COMPOUNDING IN ENGLISH WORD FORMATION: A MORPHOLOGICAL AND FUNCTIONAL STUDY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58885/ijllis.v15i2.33erKeywords:
compounding, word creation, Morphology, English linguistics, compound words, lexical structure, endocentric compounds, exocentric compounds, grammatical categories, lexicalization.Abstract
Compounding is discussed as one of the most productive word-formation processes in English. Compound words are created when two or more existing words are joined together to form a new lexical unit with a new meaning. The research covers the basic types of compound words, their structural models, orthographic forms and grammatical purposes. Special stress is laid on the classification of compounds into closed, open and hyphenated types and their distribution across grammatical categories such as compound nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs. The literature study is based on well-established linguistic research to clarify key concepts such as headedness, endocentric and exocentric compounds, and semantic transparency. The results of theoretical and experimental research demonstrate that the compound nouns are the most frequent and productive types in English, the other compound types are also involved in the flexibility and expansion of the vocabulary. The study generally emphasizes the importance of compounding in the development of the English vocabulary and its adaptation to the communicative needs.
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