Classification of compounds

There have been quite a number of attempts to classify the English compounds. The most successful ones were the ones based on the principle of:

1. the type of composition,

2. the linking element,

3. the part of speech.

Within the part of speech compounds may be classified according to the definite structural pattern. As for the type of composition, we have:

1. mere juxtaposition without connecting elements (like hearty, heartbroken, hand-made);

2. with a vowel or a consonant sound/letter as a linking element (e.g. electromotive, speed-o-meter, Afro-American, statesman; such examples are few in English);

3. with some linking elements represented by prepositions or conjunctions (e.g. matter-of-fact (adj.), up-to-date, up-and-coming, rock’n’roll, forget-me-not). down-and-out n, matter-of-fact a, son-in-law n, pepper-and-salt a, wall-to-wall a, up-to-date a, on the up-and-up

One additional structural classification is that according to the structure of the constituence:

1. simple stems (filmstar);

2. with one element being a derivative stem (chain-smoker);

3. with one element being a clipped stem (X-mas, h-bag, T-shirt whodunit);

4. with one element being a compound stem itself (a wastepaper basket).

According to the part of speech, the first class is that of nouns. All compound nouns are split into:

1. endocentric compounds – those in which the referent is named by one of the elements and further characterized by the other one (e.g sunbeam, maid-servant, looking-glass, blackboard);

2. exocentric compounds – the referent is not named at all and only the combination as a whole names the referent; exocentric compounds can be compared to set expressions (e.g. scarecrow, lickspittle (блюдолиз), hangover, makeup, go-between (проныра; посредник));

3. bahuvrihi – its scheme is as follows: adjectival stem + noun stem, metonymically naming someone or something by some striking feature, possessed by the referent (bigwig (большая шишка), blackshirt (устар. фашист), fathead (тупица, ср. air-headed), high-brow (неодобр. интеллектуал), lazybones (лежебока)).

Compound words may be classified in different ways, so, in spite of all the arguments among scholars, there are generally three types of compounds in modern English:

1. To outgrow, to overflow, to look for, to stand up, etc. – concerning these verbs, the opinions may be different. Some consider them compounds (e.g. Henry Marchant), others treat as phrases.

2. To blackmail, to honeymoon, to nickname – in fact, these are nothing but cases of typical conversion from endocentric nominal compounds.

3. To stage-manage, to house-keep, to proof(-)read, to hijack – these have been formed from compound nouns stage-manager, house-keeper, proof-reader, hijacker.

Derivational compounds

This type of words, also named compound derivatives, is distinguished as a separate group of compounds due to their second element which is never a free stem. E.g. long-legged. The presence of a suffix at the end emphasizes the structural integration of the whole unit. Several types distinguished within this group are as follows:

1. any stem + any stem + -er (honeymooner, lefthander, latecomer, etc.);

2. adjectival stem + noun stem + ­-ed (longhaired, absent-minded, blue-eyed, ­ill-mannered);

3. noun stem + noun stem + -ed (bow-legged);

4. numeral stem + noun stem + -ed (three-colored).

Often derivational compounds become the basis for further derivation, e.g. absent-mindedness, do-it-yourselfism, schoolboyishness, Romeo-and-Julietness.