Conversion

Compounding.

Compounding is the process of making new words by combining several stems. This is the most productive of word-formation. Compounding or word-compositionis is one of the productive types of word-formation in Modern English. Composition like all other ways of deriving words has its own peculiarities as to the means used, the nature of bases and their distribution, as to the range of application, the scope of seman­tic classes and the factors conducive to pro­ductivity. There are tree aspects of Compounding:

Structural aspect. Structurally we can deal with tree types of compounds:

1. Neutral – there are no linking elements.

· Simple: sunflower, bedroom, blackmail, tallboy, blackbird.

· Derived: two stems +affix: early-riser, music-lover, honey-mooner.

· Contracted: there is an element is a contraction: TV-set, H-bag, V-day.

2. Morphological – are fewer in number, non-productive; there is a linking element, usually “o”: anglosaxon, spokesman, handiwork, craftsmanship.

3. Syntactic – very English type, formed of segments of speech and preserve in their structure traces of syntagmatic relations typical of speech: good-for-nothing, sit-at-home, Jack-of-all-trades, breakfast-in-the-bedder, lily-of-the-valley.

Semantic aspect. Three major groups of compounds:

1. Transparant/Non-idiomatic: meaning can be deduced from the meaning of two components: classroom, dancing hall, sleeping car. Meaning is the sum of compounds.

2. Semi-transparant: one of the components shifts its meaning: chatterbox, lady-killer, pickpocket, good-for-nothing.

3. Enigmas: impossible to deduce meaning of compound from the meaning of components: ladybird, wallflower, horse marine, tallboy, blue stocking.

Criteria for distinguishing between compounds and word combinations:

1. spelling

2. phonetic criteria – compound has single stress

3. morphological

4. syntactical – word combination: tall boy – tall handsome boy

5. semantical – two meaningful words must form one solid meaning: lipstick.

Conversion, one of the principal ways of forming words in Modern English is high­ly productive in replenishing the English word-stock with new words, ‘cause English is analytical language & there are lots of monosyllabic words. Conversion – affixless way of word-building, affixless derivation; process which consisits in forming a new word from existing one by changing its category of speech, whereas the morphemic/phonemic form remains the same.

This question is contraversion. ‘cause some linguists say that it’s not a way of word-formation, but change of word-function.

Semantic classification:

1. N-tool, V- its function: nail

2. N-animal, V-some characteristic of it: fox, dog, rat

3. N-part of body, V- the action performed

4. N-profession, V- activity: cook

5. N-place, V-process of its occupation: room

6. N-container, V-putting smth in it: bottle

7. N-meal, V-taking meal.

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