Between a suffix and a compound?

On word like second parts in Icelandic

Abstract

In Icelandic, numerous wordforms exist that are in many ways similar to independent words except that they can only occur as second parts of compounds, cf. -meti, -auðgi and -fari in fiskmeti 'fish food’, hugmyndaauðgi 'creativity’ and geimfari 'astronaut’. These are so-called bound wordforms (see e.g. Dalton-Puffer and Plag 2000, Eiríkur Rögnvaldsson 1990, Kristín Bjarnadóttir 2005 and Þorsteinn G. Indriðason 2006). Other types of similar bound forms in Icelandic are -ynja, -kafur and -elda as in for-ynja ’monster’, á-kafur’eager’ and al-elda ’ablaze’, cf. Kristín Bjarnadóttir (2005:159), and many more exist. In this article, the focus is on discussing forms which have an -i in final position, where the -ican either be an inflectional ending or a derivational suffix. These compositions are sometimes called derivational compounds to distinguish them from regular compounds and other notions have been used (see e.g. Sigurður Konráðsson 1989 and Eiríkur Rögnvaldsson 1990). In this article three types of these word forms are discussed.

Firstly, monosyllabic forms of weak male nouns with an -i ending in nominative singular, cf. launa-auki ’fringe benefit’, ein-búi ’hermit’, ör-eigi ’proletarian’, geim-fari ’astronaut’, sjálf-sali ’slot machine’ and hjarta-þegi ’heart recipient’.

Secondly, bisyllabic strong neuter nouns with an -i as the second syllable. These forms have an -s ending in genitive singular, cf. til-brigði ’variation’, harð-fenni ’frozen snow’, ár-ferði ’times’, stór-grýti ’large rocks’, búr-hveli ’sperm whale’, hjól-hýsi ’trailer’ and smá-stirni ’asteroid’. In these forms, i-umlaut variations occur, as in hvalur – hveli and hús – hýsi.

Thirdly, bisyllabic forms of weak female nouns, cf. mann-auðgi ’human enrichment’, ein-drægni ’harmony’, mein-fýsi ’malice’, eigin-girni ’selfishness’, sam-heldni ’solidarity’, þjóð-rækni ’patriotism’ and skað-semi ’harmfulness’. As with the neuter forms, i-umlaut variations occur, cf. fús – fýsi and samur – semi.

Tests were carried out to determine the wordhood of these wordlike forms. The main result of the tests showed that these forms behave in some ways like words but in other ways like affixes. They were also compared to affixoids but several tests showed that they do not fit into that category. The study shows that these wordlike forms are in a category of their own and should be placed between compounding and derivation as semi-words.