ION CREANGA STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

ENGLISH PHILOLOGY DEPARTMENT

Course Paper

Ways of Making up New Compound Words in English and their Main Peculiarities

Compiled by:Bulat Mariana, IVth year student

Scientific Advisor:Puscasu Angela, lecturer

Chiinu 2014

CONTENTS
Introduction.... 3

Chapter I Compound Words in English and their Main Peculiarities

....5
1.1 The Definition of Word and its Main Characteristics .....5
1.2 Compounding as Linguistic Phenomenon.8
1.3 Meaning and Motivation of Compounds Words................................13
1.4 The Main Peculiarities of a Compound ..18
1.5 Formation Patterns of the Compounds..23

Chapter II The Analysis of Usage and Meaning of the Compound Words in

the Novel Emma by Jane Austen27
2.1 The Classification of the Compounds According to the Parts of Speech27
2.2 The Classification of the Compounds According to the type of composition31
2.3The Classification of the Compounds According to the structure of immediate constituents..33

Conclusions.35
Bibliography............37
Appendix..40

Introduction
Traditional linguists contributed enormously to our understanding of the facts
of English, yet there are facts about the language that some or most of them have
missed or have not study thoroughly.
The present thesis deals with the word-formation processes and especially,
with the compounding.
The existence of words is usually taken for granted by the speakers of a language. To speak and understand a language means-among many other thingsknowing the words of that language. The average speaker knows thousands of
words, and new words enter our minds and our language on a daily basis. The present paper is about words. More specifically it deals with the structure of compound words. This work represents a theoretical and practical investigation on the
question of compound words structure and means of word-formation in the Modern English language.
The ways in which new words are formed, and the factors which govern
their acceptance into the language, are generally taken very much for granted by
the average speaker. To understand a word, it is not necessary to know how it is
constructed, whether it is simple or complex, that is, whether or not it can be broken down into two or more constituents. We are able to use a word which is new
to us when we find out what object or notion it denotes.
The main aim of this paper is to study the ways of formation and typology
of the compound words because we consider it important to the present English
learners.
Much attention is given to the classification of the compound words and a
special interest is shown in the ways of forming new compound words.
The objectives of the present paper are:
To analyze the concept and the definition of the word given by linguists;
To analyze the compounding both as a linguistic phenomenon and a means
of enriching vocabulary;
3

 To analyze different ways of formation of English compound;

To describe the characteristics of a compound;
To present the main compounding patterns and the classification of the
compounds in the English language;
When working on the thesis the following methods are employed: descriptive, analytical and of synthesis.
To realize the objectives, there were consulted many sources of linguists
such as: Baurie Laurie, Caroll J.M., Dawning P., Levitchi L.D., Melenciuc D., Salapina G., Arnold I., Kunin A., Orembovscaya T., I. Plag, etc.
The structure of this diploma paper contains an introduction where the main
objectives of it are presented, two chapters, conclusions, bibliography and appendix.
The first chapter deals with the description of the word and compound
words in English, the main focus being towards the word formation processes in
general and those of compounding in particular. The characteristics of a compound
and the patters according to which they are constructed are given, and as there is
more than one classification of compounds in English, some of the renown classifications of them are presented here. In doing this very important and helpful
proved to be the works of such well-known linguists in the field of the compounding as Bauer L, Marshand H., Plag I. and many others.
The second chapter focuses on the ways of compound words formation.
The compounding as one of the most productive ways of words formation is described as well as all the other ways of word formation are analyzed. Each type of
word formation is provided with examples excerpted from the literary work Emma by Jane Austen.
The conclusions summarize the results of the research performed and the
bibliography presents the theoretical sources used in the course of the research.
We hope that through this paper we will be able to better identify the compound words and to use them in utterance.
4

CHAPTER I. Compound Words in English and their Main Peculiarities

1.1 The Definition of Word and its Main Characteristics

When linguists speak of the vocabulary of a language, they are speaking

primarily, but not exclusively, of the word. The word has been defined from different points of view: semantic, syntactic, phonologic and combining various approaches.
Aristotle is the first who gave a definition of word. He defined it as the
smallest significant unit of speech. His definition was accepted by linguists for a
very long time and many of the definitions of the word which appeared much later
were directly or indirectly based on the Aristotelian conception.
The most successful attempt to define the word by formal, structural, or semantic criteria was made by Leonard Bloomfield who gives the following definition: A word is a minimum free form.
On the other hand, Henry Sweet defined the word as the minimum sentence. Analyzing these two last definitions, we can say that both of them express
the same thing, because a minimum free form is like a synonym of the minimum sentence (a free form is a form which occurs as a sentence).
As it can be observed, there are some problems connected with the definition
of the word. Thus, T. Orembovscaya in her work English Lexicology mentions
that one of them is the problem of the relation between the word and the object
which it names, and between the word and the concept (which appear simultaneously). For example, when people see a new object, they form a new concept,
which can not exist without its notion. Naming a new object people can not choose
any group or sounds they like, but they must use the name already existing in the
vocabulary.

Another problem is the difference between the word and the word combination. As for example: the word a nobleman and the word combination a
noble man.
These two examples are different concerning their meaning. A nobleman,
that is a man of noble rank, may not be noble; and a noble man, that is gracious
and dignified in character or bearing, may not be a decent from a noble dynasty.
Although the word

is the smallest part of language it has a great

importance. Sometimes, its meaning cannot be easily understood when it is used

in combination with other words. Not only the order of the words is important, but
also, how it is spelt. So, than the order of the words and its correct writing is
important for understanding all meanings of a word or to know where and how it
can be placed.
In order to use correctly a word in a context we must know its characteristic
features. It is very important to know the main features of the word, because it eases our comprehension of a word and if we know all these features it helps us avoid
making mistakes when we write a composition where we use different types of
word combination or phraseological units.
A. Martinet presents the main characteristic features of the word in the following diagram:
Characteristic features
of the word

Isolatibility

Indivisibility

Looseness of entire
words
[36,p.67]

Isolatibility the word may become or may be used as a sentence

e.g. Fire! Where? Certainly!
Indivisibility the word can not be as easily interrupted without a disturbance of
meaning as a sequence of words.
6

e.g. a lion and alive . A lion is a word- group because we can separate its elements and insert other words between them: a dead lion. Alive is a single word,
nothing can be inserted between its elements, it is indivisible.
Looseness of entire words is reference to the place in a sequence as compared to
the parts of the words whose place in a word can be changed.
e.g. un-gentle man-li-ness,
The children run away. Away run the children. [36,p.67]
Although the word is the smallest part of the vocabulary, it has been treated
from the oldest times and has its own features that help us to understand easily
their meaning.
While speaking about the meaning of the word, the book English Lexicology by T. Orembovskaya is welcome, because in this book different aspects concerning the meaning of a word both in a context and taking it separately (individually) are treated.
In her book English Lexicology T. Orembovskaya infers that the meaning of the word is the realization of the concept , which can take place in the lexical system existing in language. The author gives us some types of meaning of the
word. For example, on one hand, if it is analyzed the meaning of the word from
the semantic point of view, we must point out that each word has a phonetic form,
which contributes to the interchange of thoughts, and on the other hand, sounds
without meaning can not be words and parts of speech. [39,p.33-34]
Other types of meaning of the word, presented by T.Orembovskaya in the
above-mentioned work are lexical and structural, which are analyzed together,
because it acquires to grammatical categories. The meaning of a word is conditioned by the typical syntactic constructions in which the word is used.
e.g. the verb to enter:
1. to enter a room ( to come into )
2. to enter upon ones duties ( to begin )
3. to enter into conversation (to get engaged )
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4. to enter something into a note-book (to record )

The meanings of the word do not remain the same, they change. The changes of the meanings of the word are very important for the enlargement of the vocabulary. In the course of the development of the language words may change their
meanings or acquire new meanings. Such changes are connected with the development of the society, its culture and science, but they are also conditioned by a
new word, or the change of the meaning of one of the old words, if they cause a
change in the other elements of the system.
The change from specific to general which takes place in the meaning of the
word is named the extension of meaning, as it can be shown in the following example: to arrive - meant to come by water, now it is used for coming in any way .
The contrary process, the narrowing of the meaning, is the change from abstract to concrete, e.g. a man can be described as an authority, a failure, a frond.
Elevation of meaning is a process opposite to degradation of meaning. For
example, noble originally belonging to the nobility, of high birth, now it is applied to high moral qualities. [39,p. 33-37]
So, it is very important to know the meaning of the word. If we know it, it
will make our work easier, for example when we write a composition or when we
read an old or modern literary work. Knowing the majority of meanings of a word
we also enrich our vocabulary and become professionals in the domain of linguistics. Also, if we know more meanings of a word we can easy comprehend the language used in literary books and in the journals of different human activity.

1.2 Compounding as Linguistic Phenomenon

According to the Oxford Dictionary, compounding is a common word
formation process. It is probably the most common one in todays English because
it is so productively used in technical languages. Compound words form an
important part of natural language. It is important that many natural languages are
highly productive with compounds, and translations resources can not include
8

entries for all compounds. Compounds may be content bearing words in natural
language sentences and therefore important for the recovered result.
In his book A Course in Modern English. Lexicology R. S.Ginzburg concludes that the process of formation of new words by compounding takes various
forms. On the one hand, R.S. Ginzburg affirms that the compound -words are built
spontaneously according to productive distributional formulas of the given period.
Once this process of building verb by compounding adverbial and verbal stems
was productive, and as a result were formed numerous verbs as outgrow, offset,
inlay, but now this process of building new compound verbs is not productive. On
the other hand, R.S.Ginzburg points out that a compound can be the result of a
gradual process of semantic isolation and structural combination of free- word
groups. Such compounds as forget me not, bulls eyes, mainland, etc. were
formed isolated in the course of time. Most of the syntactic compound nouns of the
(a + n) structure, e.g. blackboard, mad doctor, are the result of such semantic
structural isolation of free word groups. [21,p.158 ]
I. Arnold distinguishes two important peculiarities of English compounds.
Firstly, both immediate constituents of an English compound are free forms, that
is, they can be used as independent words with a distinct meaning of their own. It
can be illustrated by the following list of words frequently used in speech: afternoon, anyway, birthday, mother-in-law, motherland, note-book, etc.
The second feature to which attention should be paid is that the regular pattern for the English language is a two-stem compound, which can also be testified
by the examples mentioned above. An exception to this rule is observed when the
combining element is represented by a form-word stem, as in bread-and-butter,
good-for-nothing, deaf-and-dumb, etc.
One more specific feature of English compounding is the important role of
the attributive syntactic function. For example, We change it at the last minute
more than once.

It often happens that elements of a phrase united by their attributive function

become further united phonetically by stress and graphically by a hyphen, or even
solid spelling. For example, common sense and commonsense advice, old age
and old-age pensioner.
Other syntactical functions unusual for the combination can also provide
structural cohesion. The process may be, and often is, combined with conversion.
[6,p.63-65]
According to L. Bauer, the process of formation of new words by compounding is very important in present day. It usually lightens the comprehension of
some words, which are used separately, but they can be used in compounding in
order to understand their meaning without difficulties. Also the process of word
composition is necessary in language because it embellishes the face of language, not only in literature, but also in new industry ( where thinking to new renovations take place important exchanges than in appearance of new tools (machineries ) and their new names .
Compounding is the process of putting two words together to form a third.
[11, vol.II] On the other hand , L. D. Levitchi gives the following definition of
compounding : Composition is a devise by means of which new words are
formed as a result of the semantic grammatical combination of two or more
words . [34,p.53]
Although these two definitions define the same process of word formation,
compounding, they have some differences. The Bauers definition is too simple; it
denotes this process as a simple combination of two words, which form a third. It
is not mentioned the kind of combination, while Levichis definition is more
grammatical. Levitchi affirms that, the composition is not only a simple combination of two or more words in order to form a new word, but it is a semantic
grammatical combination. So, we can state that Levichis definition is clearer and
more comprehensive than Bauers definition.

10

I.Arnold in her book The English Word points out that the compounding
is one of the oldest methods of word-formation in all Indo-European languages,
especially developed in Germanic languages. English has made use of compounds
in all periods of its existence. Some compounds preserve their type in present-day
English; others have undergone phonetic changes due to which their stem ceased to
be homonymous to the corresponding free forms. Some times the compound is altered out of all recognition. Thus, in the name of the flower daisy, or in the word
woman composition as the basis of the words origin can be discovered by etymological analysis only: daisy < OE d es ea e (days eye), woman < OE wfan
(woman person). Other examples can be: husband < OE husbonda (master of the
house), gossip < OE odsibb (person related to one in God). [6,p.79-8]
Besides the old stem-compounds and the word-compounds that are their descendants, according to Greenough, there are also many compounds which belong
to a later stage of linguistic development, being formed by the growing together of
phrases or syntactic complexes. Of this kind are all verbs compounded with prepositions or similar particles. These prefixes were originally adverbs, which, from being habitually used with verbs, have become necessary to the sense, and have accordingly united with the verb to make a single unit. Thus we have the native verbs
undergo, outdo, withstand, etc.
Native phrase-compounds are besides (for by-side), betimes (for by-times),
outlaw, outdoor, and so on.
If the phrase is very old, its component parts may be no longer recognizable,
and we have a simple word, not a compound at all. Thus wassail is the AngloSaxon wes hl! be well! a sentence used in drinking for health. The same result is
often produced when a foreign phrase is adopted into English (aid-de-camp, basrelief, belles letters), but there are phrases which can be recognizable only by the
etymologist (alarm is the Italian call to arms! --- all arme!; hoax which was
formally slang, and is still undignified, though accepted into legitimated vocabulary, is a shortening of hocus pocus. So is to focus, for to drug. [22,p.187-189]
11

Composition was a favorite devise in the Old English period, it was a characteristic element. In Beowulf, for example, the author used five compound words in the first ten lines (people kinds, spear armed, mead bench, whale
path, afterward ) . In his poem Judith, Cynewulf used a great number of
compound words, impressive through graphicalness and the force of semantic condensation ( e.g. wael gifre fugel ( bird greedy for slaughter ), wring feere
(dewy winged)). Special mention should be made of metaphorical compounds
(e.g. a ship was a sea swam , the sea was the swam track ).
Another period which favored composition (sometimes to exaggeration) was
the Renaissance. Edmund Spenser, the first conscious inventor of a definite poetical vocabulary, has studied his The Faerie Queen with a great number of
compounds, as for example : hell bread breast (flacra crescut n iad), illfaste
(urit la chip), water sprinkles (stropi de ap), blood thirsty (setos de snge) and
others. Another writer who used compounds in his work was W. Shakespeare. He
left his contemporaries behind in the mastery with which he combined words, e.g.
silver white, heaven kissing hill, all shaking thunder in Hamlet.
The period which followed is Classicism. P.B. Shelley employed compounding as epithet. In Ode to the West Wind the withered leaves of autumn are like
pestilence stricken multitudes (mulimi ciumate). In the poem To Night the
nights mantle is star inwrought (brodat cu stele) and in the poem The
Cloud the cloud unmakes its wind built tent (cortul ridicat de vnt). If Shelley used visual and acoustic epithet then John Keats is that who used musical epithet compounds, as for examples deep delved earth (pmnt spat adnc), leaden eyed despairs (dezndejdi cu ochi de plumb ), fast fading violets (toporai
care se trec repede), wild ridged mountains (crestele slbatice ale munilor),
moss lain Dryads (muchi ntins al deertului ) - (Ode to Psyche).
An interesting kind of compounds are found in the works of the original
thinker of the XIXth century, Thomas Carlyle, who in his work Sartor Resartus
and especially in the third chapter, used the following compounds as: solid
12

grown, Flesh Garment, hunger bitten, dead looking, self growth and so
on .
Compounds are not absent from the works of contemporary writers. Good examples of compounding are shown in The Congo by Rachel Linsay. Some of
them are : skull faced (cu faa ca un craniu ), torch eyed (cu ochii ca nite
tore), hand maimed (cu mna schilodit), vine snared trees (pomi prini n
lanurile vieii), foam flanked (tivit de spume).
Compounds did not develop only in literature, but also in the domain of industry. After the Industrial Revolution (the second half of XVIIIth century) a great
number of compound words of a technical scientific character appeared. For example, in English German Dictionary by Muret Sanders there are 197 technical scientific compounds with the word air. (e.g. air borne, air tight, air
conditioning, aircraft, airfield, air force, airline, airmail, airship, air strip, etc. )
[34,p.60 -62 ]
As, we have seen the compounding is used in many spheres of human
activity, culture and industry as well. The use of compound words can also be seen
as a method of enrichment of the vocabulary.
From the stylistic point of view, we can say that it is one of the main
methods of enriching the vocabulary, flourishing the style of the author and to
create a more beautiful aspect to the literary work. In this case the meaning of the
word it is used depends just on the context and on the desire of the author.

1.3 Meaning and Motivation of Compounds Words

Semantically compound words are generally motivated units. The meaning
of the compound is the first of all derived from the combined lexical meanings of
its components. The semantic peculiarity of the derivational bases and the semantic
difference between the base and the stem on which the latter is built is most obvious in compound words. Compound words with a common second or first component can serve as illustrations. The stem of the word board is polysemantic and its
13

multiple meanings serve as different derivational bases, each with its own selective
range for the semantic features of the other component, each forming a separate set
of compound words, based on specific derivative relations. Thus the base board
meaning a flat piece of wood square or oblong makes a set of compounds chessboard, notice-board, key-board, diving-board, foot-board, sign-board; compounds
paste-board, car-board are built on the base meaning thick, stiff paper; the base
board-meaning an authorized body of men, forms compounds school-board,
board-room. The same can be observed in words built on the polysemantic stem of
the word foot. For example, the base foot in foot-print, foot-pump, foothold,
foot-bath, foot-wear has the meaning of the terminal part of the leg, in footlights, foot-stone the bases foot has the meaning of the lower part, and in foothigh, foot-wide, foot-rule measure of length. It is obvious from the above-given
examples that the meanings of the bases of compound words are independent and
that the choice of each is delimited as in variable word-groups by the nature of the
other component of the word. It thus may well be said that the combination of bases serves as a kind of minimal inner context distinguishing the particular individual lexical meaning of each component. In this connection we should also remember the significance of the differential meaning found in both components which
becomes especially obvious in a set of compounds containing identical bases.
The lexical meanings of the bases alone, important as they are, do not make
the meaning of the compound word. The meaning of the compound is derived not
only from the combined lexical meanings of its components, but also from the
meaning signaled by the patterns of the order and arrangement of its component
parts.
A mere change in the order of bases with the same lexical meanings brings
about a drastic change in the lexical meaning of the compound or destroys it altogether. As an illustration let us compare life-boat a boat of special construction
for saving lives from wrecks or along the coast with boat-life life on board the
ship; a fruit-market market where fruit is sold with market-fruit fruit de14

signed for selling; board-school with school-board, etc. Thus the structural or distributional pattern in compound words carries a certain meaning of its own which
is largely independent of the actual lexical meaning of their component parts.
It follows that the lexical meaning of a compound is derived from the combined lexical meanings of its components and the structural meaning of its distributional pattern.
The structural meaning of the derivational pattern of compounds may be abstracted and described through the interrelation of its component elements. In analyzing compound adjectives, e.g. duty-bound, wind-driven, mud-stained, we observe that their underlying pattern N+V conveys the generalized meaning of instrumental or agentive relations which can be interpreted as done by or with the
help of something; the lexical meanings of the bases supply the individual action
performed and the actual doer of the action or objects with the help of which the
action is done duty-bound may be interpreted as bound by duty, wind-driven as
driven by wind, mud-stained as stained with mud.
The derivational patterns in compounds may be monosemantic as in the
above-given examples, and polysemantic. If we take the pattern N+AA which
underlies such compound adjectives as snow-white, world-wide, air-sick, we shall
see that the pattern has two different meanings which may be interpreted:

a)

through semantic relations of comparison between the components as in

world-wide wide as the world, snow-white as white as snow etc. and

b)

through various relations of adverbial type (circumstantial) as in road-weary

weary of the road, colour-blind blind to colours etc.

The structural patterns N+NN that underlies compound nouns is also polysemantic and conveys different semantic relations of resemblance, e.g. needlefish, bowler-hat, instrumental or agentive relations, e.g. steamboat, windmill, sunrise, dogbite.
The polysemy of the structure often leads to a certain freedom of interpretation of the semantic relations between the components and consequently to the
15

polysemy of the compound. For example, it is equally correct to interpret the compound noun toy-man as a toy having shape of a man or a man who makes toys, a
toy-maker, the compound clock-tower may likewise be understood as a tower
with a clock fitted in or a tower that serves as or is at the same time a clock.
It follows that the meaning of a compound is made up of the combined lexical meaning of the bases and the structural meaning of the pattern. The semantic
centre of the compound is the lexical meaning of the second component modified
and restricted by the meaning of the first. The semantic centers of compounds and
the semantic relations embedded in the structural patterns refer compound words to
certain lexico-semantic groups and semantic sets within them as, for example:

1)

compound words denoting action described as to its agent, e.g. sunrise,

earthquake, handshake;

2)

compounds denoting action described as to its time or place, e.g. day-

flight, street-fight;

3)

compounds denoting individual objects designed for some goal, e.g. bird-

cage, table-cloth, diving-suit;

4)

compounds denoting objects that are parts of the whole, e.g. shirt-collar,

eye-ball;

5)

compounds denoting active doers, e.g. book-reader, shoe-maker, globe-

trotter.
The lexical meanings of both components are closely fused together to create a new semantic unit with a new meaning which is not merely additive but dominates the individual meanings of the bases and is characterized by some additional
semantic components not found in any of the bases. For example, a hand-bag is
essentially a bag, designed to be carried in the hand, but it is also a womans
bag to keep money, papers, face-powder and the like; a time-bomb is a bomb designed to explore at some time, but also after being dropped or placed in position. The bulk of compounds are completely motivated like sky-blue, foot-pump,
tea-taker. Motivation in compound words may be partial, but again the degree will
16

vary. Compound words like a hang-bag, a flower-bed, handcuffs, a castle-builder

are all only partially motivated, but still the degree of transparency of their meanings is different: in a hang-bag it is the highest as it is essentially a bag, whereas
handcuffs retain only a resemblance to cuffs and in fact are metal rings placed
round the wrists of a prisoner; a flower-bed is neither a piece of furniture nor a
base on which something rests but a garden plot where flowers grow; a castlebuilder is not a builder as the second component suggests but a day-dreamer,
one who builds castles in the air.
There are compounds that lack motivation altogether, i.e. the native speaker
doesnt see any obvious connection between the word-meaning, the lexical meanings of the bases and the meaning of the pattern, consequently, he cannot deduce
the lexical meaning of the word, for example, words like eye-wash something
said or done to deceive a person, fiddlesticks nonsense, rubbish, an eyeservant a servant who attends to his duty only when watched, a night-cap a
drink taken before going to bed at night all lack motivation. Lack of motivation in
compound words may be often due to the transferred meanings of bases or of the
whole word as in a slow-coach a person who acts slowly (colloq.), a sweettooth one who likes sweet food and drink (colloq.). Such words often acquire a
new connotational meaning (usually non-neutral) not proper to either of their components. Lack of motivation may be often due to unexpected semantic relations
embedded in the compound.
Sometimes the motivated and the non-motivated meanings of the same word
are so far apart that felt as two homonymous words, e.g. a night-cap: 1) a cap
worn in bed at night and 2) a drink taken before going to bed at night (colloq.);
eye-wash: 1) a liquid for washing the eyes and 2) something said or done to deceive somebody (colloq.); an eye-opener: 1) enlightening or surprising circumstance (colloq.) and 2) a drink of liquor taken early in the day (U.S.)

1.4 The Main Peculiarities of a Compound

17

Although compounding is the most productive type of word formation process in English, it is perhaps also the most controversial one in terms of its linguistic analysis. Compounding is a field of study where intricate problems abound,
numerous issues remain unresolved and convincing solutions are generally not
easy to find.
Let us start with the problem of definition: what exactly do we mean when
we say that a given word is a compound? To answer this question we first examine
the internal structure of compounds. The definition of a compound as being a combination of two words to form a new word contains two crucial assumptions: the
first being that compounds consist of two (and not more) elements and the second
being that these elements are words. Both assumptions are in need of justification.
There are compounds which question the idea that compounding involves
only two elements. For example, take into consideration the following examples
taken from a users manual for a computer printer: power source requirement, engine communication error, communication technology equipment. The definition
seems to suggest that compounding involves only two words, but there are compounds with four, five or even more members, e.g. university teaching award
committee member. But all these words may be combined by two words and in
such a way the definition can be formulated in such a way that compounds are binary structures. [Ingo Plag, 2002:173]
What is also important to note is that-at least with noun compounds-new
words can be repeatedly stacked on an existing compound to form a new compound. Thus if there were a special training for members of the university teaching
award committee, we could refer to that training as the university teaching award
committee member training. Thus the rules of compound formation are able to repeatedly create the same kind of structure. This property is called recursivity, and
it is a property that is chiefly known from the analysis of sentence structure. For
example, the grammar of English allows us to use subordinate clauses recursivily
by putting a new clause inside each new clause, as in e.g. John said that Betty knew
18

that Harry thought that Janet believed...and so on. Recursivity seems to be absent
from derivation, but some marginal cases such as great-great-great grandfather
are attested in prefixation. There si no structural limitation on the recursivity of
compounding, but the longer a compound becomes the more difficult it is for the
speakers/listeners to process, i.e. produce and understand correctly. Extremely long
compounds are therefore disfavored not for structural but for processing reasons.
The structural cohesion and integrity of a compound may depend upon unity
of stress, solid or hyphenated spelling, semantic unity, unity of morphological and
syntactic functioning or, more often, upon the combined effect of several of these,
or similar phonetic, graphic, semantic, morphological or syntactic factors.
The integrity of a compound is manifested in its indivisibility, the impossibility of including another word or word-group between its elements. If, for example, speaking about a sunbeam we can insert some other word between the article
a and the noun, e.g. a bright sunbeam, a bright and unexpected sunbeam, because the article a is a separate word, no such insertion is possible between the
stems sun and beam, for they are not words but morphemes. [Arnold, 1986:76]
The vast majority of compounds are interpreted in such a way that the lefthand member somewhat modifies the right-hand member. Thus, a film society is a
kind of society (namely one concerned with films), a parks commissioner is a
commissioner occupied with parks, to deep-fry is a verb designating a kind of frying, knee-deep in She waded in knee-deep water tells us something about how deep
the water is, and so on.
We can thus say that such compounds exhibit what is called a modifierhead structure. The term head is generally used to refer to the most important
unit in complex linguistic structures. In our compounds it is the head which is
modified by the other member of the compound. Semantically, this means that the
set of entities possibly denoted by the compound (i.e. all film societies) is a subset
of the entities denoted by the head. (i.e. all societies).

19

With regard to their head, compounds in English have a very important systematic property: their head always occurs on the right-hand side (the so-called
right-hand head rule). [Williams, 1981:248] The compound inherits most of its
semantic and syntactic information from its head. Thus, if the head is a verb, the
compound will be a verb (e.g. deep-fry), if the head is a count noun, the compound
will be a count noun (e.g. beer bottle), if the head has feminine gender, the compound will have feminine gender (e.g. head waitress).
Another property of the compound head is that if the compound is pluralized
the plural marking occurs on the head, not on the non-head. Thus, parks commissioner is not the plural of park commissioner; only park commissioners can be the
plural form of park commissioner. In the existing compound parks commissioner,
the plural interpretation is restricted to the non-head and not inherited by the whole
compound.
Some compounds are made up of a determining and a determined part,
which may be called determinant and the determinatum, according to
Marchand H. . The second stem, in our case beam, is the basic part, the determinatum. The determinant sun serves to differentiate it from other beams. The determinatum is the grammatically most important part which undergoes inflection
(e.g. sunbeams, brothers-in-law, passers-by).
There are non-idiomatic compounds with a perfectly clear motivation: the
meanings of the constituents add in creating the meaning of the whole and name
the referent either directly or figuratively, for example, the word seaman was not
difficult to understand at first, it meant a man professionally connected with the
sea. The word differentiated in this way a sailor from the rest of mankind. When
aviation came into being the same formula with the same kind of motivation was
used to coin the compound airman and also aircraft and airship to name the
machines designed for air-travel, differentiating them from seagoing craft.
Spaceman, spacecraft and spaceship built on the model of airman, aircraft and airship are well understood even when heard for the first time. The
20

semantic integrity of the compounds seaman, airman, spaceman, aircraft, spacecraft, airship and spaceship is based on the fact that, as the conquest of sea, air and
outer space advanced, new notions were created, notions possessing enough relevant distinctive features to ensure their separate existence. The logical integrity of
the combinations is supported by solid spelling and by the unity of stress. Such
transparent compounds can be transformed into free phrases: air-mail = mail conveyed by air.
The semantic integrity of a compound is, on the other hand, very often idiomatic in its character, so that the meaning of the whole is not a mere sum of its elements. A compound is very different in meaning from a corresponding syntactic
group. Thus, a blackboard is very different from a black board. Its essential
feature is being a teaching aid: not every board of a black colour is a blackboard. A
blackboard may be not a board at all but a piece of linoleum or some other material. Its colour is not necessarily; it may be brown or somewhat else. Thus, blackboard = a board which is black. A chatterbox is not a box, it is a person who
talks a great deal without saying anything important: the combination is used only
figuratively. The same metaphorical character is observed in the compounds:
slowcoach- a person who acts and thinks slowly (not a vehicle); a fuss-pot- a
person easily-exited and nervous about trifles; blackleg- a strike breaker;
blackmail- getting money or some other profit from a person by threats; bluestocking- a woman affecting literary tastes and learning.
The analysis of the semantic relationship existing between the constituents
of a compound presents many difficulties.
Many compounds may be explained in different ways: thus spacecraft
may be analysed as a craft travelling in space (place) or a craft designed for
travelling in space (purpose).
Other different relations are expressed by the same determinant: ear-ache
(place)- an ache in the ear; earmark (comparison)- a mark like an ear; earlobe
(part)- a lobe of the ear; eardrop (purpose)- a drop for the ear (medicine); ear21

ring (place or purpose). Compare also: lip-reading- interpretation of the motion of

the lips (instrumental relations); lip-service- superficial service from the lips only (comparison); lipstick- a stick of cosmetics for rouging lips (purpose).
The compounds also tend to have a stress pattern that is different from that
of phrases. This is especially true for nominal compounds. While phrases tend to
be stressed phrase-finally, i.e. on the last word, compounds tend to be stressed on
the first element. This systematic difference is captured in the so-called nuclear
stress rule (phrasal stress is on the last word of the phrase) and the so-called compound stress rule (stress is on the left-hand member of a compound), formalized
in Chomsky and Halle [1968:17]
e.g. a) noun phrases: the green crpet, this new huse, such a good jb
b) nominal compounds: pyment problems, installtion guide, spce requirement.
This sistematic difference between the stress assignment in noun phrases and
in noun compounds can even lead to minimal pairs where it is only the stress pattern that distinguishes between the compound and the phrase (and their respective
interpretations):
noun compound

noun phrase

blckboard

a black bard

a board to write on

a board that is black

While the compound stress rule makes correct predictions for the vast majority of nominal compounds, it has been pointed out (e.g. by Liberman and Sprout
[1992], Bauer [1998]) that there are also numerous exceptions to the rule.
In the above paragraph we have explored the basic general characteristics of
compounds. We have found that compounds can be analyzed as words with binary
structure, in which roots, words and even phrases are possible elements. We also
saw that compounds are right-headed and that the compound inherits its major
properties from its head. Furthermore, compounds exhibit a regular compoundspecific stress pattern that differs systematically from that of phrases.
22

1.5 Formation Patterns of Compounds

In English, as in many other languages, a number of different compounding
patterns are attested. Not all words from all word classes can combine freely with
other words to form compounds. In this paragraph we will try to determine the inventory of possible compounding patterns and see how these patterns are generally
restricted.
One possible way of establishing compound patterns is to classify compounds according to the nature of their heads. Thus there are compounds involving
nominal heads, verbal heads and adjectival heads. Classifications based on syntactic category are of course problematic because many words of English belong to
more than one category (e.g. walk can be a noun and a verb, blind can be an adjective, a verb and a noun, green can be an adjevtive, a verb and a noun, etc.), but
other possible classifications, based on, for example, semantics, involve an even
greater degree of arbitrariness. For example, Brekle [1970] sets up about one hundred different semantic classes, while Hatcher [1960] has only four.
According to the part of speech they form the compounding types may be
defined as follows:
Noun+noun: ash-tray, country-club;
Verbal noun+noun: night-flying, book-binding;
Noun+verb: nose-bleed, sunshine;
Preposition+noun: she-goat, he-bear;
Letter+noun: X-ray, T-shirt;
Letter+numeral: B12 (vitamin);
Verb+noun: fishing-rod, meeting-place; cut-throat, pick-pocket;
Verb+verb: make-believe, makeshift;
Verb+adverb: cut-back, turn-round;
Adjective+noun: grandmother, deaf-mute;
Adverb+adverb: out-back;
23

Adverb+verb: well-being, overhear;

Noun+adjective: snow-white, heart-sick;
Adjective+noun: open-air, high level;
Preposition+noun: uphill, off-year;
Adverb+adjective: evergreen, overanxious;
Adjective+verb: whitewash, highlight.
As seen from the above the impression is that nouns, verbs and adjectives
can combine rather freely in compounding.
An interesting pattern revealing the influence of extra-linguistic factors on
word-formation and vocabulary development are such compounds as camp-in,
ride-in, teach-in, work-in and the like. The Barnhart Dictionary of New English
treats the second element as a combining form of the adverb in and connects the
original appearance of this morpho-semantic pattern with the civil-rights movement of the 60s. It was used to nominate such public demonstrations of protest as
riding in segregated buses (ride-in), praying in segregated churches (kneel-in),
bathing in segregated swimming pools (swim-in).
The pattern is structurally similar to an older type of compounds, such as
breakdown, feedback or lockout but differs from them semantically including as its
semantic invariant the meaning of public protest.
Somewhat later the word teach-in appeared. The name was used for long
meetings, seminars or sessions held at universities for the purpose of expressing
criticism on important political issues and discussing them. Then any form of seminar patterned on the university teach-ins was also called by this term. And similar
terms were coined for other cases of staging public protest. E.g. lie-in and die-in
when blocking traffic.
The third stage in the development of this pattern proved to be an extension
to any kind of gathering of hippies, flower children and other groups of young
people: laugh-ins, love-ins, sing-ins. A still further generalization of meaning may
be observed in the compound call-in and its American version phone-in period of
24

time on radio or television programme during which questions, statements, etc.

from the public are broadcast.
Compounds that conform to grammatical patterns current in present-day
English are termed syntactic compounds, e.g. seashore. If they fail to do so, they
may be called asyntactic, e.g. baby-sitting.
1. Syntactic compounds are compounds whose components are placed in the
order that resembles the order of words in free phrases arranged according to
the rules of present day syntax. For example, the order of stems in such
compounds as slow-coach (a + n), know-nothing ( v + n), door-handle (n +
n) reminds of the order and arrangement of the corresponding words in free
phrases like a slow coach (A + N), to know nothing (V + N), a stone wall (N
+ N).
2. Asyntactic compounds are compounds whose stems are not placed in the order in which the corresponding words can be used in free phrases under the
rules of syntax. For example, it is known that in free phrases adjectives
cannot be modified by adjectives, neither can adjectives or participles be
modified by nouns, yet this kind of asyntactic arrangements of stems is often
found in compounds, e.g. red-hot, pale-blue (combination of two adjective
stems), oil-rich, tear-stained (noun stem placed before adjective or participle
stems).
In the first type the functional meaning and distribution coincide with those
of the elements of a free phrase, no matter how different their lexical meaning may
be. This may be shown by substituting a correspondent compound for a free
phrase.
Compare: A slow coach moves slowly.
A slow-coach moves slowly.
Though different in meaning, both sentences are grammatically correct.

25

Chapter II. The Analysis of the Usage of the Compound Words in the Novel
Emma by Jane Austen
In this chapter we are going to analyze the compounds that occur in the
novel Emma by Jane Austen. It is obvious that the majority of the occurring
compounds are compound nouns and compound adjectives but there are also
compound adverbs and compound verbs.

2.1 The Classification of the Compounds According to the Parts of Speech

Firstly, we have analyzed the compounds according to the structural point of
view and according to their pattern constituents.
It can be said that compound words belong to different word classes (noun compounds, adjective compounds, verb compounds, adverb compounds, etc.) and
some of them are more productive (noun and adjective compounds) than others. I
have already mentioned that compounds consist of more than one root. These can
be called the constituents of a compound and the constituents do not have to belong to the same word class. They can be combined in different ways, for example
n+adj, v+adj, adj+v, etc. When the two constituents of the compound belong to the
same word class (e.g. noun + noun, verb + verb), it may be assumed that the resulting compound also belongs to the same word class. But when the two
constituents of the compound belong to different word classes, the classification of
the resulting compound cannot be taken for granted.
Noun + noun
The most productive combination seems to be N+N group and as Bauer
claims, many types of semantic relationship can be isolated within this grouping,
as well as different syntactic patterns. He also adds that the majority of compounds in this class are endocentric. Within this group Bauer covers gerund+noun
and explains that since a gerund has both nominal and verbal characteristics, this
pattern can be treated as N+N or V+N. However, Bauer suggests that the semantic
26

relationships between the two elements seem more like those which hold in N+N
compounds than those which hold in V+N compounds.
e.g. And as for James, you may be very sure he will always like going to
Randalls, because of his daughter's being housemaid there. P.4
e.g. Whenever I see her, she always curtseys and asks me how I do, in a very
pretty manner; and when you have had her here to do needlework, I observe she
always turns the lock of the door the right way and never bangs it. P.4
e.g. Some people even talked of a promise to his wife on her deathbed, and
others of the son and the uncle not letting him. P.6
e.g. It had been built many years ago for a ball-room, and while the
neighbourhood had been in a particularly populous, dancing state, had been occasionally used as such; P.104
e.g. She went, however; and when they reached the farm, and she was to be
put down, at the end of the broad, neat gravel walk, which led between espalier
apple-trees to the front door. P.98
e.g. If I find him conversable, I shall be glad of his acquaintance; but if he is
only a chattering coxcomb, he will not occupy much of my time or thoughts. P.80
Verb + noun
We distinguishe two distinct patterns within this category. The first is
where the noun is the direct object of the verb. These compounds are all exocentric
e.g. You have drawn two pretty pictures; but I think there may be a thirda
something between the do-nothing and the do-all. P. 6
The second pattern is where the noun is not the direct object of the verb. These
compounds are all endocentric .
e.g. My first enjoyment," replied John Knightley, as they passed through
the sweep-gate, "will be to find myself safe at Hartfield again. P. 63
Noun + verb

27

The pattern does not appear to be productive and there is the problem of
knowing whether the second element is a noun or a verb.
Verb + verb
This pattern is extremely rare, and probably not productive .
e.g. Her name was not mentioned;and there was so striking a change in
all this, and such an ill-judged solemnity of leave-taking in his graceful acknowledgments, as she thought, at first, could not escape her father's suspicion. P. 75
Adjective + noun
It can be difficult to decide whether a given adjective + noun collocation is a
compound or simply a noun phrase. The criterion taken as distinguishing between
the two here is stress: nuclear stress on the adjective indicates a compound; nuclear
stress on the noun indicates a noun phrase. Adjective + noun phrases are frequently
turned into compounds by a change in stress .
e.g. It was her own universal good-will and contented temper which worked
such wonders. P. 10
e.g. and she was sorry to find from Mrs. Goddard that Harriet was liable to
very bad sore-throats, and had often alarmed her with them." Mr. Elton looked all
alarm on the occasion, as he exclaimed. P.59
Particle + verb
This is quite a productive pattern .
e.g. They lived beyond their income, but still it was nothing in comparison of
Enscombe: she did not cease to love her husband, but she wanted at once to be the
wife of Captain Weston, and Miss Churchill of Enscombe. P.265
Adverb + noun
On the other hand, this is a very restricted pattern, partly because only adverbs of
time or place occur in such compounds Another problem is that this class is not

28

distinct from the previous class, since many of the particles can be interpreted as
adverbs showing time or place.
e.g. Some time afterwards it was, "I think Mrs. Goddard would be very much
surprized if she knew what had happened. P.28
e.g. Neither would Mr. Knightley's downright, decided, commanding sort of
manner, though it suits him very well; P. 17
Verb + particle
The majority of words of this form are nominalizations of phrasal verbs. Recent
examples are :
e.g. Miss Nash has put down all the texts he has ever preached from since he came
to Highbury. P.40
e.g. "I shall never let that book go out of my own hands," said she. P.42
e.g. Well, my dears, how does your book go on? P. 42
e.g. Yes, she would be, but that she thinks there will be another put-off. P. 65
Phrase compounds
One more class which can be covered in the category of noun compounds and he
calls it Phrase Compounds. These compounds can be described as constructions
where an entire phrase seems to be involved in the formation of a new word .
Examples: son-in-law, whisky-and-soda, forget-me-not, etc.
e.g. It is a sort of prologue to the play, a motto to the chapter; and will be
soon followed by matter-of-fact prose. P. 40
e.g. He was not a great favourite with his fair sister-in-law. P.51

29

The Frequency of the Compound Words according to

the Parts of Speech
Noun+noun

3.5
4.5

10

Verb+noun
Noun+verb

1.8
0

Ver+verb

3.2

Adjective+noun
73

Particle+verb
Adverb+noun
Verb+particle
Phrase compounds

The above diagram presents the frequency of the compound words according
to the parts of speech of their constituents. We excerpted 100 sentences which contain compounds form the literary work under analysis. From whole the sample,
73% are formed form nouns, 10% form verbs and particles, 4.5% represent examples of words with adjective+noun stems. The most frequent compounds are the
nouns with a double noun stem.

2.2 The Classification of the Compounds According to the Type of Composition

In this part of my work I will consider the linking of compound components.
From the point of view of the means by which the components are joined together,
compound words can be classified into three groups. I would like to present this
classification and try to apply it to noun compounds:
1) Words formed by a mere juxtaposition one constituent after another in a
definite order without connecting elements. This means of linking the components is typical of the greater part of Modern English compounds in all parts of
speech. There are several examples of such compounds:
e.g. He thought much of the evils of the journey for her, and not a little of
the fatigues of his own horses and coachman who were to bring some of the party
the last half of the way; P.50
30

e.g. Anxious to separate herself from them as far as she could, she soon
afterwards took possession of a narrow footpath. P.48
e.g. but I cannot think of any tolerable pretence for going in;no servant
that I want to inquire about of his housekeeperno message from my father. P. 46
e.g. In this age of literature, such collections on a very grand scale are not
uncommon. Miss Nash, head-teacher at Mrs. Goddard's, had written out at least
three hundred; P.37
2) Compound words whose components are joined together with a linking element, compounds of this type are found both in nouns and in adjectives. The components of compound words of this type are mostly joined with the help
of the linking vowel [ou] and occasionally the vowel [ i ].
e.g. Harriet's parentage became known. She proved to be the daughter of a
tradesman, rich enough to afford her the comfortable maintenance which had ever
been hers, and decent enough to have always wished for concealment. P.258
In this example the components of compound nouns are joined with the
help of the linking consonant [s/z]. However, this way of linking the components
of a compound present just a small group of words
1) Compounds with linking elements represented by preposition or conjunction
stems:
e.g. He was not a great favourite with his fair sister-in-law. P. 51
e.g. He was arm-in-arm with Mr. Cole. P. 41
The Frequency of Compound Words according to
the type of linking
15
20

Juxtaposition
65

Linking Letter
Linkin Preposition

31

The above diagram illustrates the frequency of the compound words according the type of linking. The most frequent way is through juxtaposition. This
overwhelming percentage is due to the fact that it is the simplest way to create a
new compound word.

2.3The Classification of the Compounds According to the structure of immediate constituents

The classification according to the structure of immediate constituents:
Compounds consisting of simple stems:
e.g. I am sorry to hear you say so, sir; but I assure you, excepting those little
nervous head-aches and palpitations which I am never entirely free from anywhere. P.56
e.g. There is such perfect good-temper and good-will in Mr. Elton as one
cannot but value. P. 61
e.g. If I draw less, I shall read more; if I give up music, I shall take to carpet-work. P.47
Compounds, where at least one of the constituents is a derived stem:
e.g. At the same time, nobody could wonder if Mr. Elton should have
aspiredMiss Woodhouse lets me chatter on, so good-humouredly. P.93
e.g. Ford's was the principal woollen-draper, linen-draper, and
haberdasher's shop united; the shop first in size and fashion in the place. P.94
e.g. Mrs. Churchill rules at Enscombe, and is a very odd-tempered woman;
and his coming now, depends upon her being willing to spare him. P.66
e.g. You will excuse my being so much over-powered. P.80
e.g. How very pleasing and proper of him!" cried the good-hearted Mrs.
John Knightley. P.52
Compounds, where at least one of the constituents is a clipped stem: math-

32

mistress. The subgroup will contain abbreviations like: H-bag (handbag), Xmas
(Christmas). Unfortuanately we did not identify this type of compounds in our literary work under analysis.
Compounds, where at least one of the constituents is a compound stem:
e.g. A degradation to illegitimacy and ignorance, to be married to a
respectable, intelligent gentleman-farmer! P.33
The Frequency of the Compound Words according to the
Structure of the Imeadiant Constituents
0
3
30
Simple stems
A derived stem
67

A clipped stem
A compound stem

In the above diagram we see that the most frequent compounds are those
with simple stems 67%. The derived stems and compound stems are less used.
Compounds with clipped stems were not identified in the literary work under
analysis, this occur due to the fact that the majority of this type of compounds appeared in contemporary English, but as we deal with a literary work from 1815
the probability of identifying is minimized.

33

Conclusions
The definition of every basic notion represents a very difficult task; the
definition of a word is one of the most difficult tasks in linguistics, because even
the simplest word possesses different characteristics and aspects. A word may be
described as the basic unit of the language and it has a sound form because it
represents a certain arrangement of phonemes; it has its morphological structure,
representing also a certain arrangement of morphemes; and when it is used in
actual speech it may occur in different word forms, different syntactic functions
and signal various meanings. Being the central element of any language system,
the word is a sort of focus for the problems of phonology, lexicology, syntax,
morphology and also for some other sciences that have to deal with language and
speech, such as philosophy and psychology, and probably quite a few other
branches of knowledge.
And if the word seems to be difficult to define, then the definition of a
compound word will be even more difficult. The most acceptable definition of a
compound word is that it consists of at least two words which occur in the
language as free forms. In a compound word the immediate constituents obtain
integrity and structural cohesion that make them function in a sentence as a
separate lexical unit.
While studying of the phenomena of compounding from the theoretical
point of view we have introduced the notion of word and compound word and reviewed several features of the compound words. Below I summarize the observations and conclusions that have resulted from my literature overview.
Word formation denotes the processes of creation of new lexical units;
The meaning of compound words is derived from the combined lexical
meaning of the components and meaning of the derivational pattern;
There are compounds involving nominal heads, verbal heads and adjectival
heads;

34

 The integrity of a compound is manifested in its indivisibility, the

impossibility of including another word or word-group between its elements.
We have selected a sample of more than 100 of sentences which inculde a
compound word. The examples were thoroughly analyzed in Chapter II. According
to our investigation we may state the following:
Compounding is the most productive type of word formation process in
English;

The most often met types of compounds in literary works are compound
nouns of the type noun + noun .

The immediate constituents can be simple, derived, clipped or compound.

As the topic we chose to research is very complex and manifold, we
cannot say that the results of the research are exhaustive. There is still more to
be researched and analyzed. Nevertheless, the present paper gives an insight
into the very nature of compounding by presenting different opinions of renown
scholars in the field.

35

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44.Selkirk E.O., English Compounding and the Theory of Word Structure,
Cambridge MA: MIT Press, 1981
45.Selkirk E.O., The Syntax of Words, Cambridge MA: MIT Press, 1982
46.Smirnitsky A.I., English Lexicology, Moscow, 1956
47.Warren B., Semantic patterns of Noun-Noun Compounds, 1978
48. Zimmer K.E., General Observations about Nominal Compounds, Stanford
University, 1978

Sources
Austen Jane, Emma, Cambridge University Press, 2005

38

Appendix
1. Mr. Weston's dining-room does not accommodate more than ten
comfortably; and for my part, I would rather, under such circumstances, fall short
by two than exceed by two.
2. there was some satisfaction in considering with what self-denying, generous
friendship she had always wished and promoted the match; but it was a black
morning's work for her. P.3
3. She had been a friend and companion such as few possessed: intelligent,
well-informed, useful, gentle, knowing all the ways of the family, interested in all
its concerns, and peculiarly interested in herself p.3
4. The Woodhouses were first in consequence there. P.3
5. Highbury, the large and populous village, almost amounting to a town, to

which Hartfield, in spite of its separate lawn, and shrubberies, and name, did really
belong, afforded her no equals. P3
6. Mr. Weston is such a good-humoured, pleasant, excellent man, that he

thoroughly deserves a good wife; p.4

7. And as for James, you may be very sure he will always like going to

Randalls, because of his daughter's being housemaid there.4

8. It was very lucky, for I would not have had poor James think himself

slighted upon any account; and I am sure she will make a very good servant: she is
a civil, pretty-spoken girl; I have a great opinion of her. 4
9. Whenever I see her, she always curtseys and asks me how I do, in a very

pretty manner; and when you have had her here to do needlework, I observe she
always turns the lock of the door the right way and never bangs it.4
10. The backgammon-table was placed; but a visitor immediately afterwards

walked in and made it unnecessary. 4

11. It is a beautiful moonlight night; and so mild that I must draw back from

your great fire."5

12. Some people even talked of a promise to his wife on her deathbed, and

39

others of the son and the uncle not letting him.6

13. I planned the match from that hour; and when such success has blessed me

in this instance, dear papa, you cannot think that I shall leave off match-making."6
14. You have drawn two pretty pictures; but I think there may be a thirda

something between the do-nothing and the do-all.6

15. Some scruples and some reluctance the widower-father may be supposed to

have felt;8
16. .but his second must shew him how delightful a well-judging and truly

amiable woman could be, and must give him the pleasantest proof of its being a
great deal better to choose than to be chosen, to excite gratitude than to feel it.8
17. The compliments of his neighbours were over; he was no longer teased by

being wished joy of so sorrowful an event; and the wedding-cake, which had been
a great distress to him, was all eat up.9
18. .unless he fancied himself at any time unequal to company, there was

scarcely an evening in the week in which Emma could not make up a card-table
for him.10
19. Real, long-standing regard brought the Westons and Mr. Knightley; and by

Mr. Elton, a young man living alone without liking it.10

20. After these came a second set; among the most come-at-able of whom were

Mrs. and Miss Bates, and Mrs. Goddard.10

21. It was her own universal good-will and contented temper which worked such

wonders.10
22. She was a plain, motherly kind of woman, who had worked hard in her

youth, and now thought herself entitled to the occasional holiday of a tea-visit;11
23. and having formerly owed much to Mr. Woodhouse's kindness, felt his

particular claim on her to leave her neat parlour, hung round with fancy-work,
whenever she could, and win or his fireside.11
24.She was so busy in admiring those soft blue eyes, in talking and listening,

40

and forming all these schemes in the in-betweens, that the evening flew away at a
very unusual rate; and the supper-table, which always closed such parties, and for
which she had been used to sit and watch the due time, was all set out and ready,
and moved forwards to the fire, before she was aware.12
25..and was always mentioned with approbation for his great good-nature
in doing something or other, was a single man;14
26.Neither would Mr. Knightley's downright, decided, commanding sort of
manner, though it suits him very well;17
27.One hears sometimes of a child being 'the picture of health;' now, Emma
always gives me the idea of being the complete picture of grown- up health.19
28.I will keep my ill-humour to myself.21
29.Is not this room rich in specimens of your landscapes and flowers; and
has not Mrs. Weston some inimitable figure-pieces in her drawing-room, at Randalls?"22
30.Miniatures, half-lengths, whole-lengths, pencil, crayon, and watercolours had been all tried in turn.23
31.Emma was half-ashamed of her friend for seeming so pleased and so
doubtful.26
32.The idea of Mr. Elton was certainly cheering; but still, after a time, she
was tender-hearted again towards the rejected Mr. Martin.29
33.You have cured her of her school-girl's giggle; she really does you credit31
34.Something has happened to delay her; some visitors perhaps." "Highbury
gossips!Tiresome wretches!"31
35.She is known only as parlour-boarder at a common school.32
36.A degradation to illegitimacy and ignorance, to be married to a
respectable, intelligent gentleman-farmer!"33
37.Waiving that point, however, and supposing her to be, as you describe
her, only pretty and good-natured, let me tell you, that in the degree she
41

possesses them,34
38.till they do fall in love with well-informed minds instead of handsome
faces, a girl, with such loveliness as Harriet,34
39.He walked off in more complete self-approbation than he left for her.35
40.and found to his great surprize, that Mr. Elton was actually on his road to
London, and not meaning to return till the morrow, though it was the
whist-club night, which he had been never known to miss before;36
41.The Picture, elegantly framed, came safely to hand soon after Mr. Elton's
return, and being hung over the mantelpiece of the common sitting-room, he got up
to look at it, and sighed out his half sentences of admiration just as he ought;37
42.The Picture, elegantly framed, came safely to hand soon after Mr. Elton's
return, and being hung over the mantelpiece of the common sitting-room, he got up
to look at it, and sighed out his half sentences of admiration just as he ought;37
43.The Picture, elegantly framed, came safely to hand soon after Mr. Elton's
return, and being hung over the mantelpiece of the common sitting-room, he got up
to look at it, and sighed out his half sentences of admiration just as he ought;37
44.was the collecting and transcribing all the riddles of every sort that she
could meet with, into a thin quarto of hot-pressed paper, made up by her friend,
and ornamented with ciphers and trophies.37
45.In this age of literature, such collections on a very grand scale are not
uncommon. Miss Nash, head-teacher at Mrs. Goddard's, had written out at least
three hundred;37
46.It is a sort of prologue to the play, a motto to the chapter; and will be
soon followed by matter-of-fact prose."40
47.He was arm-in-arm with Mr. Cole. 41
48."There it is. There go you and your riddle-book one of these days."46
49.but I cannot think of any tolerable pretence for going in;no servant that
I want to inquire about of his housekeeperno message from my father."46

42

50.If I draw less, I shall read more; if I give up music, I shall take to carpetwork.47
51.and always gave her assistance with as much intelligence as good-will.47
52."And really, I do not think the impression will soon be over," said Emma,
as she crossed the low hedge, and tottering footstep which ended the narrow,48
53.Anxious to separate herself from them as far as she could, she soon
afterwards took possession of a narrow footpath. 48
54.I really am a most troublesome companion to you both, but I hope I am
not often so ill-equipped.49
55.but all the holidays of this autumn had been given to sea-bathing for the
children, and it was therefore many months since they had been seen in a regular
way by their Surry connexions50
56.He thought much of the evils of the journey for her, and not a little of the
fatigues of his own horses and coachman who were to bring some of the party the
last half of the way;50
57.the sixteen miles being happily accomplished, and Mr. and Mrs. John
Knightley, their five children, and a competent number of nursery-maids, all reaching Hartfield in safety.50
58.She was not a woman of strong understanding or any quickness; and with
this resemblance of her father, she inherited also much of his constitution; was delicate in her own health, over-careful of that of her children,50
59.Mr. John Knightley was a tall, gentleman-like, and very clever man;50
60.He was not a great favourite with his fair sister-in-law. 51
61.There he had not always the patience that could have been wished. Mr.
Woodhouse's peculiarities and fidgetiness were sometimes provoking him to a rational remonstrance or sharp retort equally ill-bestowed.51
62.It did not often happen; for Mr. John Knightley had really a great regard
for his father-in-law, and generally a strong sense of what was due to him;51
63.I believe he is one of the very best-tempered men that ever existed.52
43

64."How very pleasing and proper of him!" cried the good-hearted Mrs.
John Knightley52
65.But you need not imagine Mr. Weston to have felt what you would feel
in giving up Henry or John. Mr. Weston is rather an easy, cheerful-tempered man,
than a man of strong feelings;53
66.She would keep the peace if possible; and there was something
honourable and valuable in the strong domestic habits, the all-sufficiency of home
to himself, whence resulted her brother's disposition to look down on the common
rate of social intercourse, and those to whom it was important.53
67.As a magistrate, he had generally some point of law to consult John
about, or, at least, some curious anecdote to give; and as a farmer, as keeping in
hand the home-farm at Donwell, he had to tell what every field was to bear next
year54
68."I am sorry to hear you say so, sir; but I assure you, excepting those little
nervous head-aches and palpitations which I am never entirely free from anywhere,56
69.This is just what Perry said. It seemed to him a very ill-judged
measure."58
70.Emma's attempts to stop her father had been vain; and when he had
reached such a point as this, she could not wonder at her brother-in-law's breaking
out.58
71.and she was sorry to find from Mrs. Goddard that Harriet was liable to
very bad sore-throats, and had often alarmed her with them." Mr. Elton looked all
alarm on the occasion, as he exclaimed,59
72.There is such perfect good-temper and good-will in Mr. Elton as one
cannot but value."61
73."My first enjoyment," replied John Knightley, as they passed through the
sweep-gate, "will be to find myself safe at Hartfield again."63
74.With such sensations, Mr. Elton's civilities were dreadfully ill-timed; but
44

she had the comfort of appearing very polite, while feeling very crossand of
thinking that the rest of the visit could not possibly pass without bringing forward
the same information again, or the substance of it, from the open-hearted Mr. Weston.64
75.I believe you did not hear me telling the others in the drawing-room that
we are expecting Frank.65
76."Yes, she would be, but that she thinks there will be another put-off.65
77.Mrs. Churchill rules at Enscombe, and is a very odd-tempered woman;
and his coming now, depends upon her being willing to spare him."66
78.He began with great earnestness to entreat her to refrain from visiting the
sick-chamber again67
79.If there had not been so much anger, there would have been desperate
awkwardness; but their straightforward emotions left no room for the little zigzags
of embarrassment.72
80.There she was welcomed, with the utmost delight, by her father, who had
been trembling for the dangers of a solitary drive from Vicarage Laneturning a
corner which he could never bear to think ofand in strange handsa mere common coachmanno James;72
81.She had taken up the idea, she supposed, and made every thing bend to
it.72
82.Her name was not mentioned;and there was so striking a change in all
this, and such an ill-judged solemnity of leave-taking in his graceful
acknowledgments, as she thought, at first, could not escape her father's suspicion.75
83.I should be as ready to acknowledge his merits as any other man; but I
hear of none, except what are merely personal; that he is well-grown and goodlooking, with smooth, plausible manners."80
84."You will excuse my being so much over-powered.80
85. If I find him conversable, I shall be glad of his acquaintance; but if he is
45

only a chattering coxcomb, he will not occupy much of my time or thoughts."80

86.All this spoken extremely fast obliged Miss Bates to stop for breath; and
Emma said something very civil about the excellence of Miss Fairfax's handwriting.83
87.This was Colonel Campbell, who had very highly regarded Fairfax, as an
excellent officer and most deserving young man; and farther, had been indebted to
him for such attentions, during a severe camp-fever, as he believed had saved his
life.86
88.Her eyes, a deep grey, with dark eye-lashes and eyebrows, had never
been denied their praise;88
89.and how small a slice of mutton for dinner, as well as to see
exhibitions of new caps and new workbags for her mother and herself; and Jane's
offences rose again.88
90.At a watering-place, or in a common London acquaintance, it was
difficult to decide on such points.89
91.I like old friends; and Miss Jane Fairfax is a very pretty sort of young
lady, a very pretty and a very well-behaved young lady indeed.90
92."My dear papa, I sent the whole hind-quarter.90
93.They must not over-salt the leg; and then, if it is not over-salted, and if it
is very thoroughly boiled, just as Serle boils ours, and eaten very moderately of,
with a boiled turnip, and a little carrot or parsnip, I do not consider it unwholesome."91
94.At the same time, nobody could wonder if Mr. Elton should have
aspiredMiss Woodhouse lets me chatter on, so good-humouredly.93
95.Ford's was the principal woollen-draper, linen-draper, and haberdasher's
shop united; the shop first in size and fashion in the place.94
96.She went, however; and when they reached the farm, and she was to be
put down, at the end of the broad, neat gravel walk, which led between espalier
apple-trees to the front door,98
46

97.The worn-out past was sunk in the freshness of what was coming; and in
the rapidity of half a moment's thought, she hoped Mr. Elton would now be talked
of no more.99
98.Highbury, that airy, cheerful, happy-looking Highbury, would be his constant attraction.103
99.Their first pause was at the Crown Inn, an inconsiderable house, though
the principal one of the sort, where a couple of pair of post-horses were kept, more
for the convenience of the neighbourhood than from any run on the road;104
100. it had been built many years ago for a ball-room, and while the
neighbourhood had been in a particularly populous, dancing state, had been occasionally used as such;104
101. They lived beyond their income, but still it was nothing in comparison
of Enscombe: she did not cease to love her husband, but she wanted at once to be
the wife of Captain Weston, and Miss Churchill of Enscombe.265
102. Some time afterwards it was, "I think Mrs. Goddard would be very
much surprized if she knew what had happened.29
103. "I shall never let that book go out of my own hands," said she. P.42
104. Well, my dears, how does your book go on? P. 42
105. Harriet's parentage became known. She proved to be the daughter of a
tradesman, rich enough to afford her the comfortable maintenance which had ever
been hers,and decent enough to have always wished for concealment.258

47