The internal structure of four-noun compounds in English and German

Abstract

This study takes a close look at four-noun compounds in English and German. A comparison of 200 items from each language reveals no structural differences. The preponderant type places the major constituent boundary between the second and the third morpheme, thereby creating a symmetrical hierarchical structure. Left-branching occurs more frequently than right-branching in consistently branching compounds. No such bias emerges in centre-branching types. Flat structures occur both at the upper and lower level of embedding, though at a very low frequency. The main stress marks the major constituent boundary in symmetrical, though not in asymmetrical compounds in English whereas it only marks the major constituent boundary in right-branching compounds in German. The German interfix <s> is indicative of minor rather than major constituent boundaries. A unified account of four-member compounds is proposed whose point of departure is the perceptual strategies that are employed during the comprehension of the much more frequent two-member compounds. These processing strategies are extended to the larger complexes such that the structural patterns which are compatible with these strategies are favoured. By contrast, the structural patterns which induce a garden-path effect are disfavoured.