Compounding

1. The words in (4) are compounds. For each one, give the meaning of each member of the compound
and that of the compounded form. Say whether the compound is semantically transparent or not.
a. battlefield
b. scarecrow
c. Churchyard
d. dogwood
e. Hoodwink
f. handkerchief
g. Inmate h. postman
i. Ladysmock
2. Draw a tree structure for the following compounds.
sunspot, fast food, overbook, boyfriend, bittersweet, killjoy, afternoon
3. Are the following words endocentric or exocentric compounds?
Skinhead saber tooth
bath towel fireman
Walkman textbook
Armchair highbrow
Loudmouth
hothead
4. Identify the syntactic pattern in each of the following compounds and express it in a lexical rule.
Example: gravedigger N + V + -er> N
1.
hovercraft
V+N > N
2.

dairyman

N+N > N

3.

bath-towel

N+N >N

4.

goldfish

N+N >N

5.

inroads

Prt + N + -s > N

6.

bystander

Prt + V + er > N

7.

setback

V + Prt > N (conversion)

8.

meltdown

V + Prt > N (conversion)

9.

blackout

V + Prt > N (conversion)

10.

stand-in

V + Prt > N (conversion)

11.

turnout

V + Prt > N (conversion)

12.

money-hungry

N+A>A

13.

dugout

V + en + Prt > N (conversion)

14.

hardhearted

A + N + ed > A

15.

homesick

N+A>A

16.

proofread

N+V>V

17.

overqualified

Prt + V + en > V / A

18.

overachieve

Prt + V + > V

19.

badmouth

A + N > V (conversion)

20.

redhead

A+N> N

21.

birth control

N+N/V>N/V

22.

breakfast

V+N>N

23.

thoroughgoing

A + V + ing > A

24.

quick-change

A + V > A (conversion)

25.

lukewarm

A+A>A

26.

law-abiding

N + V + ing > A

27.

far-reaching

A + V + ing > A

28.

homemade

N + V + en > A

29.

clean-cut

A + V + en > A

30.

fighter-bomber

31. earthenware
32. driver's seat

V + er + V + er > N
N + en + N > N
V + er + s + N > N

33. baking powder

V + ing + N > N

34. drip-coffee

V+N>N

35. wisecrack

A+V>V+N

36. snowplow

N+V/N>V/N

2. The following words are compounds which also include derivational affixes. Analyze the words,
identifying the roots and their parts of speech, as well all the affixes and their function as
nominalizer, verbalizer, adjectivalizer, or adverbializer.
Example: housekeeper

house (root - noun) + keep (root - verb) + -er (nominalizer)

(a)

flightworthiness
flight (root-noun) + worth (root-noun) + -y (adjectivalizer) + -ness (nominalizer)

(b)

chatterbox
chat (root-verb) + -er (nominalizer) + box (root-noun)

(c)

owner-occupied own (root-verb) + -er (nominalizer) + occupy (root-verb) + -en (past

participle / adjectivalizer

(d)

freedom-loving free (root-adjective) + -dom (nominalizer) + love (root-verb) + -ing (present

participle / djectivalizer

(e)

handicraft
hand (root-noun) + -y (adjectivalizer) + craft (root+noun)

(f)

broken-hearted
break (root-verb) + -en (past participle / adjectivalizer) + heart (root-noun) + -ed ( adjectivalizer)

(g)

safety-tested safe (root-adjective) + ty (nominalizer) + test (root-verb) +-ed (past

participle / adjectivalizer)

(h)

worldly-wise
world (root-noun) + -ly (adjectivalizer) + wise (root-adjective)

(i)

antiaircraft
anti (prefix) + air (root-noun) + craft (root-noun)

(j)

machine-readable machine (root-noun) + read (root-verb) able (suffixadjectivalizer)

(k) chartered accountant charter (root-noun) + -ed (suffix- adjectivalizer) +

account (root-verb + -ant) + suffic+ noinalizer)