Abstract
This study aims to pinpoint the position of head in Arabic compounds within the Synthetic Genitive Construction (SGC). It also examines the headedness of these compounds morphologically, syntactically, and semantically. The analysis confirms that compounding in Arabic is predominantly left-headed. The semantic, syntactic, and morphological heads always coincide in Arabic compounds within the SGC. With regard to Adj + N compounds in Arabic, I argue that a silent noun is responsible for determining the syntactic category of the whole construct, resulting in a noun rather than an adjective. The study concludes with recommendations for further research.
Highlights
How to pinpoint the position of the head in various syntactic and morphological structures cross-linguistically has been heavily debated in the relevant literature (Arcodia, 2012; Bauer, 1990; Hudson, 1987; Polinsky, 2012; Zwicky, 1985 among others)
Taking all the previous points into consideration, several generalizations can be made with regard to headedness in Arabic compounds within the Synthetic Genitive Construction (SGC): 1. All N + N compounds are left-headed in accordance with the semantic, syntactic, and morphological criteria, supporting the generalization that Arabic is a predominantly head-initial language
The semantic, syntactic, and morphological heads always coincide in Arabic compounds
Summary
How to pinpoint the position of the head in various syntactic and morphological structures cross-linguistically has been heavily debated in the relevant literature (Arcodia, 2012; Bauer, 1990; Hudson, 1987; Polinsky, 2012; Zwicky, 1985 among others). The types of the head, whether semantic, syntactic, or morphological, are a topic for debate among linguists (Allen, 1978; Bauer, 2009; Lieber, 2010; Scalise & Fábregas, 2010). Due to the fact that compounding is one of the most common word-formation processes cross-linguistically, determining the position of the head is of substantial importance. Research Question 2: What are the types of head in N + N compounds and Adj + N compounds in Arabic? I explore the notion of headedness in Arabic compounds within the Construct State/Synthetic Genitive Construction (SGC), taking into account the existing discussion in the relevant literature. In particular, the study aims to provide answers to the following research questions: Research Question 1: Where is the head located in N + N compounds and Adj + N compounds in Arabic? Research Question 2: What are the types of head in N + N compounds and Adj + N compounds in Arabic? Research Question 3: Does the position of the head in N + N compounds and Adj + N compounds confirm the generalization that Arabic is predominantly left-headed?
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