French V-N compounds: Plural marking, headedness endocentricity/exocentricity continuum

Abstract

The aim of this research is to provide a better understanding of French V-N compounds by studying their plural formation. French V-N compounds are usually seen as headless exocentric compounds whose plural formation is not syntactic. This is based on the assumptions that 1) the verb is the head of the compound, 2) the meaning of the compound is neither a type of V nor a type of N, 3) plural formation is unpredictable. It will be shown that 1) the function of the head of the compound is split between the V and the N, hence the compound cannot be endocentric, 2) the meaning of the compound is compositional, hence the compound cannot be exocentric, 3) plural formation is predictable, hence syntactic. V-N compounds have been collected, coded for plurality, then sorted and analyzed. Headedness and endocentricity/exocentricity are considered in the light of the distinction between grammatical and logical head. This study reveals that French V-N compounds, neither endocentric nor exocentric, provide evidence for a third type of compound and for the endocentricity/exocentricity continuum. Furthermore, in French, number and gender play different roles in compounding, the plural suffix may be unrealized and V-N compounds have a relative productivity.