Basic English Syntax with Exercises

compound noun

1.3.4.2 Nouns

Exactly the opposite problem is caused by examples such as scissors and trousers, which appear to be nouns which lack a singular form (*scissor, *trouser). This might be more of a semantic problem rather than a grammatical one however, as the objects to which these words refer are inherently plural in some respect: scissors have two blades and trousers have two legs. Moreover, without this plural aspect to the meaning, the object ceases to be describable in the same way: something with one blade cannot be described as scissors (or scissor for that matter) and something with one leg is not trousers (nor trouser). Again, it is possible to find the singular form of such words used, though in very limited contexts. When two nouns are put together to form a single compound noun, the preceding noun must be in its singular form:

1.3.4.2 Nouns

There are some exceptions, e.g. dogsbody.) Note this restriction holds whether or not the plural form would be more appropriate semantically, as is the case with armchair which tend to have more than one arm! When an inherently plural noun is used as the first noun in a compound, it too appears in its singular form:

3.1.5.3 Adjunction to head

Finally, we will consider the case of adjunction to a head, using compound nouns for an example. There are a number of complexities which we will not go into here, sticking to more straightforward cases. Compound nouns are formed by putting two otherwise independent elements, usually an adjective and a noun or two nouns, together and use the resulting unit as a single noun:

3.1.5.3 Adjunction to head

Sometimes the spelling indicates that the two parts of the noun are put together to form one word, but other times it does not. We will not delve into the mysteries of English spelling here. Note that when compounds are formed from an adjective and a noun, the noun is second. Moreover, if there is a main semantic element of the two parts of the compound, this is also the second element: an armchair is a kind of chair not a kind of arm. We might claim therefore that the second element is the head and the first is a modifier of the head. The structures we get are:

3.1.5.3 Adjunction to head

Given that the second noun is the head, it follows that the first element is an adjunct to the head. In principle, we should be able to get multiple head adjuncts by the same recursive process as we have noted with other adjuncts. However in practice it is not so common to find multiple compound nouns of this type. It is more common to find the adjunct itself being made up of a compound, which has a very different structure. Compare the following:

3.1.5.3 Adjunction to head

In both cases the last noun is the head, but the adjuncts are related in different ways. In (43a), the adjective hard modifies the head to form a compound hard disk. We then add the second adjunct which modifies this. Thus we have the structure:

3.1.5.3 Adjunction to head

In (43b) on the other hand, we have a compound made up of ball and point, with the latter as the head. This compound is then used as an adjunct in the compound ballpoint pen, giving the following structure:

3.2.3 Traces

In (102b) it might be claimed that the negative element moves to the position occupied by the modal auxiliary and the two somehow join together to become a single word. Again there is something like an adjunction formed in this case with a word being created from two independent words, like a compound noun (in this case the ‘compound’ is a verb).

5.2.7 Phrasal verbs

A final problem for (127) is that it tends to go against the general pattern of compounding in English. When a complex head is formed from two heads by adjoining one to the other, it is generally the case that the head of the compound is the leftmost element. This is true in compound nouns and adjectives, but also with verbs:

5.2.7 Phrasal verbs

In all these cases of compounding, the rightmost element provides the compound with its syntactic and semantic properties. So an armchair is a kind of chair not a kind of arm and a white lie is a noun not an adjective.