PHONETICS Compound Nouns
PHONETICS Compound Nouns
ASSIGNMENT II
COMPOUND NOUNS
PRONUNCIATION AND ACCENTUATION –
ACCENTUAL PATTERNS
Compound words
A compound noun is a noun that is made with two or more words. A compound noun
is usually [noun + noun] or [adjective + noun], but there are other combinations. It is
important to understand and recognize compound nouns. Each compound noun acts
as a single unit and can be modified by adjectives and other nouns.
Its main characteristic is that it can be analysed into two words, both of which can exist
independently as English words.
As with many of the distinctions being made in connection with stress, there are areas
of uncertainty. For example, it could be argued that “photograph” may be divided into
two independent words, “photo” and “graph”; yet we usually do not regard it as a
compound, but as a simple word.
Compounds are written in different ways; sometimes they are written as one word –
e.g. “armchair”, “sunflower” – sometimes with the words separated by a hyphen – e.g.
“gear-change”, “fruit-cake” – and sometimes with two words separated by a space –
e.g. “desk lamp”, “battery charger”. In this last case there would, of course, be no
indication to the foreign learner that the pair of words was to be treated as a
compound. There is no clear dividing line between two-word compounds and pairs of
words that simply happen to occur together quite frequently.
noun + noun bus stop Is this the bus stop for the number
12 bus?
Typewriter [ˈtaɪpraɪtə]
Car-ferry [ˈka:feri]
Sunrise [ˈsʌnraɪz]
Suitcase [ˈsu:tkeɪs]
Tea-cup [ˈti:kʌp]
It is probably safest to assume that stress will normally fall in this way on other
compounds; however, a variety of compounds receive stress instead on the second
element. For example, compounds with and adjectival first element and the –ed
morpheme at the end have this pattern (given in spelling only):
Bad- `tempered
Half- `timbered
Heavy- `handed
Compounds in which the first element is a number in some form also tend to have final
stress:
Three- `wheeler
Second- `class
Five- `finger
Head- `first
North- `East
Down- `stream
Finally, compounds which function as verbs and have an adverbial first element take
final stress:
Down- `grade
Back- `pedal
Ill- `treat
Stress position may vary for one of two reasons: either as a result of the stress on other
words occurring next to the word in question, or because not all speakers agree on the
placement of stress in some words. The main effect of the former case is that the stress
on a final-stressed compound tends to move to a preceding syllable if the following
word begins with a strongly stressed syllable. Thus:
The second is not a serious problem, but is one that foreign learners should be aware
of. A well-known example is “controversy”, which is pronounced by some speakers as
/’kɒntrəvɜːsɪ/ and by others as /kɒn’trɒvəsɪ/ .
It would be quite wrong to say that one version was correct and one incorrect.
The following lists, based on grammatical or lexical patterns, rather than on number of
syllables, by no means cover the entire range of possibilities. Ortiz Lira and Finch refer
to (i) single-accented, and (ii) double-accented compounds. Of the two, single-accented
compounds are commoner, and take the accent on the first element.
(a) The second noun indicates the performer of the action, as in:
(b) In the following cases the resulting compound may be a noun or an adjective:
(c) The first noun delimits the meaning of the second, by stating ‘what type of thing’
it is, e.g.:
(`current/de`posit/`joint/`private/`savings) account
(`head/`tooth/`ear/`stomach/`back) ache
(`egg/des`sert-/`soup-/`table/`tea/`salt) spoon
(`hand/`kit/`mail/`tool-/`school) bag
(`base/`foot/`tennis-/`snow/}beach) ball
(`book-/`toy/`porn/`fruit-/`record) shop
(`birthday/`Christmas/`time/`credit/i`dentity/`post) card
`school (boy/-days/girl/age/-time/-book)
`bed (-bug/-clothes/room/side/spread/time)
`sea (food/gull/-level/plane/port/side/man/-water)
`blood (-relation/bank/-group/pressure/hound/-transformation)
`clothes (-brush/-basket/-line/-peg/-hanger)
`air (-craft/hostess/letter/mail/port/-pump/raid/terminal)
`time (-bomb/-sheet/-limit/-signal/table/-work)
`news (agent/boy/letter/paper/reel/sheet/stand)
`water (-biscuit/-bottle/-colour/fall/melon/mill/-power/proof)
(a) Normally, when a noun is preceded by an adjective, both are accented. However,
when this combination constitutes a specific, long-established compound, the
first component tends to carry the primary accent, as in:
`black (berry/bird/board/leg/list/mail)
`grand (child/daughter/father/ma/mother/pa/parent/son)
`high (brow/chair/jump/light/street/time/-school/way)
`driving (belt/licence/mirror/school/test)
`shopping (bag/basket/centre/list/street)
`writing (-desk/-ink/-pad/-paper)
(`boxing/`cooking/`dancing/`drawing/`driving/`singing) lessons
(`adding/`mincing/`printing-/`sewing-/`washing-/`weighing-) machine
(a) The first noun indicates the position of the second one, as in:
(b) The second noun ‘is made’ of the first one, as in:
‘stone (-`blind/-`cold/-`dead/-`deaf/-`sober)
(‘duty-/’post-/`rent-/`tax-) ‘free
‘brand-`new ‘navy `blue ‘snow- `white ‘world-`wide
‘high (-`minded/-`pitched/-`powered/-`priced/-spirited)
(‘absent-/’broad-/’mean-/’narrow-/’open-/’strong-/’weak-) `minded
The following three-root compounds are arranged according to their accentual pattern:
‘bed-`sitting-room ‘great-`grandfather
‘hot-`water bottle ‘teacher `training-college
‘value-`added tax ‘waste-`paper basket
`merry-go-round for`get-me-not
`windscreen-wiper `crossword-puzzle
`fire-insurance policy `test-tube baby
Bibliography
English phonetics and phonology, third edition. Peter Roach, Cambridge
University Press, 2000.
English intonation. J. C. Wells, Cambridge University Press, 2006.
www.englishclub.com
A course in English phonetics for Spanish speakers. Diana Finch and Hector Ortiz
Lira, Heinemann Educational Books Ltd, 1982.