P+N Pattern Elements of Nominal Compounds .1 N+N Pattern
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4.1.4 P+N Pattern
There are 3 compounds, from 169 nominal compounds found in TJP, made up of prepositions and nouns. The analysis of those compounds can be seen
in the following. Table 4.13: Nominal compounds composed of prepositions and nouns in TJP
Prepositions Nouns
Nominal Compounds
out after
out skirt
shock sider
outskirt aftershock
outsider
As seen in the table above, the prepositions composing nominal compounds found in TJP are out and after. In the first example, the preposition
out is combined with the word skirt to mean “the parts of a town or city that
are furthest from the centre ” Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. The
similar case exists in the second example in which the preposition after is combined with the word shock to mean a small earthquake. Katamba 1993
argues that placing –s as a plural marker in the head is important and that the
process of suffix inflection happens after a nominal compound is formed. Moreover, the first two examples of nominal compounds are composed of free
morphemes without any addition in each of the element, whereas in the third example, the right element of the nominal compound has the suffix -er. The
compound occurs first, then the suffix –er is attached to the right-most element of
the nominal compound. This suffix implies that the meaning of this nominal compound refers to someone or a person. To be exact, according to Longman
Dictionary of Contemporary English, the word outsiders means “someone who is
not accepted as a member of a particular social group .”
41 There are 4 compounds, from 179 nominal compounds found in NYT,
made up of prepositions and nouns. The analysis of those compounds can be seen in the following.
Table 4.14: Nominal compounds composed of prepositions and nouns in NYT Prepositions
Nouns Nominal
Compounds after
out out
in shock
post skirt
flux aftershock
outpost outskirt
influx
Unlike TJP in which the prepositions found as the elements of nominal compounds are out and after, NYT has three prepositions composing nominal
compounds that are out, after, and in. In the first example, the preposition after is combined with the word shock to mean a small earthquake. Although the word
shock constitutes a noun and a verb, the construction is not ambiguous because the word shock which is appropriate to the context is a noun meaning
”violent shaking caused for example by an explosion or earthquake” Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. The preposition out is combined with post
becoming outpost and skirt becoming outskirt to mean “a group of buildings in a
place far from cities or towns, usually established as a military camp or a place for trade
“ and “the parts of a town or city that are furthest from the centre” Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English respectively. Again, if the plural
marker –s is needed, it is attached in the second elements to indicate that the entire
compounds are plural. Lastly, the nominal compound influx is composed of a preposition in and a noun flux.
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