Are There Any Rules for Teaching Compounds

Abstract

To teach compounds effectively, this paper aims to explore the rules in terms of their grammatical categories, stress, and meaning. The major findings of this study are as follows. First, there are two rules to predict the grammatical categories of compounds: (1). Generally speaking, if the head of compounds is the content word, the grammatical categories of compounds are determined by the right-hand words. (2). If the head of compounds is the function word, the grammatical categories of compounds are usually determined by the left-hand words. Second, there are several rules to determine the stress of compounds. For example, the primary stress of noun compounds is placed on the first element, and light stress is on the second. In the compound verbs made up of an adverb plus a verb and written as one word, strong stress usually falls on the second element of the compound and light stress on the first. When verb compounds consist of a noun followed by a verb, strong stress usually falls on the first element of the compound and light stress on the second. When an adjective compound is in attributive position, the accent will normally fall on the first element. And when it is in predicative position, the accent is often on the final element. Third, one generalization can be made about the meaning of compound. That is, the meaning of the head of the compound seems to be central in the meaning of the whole compound, at least for certain kinds of compounds (Selkirk, 1982). Additionally, the pedagogical implications are also suggested.