Analysis of English Compound Nouns.doc

analysis of english compound nounsabstract: among english vocabulary, there are a lot of compound words, a large number of new words are formed by compounding.studying the word-building characteristics and rules of english compound words is truly good for us on learning english vocabulary and comprehending connotation of english language accurately. on the base of the modern english lexicology, this paper shows analysis of english compound nouns, a part of compounding words, from written form, classification, semantic analysis, meaning shift and so on. in this way can we learn english better and better.key words: compound nouns; form classification; semantics; lexical meaning1. introductioncompounding or composition is a word-formation process consisting of joining two or more bases to form a new unit, a compound word. it is a universal device which has been productive at every period of the english language. english now makes more use of compounding than at any previous time in its history. today the largest number of new words are formed by compounding. among all compound words, compound nouns have played a very important role and have helpful effects on interpersonal communication. so it is necessary for us to know some principles of compound nouns. next the paper shows some simple but crucial principles of compound nouns.2.the relevant studies this paper adopts the studies of li cailing(2011) zhu li(2011), indicating the written forms are the basic point for learning compound nouns, and form classification, semantics, lexical meaning are the key points. in addition, the paper also compares with study of deng ying(1997), identifying the unique characteristics of compound nouns.3.written form of compound nounsbasically there are three common written forms of compounds. compound nouns also follow these forms.typese.g.no.1no.2no.3solideggshells 蛋壳bedroom 卧室headache 头疼hyphenatedstick-in-the-mud 老顽固passer-by 过路人fire-fly 火焰open swimming pool 游泳池bus stop 公交车站full moon 满月however, it is difficult to decide which form should be used as criterion; for sometimes the same compound noun may appear in three different forms, for example:postcard post-card post cardairline air-line air linegenerally, american people tend to use solid and open written forms, while british people prefer to use hyphenated written form. as a result, we can not charge which way is the best and most standard.4.classification of compound nounsthere are kinds of compound nouns, we can divide them into 10 kinds according to their different parts of speech.(a) adjective and noun:examples are shorthand （速记）; double- dealer （口是心非的人）;hot water（麻烦）;hotfoot（恶作剧). here are two specific sentences:johns thoughtless remark about religion got him into a lot of hot water.like shaw, he has tickled his readersfunny bone with a cultural hotfoot.(b) verb and noun:examples are sleeping pill（安眠药片); waiting- room（候车室）(c) noun and v-ing: examples are sight- seeing （观光）;sun- bathing （日光浴）window dressing （虚伪的言行）：their piety is merely window dressing.（他们的虔诚只是为了装饰门面）(d)noun and verb:examples are rainfall （降雨)；haircut（理发）(e)verb and noun:examples are washbasin （脸盆）;pickpocket（扒手）.makeshift（权宜之计）：when the electric lights went out, we used candles as a makeshift.（电灯熄灭时，我们用蜡烛来代替）(f)noun and adverbial:examples are passer- by (过路人);hanger- on (食客).(g)adverbial and noun:examples are upgrade （升级）;aftereffect （副作用）.(h)verb and adverbial:examples are breakthrough （突破）; warm- up （准备动作、热身).(i)adverbial and verb:examples are outlook （前景）; onset（进攻）.(j)noun and noun :examples are headache （头疼);sunrise （日出).5. semantic analysis and meaning shift5.1 semantic analysiswe should realize that there are semantic relationships among the components of compound nouns. so it will be effective in understanding and memory the compound nouns accurately if we comprehend the relations. generally compound nouns have the next five kinds semantic meanings or we can say that we could analyze compound words from five aspects.a: compound nouns can substitute words with of. e.g. a chair of leg,(chair-leg) ,a door knob(door knob)b: compound nouns relate to locations. sometimes the first word indicates place,and the second word indicates what exists in the place. e.g. the bank safe a kitchen sinkc: compound nouns can indicate the purpose. the second word indicates the use of the first word. e.g. a can-opener ; a sheep dogd: compound nouns relate to materials. the first word indicates the material, the second word indicates what does the material make. e.g. a cotton blouse; a gold watche: compound nouns relates to time. e.g. afternoon tea; an evening dressin fact ,different people pay attention to different aspects, there is still a lot of space for us to divide and develop.5.2 meaning shiftin a compound noun,sometimes we could simply know the meaning of the noun by adding every part of the noun, moonlight(moon+light=月光);however,sometimes,the meanings of compound nouns have developed widely and have other creative meanings.take bottleneck as an example.the original meaning of this noun is(瓶颈), later, it indicates crowd districts or areas of traffic heavy, and then it even can indicate weak lines. another kind is derivative meaning. generally compound nouns of this kind will be made up of simple single word, but the actual meaning of these compound nouns will totally be different from the original word.like milky way(we cant say it means the road of milk, in fact, it means galaxy).6.conclusioncompound noun is a kind od complex language phenomenon, it has extended varia