Compound words, blends and

phrasal words
Phuong Dang
 What is a compound?
Compounds are words formed by
combining roots.
Ex: homework, upload, easy-going,
etc.
 Compounds in English
• English has a rich system to create compound
words.
• Two or more words may be joined together to
form a compound.
• When two words belong to the same category,
the result is always the same category: boyfriend
(n), red-hot (a), etc.
• Compound nouns are the commonest types of
compound.
 Notes
Different varieties of English, and even different
writers, may use the open, hyphenated or closed
form for the same compound noun.
It is partly a matter of style.
Ex:
 container ship (open)
 container-ship (hyphenated)
 containership (closed)
 What is compounding?
• Compounding is the combination of words
into larger ones.
• Most of them are right-headed compounds.
– ((word) word): gas station (popular & binary)
– (((word) word) word): tomato tree root
– ((((word) word) word) word): cow cart wheel tire
– Etc.
Draw the tree diagrams/labelled bracketing to illustrate
the meaning of the following noun phrases/ compounds

• cabin crew
• cabin crew training
• cabin crew safety training
• cabin crew safety training manual
• airline cabin crew safety training manual
• income tax rate
• high tax rate
• value added tax
• goods and services tax
 What is compounding?
Semantically
• Heads are modified and/ or classified by non-
heads.
• Compounds generate a single category or
behave to be single words.
Ex: blackbird, dragonfly, peanut butter, sister-in-law
Ex: childlike, ready-to-wear, well-off, upright, single-
minded
Ex: blackmail, downsize, update, outsource, overact
Ex: downward, upward, forward, backward
 What is compounding?
Syntactically
• Compounds are recursively constructed.
Ex: [gasN stationN]N,
[[tomatoN treeN]N rootN]N
[[cowN cartN]N wheelN]N tireN]N
[[[WhiteN HouseN]N [travelN officeN]N]N staffN]N
• Heads determine word categories and can be
inflected.
Ex: gas station, tomato tree roots, washing machines, laptop
table legs
Ex: outsourcing, downsized, blackmailed, overacting
Ex: sisters-in-law, sister-in-laws, commanders-in-chief,
commander-in-chiefs
 What is compounding?
Phonologically
• The primary stress of compounds is on the
first element.
Ex: blackbird, White House, ceiling fan, notebook,
greenhouse
 More examples
Compound verbs Compound adjectives Compound nouns
VV: stir-fry, freeze-fry
VA**: float-light, sing- VN: swearword,
happy, fail-safe drophammer, playtime
NV: hand-wash, air- NA: sky-high, coal- NN*: hairnet,
condition, steam-clean black, oil-rich mosquitonet,
butterflynet, hair
restorer
AV: dry-clean, AA: grey-green, AN: blackboard,
whitewash squeaky-clean, red-hot greenstone, faintheart
PV*: underestimate, PA*: underfull, PN: in-group, outpost,
outrun, overcook overactive overcoat

*productive
**unproductive
Meanings of compounds both are idiosyncratic and depend on the world knowledge.
 Compound adjectives
Noun-Adjective (NA) sky-high, world-famous,
Adjective-Adjective (AA) grey-green, squeaky-clean
Preposition-Adjective (PA) underfull, overactive
Preposition-Noun in-door, off-topic
Adjective-Past Participle long-lived, ready-made, old-fashioned,
Adverb-Past Participle well-known, highly-respected
Adjective-Present Participle long-lasting, easy-going
 Phrases vs. Compounds
a high school vs. high school
a white house vs. the White House
a black board vs. blackboard
a sleeping child vs. a sleeping bag
an English teacher vs. an English teacher
Phrases vs. Compounds
 Compounds vs. phrases
Compounds Phrases

Both have the same functions as words.

Ex: Peter bought a new fridge and washing machine last week.
Both seem to have similar patterns.  Both are right-headed.
Ex: black bird, green house, English teacher, cooking tool
Compounds generate a single Phrases involve the modification
category or behave to be single of non-heads to heads.
words.
The primary stress is on the first The primary stress is on the
element (compound nouns). head.
 Compounds vs. derived words
• Compounding is the combination of existing
words into a larger one.
– Ex: laptop keyboard, handbag, armchair
• Derivation is the affixation of affixes to roots
or stems.
– Ex: communication, adjectival, infamous,
unpredictability
 Compounds vs. derived words
• Confusion in the distinction:
– doable, teachable, learnable, drinkable  ‘able’ is
a suffix or a single word?
– Neo-classical compounding/ Compounds that are
made up of bound roots: biology, psychology,
telegram, telephone, geography, photography,
anthropology, sociology, cardiogram,
electrocardiogram, retrograde, retrospect,
plantigrade
 Phrasal words
Complex items that function as words yet whose
internal structure is that of a clause or phrase
rather than a compound
• jack-in-the-box
• brother-in-law
• state-of-the-art
• dyed-in-the-wool
 Fun
c
as a tion
phr
Structure ase
PHRASAL of a phrase
WORD PHRASE  look at? look after? outlook?
outrun?
ct ion  jack-in-the-box
Fun word
Structure (jack-in-the-big-box???,
of a
of a phrase plural: jack-in-the-boxes)
 a couldn’t-care-less attitude
COMPOUND (functions as an adj before a N)
Special
structure
STRESS IN COMPOUNDS

morphological
structure

phonology

Ss
 STRESS IN COMPOUNDS
• boyfriend: Ss
• train station: Ssw
• tennis boy: Sws
• tennis racket: Swsw
Illustrate the morphological structure and stress
pattern of each compound in the tree diagrams.
 STRESS RULES
1. 2-word compounds: stress on the 1st word
2. two compounds: stress on the second
compound
3. onion-shaped compounds: stress on the first
word
4. add a layer: keep stress
5. add a compound: shift stress
 Illustrate the morphological structure and stress
pattern of each compound in the tree diagrams.

• bathroom
• bathroom towel
• tennis racket shop
• train station coffee shop
• train station coffee shop boss
• train station coffee shop back door
 Exception to Stress Rules for Compound
Nouns
• Material composition:
– gold medal: sSw
– leather jacket: swSw
– silk dress: sS
• Time:
– evening dress: swS
– morning sun: swS
– summer holiday: swSww
• Place:
– mountain village: swSw
• Copulative compound
– teacher student: swSw
 Stress on Compound Adjectives
• Compound Adjectives: the stress is mostly on
the last element (end stress).
• Ex:
Air-cooled: sS
Self-centered: sSw
Hard-boiled: sS
Middle-aged: swS
 Types of compounds
• Endocentric compounds
compounds with a head:
- Ex: bus stop, bag strap, water melon, pencil case
• Exocentric compounds
compounds with no head
– Ex: pickpocket, built-in, well-off, ready-to-wear,
single-minded
– Ex: baldhead, redhead
– Ex: blue-green, washer-dryer
 Types of compounds
Compare:
a. bookshop, table tennis
 Primary Compound
b. dish-washer, hair-remover, crime prevention,
wish fulfilment
 Secondary Compounds or Deverbal
Compounds
- The second noun can be derived from a verb.
- The first noun often plays the role of the object of
the verbs from which the second noun is derived.
 Synthetic compounding
• Word formation process involves both
compounding and derivation
– Ex: sword-swallower, heart-breaker, church goer,
blue-eyed, single-minded, kind-hearted
 Exercise
Analyze the compound structure
1. workman 6. praiseworthy
2. afternoon 7. outgo
3. pickpocket 8. airtight
4. quicksand 9. booster hot
5. knockdown 10. overheat
 Exercise
Indicate whether each underlined
expression is a compound or a phrase.
1. Jim’s new car is a hardtop.
2. This jar has a rather hard top.
3. It was a jack-in-the-box.
4. There was a plant in the box.
5. A hot dog is not a hot dog.
6. He has a dog in the manger attitude.
7. She has a strong hold on him.
8. She has a stronghold in the Women’s Club.
9. George found his father-in-law.
10. George found his father in trouble.
11. They bought it on the black market.
12. The electricity went off, and we were caught
in a black, completely lightless, market.
13. Henry is a designing teacher.
14. Henry is a designing teacher.
 Exercise
Decide whether each of the following words is …
S: simplex - C: complex - Comp: compound - P: phrase

1. sharpshooter 11. unearth

2. sharp shooter 12. rat-a-tat
3. act 13. beauty
4. react 14. beautify
5. rattlesnake 15. geometry
6. passbook 16. bull’s eye
7. apparatus 17. bull’s eye
8. glowworm 18. outlast
9. import 19. biochemical
10. ripcord 20. inaccessible
 Exercise
Disambiguate the meanings of each of the following words, using labelled
bracketing or tree diagramming and provide the appropriate meanings.
1. California geography California / geography California geography /
researcher researcher researcher
2. toy car transporter    
 
3. sea animal predator    
 
4. Texas history    
professor  
5. toy car crusher    
 
6. Vietnamese    
Linguistics Club
7. ancient nut crusher
 Group Challenge
Illustrate the morphological structure and stress pattern of
each compound in the tree diagrams.
1. fingernail
2. fingernail polish
3. fingernail polish remover
4. life insurance policy
5. life insurance policy maker
6. bathroom towel collection
7. bathroom towel collection set
8. Turkish cotton towel collection sets
9. printer ink
10. laser printer ink cartridges
 Blends and Acronyms
• Blends: a kind of compound in which at least
one or all of the components are reproduced
partially.
• Ex: smoke + fog = smog
 Types of Blend
Modified Blends
Modified blends are blends in which “the first
element modifies the second element.”
- breath + analyzer = breathalyzer
- motor + hotel = motel
Meaningful Blends
Meaningful blends “share properties of the referents
of both elements.”
- boat + hotel = boatel
- breakfast + lunch = brunch
 Blends practice 1
Find the blends from these original pairs of words.
1. motor + camp 
2. science + fiction 
3. binary + digit 
4. guess + estimate 
5. fan + magazine 
6. helicopter + airport 
7. internal + communication 
8. slang + language 
9. aqua + aerobics 
10. entrepreneur + porn 
 Blends practice 1 - Key
Find the blends from these original pairs of words.
1. motor + camp = mocamp
2. science + fiction = sci-fi 
3. binary + digit = bit 
4. guess + estimate = guesstimate
5. fan + magazine = fanzine 
6. helicopter + airport = heliport 
7. internal + communication = intercom 
8. slang + language = slanguage
9. aqua + aerobics = aquarobics 
10. entrepreneur + porn = entreporneur 
 Blends practice 2
Find the original pairs of words from these
blends.
1. modem
2. smog
3. Spanglish
4. alcoholiday 
5. Amerind 
6. carbecue 
 Blends practice 2 - Key
1.  modulator + demodulator = modem
2. smoke + fog = smog
3. Spanish + English = Spanglish 
4. alcohol + holiday = alcoholiday 
5. American + Indian = Amerind 
6. car + barbecue = carbecue 
 Acronyms

 Acronyms: Blends made up of initial letters

Ex: NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

 Abbreviation: the way of reading the string is by
pronouncing each letter
Ex: USA, RIP
 Acronyms and abbreviation practice

1. YOLO
2. OMW
3. FAQ
4. RADAR
5. SWOT
6. TED (talk)
7. CAPTCHA
8. SUV
 KEY
1. YOLO = YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE
2. OMW = ON MY WAY
3. FAQ = FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION
4. RADAR = RADIO DETECTION AND ARRANGING
5. SWOT = STRENG, WEAKNESS, OPPORTUNITIES, THREATS
6. TED (talk) = TELL ME, EXPLAIN TO ME, DESCRIBE TO ME
7. CAPTCHA = Completely Automated Public Turing Test to
tell Computers and Humans Apart
8. SUV = SPORTS UITILITY VEHICLES
 Homework
Exercises 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
(Carstairs-McCarthy, 2002, pp. 68 – 69)
Answer key
(Carstairs-McCarthy, 2002, pp. 129 – 131)
 Group Presentations
• Work with your group members.
• Prepare a 15- minute presentation about ONE word
formation process.
• Include the following information
 
– Definition
– Classification (if applicable)
– Examples
– Some notes (if applicable)
– Exercise/Quiz
– Q&A (2-3 minutes)
Morphology Group 1: 8 small groups
Morphology Group 2: 11 small groups
Affixation ✔
Conversion
Compounding ✔
Blending
Clipping WORD
Acronym FORMATION
PROCESSES
Reduplication
Reversion/back-formation
Multiple processes
Borrowing
Coinage