Transcript Compounding/Composition

Compounding/Composition
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Definition
silkworm 蚕
honey-bee 蜜蜂
tear gas 催泪弹
Each expresses one concept.
They are called compounds.
Compounding/Composition
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Form of writing
solid
silkworm
honey-bee
hyphenated
tear gas
open
Compounding/Composition
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Differences between compounds and free
phrases:
tear gas
compounds
easy chair
good friend
free phrase
red rose
Compounding/Composition
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Characteristics:
1. Stress pattern:
`— —  compound `tear gas `easy chair
—`—  free phrase good `friend red `rose
The stress falls on the first element in C.
The stress falls on the second in FP.
Compounding/Composition
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2. Meaning:
讹诈
black mail:
hot potato:
棘手的问题
dog days:
三伏天
the youngest daughter: 老闺女
Compounding/Composition
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3. Grammatical features：
easier chair
easy chair
red tape
reddest tape
fine art
finest art
hot line
cold line
compounds
free phrase
Formation of compounds
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Word classes of compounds:
Most compounds are nouns and adjectives
Next come verbs.
Compounds of other part of speech are
few.
everyday, something, nobody, whatever,
nowhere, within, underneath, into, upon
Formation of compounds
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1. Noun compounds
end product, information
n+n
highway, netspeak
n+v
heartbeat, toothache
v+n
breakwater, swearword
a+n
software, deadline
n + v-ing sleepwalking, airconditioning
Formation of compounds
washing machine, cleaning lady
stockholder, crime reporter
n+v+er
outbreak, downfall
adv+v
have-not, sit-in
v+adv
going-over, carryings-on
v-ing+adv
up-bringing
v-ing+n
adv+v-ing
英汉对照
Formation of compounds
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2. Adjective compounds
record-breaking, time-consuming
n+v-ing
a+v-ing
high-sounding, easy-going
n+a
blood-thirsty, love-sick
a+a
bitter-sweet, dark-blue
n+v-ed
heart-felt, custom-built
a/adv+v-ed hard-won, well-written
Formation of compounds
a/adv+n-ed
num+n
num+n-ed
adv+v-ing
v-ed+adv
v-ing+a
a+n
honey-mouthed, sharp-tongued
double-decker, two-leg
one-eyed, six-fingered
out-going, on-coming
worn-out, washed-up
burning-hot, freezing-cold
full-length, red-letter
Formation of compounds
break-neck, cut-rate
v+n
throw-away
v+adv
(1), (3) and (5) are very productive.
英汉对照
Formation of compounds
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3. Verb compounds
Through conversion
honeymoon
to honeymoon
firstname
to firstname
sweet-talk
to sweet-talk
Formation of compounds
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Through backformation
proof-reading
to proofread
breast-feeding
to breast-feed
bottle-feeding
to bottle-feed
chain-smokerto chain-smoke
mass-production to mass-produce
英汉对照
Formation of compounds
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Lexicalization词化
1. Hyphenation
pay to take home
ahead of schedule
devil may care
twist and turn
round the clock
take-home-pay
ahead-of-schedule
devil-may-care
twist-and-turn
round-the-clock
Formation of compounds
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Example:
too-eager-not-to-lose champion
a middle-of-the-road politician
A spirited discussion sprung up between a
young girl who says that women had
outgrown the jumping-on-a-chair-at-thesight-of-a-mouse era and a major who
says that they haven’t.
Formation of compounds
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2. Rearrangement (nouns)
a worm that glows glowworm
a person who designs computers
computer-designer
cup for drinking
walk in one’s sleep
fly like a dragon
drinking-cup
sleep-walking
dragonfly
Formation of compounds
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(adjectives)
take breath
made at home
mean well
sick for missing home
weary of war
retarded in language
breath-taking
home-made
well-meant
homesick
war-weary
Language-retarded
Formation of compounds
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Compounding is the easiest means to use
to make new words.
If we need a word which is not found, we
can easily make one by lexicalization
through hyphenation or
rearrangement.