A Grammar of Fongbe Volume 5996 () || 9. Compounds

Chapter 9Compounds

Compounds are complex morphological units that consist of the concatenation of two(or more) words. In the syntax, compounds function as a single word. Compounding isa very productive morphological process in Fongbe, as it is in several other WestAfrican languages. In Fongbe, however, compounding produces only nouns. Words ofother lexical categories may appear in complex structures, but, as shown in section 9.1,they are best analysed as syntactic constructions, rather than lexical compounds. Sincecompound nouns are often very similar to syntactic structures, tests are required in orderto distinguish nominal compounds from nominal phrases (section 9.2). In section 9.3,the typology of nominal compounds is presented. Based on the structural properties ofthe compounds, this typology includes three classes of compounds: endocentric primarycompounds, exocentric primary compounds and synthetic compounds. Section 9.4briefly discusses the semantic fields (fauna and flora, body parts, kinship, etc.) to whichcompound nouns belong.

9.1. The lexical category of compounds

In the languages of the world, compounding creates words in any of the major lexicalcategories: there are compound nouns, adjectives, verbs and adpositions. As this sectionwill show, Fongbe exhibits a far more restricted inventory: the only compounds foundare nouns.

Fongbe does not have compound adpositions. Constructions involving both apreposition and a postposition (e.g. kpoc[o... kpo, ... ji, ... me), which mightappear to be compounds, are complex syntactic structures where the postpositionalphrase is an argument of the preposition (see section 11.2).

The language also has complex verbal forms, which might be analysed as compoundverbs. These complex forms consist of either two verbs or a verb and a noun, asillustrated in (1) and (2), respectively.

(1) ün-kpön (think-look.at) 'think about/consider'kän-byo (search-ask) 'question'xb-ci (hit-put.out) 'put out'

(2) yi-gbe (accept-word) 'approve/agree'ya-wu (be.fast-body) 'hurry up'ku-to (die-river) 'drown'

However, these forms are best analysed as complex predicates. Forms like those in (1)are serial verbs while forms like those in (2) are verbs associated with an inherentobject, as discussed in section 10.2.2.2.'

Brought to you by | Penn State - The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State - The Pennsylvania State University)Authenticated | 172.16.1.226

Download Date | 7/27/12 6:05 PM

222 9. Compounds

Fongbe also has a few complex forms denoting colour terms. Some examples aregiven in (3).

(3) ämä-mu (leaf-ripen) 'green'koklo-'jo (chicken-fat) 'yellow'ähö-sin (indigo.plant-water) 'indigo blue'gän-sin (metal-water) 'silver'

These colour terms are best analysed as nominal compounds, rather than as adjectivalones (for a discussion of colour terms, see section 12.2). If this analysis is correct,there are no compound adjectives in Fongbe.

In brief, nouns thus appear to constitute the only lexical category created by theformation of regular compounds. There are neither compound adpositions norcompound adjectives. As for the few structures that may be analysed as compoundverbs, they are complex predicates.

9.2. Tests to distinguish nominal compounds from nominal phrases

As is the case in other languages, nominal compounds in Fongbe are often superficiallysimilar to syntactic structures. Many compound nouns consist of a sequence of wordsthat could also be analysed as a noun phrase. For example, while the form in (4a) is anoun phrase (a syntactic structure), the forms in (4b) and (4c) are compound nouns(morphological structures).2

(4) a. NptfOfai vf\K5ku child'child of Koku'

b. [n$ vi]Nmother child'brother'

c. [art v/]Nwork child'apprentice'

Several criteria have been proposed in the linguistic literature to distinguishcompounds from syntactic phrases and idiom chunks. These involve phonological,morphological and semantic properties of phrases and words. Most of the proposedcriteria do not hold across languages, nor do they hold for all types of compoundswithin a given language.3 Only one criterion applies across languages and to all typesof compounds: syntactic atomicity. As we saw in chapter 8, words are syntactic atoms.That is, words constitute islands; no lexical material can be inserted into or deleted fromthem by means of syntactic rules.



Tests to distinguish nominal compounds from nominal phrases 223

Hence, the words that are part of a compound cannot be conjoined or modified withinthe compound word.4 As the following examples show, conjunction inside a compoundis ungrammatical (see (5b)), as is insertion of a modifier (see (6b)).

(5) a. äkwe-xwe l äß-xwemoney-house / trade-house'bank/store'

b. *äkwe kpo aß kpo xwemoney with trade with house

(6) a. -lemon-plank'lemon-tree plank'

b. *kle-ämänui-xwtelemon-green-plank

In contrast, conjunction and modification within a noun phrase derive perfectlygrammatical structures, as shown in (7) and (8) below.

(7) a. K$ku xwo l Bäyi xweKoku house / Bayi house'house of Koku/house of Bayi'

b. Kaku kpo Bayi kpo xweKoku with Bayi with house'house of Koku and Bayi'

(8) a. kle-xwtelemon-plank DEF'the lemon-tree plank'

b. kla-xwlä ämämiilemon-plank green DEF'the green lemon-tree plank'

Several Fongbe compounds show additional distinctive properties, when compared tosyntactic structures. First, they exhibit tonal patterns which are the output of tonemodifications specific to compounds. Second, they are subject to some morphemicreductions that are not found in syntactic structures. These two properties are discussedin turn.

The tonal patterns characteristic of compound words involve the mid tone and thedownstep. There are two distinct sources for the mid tone. First, the complex low-highand high-low tones are levelled to mid in certain positions, as illustrated in (9) below.5(Recall from section 2.3 that mid tones are not overtly represented in the orthographictranscriptions.)

(9) äsä-we -> äsä-me (thigh-inside) 'groin'dM-nyonu -» dM-nyznu (father-woman) 'aunt on the father's side'



224 9. Compounds

As discussed in section 2.3, the levelling of complex tones to mid is also found insyntactic structures, mostly with speakers from Ouidah and Porto-Novo. This processis far more common, however, with compounds, even for speakers who do not usuallyapply it to a syntactic structure. Second, a low tone may be raised to mid, a processwhich is found solely in compounds:6

(10) äkon-tä -» akon-ta (trunk-head) 'chest'nü-flö -> nu-flo (mouth-skin) 'lip'

Compound nouns also contrast with noun phrases in the realisation of certainmorphemes. The class prefixes a- and o- which occur as the first syllable of somenouns in isolation (e.g. ogan 'chief \agba 'luggage'), may never occur inside acompound, as shown in (11).

(11) a. äkwegba-(*ö-)gan (bank-chief) 'banker'b. cyo-(*ä-)gbä (dead-luggage) 'coffin'

In noun phrases, o- is optional, as shown in (12a), while ä- is generally obligatory, asshown in (12b).7

(12) a. to <£ (ö-)gän 6village my chief DBF'the chief of my village'

b. *(ä-)gba Bäyi tonluggage Bayi GEN'Bayi's luggage'

Finally, compound nouns composed of two or three nouns lack the case markers thatare obligatory in syntactic nominals. Recall from section 3.6 that complex nominalphrases may include the objective case marker sin or the genitive case marker tön. Withtrinominal and binominal compounds, such as ägbän-hun (luggage-vehicle) 'truck' anddoto-'xwe (doctor-house) 'hospital', the inclusion of a case marker is eitherungrammatical, as in (13), or yields a different meaning, as in (14).

(13) a. *ägbän sin nun 6luggage OBJ vehicle DEF

b. *hun & tan ovehicle luggage GEN DEF

(14) a. dötoö sin xwe 6doctor OBJ house DEF'the house of a doctor'

b. xwe dötoö ton ohouse doctor GEN DEF'the doctor's house'



Typology of compound nouns 225

Since not all compounds show a distinctive realisation of morphemes or tones, theatomicity criterion has been used to identify compounds. A struture's inability toappear in conjoined or modified constructions, such as those in (5b) and (6b) above,was used as the definitive test for identification.

9.3. Typology of compound nouns

A typology of compounds has been established on the basis of a list of 330 words. Themajority of the words were elicited from Fon informants in Cotonou and Montreal. Theliterature on Fongbe and other Gbe languages (e.g. Akoha 1980; Hazoume 1979;Hoftmann 1977; Segurola 1963; Tchitchi 1984) was also consulted.

The compounds presented in this typology are all regular compounds, that is,compounds whose syntactic and semantic properties may be directly derived from theproperties of their components. Since they do not reflect the regular properties of thecompounding process, idiosyncratic compounds such as those in (15a) have not beenincluded. Compounds such as those in (15b) have been included in the typology, eventhough the head is interpreted figuratively.

(15) a. tä-du (head-eat) 'madness'az$n-v5 (disease-be.red) 'leprosy'

b. ädö-go (intestine-gourd) 'belly'gan-tin (metal-tree) 'kitchen utensil/spoon'

Indeed, many nouns referring to objects in Fongbe may undergo meaning extension.For instance, go 'gourd' can be used to refer to any type of receptacle; ätin 'tree' maydenote also a stem, a shaft or a rod. Taking into account extensions of meaning,compounds such as those in (15) have a compositional interpretation, and are analysedas regular compounds.

In this section, compounds are presented according to their type of structure. Theclassification is established mainly on the basis of headedness. Recall from section 8.3that the head is the constituent that determines the syntactic and semantic properties ofthe whole. In particular, the head determines the semantic class to which the wordbelongs. In other words, the head is the constituent of which the word is a hyponym(Brousseau 1988b, 1989). For example, hun 'vehicle' is the head of the binominalcompound ägbän-hun 'truck' since a truck belongs to the semantic class of vehicles(hun), and not to the semantic class of luggage (ägbän). Similarly, the compounddöto-'xv/ 'hospital' is a hyponym of the head we 'house', not a hyponym ofddtoo 'doctor'.This typology distinguishes between synthetic and primary compounds, and, withinprimary compounds, between endocentric (headed) and exocentric (headless). Syntheticcompounds have the two following properties (see Selkirk 1982): the head of thecompound is a deverbal noun, and the nonhead constituent is necessarily interpreted asan argument of the verb from which the head is derived. This is shown below, with



226 9. Compounds

some examples of English synthetic compounds. (In the following example, and henceforward, the constituent which is the head of the compound is underlined.)

(16) snow removaltruck driverchurch goer

= remove snow= drive a truck= go to church

Compounds that are not synthetic are called primary compounds.Table 9.1 summarises the classification of compound nouns in Fongbe. Within each

type—endocentric primary, exocentric primary and synthetic—compounds are classifiedaccording to the category of their constituents. The twelve types of structures will beexamined in turn.

Table 9.1. Types of compound structures

Endocentric primaryRight-headedN-NN-N-HN-V-NN-A-tt

Left-headedH-A(A=V)tt-A (A=RE-V)

Headless

Exocentric primary

Synthetic

N-VN-AN-N

N-RE-V

9.5.7. Endocentric primary compounds

Endocentric compound nouns (i.e. headed compound nouns) consist of two or threewords. While there are some left-headed compounds (see section 9.3.1.2), mostcompounds are right-headed.

9.3.1.1. Right-headed compounds

Binominal compounds constitute the largest class of right-headed compounds. Someexamples are given in (17) (where the head noun is underlined):




(17) N-Nap-xwe

asu-todoto-'xwa

koklo-'joyovo-gbäde

(trade-house)(hand-knot)(husband-father)(doctor-house)(field-work)(rain-clothing)(chicken-fat)(white.stranger-com)(fire-wound)

'store''wrist''father-in-law''hospital''agriculture''raincoat''yellow''wheat''burn'

Trinominal compounds also occur, but are less frequent. The examples in (18) are theonly N-N-E. trinominal compounds found among the over 300 compounds mentionedearlier.

(18) N-N-Naji-glo-kwfnähwän-kpä-meävd-kän-fun

jö-mä-huntö-ß-hun

- -wän-gän-tin

(birth-pouch-seed)(war-fence-inside)(cloth-string-down)(year-head-thing)(air-inside-vehicle)(river-top-vehicle)(belly-inside-tning)(transmission-metal-rod)

-V-E. compounds, shown in (19), are much more frequent.

(19)ävö-nyä-mdäzä-wä-

-su-nü-to-no

sin-glo-w£mä-' sa-xosä

-jlä-wemäyiyt-kpon-xwS

(cloth-wash-machine)(work-do-thing)(agriculture-do-thing)(thing-dip-thing)(thing-sew-thing)(water-protect-thing)(paper-sell-room)(story-spread-paper)(baby-watch-house)

'testicle''military base''cotton''annual ceremony''airplane''boat''bowels''antenna'

'washing machine''tool''ploughing implement''sauce''needle''raincoat/umbrella''bookstore''newspaper''day nursery'

As can be seen in (19), some compounds exhibit the noun nu 'thing' as both the firstand last constituent. In theory, either the initial or the final nu could be the head of thecompound. However, two arguments support the analysis of these words as right-headedcompounds. First, all other tripartite compounds (N-N-fcL N-A-E., N-V-^) are right-headed; it is therefore reasonable to assume that nu compounds are no exception to thispattern. Second, some of the nu compounds have a synonym form which is also a



228 9. Compounds

tripartite compound. As shown in the examples in (20), the two synonyms differ onlyin the form of the right most noun: nu in one synonym, and a more specific noun inthe other.

(20) a. wu-sun-ai (body-wipe-thing) 'bath towel'wu-sun-t (body- wipe-cloth) 'bath towel'

b. va-li-αύ. (cloth-press-thing) '(flat) iron'(cloth-press-iron) '(flat) iron'

In cases where the rightmost noun is specific, it is clearly the head of the compound: abath towel (wu-sun-y^) is a kind of cloth (^v3), not a kind of body (wu.) It seemsreasonable to assume that the structure is the same for the two synonyms, and that therightmost nu is still the head.

The last class of tripartite compounds includes an adjective. Usually an adjectivecorresponds to the reduplicated form of a verb as in (2 la). In some cases, however, theadjective appears in a simple verbal form, as in (21b). (See section 8.3 for a discussionof the realisation of the reduplication prefix.)

(21) N-A-Na. &φ-νίνί-ζ$η (urine-sweet-disease) 'diabetes'

άφί- kd-z n (tooth-rotten-disease) 'cavity'me-zize-zd (person-split-work) 'surgery'

b. asu-ku-si (husband-dead-wife) 'widow'nd-cyo-νί (mother-dead-child) Orphan'

9.3.1.2. Left-headed compounds

So far, we have examined compound structures where the right constituent is thecompound head. Left-headed compounds appear only in H-A strings. Among suchcompounds, some contain an adjective in a truncated form (vo 'to be red', gbo 'to betall/to be great', etc.), as shown in the examples in (22).

(22) H-A (A=V)agon-ke (fruit.of.the.coco.tree-be.ripe) 'coconut'gb n-kleun (luggage-be.small) 'parcel'

g n-v (metal-be.red) 'copper'go-we (ball-be.white) 'portion of dough'kpen-we (cough-be.white) 'tuberculosis'ΙΏΒ-ΧΟ (person-be.old) 'adult'nu-gbo (thing-be.great) 'truth'

In other compounds, as shown in (23), the adjective must appear in its reduplicatedform.




(23) M-A (A=RE-V)ami-kpikpen (oil-heavy) 'motor oil'ηύ-φ'φ (thing-eaten) 'food'nu-lin'lfn (thing-thought) 'idea/worry'nu-tite (thing-swollen) 'abscess'no-wfwlan (thing-written) 'writing/written form'χό-φφ (saying-said) 'discourse'

The realisation of the adjective in left-headed compounds depends on the semanticcategory of the verb from which the adjective is derived. The adjective appears in areduced form when it is derived from a stative verb with an attributive meaning (e.g. we'to be white', xo 'to be old'). When derived from a verb from another semanticcategory, the adjective appears in its reduplicated form. Note that the same contrastholds with the tripartite compounds shown in (21).

There is evidence that this alternation is semantically driven. The reduplication prefixmay be omitted if the semantic properties with which it would endow the reduplicatedform are already part of the base verb. In other words, if the verb already has a stative,attributive sense before reduplication (xo 'to be old', mu 'to be raw'), this verb mayappear in the compound in its simple form. On the other hand, if the verb denotes anaction or a process, it must appear in its reduplicated form (e.g. s 'to sell'; sis'sold/sellable').

In some cases, the reduplicated form of a verb which has a stative or attributive sensecan remain. In those cases, the word no longer has the structure of a compound word,but rather of a syntactic NP, and can be interpreted differently. Thus, one finds pairssuch as those in (24).

(24) a. [nu-gbo\u 'truth'jsjpfjw gbigbo] 'important thing'

b. [#to-v3]N 'copper'an vivo] 'red(-hot) metal'

9.3.2. Exocentric primary compounds

Exocentric compounds (i.e. headless compounds) are fairly rare in Fongbe; among the330 compounds, only 16 are exocentric. They are listed in (25)-<27). Furthermore, themeaning of such compounds cannot be derived strictly from their constituents. In fact,such compounds constitute borderline cases when it comes to distinguishing betweenregular and idiosyncratic compounds.



230 9. Compounds

(25)

(26)

(27)

N-Väli-klänäsi-kpehwä-

-tä-bMtä-vd-sa

-xwe-liN-Aädb-susuähön-susuda-wö-kukuxömä-hunhiinN-Nädän-hunhun-gan

(road-split)(hand-beat)(line.of.conduct-say)(place.of.residence-indicate)(head-tie)(head-hurt)(sacrifice-put.in.place)(belly-hurt)(house-protect)

(intestine-closed)(brain-closed)(head-red)(body-dead)(belly-open)

(noise-tomtom)(tomtom-chief)

'crossroads''applause''justice''address''bandana1

'madness'Offering''hunger''protecting idol'

'anorexia''baldness''red-headed (person)''paralysis''joy/pleasure'

'(specific) dance''war dance'

As the glosses show, neither of the constituents can be identified as the head of thecompound word. For example, the constituents äsi 'hand' and kpe 'to beat' bear nohyponymous relationship to the wordasi-kpe 'applause'.

9.3.3. Synthetic compounds

As mentioned at the beginning of this section, two properties define a syntheticcompound: the compound is headed by a deverbal noun, and the semantic interpretationof the compound is based on the argument structure of the head. There are three types ofsynthetic compounds in Fongbe: 1) the head of the compound is a nominal reduplicatedverb; 2) the compound contains the agentive suffix -to; 3) the compound contains theattributive suffix -nd. All three structures are right-headed.

In the first type of synthetic compound, the head is a deverbal noun derived by meansof reduplication (see section 8.3). The reduplicated form describes the action expressedby the verb, or the result of the action. The noun on the left is interpreted as theargument of the head (in this case, the reduplicated verb).

(28) N-RE-Vägbä-didäähwän-funfünäsi-byobyoävd-

(bomb-sending)(war-fighting)(wife-asking)(cloth-weaving)(corpse-burying)

'bombing''battle''marriage proposal''weaving''burial (service)'




gte-kptikplo (companion-gathering) 'association'gu-fiafon (arm-getting.up) 'rebellion'hun-s s (blood-flowing) 'blood circulation'nuk$n-yiyi (front-going) 'development'vi-jfjf (child-yielding) 'delivery'

With the second type of synthetic compound, the head is an agentive nominal derivedby means of the suffixation of -to to a verb.

(29) N-V-tahw n-yi-to (war-go-AG) 'warrior'

αέ-kpon-to (frontier-watch-AG) 'customs officer'gl£-te-to (field-grow-AG) 'farmer'h n-ji-to (song-yield-AG) 'singer'hw£vi-sa-'to (fish-sell-AG) 'fishmonger'ιηέ-ζέ-ίό (person-split-AG) 'surgeon'ηύ-s -'to (thing-sell-AG) 'salesperson'vi-ji-to (child-yield-AG) 'midwife'χό-φ-to (saying-say-AG) 'speaker'ζέη-ιηέ-to (clay-cook-AG) 'potter'

With the third type of synthetic compound, the head noun is composed of a verb andthe attributive suffix -no. In most cases, as with the agentive -to compounds, the verbis realised in its simple form. But in some -nd compounds, the verb may also appear inits reduplicated form, with an attributive interpretation. This is the case for the exam-ples in (30) where the reduplication prefix is written in brackets. (Again, morphemeswritten without an overt tone bear a mid tone, as per the convention in section 2.3.)

(30) N-V-fridun-gbo-no (mud-stand-ATT) 'dirty pig'h n-niimo-no (alcohol-overdrink-ATT) 'drunkard'z -v/ -n? (work-make-ATT) 'hard worker'

da-(kff^u-ns (tongue-(RE)die-ATT) 'stutterer'd£-(£/)ie-no (tongue-(RE)tie-ATT) 'mute person'nii-(bi)bla-no (mouth-(RE)bind-ATT) One who fasts'nukun-(tf)ton-no (eye-(RE)pierce-ATT) 'blind person'to-(kff)ko-no (ear-(RE)die-ATr) 'deaf person'w£m -m se-no (book-not.hear-ATT) 'illiterate person'

The form of the verbal base in the compounds shown in (30) is subject to dialectalvariation. For some speakers, the presence or absence of the reduplication prefix doesnot affect interpretation. For others, depending on whether the verbal base isreduplicated or not, words with the -no suffix have different meanings. The simple formcreates a lexicalised meaning of the word (see (31)), whereas the meaning of the



232 9. Compounds

reduplicated form reflects its structure, and is derived compositionally from themeanings of its components (see (32)).

(31) a. πύ-bl -no (mouth-tie-ATT) One who fasts'b. nukun-ton-no (eye-pierce-ATT) 'bund'

(32) a. n -bibl -no (mouth-RE.tie-ATT) One with a shut mouth'b. nukun-tiun-nz (eye-RE.pierce-ATT) One with a gouged out eye'

It is possible that attributive compounds are about to become lexicalised, that is,frozen structures. Variations in compound realisations between speakers seems tosupport this hypothesis: the variation probably reflects different stages in the process oflexicalisation. Furthermore, this hypothesis would explain the reduced number of suchcompounds, in contrast to the two other types of synthetic compounds, which areamong the most productive in Fongbe.

9.4. Semantic fields

Compounds occur in both core vocabulary and semantic fields related to the cultural andnatural environment. Several compounds are used to denote fauna and flora. Forexample, most words about trees and kinds of wood are binominals derived from fruitnames. This is shown in (33).

(33) N-Na. de-tin (palm.nut-tree) 'palm tree'

kle-tin (lemon-tree) 'lemon tree'kwekwe-tin (banana-tree) 'banana tree'

b. de-xwle (palm.nut-plank) 'palm(-tree) wood'kle-xwla (lemon-plank) 'lemon(-tree) wood'kwekwe-xwla (banana-plank) 'banana(-tree) wood'

A large number of nouns used to designate body parts are also binominal compounds.Examples are given in (34).

(34) N-Nlin-χύ (kidney-bone) 'hip'

aid-go (hand-knot) 'wrist'aid-tin (hand-stick) 'arm'kd-gudo (neck-back) 'nape of the neck'ηύ-flo (mouth-skin) 'lip'nukun-flo (eye-skin) 'eyelid'wun-d (eye-hair) 'eyelash'



Semantic fields 233

Kinship words include several kinds of compounds: most exhibit an N-N structure, asin (35a), but some are left-headed compounds N-A, as in (35b).

(35) a. N-Nηό-νί (mother-child) 'brother/sister'πονί-νί (brother-child) 'nephew/niece'to-νί (father-chUd) 'half-brother/half-sister'

b. M-Ad -^οό (daddy-being.great) 'grandfather'η$-φό (mother-being.great) 'grandmother'to-gbo (father-being.great) 'grandparent/ancestor'

Compounds are also used to designate utensils, implements, vehicles or commonlyused objects. They are mostly N- compounds, as in (36a), but they can also be N-V-Mcompounds, as in (36b).

(36) a. N-Nlo-k n (hello-string) 'telephone'

cyo-d (corpse-hole) 'grave'z -h n (fire-beverage) 'strong alcohol'

b. N-V-Nv$-ny -m$ (cloth-wash-machine) 'washing machine'

ji-hwan-ja (top-ferment-salt) 'fertiliser'nii-to-nu (thing-sew-thing) 'needle'sin-hu-ηύ (water-spread-thing) 'watering can'

Finally, the trade or profession lexicon includes many compounds, most of whichhave an N-Vt structure, as shown in the examples in (37).

(37)add-nyi-to (casting.net-throw-AG) 'fisherman using a casting net'hw n-f n-to (war-fight-AG) 'soldier'

(medicine-prepare-AG) 'apothecary/pharmacist'(cloth-sell-AG) 'cloth seller'

gb&-s£-to (language-hear- AG) 'interpreter'gl£-le-to (field-grow-AG) 'farmer'hw£-hu-to (offense-knock.down-AG) 'policeman'hwovi-wtf-to (fish-catch-AG) 'fisherman'm -z -to (person-split-AG) 'surgeon'ζέη-πιέ-to (clay-cook-AG) 'potter'



234 9. Compounds

9.5. Conclusion

Compounding, a morphological process used to create new words, is very productive inFongbe, although its application is restricted to the creation of nouns. Such nounsbelong to various semantic fields including flora, body parts, commonly used objectsand professions. The process generates twelve different compound structures that can begrouped into three main classes: endocentric primary compounds, exocentric primarycompounds and synthetic compounds. In addition to the references cited in this chapter,discussions of the Fongbe compounds can be found in Akoha (1980: 267-284,1990: 78-85, 378-381), Anonymous (1983: VII, 3 )̂, and Hounkpatin (1985: 97-98).

Notes to chapter 9

1. This is consistent with Hounkpatin (1985: 97), who notes that the formation ofcomplex verbal forms is a process which is not part of the compoundingphenomenon. See also Akoha (1980: 279), who mentions that complex verbalforms (i.e. "synthomes verbaux") are for the most part syntactic constructions.

2. Note that a structure such as the one in (4a), where there is no preposition norcase marker (sin or ton), is restricted to noun phrases which express arelationship of inalienable possession. Thus, the structure is possible only withhead nouns denoting body parts and kinship terms.

3. For a review of these criteria, see Brousseau (1988b, 1989,1990).4. This has been proposed as an identification test by Allen (1978).5. Recall from section 2.3 that the mid tone is left unmarked in the orthographic

form.6. The phonological or morphological conditions which trigger the raising of low

tones to mid tones in compounds are not clear. This is a question for furtherresearch.

7. The prefix ä- may be omitted only if the noun phrase contains no case markerand denotes a relationship of inalienable possession (e.g. Kbku (ä)sä 'Koku'sthigh'). Note that this omission of the vowel is a process distinct from thephonological process that suppresses a vowel in hiatus contexts (see section2.4.2). When ä- is suppressed, it is the second vowel, whereas in hiatuscontexts, it is the first vowel that is suppressed.



Documents

A Grammar of Fongbe Volume 5996 () || 9. Compounds