As in many other languages, the constituents of nominal compounds in Dutch are often separated by a linking element. This study investigates to what extent form and semantic properties of the right constituents in Dutch compounds affect the choice of the linker Using both lexical statistics and experimentation, we show that the left and right constituent families affect the choice of the linker independently of the semantic categories of the left and right constituents themselves. We also show that the choice of the linker is co-determined by the animacy and concreteness of the left constituent. No role for the semantic class of the head constituent was observed in the experiment. Apparently, linkers are non-canonical Suffixes in the sense that their occurrence is codetermined by the form properties of the constituent to their right.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.