COMPOUND WORDS,

BLENDS ANDC

PHRASAL WORDS
English Morphology
Compound Words

Compounds versus phrases

Compounds are words which are formed by combining roots,

and the much smaller category of phrasal words. It will be a
little bit difficult to differentiate whether a pair of such roots
constitutes a compound word or a phrase, but there are enough
clear cases to show that the distinction between compounds and
phrases is valid.
For example
Ø black board blackboard
‘board that is black’ ‘board for writing on’

Ø silk worm silkworm

‘worm made of silk’ ‘caterpillar that spins silk’

There is a difference in sound corresponding to the different in

meaning. In the left expressions the main stress is on /board/
and /worm/ while in the right the main stress in on /black/ and
/silk/.
Compound Nouns
Compounds nouns have four structure, they are:

•verb-noun (VN): swearword, playtime

•noun-noun (NN): hairnet, butterfly net

•adjective-noun (AN): blackboard, greenstone

•preposition-noun (PN): outpost, overcoat

•Gerund+noun:Drawing-room,looking-glass, writing-desk,
blotting paper, walking stick, stepping-stone etc.
Compound Verbs
Verbs formed by compounding are much less usual than verbs
derived by affixation.
Compounds verbs have four (4) structure, they are:

•verb-verb (VV): stir-fry, freeze-dry

•noun-verb (NV): band-wash, air-condition

•adjective-verb (AV): dry-clean, whitewash

•preposition-verb (PV): underestimate, outrun.

Compound Adjectives
Compounds adjectives have three structure, they are:

noun-adjective (NA): sky-high, coal-black

adjective-adjective (AA): grey-green, red-hot

preposition-adjective(PA):underfull,overactive
Blends

Blend is a kind of compound which at least one component is

reproduced only partially.
Most blends are formed by one of the following methods:
The beginning of one word is added to the end of the other (see
portmanteau). For example, brunch is a blend of breakfast and
lunch.
simultaneous+ broadcas → simulcast
smoke + fog → smog
spoon + fork→ spork
The beginnings of two words are combined. For example,
cyborg is a blend of cybernetic and organism.
Two words are blended around a common sequence of sounds.
For example, the word Californication, from a song by the Red
Hot Chili Peppers, is a blend of California and fornication, and
the word motel is a blend of motor and hotel
Phrasal word

Phrasal words are complex items that function as words, yet

whose internal structure is that of a clause or a phrase rather than
of a compound.

An example of phrasal word is the noun jack-in-the-box.

Verb Phrase : She was walking quickly to the mall

Adverb/ adjective phrase : As the cat watched, the two puppies

fought over a bone
Retrieved from :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Hebrew
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/verb-phrase-examples.html
http://dwiputrispecial17.blogspot.com/2015/01/compound-
words-blends-and-phrasal-words.html
http://www.englishpractice.com/words/compound-words/
https://prezi.com/nw0pmccuoixz/compound-words-blends-and-
Cartairs, Andrew and Mc Carthy. 2002. An Introduction to
English Morphology: Words and Their Sttucture. Edinburgh:
Edinburgh Univeristy Press