International Journal of Language and Linguistics

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Compound Words’ Classification - A Cognitive Linguistic Based Study

Received: 25 August 2020    Accepted: 19 September 2020    Published: 07 October 2020
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Abstract

This study attempts to classify compound words on the basis of Cognitive Linguistics and compares their usage trends using Computational Linguistics. In order to study compound words, it is very important to study the structure of a sentence because compound word in essence, is a condensed form of a sentence. After the Chomskyan Revolution, the concept of Cognitive linguistics in the structure of a sentence came into limelight. He explains about d-structure (deep structure), which determines the logic or meaning and s-structure (surface structure) that is the phonetic part. Lees, working with Transformational Generative Grammar (TGG), treated compound words, not as separate units but as a kind of embedded sentences and hinted for possible presence of d-structure and s-structure in compound words, which this study tries to investigate. Then on the basis of the Idealized Cognitive Model proposed by Lakoff and Fauconnier, compound words have been classified into transparent, opaque and counterintuitive compound words. Using Google Books Corpus, this study also compares their usage trends. This is done using usage frequency, defined in this work, which is analogous to productivity for affixed words calculated by G. E. Booij. Each class of compound word formed on the basis of ICM is found to have different usage frequency and the possible reasons for this are discussed.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijll.20200805.14
Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 8, Issue 5, September 2020)
Page(s) 216-228
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Deep Structure and Surface Structure, Idealized Cognitive Model (ICM), Transformational Generative Grammar (TGG), Counterintuitive Compound Words, Usage Frequency

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  • University College of Arts & Social Sciences, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India

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    Padmaja Kilambi. (2020). Compound Words’ Classification - A Cognitive Linguistic Based Study. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 8(5), 216-228. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20200805.14

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    Padmaja Kilambi. Compound Words’ Classification - A Cognitive Linguistic Based Study. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2020, 8(5), 216-228. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20200805.14

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    Padmaja Kilambi. Compound Words’ Classification - A Cognitive Linguistic Based Study. Int J Lang Linguist. 2020;8(5):216-228. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20200805.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijll.20200805.14,
      author = {Padmaja Kilambi},
      title = {Compound Words’ Classification - A Cognitive Linguistic Based Study},
      journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
      volume = {8},
      number = {5},
      pages = {216-228},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20200805.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20200805.14},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20200805.14},
      abstract = {This study attempts to classify compound words on the basis of Cognitive Linguistics and compares their usage trends using Computational Linguistics. In order to study compound words, it is very important to study the structure of a sentence because compound word in essence, is a condensed form of a sentence. After the Chomskyan Revolution, the concept of Cognitive linguistics in the structure of a sentence came into limelight. He explains about d-structure (deep structure), which determines the logic or meaning and s-structure (surface structure) that is the phonetic part. Lees, working with Transformational Generative Grammar (TGG), treated compound words, not as separate units but as a kind of embedded sentences and hinted for possible presence of d-structure and s-structure in compound words, which this study tries to investigate. Then on the basis of the Idealized Cognitive Model proposed by Lakoff and Fauconnier, compound words have been classified into transparent, opaque and counterintuitive compound words. Using Google Books Corpus, this study also compares their usage trends. This is done using usage frequency, defined in this work, which is analogous to productivity for affixed words calculated by G. E. Booij. Each class of compound word formed on the basis of ICM is found to have different usage frequency and the possible reasons for this are discussed.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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