MORPHOLOGY AND SYNTAX

Compound Words, Blends, and Phrasal Words

By: Group 3
1. Dyah Ayu R. R. (B 2013/13-530-0073)
2. Laily Nurhakiki (B 2013/13-530-0138)
3. Yesi Ratnasari
(B 2013/13-530-0059)

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF PGRI ADIBUANA SURABAYA
2015
A. Compounds Vs Phrases

 Definition
Compounding is a formation of new words by stringing together
other words. A compound word is made when two words are joined to
form a new word. Compound word is often used in place of phrasal word.
However, compound word is not the same as phrasal word. See the
following examples.
Phrases
Green house: House that is green

Compounds
Greenhouse: House where delicate
plants are reared

Black board: Board that is black

white house : house that is

Blackboard: Board for writing on

(the) White House : residence

white

of the US President

How to distinguish between compounds and phrasal words:

1. Stress
The underlined words on both examples are where the stress puts on. The
stress on the first words are classified as phrases, while compounds are in
the last words.
1. Semantic
A compound tends to have a meaning that is more or less idiosyncratic or
unpredictable.
B. Classification
1. Compound verbs
Verbs formed by compounding are much less usual than verbs derived by affixation.
Nevertheless, a variety of types exist which may be distinguished according to their
structure:

verbverb (VV): stir-fry, freeze-dry

nounverb (NV): hand-wash, air-condition, steam-clean

adjectiveverb (AV): dry-clean, whitewash
prepositionverb (PV): underestimate, outrun, overcook
Only the PV type is really common, however, and some compounds with under-,

over- and out- do not need to be classed as lexical items. For example, out- can create a
transitive verb meaning outdo in Xing from any verb denoting a competitive or
potentially competitive activity (e.g. outsail, outsing, outswim), while new words with
over- can also be created freely (e.g. overpolish, overcriticise, overbleach).
2. Compound adjectives
A compound adjective is a single adjective comprising more than one word. The
words in a compound adjective are usually grouped together using hyphens (-).
According to their structure, compound adjectives are divided into:

nounadjective (NA): sky-high, coal-black, oil-rich

adjectiveadjective (AA): grey-green, squeaky-clean, red-hot
prepositionadjective (PA): overactive
As with verbs, it is the type with the preposition over as its first element that

seems most productive, in that new adjectives of this type, with the meaning too X, are
readily acceptable: for example overactive, the head of the compound is the adjective
active derived from the verb act. In structure, therefore, this adjective is not a mere string
of morphemes (over + act + -ive), but rather a nested structure: [over [act-ive]].
3. Compound nouns
A compound noun is a noun that is made with two or more words. It is with nouns
that compounding really comes into its own as a word forming process in English.
compound noun are divided into:
verbnoun (VN): swearword
nounnoun (NN): hairnet
adjectivenoun (AN): blackboard
prepositionnoun (PN): in-group, outpost
4. Headed and Headless Compound

Headed Compounds are compound words which the meaning IS specified by its
words e.g.: Blackboard

(Blackboard is a dark surface on a wall or frame which a teacher writes on with

chalk)
Headless Compounds are compound words which the meaning IS NOT specified by
its words e.g. : Bigwig
(Bigwig is a person who has an important or powerful position)

C. Blends and Acronyms

1. Blends in the morphological literature differ a great deal, but most treatments
converge on a definition of blends as words that combine two (rarely three or more)
words into one, deleting material from one or both of the source words.
Example: Smog (smoke + fog) noun mixture of fog and smoke
Motel (motor + hotel) noun hotel for people travelling by car

Partial blends, where only one component is truncated.

Example:

cheeseburger (from cheese plus hamburger).

2. Acronyms are words derived from the initials of several words. Intermediate between
an acronym and a blend is sonar (from sound navigation and ranging). The use of
capital letters in the spelling of some of these words reflects the fact that speakers are
aware of their acronym status. It does not follow that any string of capital letters
represents an acronym. If the conventional way of reading the string is by
pronouncing the name of each letter in turn, as with USA and RP (standing for the
Received Pronunciation of British English), then it is not an acronym but an
abbreviation. It is clear from these examples that acronym is in active use for the
creation of new vocabulary.
Examples:
NASA

:National Aeronautics and Space Administration

UNESCO

:United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

UNICEF

:United Nations Children's Fund

Radar

:Radio Detecting and Ranging

 Laser

:Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation

Scuba

:Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus

AIDS

:Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

UCLA

:University of California, Los Angeles

Or
LOL

: Laughing Out Loud

IMO

: In My Opinion

ASAP

: As Soon As Possible

FAQ

: Frequently Asked Question

It is clear from these examples that acronym is in active use for the creation of
new vocabulary.
D. Compounds Containing Bound Combining Forms
Vocabularies in English especially in scientific and technical areas, includes a huge
repertoire of compound that are made up of bound roots, known as combining forms.
Example:
Anthropology: science or study of human beings
The meaning of the whole is clearly determinable from that of the parts, anthrop
(o)-human plus (o)logy science or study yields a word that means science or study of
human beings.
E. Phrasal Words
Phrasal word is complex item that its internal structure is phrase and it functions as
word.
Compare:
1. Jack-in-the-box
Its plural: Jack-in-the-boxes
2. Book on the shelf
Its plural: Books on the shelf

Example no. 1 is phrasal word, it is treated as a word, not phrase, so the plural suffix (s)
is addes in the end.