ns. morph. compounding

8/10/2019 NS. Morph. Compounding

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Prof. dr Slavica Perovi Morphology

COMPOUNDING

Based on L. Bauer,English Word-Formationand other sources

1. Introduction

Although compounding is the most productive type of word formation process in

English, it is perhaps also the most controversial one in terms of its linguistic analysis. It

is a field of study where intricate problems abound, numerous issues remain unresolved

and convincing solutions are generally not so easy to find.

In English, as in many other languages, a number of different compounding patterns are

attested. Not all words from all word classes can combine freely with other words to form

compounds. One possible way of establishing compound patterns is to classify

compounds according to the nature of their heads. hus there are compounds involving

nominal heads, verbal heads and ad!ectival heads. "lassifications based on syntactic

category are of course somewhat problematic because many words of English belong to

more than one category #e.g. walkcan be a noun and a verb,blindcan be an ad!ective, a

verb and a noun,greencan be an ad!ective, a verb and a noun, etc.$ but nevertheless this

type of classification will be used because it gives a clear set of form classes, whereas

other possible classifications based on, for e%ample, semantics, appear to involve an evengreater degree of arbitrariness #Bre&le sets up about one hundred different semantic

classes, while 'atcher has only four$.

In the following, compounds with more than two members will be ignored, because more

comple% compounds can be bro&en down into binary sub(structures, which means that

the properties of larger compounds can be predicted on the basis of their binary

constituents. 'ence, larger compounds follow the same structural and semantic patterns

as two(member compounds.

Co!pound noun"

).* Analy+ability #transparency$


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In general the meaning of a compound noun is a speciali+ation of the meaning of its

head. he modifier limits the meaning of the head a laser printeris a &ind of printer, a

book coveris a &ind of cover, a letter headis a head of the letter, etc. -e could say that

these compounds have their semantic head inside the compound, which is the reason why

they are called endocentric co!pound" #the neo(classical element endo (inside/$.

'owever, in another common type of compound, the e$ocentricor %ahuvrihi

co!pound", the semantic head is not e%plicitly e%pressed. Aredhead, for e%ample, is not

a &ind of head, but is a person with a red head. 0imilarly, a blockheadis also not a head,

but a person with a head that is as hard and unreceptive as a bloc& #e.g. stupid$. And a

lionheartis not a type of heart, but a person with a heart li&e a lion #in its courage,

bravery, fearlessness, etc.$.

Apart from endocentric and e%ocentric compounds there is another type of

compound labeled copulative co!pound"#or dvandva co!pound"in 0ans&rit

grammarian terms$.his type is characteri+ed by the fact that none of the two members of

the compound is semantically prominent than the other, but both members e1ually

contribute to the meaning of the compound. hey could be said to have two semantic

heads, none of them being subordinate to the other. Afighter-bomberis an aircraft that is

both a fighter and a bomber. Apoet-translatoris a person who is both a poet and a

translator. his type of copulative compound that refers to one entity that is characteri+ed

by both members of the compound is called appo"itional co!pound. 2vandvas that

denote two entities that stand in a particular relationship with regard to the following

noun are called coordinative co!pound". he doctor-patient gapis thus a gap between

doctor and patient, the nature-nurture debateis a debate on the relationship between

nature and nurture, and so on.

).) ypes of compound nouns

).).* Noun 3 noun

he ma!ority of compounds in this class are endocentric. he most productive type is

made up of two common nouns.


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e.g. bedroom, water tank, printer cartridge, tortoise-shell ,honey - bee, pine tree, safety

belt, deathbed, cable television, aversion therapy, latchkey child ,battered baby

syndrome, bang zone, credibility gap, language laboratory, bullet train, family planning,

town-planning, brain-washing, story-telling, cigar-smoker, song-writer, stock- holder,

computer designer, daybreak, frostbite, bee sting , headache, sound change etc.

he ne%t group is that where the first element of the compound is a proper noun.

e.g. Hampstead Heath, !ford "treet, #ark $ane, %randon Hill, #iccadilly &ircus,

Westminster %ridge, 'ennedy (irport, &anterbury &athedral, )avid Hume *ower, +ao

flu, +arkov chain, "hakespearean sonnet, +oog synthesizer, tah effect, etc.

-ithin this category, the ne%t group consists of compounds made up of gerund 3 noun.

And although a gerund has both nominal and verbal characteristics, semantic

relationships between the to elements seem more li&e those which hold in noun 3 noun

compounds than those which hold in verb 3 noun compounds.

e.g. looking glass, hearing aid, frying pan, punching bag, diving board, dancing

girl, baking powder, carving knife, walking stick, running water, parking orbit, holding

pattern, ueuingtheory, etc.

he pattern of noun 3 noun e%ocentric compounds is very restricted in productivity but

there are few e%amples

e.g. birdbrain, egghead, blockhead, hammerhead, butterfingers, featherbrain,

featherweight, hunchback, pot belly ,hatchback ,skinhead .

he second group is made up of appositional compound whose first element, in ma!ority

of cases, mar&s the se% of a person.

e.g.girl friend, manservant, woman doctor, etc.

he pattern is still productive with pronominal se% mar&ers used for animals.

e.g.she bear, she dog, he goat, etc.


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2vandvas, which ma&e up the third group, are still occasionally coined, and a recent

e%ample ispanty hose.

).).) 4erb 3 noun

-e can distinguish two different patterns. he first one is where the noun is the direct

ob!ect of the verb and these compounds are all e%ocentric.

e.g. cut throat, kill /oy, pickpocket, spoil sport ,scatterbrain, telltale, tattletale,

breakfast, dreadnought, password, passport, push-bike, pushcart, ripcord, tugboat,

killdeer, etc.

he second pattern is where the noun is not the direct ob!ect of the verb. hese

compounds are all endocentric and the pattern is productive.

e.g. crybaby, drift wood, drip coffee, flashlight, hangman, playboy, pin up girl,

watchdog, turntable, tugboat, stinkweed, mincemeat, glowworm, /ump /et, play pit,

hovercraft, crashpad, giggle smoke, goggle bo!, dangle dolly, etc.

).).5 Noun 3verb

his pattern is not productive probably due to the fact that often there is the problem of

&nowing whether the second element is a noun or a verb.

e.g. nosebleed, sunshine, birth control, swallow dive, bedroll, bedspread, deathwatch,

daybreak, etc.

).).6 4erb 3 verb

his pattern is e%tremely rare and probably not productive. Established e%amples are

make believe, hearsay.

).).7 Ad!ective 3 noun

0ometimes it is difficult to determine whether a given ad!ective 3 noun collocation is a

compound or a noun phrase and the only distinguishing criterion is the stress pattern.


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-hile phrases tend to be stressed phrase(finally, i.e. on the last word, compounds tend to

be stressed on the first element. his difference is captured in so(called nuclear "tre""

rule#phrasal stress is on the last word of the phrase/$, and the so called co!pound

"tre"" rule#stress is on the left(hand member of the compound/$.

e.g.gr0enhousea glass building for growing plants/

a green h1usea house that is green/

blackberry, sweetheart, madman, common-sense, blue print, fast-food, hard-stuff,

bluebell, fathead, hardhat, paleface, redcap, highbrow, heavyweight, etc.

).).8 9article 3 noun

his is 1uite a productive pattern.

e.g. overalls, by-way, downpour, afterheat, in-crowd, off-islander, etc.

).).: Adverb 3 noun

his is a very restricted pattern, partly because only adverbs of time and place occur in

such compounds. his class is not so easily distinguishable from the previous since many

of the particles can be interpreted as adverbs showing time or place.

e.g. aftertaste, afterglow, afterthought, off-shoot, off-spring, income, outcome, outpost,

outbreak, outlaw, overcoat, overdose, overtime, undercurrent, under-secretary, new

generation, etc.

).).; 4erb 3 particle

It is argued that words of this form are not compounds at all but the result of the

conversion of a phrasal verb into a noun #accompanied by a stress shift$.

e.g .backup, blowup, linkup, markup , smashup, pileup, call-up, catch-up ,flare-up, foul-

up, /am-up, mi!-up sign-up, tie-up, toss-up, wrap-up, breakdown, closedown, countdown,

lowdown, meltdown, rubdown, rundown, showdown, shutdown, turndown, put-down, sit-


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down, step-down, write-down, break-in, buy-in, cave-in, drive-in, fill-in, lead-in, listen-

in, blowout, burnout, dropout, knockout, printout, tryout, falling-out, shoot-out, add-on,

carrying-on, follow-on, slip-on, carryon, cutoff, liftoff, payoff, brush-off, rip-off, spin-

off ,carryover, pushover ,rollover, strikeover, going-over, feedback, kickback, throwback,

getaway, hideaway, stowaway, knockabout, runabout, turnaround, standby, go-between,

follow-through, etc.

).).< 9hrase compounds

0ometimes an entire phrase seems to be involved in the formation of a new word and it

may be 1uestionable whether such formations should be considered to be compounds or

le%icali+ations of syntactic structures. -ithin this group we distinguish between

endocentric, e%ocentric and dvandva compounds.

Endocentric phrase compounds include small and non( productive class with an

initial head element #e.g.son-in- law, editor-in-chief, lady-in-waiting, writer-in-

residence, man-of-war, dog-in-the-manger, etc.$, and more common and much more

productive class where the head element is final and the first element is a phrase or

sentence

e.g. upper-class manner, under-the-weather feeling, penny-in-the-slot machine, a fly-by-

night scheme, a never-to-be-forgotten film, a life-and-death struggle, a hit-and-run

driver, a hard-to-please employer, a pain-in-the-stomach gesture, a don2t-tell-me-

what-to-do look, an oh-what-a-wicked-world-this-is-and-how-3-wish-3-could-make-

it-better-and- nobler e!pression ,etc.

E%ocentric phrase compounds love-in-a-mist, love-lies-bleeding, forget-me-not, a

has-been, a don2t-know, an also-run, etc.

2vandvas differ from true dvandva compounds in including the word and

e.g. bubble - and- sueak, milk-and-water, whisky-and-soda, pepper-and-salt, etc.

).5. Interpreting compound nouns


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As should be evident from all the e%amples discussed so far, these compounds show a

wide range of meanings, and there have been many attempts at classifying these

meanings #e.g. 'atcher *


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shell-shocked, card-carrying, clotheared, space-borne, brimful, knee-deep, hip-deep,

waist-high, lifelong, worldwide,etc.

5.*.) 4erb 3 ad!ective

his type is rare and possibly new.

e.g fail safe

5.*.5 Ad!ective 3 ad!ective

Ad!ective 3 ad!ective compounds are normally endocentric. hese compounds can be

categori+ed formally according to whether or not they contain participles.

e.g double-helical, blue-green, red-hot, large-statured, open-ended, ready-made, %ritish-

made, high-born, dead-tired, dead-beaten, wooden-headed, absent-minded, clean-

shaven, hard-working, good-looking, etc.

5.*.6 Adverb 3 ad!ective

his type is not particularly common and seems to be more fre1uent with participial head

element.

e.g best-euipped, long-awaited, above-mentioned, well-preserved, thoroughly-tested,

etc.

&ross-modal, roughly-euivalent, sickly-sweetare some of the e%amples without a

participle. A more common type has a particle as the first element over-ualified,

uptight, over-right, over-ripe,etc.

5.*.7 Noun 3 noun

In many cases these ad!ectives are converted nouns or verbs, and it often seems rather

misleading to term them ad!ectives at all a noun compound functioning as a modifier to

another noun is probably not so much functioning as an ad!ective as forming a three(term


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noun compound. he agreement against this position is that such modifying compounds

become institutionali+ed and le%icali+ed as units independent of their constituent parts,

and in some cases are only used attributively while in other cases they have very different

connotations from the same forms used as non(attributive compound nouns.

e.g back-street #abortionist$

coffee-table#boo&$

glassteel#s&y(scraper$

year-end#e%am$

world-class#polo player$

wood-block#floor$

thumbnail#s&etch$

drum-head#court$

5.*.8 4erb 3 noun

e.g break-bulk#consignment$

roll-neck#sweater$

turn-key#contract$

push-button#door$

break neck#motorcycle$

key-note#speech$

5.*.: Ad!ective 3 noun

@ost of these compounds are not compounds unless they are used attributively, but noun

phrases. hey change their stress pattern when they are used attributively and often

become hyphenated.

e.g broad-brush#estimate$

grey-collar#wor&er$


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red-brick#university$

broadloom#carpet$

broad-spectrum#antibiotic$

dead-end#!ob$

fair-weather#friend$

free-hand#drawing$

free-range#eggs$

free-will#consent$

high-hat#behaviour$

red-carpet#treatment$

real-life#e%perience$

rare-book#store$

low-budget#films$

5.*.; 9article 3 Noun

In these e%amples a preposition phrase is converted into a modifier.

e.g before-ta!#profits$

in depth#study$

after-hours#drin&ing$

beforehand#contract$

in-flight#meals$

under cover#agent$

under-ground#films$

undersea#oil deposits$

up-market#factory$

up-tempo#melody$

on-line#e1uipment$

off-hand#e%cuses$

off-colour#story$


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on-the-scene#witness$

off-the-record#remar&s$

5.*.< Noun3verb

his type doesn/t e%ist, since the verb always turns up as a present or past participle, and

therefore becomes classified as an ad!ective.

5.*.*= 4erb 3 verb

his type is new and possibly growing.

e.g go-go #dancer$

pass-fail #test$

stop-go#economies$

5.*.** Ad!ectiveadverb 3 verb

heir first element is an ad!ective in form but appears to function semantically as an

adverb.

e.g high-rise#tower$

uick-change#artiste$

broad-cast#pencils$

dead-beat#compass$

high-count#sheeting$

5.*.*) 4erb 3 particle

his type is very productive.

e.g see-through#blouse$

tow-away#+one$

wrap-around#s&irt$


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stick-on#label$

stand-by#e1uipment$

walk-on#part$

break-away#party$

stand-off#missile$

stand-up#collar$

walk-up#building$

5.) 0olid compound ad!ectives

here are some well(established permanent compound ad!ectives that have become solid

over a longer period, especially in American usage earsplitting, eyecatching, downtown.

'owever, in British usage, these, apart from downtown, are more li&ely written with a

hyphenear-splitting, eye-catching.

Other solid compound ad!ective are for e%ample

Numbers that are spelled out and have the suffi% foldaddedfifteenfold, si!fold.

9oints of the compass northwest, northwester, northwesterly, northwestwards,

but not4orth- West Frontier.

5.5 'yphenated compound ad!ectives

A compound ad!ective is hyphenated if the hyphen helps the reader differentiate a

compound ad!ective from two ad!acent ad!ective that each independently modify the

noun. "ompare the following e%amples

acetic acid solution a bitter solution producing vinegar or acetic acid/

acetic-acid solution a solution of acetic acid/

he hyphen is unneeded when capitali+ation or italici+ation ma&es grouping clear

old English scholar an old person who is English and a scholar, or an old

scholar who studies English/


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ld English scholara scholar of Old English/

)e factoproceedings

If, however, there is no ris& of ambiguities, it may be written without a hyphen"unday

morning walk.'yphenated compound ad!ectives may have been formed originally by an ad!ective

preceding a noun

5ound table 6round-table discussion

%lue sky6 blue-sky law

5ed light6 red-light district

Others may have originated with a verb preceding an ad!ective or adverb

Feel good6 feel-good factor

%uy now, pay later6 buy-now pay-later purchase

Cet others are created with an original verb preceding a preposition

"tick on6 stick-on label

Walk on6 walk-on part

"tand by6 stand-by fare

5oll on, roll off6 roll-on roll-off ferry

he following compound ad!ectives are always hyphenated when they are not written

as one word

An ad!ective preceding a noun to which dor (edhas been added as a past(

participle construction

e.g. loud-mouthed hooligan

middle-aged lady

rose-tinted glasses

A noun, ad!ective, or adverb preceding a present participle

e.g. an awe-inspiring personality

a long-lasting affair

a far-reaching decision

Numbers spelled out or as numerics


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e.g.seven-year itch

five-sided polygon

78th-century poem

98-piece band

tenth - story window

A numeric with the affi% foldhas a hyphen # :;-fold$, but when spelled out

ta&es a solid construction #fifteenfold$.

Numbers, spelled out or numeric, with added odd < si!teen-odd, =8-odd.

"ompound ad!ectives with high( or low( high-level discussion, low-price

markup.

"olours in compounds a dark-blue sweater, a reddish-orange dress

?ractions as modifiers are hyphenated < five-eights inches, but if numerator or

denominator are already hyphenated, the fraction itself does not ta&e a hyphen

a thirty-three thousandth part.

?ractions used as nouns have no hyphens 3 ate only one third of the pie.

"omparatives and superlatives in compound ad!ectives also ta&e hyphens the

highest-placed competitor, a shorter-term loan.

"ompounds including two geographical modifiers (fro-&uban, (nglo-(sian,

but not &entral (merican.

he following compound ad!ectives are not normally hyphenated

-here there is no ris& of ambiguity a "unday morning walk

Left(hand components of a compound ad!ective that end in lythat modify

right(hand components that are past participles ending in ed

e.g. a hotly disputed sub/ect

a greatly improved scheme

a distantly related celebrity

"ompound ad!ectives that include comparatives and superlatives with more, most,

lessorleast

e.g. a more recent development

the most respected member


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a less opportune moment

the least e!pected event

Ordinarily hyphenated compounds with intensive adverbs in front of ad!ectives

e.g. very much admired classicist

really well accepted proposal

(. Co!pound ver%"

6.* ypes of compound verbs

"ompound verbs in English are rather rare and ma!ority of them are formed by bac&(

formation or conversion from compound nouns.

6.*.* Noun 3 verb

he vast ma!ority of this group arise from bac&(formation.

e.g. blockbust, carbon-date, colour-code, head-hunt, sky-dive, carbon-copy, backbite,

boot-leg, bottle-wash, button-mend, caretake, boot-lick, fortune-hunt, lip-read, gate-

crash, globe-trot, hand-shake, house-hunt, book-keep, sight-see, sunbathe, /erry-build, etc.

6.*.) 4erb 3 noun

Bauer lists only one e%ample of this type, and it is converted from a compound noun. he

verb is to shunpike. In the Longman 2ictionary of the English Language I found another

e%ample of this type of compound verb( to humbug.

6.*.5 4erb 3 verb


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his type is e%ceedingly rare. Bauer lists only one recent e%ample, trickle-irrigate,

pointing out that even that could be either noun 3 verb or a bac&(formation from trickle(

irrigation.

6.*.6 Ad!ective 3 verb

his pattern is relatively productive and generally arises through bac&(formation or,

occasionally, conversion.

e.g. double-book, fine-tune, free-associate, soft-land, whitewash, blacklist, foulmouth,

roughcast, rough-dry, rough-hew, hard-boil,deep-fry, shortcut, blindfold, broadcast, etc.

6.*.7 9article 3 verb

Although some of this type may be bac&(formations, most of them seem to be genuine

verbal formations.

e.g. overachieve, overbook, overeducate, overmark, overcome, overestimate, outachieve,

outdo, outwit, outstrip, outsell, outsay, undermine, underbuy, undersell, undertake,

undergo, undercut, uphold, uplift, uproot, offset, etc.

6.*.8 Ad!ective 3 noun

"ompound verbs on this pattern are not common.

e.g. brown-bag, bad-mouth, high-pressure, high-tail,etc.

6.*.: Noun 3 noun

his type is not particularly common and generally arises from conversion of a

compound noun.


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e.g. breath-test, data-bank, network, dovetail, wallpaper, warehouse, war-game,

snowball, snowplough, shoe-horn, sandbag, pigeonhole, mastermind, /ackknife,

keyboard, etc.

6.) 'yphenation

"ompound verbs with single(syllable modifiers are solid, or unhyphenated. hose with

longer modifiers may originally be hyphenated, but as they became established, they

became solid.

e.g. overhang, counterattack.

here was a tendency in the *;thcentury to use hyphens e%cessively, that is, to hyphenate

all previously established solid compound verbs. American English, however, has

diminished the use of hyphens, while British English is more conservative.

). Other for! cla""e"

Apart from the main parts of speech which can be compound we can also observe some

less important parts of speech in the role of compounds.

a$ "ompound pronouns < myself, whichever, whoever, somebody, anybody, something,

nothing, anything, etc.

b$ compound adverbs< anywhere, somewhere, whenever, wherever, elsewhere, anyway,

etc.

he most common way of forming compound adverbs is by the suffi%ation of lyto a

compound ad!ective, but other patterns are also found

e.g. double-uick,flat-out, flat-stick, off-hand, over- night, etc.

8. Dhyme(motivated compounds

he ma!ority of this class are noun compounds made up of two nouns, but other types

also e%ist. In these compounds, the rhyme between the two elements is the ma!or

motivating factor in the formation.


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e.g. higgledy-piggledy, hobnob, hokey-pokey, hoity-toity, roly-poly, teeny-weeny, brain-

drain, culture-vulture, flower-power, gang-bang, nitty-gritty, stun-gun, humdrum, hoi

polloi, tee-hee, rag-tag, etc.

*. +%laut ,!otivated co!pound"

hese compounds involve ablaut, i.e. vowel change or alternation between the two

elements. he most common patterns are i ae and i o .

e.g. flip-flop, riff-raff, shilly-shally, tick-tock, wishy-washy, zig-zag, etc.

-. Neocla""ical co!pound"

Neoclassical compounds, are formations in which elements of Latin or >ree& origin

are combined to form new combinations that are not attested in the original languages

#hence the term NEOclassical$.

>:? a. biochemistry b. photograph c. geology

biorhythm photoioni+e biology

biowarfare photoanalysis neurology

biography photovoltaic philology

It is not obvious whether the italici+ed elements should be regarded as affi%es or as

bound roots. If the data in #*a$ are ta&en as evidence for the prefi% status of bio(, and

the data in #*c$ for the suffi% status of logy, we are faced with the problem that

words such as biologywould consist of a prefi% and a suffi%. his would go against

basic assumptions about the general structure of words. Alternatively, we could

assume that we are not dealing with affi%es, but with bound roots, so that we are in


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fact tal&ing about cases of compounding and not of affi%ation. 0pea&ers of English

that are familiar with such words or even &now some >ree& would readily say that

bio( has the meaning life/, and this insight would lead to the conclusion that the

words in #*a$ behave e%actly li&e compounds on the basis of native words. ?or

e%ample, a kitchen sinkis a &ind of sin&, !ust asbiochemistryis a &ind of chemistry.

he only difference between the neo(classical forms and native compounds is that the

non(native elements are obligatory bound. his is also the reason why the neo(

classical elements are often called combining forms.

Now we shall focus on two phenomena that deserve special attention. ?irst, the

position and combinatorial properties of neoclassical elements, and second, the status

and behavior of final o( that often appears in such forms.

#)$ a. for! !eaning e$a!ple

astro( space/ astro(physics, astrology

bio( life/ biodegradable, biocracy

biblio( boo&/ bibliography, bibliotherapy

elctro( electricity/ electro(cardiograph, electrography

geo( earth/ geographic, geology

hrydro( water/ hiydro(electric, hydrology

morpho( figure morphology, morpho(genesis

philo( love/ philotheist, philo(gastric

retro( bac&wards/ retrofle%, retro(design

tele( distant/ television, telepathy

theo( god/ theocratic, theology

b. (cide murder/ suicide, genocide

(cracy rule/ bureaucracy, democracy

(graphy write/ sonography, bibliography

(itis disease/ laryngitis, la+yitis

(logy science of/ astrology, neurololgy


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(morph figure/ antropomorph, polymorph

(phile love/ anglophile, bibliophile

(phobe fear/ Anglophobe, bibliophobe

(scope loo& at/ laryngoscope, telescope

As indicated by hyphens, none of these forms can occur as a free form. -ith the

e%ception of morph-@-morphandphil-@-phile, which can occur both in initial or in final

position, the elements in #)a$ and #)b$ occur either initially or finally. 'ence a

distinction is often made between initial combining forms #I"?s$ and final combining

forms #?"?s$. he difference between affi%es and combining forms is that neither

affi%es nor bound roots can combine with each other to form a new word an affi% can

combine with a bound root #e.g. bapt-ism, prob-able$, but not whit another affi% to form

a new word #re-ism, ism-able$. And a root can ta&e an affi% but cannot combine with

another bound root #bapt-prob$. "ombining forms, however, can either combine with

bound roots #e.g. glaciology, scientology$, with words #e.g. la+yitis, morpho(synta%$, or

with another combining form #e.g. hydrology, morphology$ to ma&e up a new word.

In the vast ma!ority of cases we find the lin&ing element o( in all of the above

compounds, but there are some e%ceptions listed in #5$

#5$ combining form e%amples lac&ing o( e%amples with o(

a. tele( television (

b. cide suicide genocide

(itis laryngitis (

(morph polymorph anhtropomorph

(scope telescope laryngoscope

c. (cracy bureaucracy democracy


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*ele-is the only I"? that never allows the lin&ing element, while there are four final

combining forms allowing vowels other than -o-preceding them. In #5c$ we have

bureaucracywhich may seem li&e an e%ception, but only in orthography.

9honologically, the form has the same lin&ing element as we find it in demAFBcracy.

his suggests that the phenomenon is not orthographic, but phonological in nature,

since orthography obviously tolerates the use of other letters as long as they represent a

re1uired sound. 9robing further in the phonological direction, we can ma&e some

generali+ations on the basis of the forms in #5$ if there is already a vowel in the final

position of the I"? or in the initial position of the ?"?, -o-does not show up. hus,

tele-scopehas no -o-, but laryng-o-scopehas it Gpoly-morphhas no -o-, but anthrop-o-

morphhas itGsui-cidehas no -o-, butgen-o-cidehas it, and itisdoes not ta&e -o-as a

lin&ing element either, because it starts in a vowel.

If this account of the facts is correct , there should be I"?s ending in a consonant

that do not ta&e (o( when combined with the vowel(initial ?"?s, but that do ta&e (o(

when combined with consonant(initial ?"?s. And indeed, such data e%ist the I"?

gastr( alternates with the formgastro (, and the alternation depends on the following

sound #e.g.gastr-it is, gastr-o- graphy$.'ence, we can conclude that the occurrence of

(o( is, at least with some formations, phonologically determined.

'owever, such an account doest not wor& for all combining forms

#6$ a. biology bio( acoustic

biophysical bio( energy

biotechnology bio( implanted

b. geocentric geoarchaeological

geology geoeletric

geography geoenvironmental

he data in #6$ show that bio( andgeo( do not have alternant forms #bi-@bio-, ge-@geo($,

which means that with these I"?s, (o( does not have status of a n thematic vowel, but is

part of the phonological representation of the I"?. ?rom this we can conclude that the


22/22

status of(o( is not the same in all neoclassical formations, but should be decided on for

each combining form separately on the basis of distributional evidence.

ns. morph. compounding

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