Compounding in EnglishCompounding in English

Compounding:Compounding: The process of combining two The process of combining two words (free morphemes) to create a new words (free morphemes) to create a new word (commonly a noun, verb, or adjective)word (commonly a noun, verb, or adjective)..

Compounds in English are written sometimes as one Compounds in English are written sometimes as one word (word (sunglassessunglasses), sometimes as two hyphenated ), sometimes as two hyphenated words (words (life- threateninglife- threatening), and sometimes as two ), and sometimes as two separate words (separate words (football stadiumfootball stadium)) . .

Compounding in EnglishCompounding in English

1- The components of the compounding words.1- The components of the compounding words. The first element of a compound can be:The first element of a compound can be:

a-a- a noun, e.g. armchair a noun, e.g. armchair

b-b- an adjective, e.g. blackboard an adjective, e.g. blackboard

cc-- a verb, e.g. drawback a verb, e.g. drawback

d- a pronoun, e.g. he goatd- a pronoun, e.g. he goat The second element of a compounding noun can be:The second element of a compounding noun can be:

a-a- a noun, e.g. goldsmith a noun, e.g. goldsmith

b-b- a pronoun, e.g. overall a pronoun, e.g. overall

c-c- a verb or verb stem, e.g. smash-and-grab, a verb or verb stem, e.g. smash-and-grab, chimney-sweepchimney-sweep

d- and- an adverb, e.g. passer-by, fly-over adverb, e.g. passer-by, fly-over

Compound NounsCompound Nouns

Noun + Noun : manservant , woman Noun + Noun : manservant , woman doctordoctor

Subject + Verb = sunrise , daybreak Subject + Verb = sunrise , daybreak Verb + Object = pick-pocket Verb + Object = pick-pocket Verb + Verb = make-believeVerb + Verb = make-believe Adjective + noun = fast-food , software Adjective + noun = fast-food , software Phrase compound = son-in-law Phrase compound = son-in-law Subject + object = car cable , chairperson Subject + object = car cable , chairperson Subject + complement = blackboard , Subject + complement = blackboard ,

ashtray ashtray

Compound VerbsCompound Verbs

Noun + verb = sky-dive , carbon-copy Noun + verb = sky-dive , carbon-copy Verb + verb = freeze-dry Verb + verb = freeze-dry Particle + verb = overlook , Particle + verb = overlook , Adjective + noun = badmouth Adjective + noun = badmouth Noun + noun = breath-test Noun + noun = breath-test Adverb + verb = downsize , upgradeAdverb + verb = downsize , upgrade Adjective + verb = white-wash , blacklistAdjective + verb = white-wash , blacklist

Compound AdjectivesCompound Adjectives Verb +object = life-giving , man-eating Verb +object = life-giving , man-eating Verb + adverbial = airborne , far-fetched Verb + adverbial = airborne , far-fetched Adjective + adjective = bitter-sweet, open-endedAdjective + adjective = bitter-sweet, open-ended

Compound Adverbs: off-hand, over-night Compound Adverbs: off-hand, over-night

Syntactic relation between the two elementsSyntactic relation between the two elements

a. Syntactic word group relationsa. Syntactic word group relations, e.g. part , e.g. part of speech son-in-low, good- for nothingof speech son-in-low, good- for nothing..

b. co-ordinationb. co-ordination, e.g. bread-and-butter, gin-, e.g. bread-and-butter, gin-and-tonicand-tonic..

c. Verb and objectc. Verb and object, , e.g. cease-firee.g. cease-fire..

d. adjective and nound. adjective and noun, e.g. blackbird, bluebell, e.g. blackbird, bluebell..

e. Adverb and verbe. Adverb and verb, e.g. downpour, outlay, e.g. downpour, outlay . .

f. Adverb and nounf. Adverb and noun, e.g. outpost, e.g. outpost . .

g. The first element may denote the subject g. The first element may denote the subject daybreakdaybreak..

h. the first element denote the objecth. the first element denote the object, , e.g. e.g. bloodshedbloodshed..

Semantic relationship between the two elements of Semantic relationship between the two elements of compound wordcompound word

a. a. The first element denotes place or timeThe first element denotes place or time, e.g. , e.g. headache placeheadache place

nightclub timenightclub time

b. b. The first element denotes purposeThe first element denotes purpose, e.g, e.g . .

teacup, tea bag, water glassteacup, tea bag, water glass

c. c. The first element denotes means or instrumentThe first element denotes means or instrument, e.g, e.g..

handwriting, typewriting handwriting, typewriting

d. d. The first element denotes resemblanceThe first element denotes resemblance, e.g. , e.g. goldfishgoldfish

e. e. The first element denotes sexThe first element denotes sex, e.g, e.g . .

manservant, maidservant, lady speaker manservant, maidservant, lady speaker

Classes of CompoundsClasses of Compounds

Endocentric: The rightmost element of the compound identifies the class that the meaning of the entire word is related to, e.g. dog food , a fireman , fast food , blackboard

Exocentric: the meaning of the compound does not come from the meaning of its parts, e.g. redhead, egghead, turncoat

Types of CompoundsTypes of Compounds

1- Solid or closed Compounds: two usually moderately short words appear together as one, e.g. housewife, lawsuit, weekend wallpaper, makeup

a- Compass directions are closed like: a- Compass directions are closed like:

northwest / southeast northwest / southeast

b-Numbers suffixed with b-Numbers suffixed with foldfold are closed as are closed as in: in:

ninetyfold / sevenfold / twofold ninetyfold / sevenfold / twofold

c- preposition+ verb like: c- preposition+ verb like: underline / outrununderline / outrun

d- Adverb+ verb like: d- Adverb+ verb like: update / downsize update / downsize

e- Adjective+ verb as: e- Adjective+ verb as: blacklist / whitewash blacklist / whitewash

f-f- Noun+ verb as: Noun+ verb as: manhandle / sidestepmanhandle / sidestep

Types of CompoundsTypes of Compounds

2- Hyphenated Compounds: two or more words are connected by a hyphen.

Compounds containing affixes such as

house-build(er) and single-mind(ed) (ness), adjective-adjective compounds: bitter-sweet,

dark-green verb-verb compounds: freeze-dry Compounds containing particles (prepositions or

conjunctions): mother-in-law , salt-and-pepper Adjectives preceding nouns like: Adjectives preceding nouns like: round-round-

tabletable / / four-yearfour-year child child

Types of CompoundsTypes of Compounds

3- Open or spaced Compounds involves a newer combination of usually longer words such as:

distance learning

lawn tennis

police station

cigarette lighter

Arabic CompoundsArabic Compounds

Most Arabic compounds consist Most Arabic compounds consist of lexical items separated by of lexical items separated by a space such asa space such as : :

, , الشوكية حمى المكرمة مكة بكر , , أبو الشوكية حمى المكرمة مكة بكر أبو

* *Very few compounds are Very few compounds are agglutinated (spelled agglutinated (spelled together) such astogether) such as

طولكرم, , حضرموت طولكرم, , بعلبك حضرموت بعلبك

Arabic CompoundsArabic Compounds

1. The Construct Compound: اإلضافي المركب

TThe syntactic relation between the he syntactic relation between the components is components is of the possessive or of the possessive or genitive case,genitive case, e.g. e.g. االرض االرض دودة دودة

الحساب الحساب يوم عبدالله يوم القيادة عبدالله عجلة القيادة عجلة

2. 2. Fusional compound Fusional compound المزجي المزجي المركب .e.g. e.g , , المركبtwo or more words are fused and become as two or more words are fused and become as one one لحم حضرموتحضرموت لحم بيت بعلبكبعلبك ، ، بيت ، ،

3. 3. Predicative compound Predicative compound اإلسنادي اإلسنادي المركب : : المركبTThe syntactic structure is that of predication he syntactic structure is that of predication , e.g , e.g

شرا شرا تأبط (he has taken evil under his arm)(he has taken evil under his arm) تأبط

Arabic compound Nouns Arabic compound Nouns

Compound NounsCompound Nouns : : Personal proper nounsPersonal proper nouns

هاني , , , , أم الدين محيي القيس امرؤ عبدالله بكر أبو Geographical names Geographical names عين , , , , االستواء خط الفلبين جزر لحم بيت ياسين عين , , , , دير االستواء خط الفلبين جزر لحم بيت ياسين ديرجالوتجالوت TitlesTitles

العاصمة أمي المؤمنين ، ن الخارجية ، أمير العام ، وزير النائب OthersOthers

فضاء سفينة ، النواب مجلس ، سحاب ، ، ناطحة الريح بساطالشمس عباد

Noun + adjectiveNoun + adjective: :

These are very productive in Arabic as in the following:

Geographical names :Geographical names : العظم بريطانيا السوفيتي، ى، االتحاد

الهادي المحيطالجزر البحر االقصى، الشرق االحمر،

،البريطانيةالجنوبي القطب

Subject names:Subject names:

طبشعبي ، طبيعي عالج ، النووية الفيزياء

Compound AdverbsCompound AdverbsAdverb + particleAdverb + particle : :

وقتئذ, , أينما,أينما, حيثماحيثما وقتئذ, , حينئذ حينئذ Compound ParticlesCompound Particlesطالما، عما، عمن، فيمن، ممن، لئال، لكنما، طالما، مما، عما، عمن، فيمن، ممن، لئال، لكنما، مما،

لئن لئن كلما، كلما،

المركبة compound particles are particles الحروفcombined with ma which has various meanings

perhaps ( ما ma + رب rubba) ربما whenever ( ما ma + حيث haythu) حيثما ريثما ، كيفما ، لوال ، حالما Defective verb compound: They are usually construed

with /ma ما/ as their first element. This particle may add the sense of duration or negation to the second element.

انفك ما ، زال ما ، برح ما ، دام ما Compound numerals: وعشرون اثنان ، ثالثعشر

Rhyme‐Motivated Compounds ( االتباعي (التركيب

ومرج، هرج بثير، كثير ودب، هب وسهال، اهال حيصبيص

Problems That students face in using compounds

1. Putting the incorrect complement to the other part: housewife house women.

2. Difficulty in memorizing the compounds since the compound is a specific concept as a whole and we cannot change its parts.

3. Not putting a hyphen to isolate two words which confuse the meaning:

round-tableround-table meeting not a round table

4. Changing the parts of compound, e.g.

overlook look over

Activities for teaching Activities for teaching CompoundingCompounding

For each compound word, make three picture cards. One card For each compound word, make three picture cards. One card

should include an image of the compound word while the other two should include an image of the compound word while the other two

cards should include images of the two words that form the cards should include images of the two words that form the

compound. compound.

For example, For example, use a picture of use a picture of a tooth a tooth and a picture of and a picture of aa brushbrush for for

the compound word the compound word toothbrushtoothbrush.. As an activity, hold up the two As an activity, hold up the two

cards that make up the compound. Have the learners figure out the cards that make up the compound. Have the learners figure out the

words and then the compound word. Once the students have figured words and then the compound word. Once the students have figured

out the compound, show them the picture of the compound word. out the compound, show them the picture of the compound word.

This picture card activity also teaches young children that This picture card activity also teaches young children that

compounds are formed by combining two or more words.compounds are formed by combining two or more words.