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“meaning of a word is the object it denotes, and the meaning of a sentence is the proposition it expresses. Every meaningful expression has meaning because
there is something that it refers to, designates, signifies, or denotes. It is a symbol that stands for something other than itself. The theory is also called the
denotative theory of meaning. A simple version of this theory claims simply that the meaning of an expression is that to which the expression refers. But a
sense-reference distinction shows that two expressions can have different meaning but the same referent. A more sophisticated version of this theory,
such as that developed by Russell, claims that meaning is a referring or denoting relation between a term and the object it picks out. This theory is the
most influential one in the modern discussion of meaning and reference, but it has been challenged because of its theoretical requirement that there is
something or other to which a word refers” Bunnin, 2004: 1.
It means that every meaning is referring something. It most refers to the expression. The same word can have the different meaning, like mentioned that “two
expressions can have different meaning but the same referent”.For example, the word “book”, it can be a noun that the meaning is a written or printed work and it also can
be a verb and the meaning is reserve accommodation, a place, etc.; buy a ticket in advance.Therefore, it relates between the term and the object.
a. Endocentric and Exocentric Meaning
Compounds which have a head are called ‘endocentric compounds’. A head of a compound has similar characteristics to the head of a phrase: it usually has the same
word class. For example, in sneak-thief, thief is the head a sneak-thief is a kind of thief. Both sneak and thief are noun. Compounds without a head are called
‘exocentric compounds’ or The difference between endocentric and exocentric compounds is sometimes a matter of interpretation, and is often of little relevance; for
example, whether you think greenhouse is an endocentric or exocentric compound
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depends on whether you think it is a kind of house. The major interest in the head of a compound relates to the fact that where there is a clear head, its position seems to be
constrained; endocentric compounds tend to have heads in a language systematically on either the right e.g. English or left e.g. Vietnamese, French Fabb, 2002: 66.
3. Theory of the Writing in Exocentric Compounding
The data that the writer found are consisting of three types of writing, those are hyphen, separate, and merge together.Compounds are not consistent since they are
written as single words, or with an intervening hyphen, or as separate word sometimes. There is an important generalization to be made in terms of pronunciation
Anastasya, 2013: 1.
a. English Orthography
Another theory that the writer uses is English orthography theory. “The English orthography is not consistent in representing compounds since they are sometimes
written as single words, sometimes with an intervening hyphen, and sometimes as separate words” O’ Grady, 1997: 153.
It means that the English orthography is not consistent in giving the explanation to differentiate whether using the endocentric or exocentric meaning. The English
orthography theory is divided into two; prominent stress and tense and the plural markers.
Knowing the prominent stress on the first component can help the reader to conclude that it is an adjective- noun A- N compounds. However, in the non-
compounds, the second component is generally stressed, like greénhoùsemeans an
