Result of the process of word formation of composition, a linguistic expression that consists of at least two free morphemes or morpheme constructions: bath+room, refrigeration (+) mechanic. The normal pattern of intonation in English is primary stress followed by secondary stress (as opposed to main stress and zero stress in multi-elemental ‘simple’ compounds: youngster. In determinative compounds with a subordinate relation between the constituents (determining word, base word), the order cannot be changed without changing the meaning (dance step vs step dance). In principle, the relation of co-ordination between constituents of a copulative composition allows free word order (owner-operator, operator-owner), though some forms quickly become lexicalized (lexicalization) in one order or another: child prodigy vs *prodigy child or chief editor vs *editor chief, in which the first elements have become virtually adjectival. Compounding is syntactically and semantically differentiated from simple word groupings: often, though not necessarily, written as a single word, generally with the primary stress on the first constituent, e.g. bookworm; set order, e.g. child psychology vs the psychology of children; inflection only on the base word, e.g.
textbook (pl. textbooks), openness of the semantic relation between the individual elements, e.g. paper trail (‘trail on which paper moves,’ ‘trail of paper’) and the lexicalized idiom, e.g. paper trail (‘documental evidence’). The junction between the two immediate constituents may be characterized by a special linking morpheme. To the extent that its occurrence is rule-governed, they are dependent on the type of first element, where at least for a number of first constituents, completely different formations may occur, cf. doghouse, dog’sear, or Ger. Rindfleisch (‘beef), Rindsfilet (‘fillet of beef), Rinderbraten (‘roast beef’).
