The Impact of the Base: Evidence from Word-Based vs. Stem-Based Compounds

The chapter investigates the internal structure of compounds and particularly the type of components that constitute a compound. More traditional and mainly language-specific definitions of compounding use formal criteria, like the type of compound constituents. This study investigates whether these definitions have just a descriptive value or whether the different types of constituents actually have an impact on compound formation. Compounds in two different but morphologically comparable languages, German and Modern Greek, are compared. Compounds in these two languages show a clear preference for word- and stem-based formation, respectively. Specifically, I examine whether the selection of the type of compound constituents, namely word or stem, can give us any insight into the special properties of compounds. An additional aim of this study is to add to the discussion about the place of compounding between word formation and syntax and ultimately into this relation in each language, not by examining phrase-like compounds or compound-like phrases or generally in-between formations, as is common for this particular subject, but by investigating morphologically prototypical compounds.