Compound
Running head: Compounding in English and Vietnamese
Compounding in English and Vietnamese: A Contrastive Analysis
Nguyen Ngoc Thao
HCMC University of Education
Introduction
According to Wikipedia, a compound is a lexeme (less precisely, a word) that consists of more than one stem. Compounding is the word formation that creates compound lexemes (the other word-formation process being derivation). It refers to the faculty and device of language to form new words by combining or putting together old words. In other words, compounding occurs when a person attaches two or more words together to make them one word. The meanings of the words interrelate in such a way that a new meaning comes out which is very different from the meanings of the words in isolation. In linguistics studies, this is one of the most interesting features of language, especially in Vietnamese. The phonology of compounding may be seen to form a bridge between the lexical phonology of the word and the post-lexical phonology of the phrase. (Nguyen & Ingram, 2006). This paper aims at exploring compounding in English and Vietnamese in a contrastive view. Then, some suggested implications for future language teaching are discussed. I hope that the information included in this paper will help to have a deeper look in the two language systems in compounding.
Compounding in English
In English, compounds are classified in terms of semantics and word class.
Firstly, in semantics, a common classification of compounds yields four types: endocentric, exocentric, copulative and appositional compounds. Endocentric compounds (or headed compounds) consist of a head, i.e. the categorical part that contains the basic meaning of the whole compound, and modifiers, which restrict this meaning. For example, in the English compound doghouse (a house intended for a dog), house is the head and dog is the modifier. Exocentric compounds, on the
Compounding in English and Vietnamese: A Contrastive Analysis
Nguyen Ngoc Thao
HCMC University of Education
Introduction
According to Wikipedia, a compound is a lexeme (less precisely, a word) that consists of more than one stem. Compounding is the word formation that creates compound lexemes (the other word-formation process being derivation). It refers to the faculty and device of language to form new words by combining or putting together old words. In other words, compounding occurs when a person attaches two or more words together to make them one word. The meanings of the words interrelate in such a way that a new meaning comes out which is very different from the meanings of the words in isolation. In linguistics studies, this is one of the most interesting features of language, especially in Vietnamese. The phonology of compounding may be seen to form a bridge between the lexical phonology of the word and the post-lexical phonology of the phrase. (Nguyen & Ingram, 2006). This paper aims at exploring compounding in English and Vietnamese in a contrastive view. Then, some suggested implications for future language teaching are discussed. I hope that the information included in this paper will help to have a deeper look in the two language systems in compounding.
Compounding in English
In English, compounds are classified in terms of semantics and word class.
Firstly, in semantics, a common classification of compounds yields four types: endocentric, exocentric, copulative and appositional compounds. Endocentric compounds (or headed compounds) consist of a head, i.e. the categorical part that contains the basic meaning of the whole compound, and modifiers, which restrict this meaning. For example, in the English compound doghouse (a house intended for a dog), house is the head and dog is the modifier. Exocentric compounds, on the
References: Compound (linguistics). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compound_%28linguistics%29 English compound. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_compound Noun compound. Retrieved from http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/nouncompound.htm Compound adjective. Retrieved from http://grammar.about.com/od/c/g/compadjterm.htm An, V. T. and Kha, N. T. L. (2009). Tieng Viet Gian Yeu. Ho chi minh city: Education Publishing House. Nguyen, T. and Ingram, J. C. (2006, May 2). Acoustic and perceptual cues for compound - phrasal contrasts in Vietnamese. Retrieved from http://www.isca-speech.org/archive/sp2006/papers/sp06_034.pdf Thompson, L. (1965). A Vietnamese reference grammar. Retrieved from http://books.google.com.vn/books?id=XN7SHNeZ_ksC&dq=compounding+in+vietnamese&source=gbs_navlinks_s Tran, H. M. (1969). Stress, tone and intonation in South Vietnamese. Retrieved from http://www.assta.org/sst/2006/sst2006-100.pdf Ngo, N.B. (2009,December 20). The Vietnamese Language Learning Framework. Retrieved from http://www.seasite.niu.edu/jsealt/past%20issues/volume%2010/VN%20LLF%20Part%20I.pdf