Non-verbal Endocentric Compounds in Alashtari Laki

The present article aims to investigate the non-verbal endocentric compounds in Laki language. The research data include endocentric compounds collected from two sources: the daily speech of Laki speakers by the researcher and the two-volume book of ‘Laki Dictionary’ (Kiyani Kolivand, 2011). The results of the research show that the most frequent structures of non-verbal endocentric compounds in Laki include [noun + noun], [noun + adjective] and [adjective + noun]. In addition to these structures, there are three subsidiary low frequency structures in this language: [noun + preposition], [preposition + noun] and [number + noun]. The semantic analysis of the structures above shows that the diversity of relations between components of compounds results in various interpretations, among which the semantic diversity of [noun + noun] compounds is by far more than other endocentric compounds. The [noun + noun] endocentric compounds are classified into two categories, head-initial and head-final, in which numerous concepts are found: source, content, usage, similarity, material, place, dependency, amalgamation, time, specialty, type, nutrition, manner, and purpose. The [noun + adjective] endocentric compounds also have considerable semantic diversity and different meanings are found, including performance, an instrument of production, content, relation, features, and special relationship.

1.Introduction

Compounding is one of the main word-formation processes found in most languages ​​of the world.  In this process, two words are mixed together and a compound word is formed, which can have considerable variety in terms of components and meaning. Compounding has different types, and one of the most important types is the endocentric compound, which has a semantic head, and the whole meaning of the inclusive compounding is the meaning of its head. The aim of the recent research is to investigate the nonverbal endocentric compounds in the Alshtari species of the Laki language. Laki language belongs to the northwest branch of Iranian languages, which is spoken in the northern and northwestern regions of Lorestan province, in parts of Khorramabad, as well as in parts of Kermanshah, Ilam and Hamedan provinces (Dabir -Moghaddam, 2014: 862). Laki language has several varieties one of which is common in Alshtar city, the center of Selseleh city in Lorestan province known as Laki Alshtari. Nonverbal endocentric compounds refer to those endocentric compounds that do not have a verbal stem in their structure.
 

2.Theoretical framework

Adams (2001) deals with the semantic classification of compounds, especially the compounds [noun + noun] in English.  He offers the following classification of endocentric nouns (2001: 83-84).
Usage: ignition key
Function: air gun
Location: amusement park
Origin: field mouse
Cause 1: influenza virus
Cause 2: sex discrimination
Source: honey bee
Possession: minority rights
Content: fruit cake
Resemblance: box kite
 

3.Methodology

Research data include endocentric compound words obtained from two sources, one is the everyday speech of Laki speakers in the family, workplace and community around the researcher and the other is the two-volume book "Laki Culture and Glossary" (Kiani Kolivand, 2011).  Since one of the present authors speaks Laki she also used his linguistic intuition to validate the data.  The present research is conducted within the framework of Adams (2001) and its main questions are: 1) What are the endocentric compounds of the Laki language in terms of morphological structure?  2) What are the semantic relationships between the components of these compounds?
 

4.Results & Discussions

The analysis of endocentric compound words in Laki language shows that these types of compounds are structurally and semantically very diverse and they can be structurally divided into three main categories [noun + noun], [noun + adjective] and [adjective + noun]. In addition to these structures, three other structures including [preposition + noun], [noun + preposition] and [number + noun] can also be seen in this type of compounds. The nature of the relationship between the components of the compounds leads to the emergence of a range of meanings in them, and based on this semantic relationship, endocentric compounds can be classified. The findings of the recent research indicate that the semantic diversity of [noun + noun] compounds is far greater than other endocentric compounds.  Endocentric compounds [noun + noun] are divided into two subcategories, the headfirst and the head last, and are found several concepts within them namely: origin, content, application, similarity, sex, place, dependence, impregnation, time, allocation, type, nutrition, method and purpose.  The internal structure [noun + adjective] is also semantically varied, and several meanings including mode of operation, means of production, content, ratio, specificity and specific relation, can be found in these combinations.  Some of these semantic relationships have not been found in previous related research on languages ​​such as English and German. Also, the presence of the structures like [preposition + preposition], [noun + preposition] and [number + noun] although at very low frequencies, indicates that the endocentric compounds of Laki is also structurally varied and that structures in this Language can be found in fewer languages.
 

5.Conclusions & Suggestions

One of the important results of the present research is that some semantic relationships that have been identified between the components of the compound [noun + noun] in Laki language have not been found in the study of Adams (2001) and Costello and Kane (2000). These semantic relationships include allocation, component, method, time, nutrition, and impregnation. In Laki [noun + adjective] compounds, some semantic relationships such as mode of operation, production tools and contents have been obtained which have not been mentioned in the few researches done on this type of compounds such as Appah (2016).  In this regard, it can be said that the present study has taken a small step towards completing and expanding the semantic classification of nonverbal endocentric compounds.  The results of this study show that some of the semantic classifications proposed for noun-noun compounds, such as the Castello and Kane (2000) classifications, are very general and cannot represent the detailed semantic relationships between the components of the compound. Therefore, the semantic diversity of endocentric compounds, noun-noun compounds in Laki, which is the result of the various semantic relationships between the components of these compounds, cannot be analyzed within the framework of this classification. Because most of these relationships, such as origin, content, application, type, assignment, time, etc., fall into the category of "relationship" interpretation, and as a result, conceptual differences between them remain unknown.
 
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