compound word

compound word, a word composed of two or more words that, when linked, function as a single word expressing a distinct meaning.

Compound word structure and spelling

Various terms are used for the individual words that make up a compound word, including modifier and head constituent as well as left constituent and right constituent. Typically, the head constituent represents the overall meaning of the compound, and the modifier adds information. For example, in the compound chain saw, saw is the head constituent, and chain is the modifier; thus, chain saw refers to a type of saw with a chain.

Compound words can be written solid (e.g., haircut, eyeglasses, teapot), hyphenated (high-speed, mother-in-law, part-time), or open (health care, field day, living room).

Compound word status

Some open-word sequences may seem to be compound words but do not truly qualify as such, according to general guidelines. In true compound words the modifier (or left constituent) is usually not inflected. For example, small talk cannot be smaller talk, whereas wet day can be wetter day. This shows that small talk is a true compound word, because it functions as a single word, whereas wet day is not. True compound words cannot have their constituents split by other words. For example, the word churned cannot be inserted into peanut butter. Although churned butter refers to something that exists, peanut churned butter does not. Most true compounds place the main phonological stress on the modifier. For example, the stress pattern for the compound old-school (“My young boss was surprisingly old-school”) is old-school, whereas the stress pattern for the phrase old school (“next to the old school”) is old school.

Compound word lexical categories

Compound words appear in several lexical (word- or vocabulary-related) categories. Each compound’s category is determined by the head constituent’s part of speech. The most common compounds in English are noun compounds (blackboard, cheeseburger, swimsuit), adjective compounds (fat-free, ice-cold, snow-white), and verb compounds (dry-clean, undercut, daydream).

The formation of compound words often follows specific patterns of combining lexical classes:

While not as common, there are also adverb compounds (thereafter, nowadays, nevertheless), pronoun compounds (someone, nobody, everything), and preposition compounds (into, onto, due to).

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Compound word semantic categories

A compound word can be seen as falling under one of four semantic (meaning-related) categories: endocentric, exocentric, copulative, or appositional. Endocentric compounds are the most common in English.

The word endocentric combines endo, meaning “within,” with centric, meaning “central.” Thus, endocentric compounds derive their meaning from the meanings of their individual constituents. An endocentric compound is a hyponym of its head constituent—a hyponym being a word whose specific meaning is included in the general meaning of another word. For example, the endocentric compound barstool is a hyponym of the head consituent stool, since, with the modifier bar, the compound refers to a specific type of stool. Endocentric compounds are considered semantically transparent, because it is clear how the meanings of their individual constituents relate to each other and how each constituent contributes to the meaning of the whole compound.

The word exocentric combines exo, meaning “outside,” with centric. Thus, exocentric compounds derive their meaning from outside the meanings of their constituents and often involve metaphor or metonymy. Exocentric compounds are considered headless. For example, the word bookworm usually refers neither to a type of book nor to a type of worm; rather, the constituents combine to form a metaphor referring to someone so devoted to reading that he or she is like a “worm” (actually an insect larva) that devours a book. Exocentric compounds are considered semantically opaque, because the meanings of the individual constituents do not contribute directly to the meaning of the compound.

Copulative compounds (also called coordinative compounds) can be considered headless, because they derive their meaning from the blending of their constituents’ meanings. The constituents contribute equally to the compound’s meaning, each referring to an attribute of the same entity, and can be paraphrased by inserting and between them. Examples of copulative compounds include Alsace-Lorraine, restaurant-bar, and bittersweet.

Appositional compounds can also be considered headless, because each constituent refers to the same thing or person. Thus, an appositional compound is a hyponym of each constituent. For instance, the compound maidservant refers to a type of maid (woman or girl) and a type of servant. Examples of appositional compounds include student-teacher, hunter-gatherer, and singer-songwriter.