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Part of
Competition in Word-Formation
Edited by Alexandra Bagasheva, Akiko Nagano and Vincent Renner
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 284] 2024
► pp. 297–325

Chapter 10
[N1 + N2], [N + A], and [N1 + de + N2]

Is there a tripartite competition in French endocentric naming constructions?

ORCID logo | Aoyama Gakuin University

[N1 + N2], [N1 + A], and [N1 + P + N2] constructions have a function of naming subcategories of the concept indicated by the N1. [N1 + A] and [N1 + P + N2] constructions are considered as lexicalized syntactic units, whereas [N1 + N2] constructions cannot be formed by syntactic rules. The formation of [N1 + N2] constructions is based on a model created by an analogy from existent binominal constructions. The three types of constructions under investigation can establish a tripartite competition, but such cases do not always occur, because of the conditional productivity of [N1 + N2], the lack of adjectival form and restrictions on the formation of [N1 + de + N2].

Keywords: French, binominal constructions, compounding, lexicalization, analogy, multi-word units
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Internal structure of the three types of construction
    • 2.1[N1 + N2]
    • 2.2[N1 + A]
    • 2.3[N1 + de + N2]
    • 2.4Lexical nature of endocentric naming constructions
  • 3.Theoretical status of the three types of construction
    • 3.1Different approaches to compounding
    • 3.2The non-restrictive approach
    • 3.3The scalar approach
    • 3.4The restrictive or lexicalist approach
    • 3.5The constructionist approach
    • 3.6Analogical formation and conditional productivity of [N1 + N2]
    • 3.7Productive constructions with a specific N2
    • 3.8Summary
  • 4.Complementarity and competition
    • 4.1[N1 + N2] and [N1 + A]: Complementarity
    • 4.2[N1 + N2] with specific N1 and [N1 + A]: Possible competition
    • 4.3[N1 + de + N2] vs. [N1 + N2] and/or [N1 + A]
    • 4.4Competition with constructions with other prepositions
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 8 May 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.284.10kog
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