропосемічної лексики сучасної англійської мови): Автореферат дисертації кандидата філологічних наук: 10.02.04 /Київський Національний Лінгвістичний Університет. К., 2006- 20с.

        2.         Шепелева Д.А. Когнитивные аспекты симантики сложного слова «существительное +существительное» в современном английском языке – автореферат диссертации кандидата филологических наук: 10.02.04., Тамбовский государственный университет имени  Г.Р. Державина              2008-20с.

        3.         Шток Н.А. Когнитивные механизмы новых сложных существительных в современном английском языке: автореферат диссертации кандидата филологических  наук: 10.02.04 – германские языки / Московский государственный лингвистический университет. 2008-20с.

        4.         Marchand H. The categories and Types of Present-Day English Word-Fоrmation. Münich, 1969.

        5.         Чинчлей Г.С. Некоторые вопросы парасинтеза. Кишинев: 1972.   

        6.         Гак В.Г. К проблеме семантической синтагматики «Проблемы структурной лингвистики» М., 1971, с. 367-396.

        7.         The International Herald Tribune, April, 29, 2009.