Motivated tests for compounding
Pius ten Hacken · Acta Linguistica Hafniensia · 1999
In this article I propose a system of tests for answering the question what is a compound. Since this type of question is not common in present-day linguistics, I begin by showing the importance of having a motivated answer. Then I develop a framework for the application of a definition of compounding in the identification of constructions in any language as belonging to the phenomenon of compounding and in the identification of expressions as instances of these constructions. By imposing certain conditions on a definition, the framework guides the search for an appropriate formulation. The definition found is valid for all languages. It is at the basis of tests whose general applicability is suggested on the one hand by the solution of some apparent problems, on the other hand by some examples from English and Turkish * I would like to thank Elisabeth Engberg-Pedersen, François Grosjean, Ellen-Petra Kester, and Cornelia Tschichold for their comments on earlier versions of this paper. Of course they are not responsible for any remaining errors. I also thank audiences of the 1993 Autumn meeting of the LAGB in Bangor (Wales) and the 1994 Workshop on Compound Nouns in Geneva, where I had the opportunity to discuss some of the views presented here.