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The lexicalization of complex constructions: an analysis of adjective-noun combinations

Schlechtweg, Marcel
Härtl, Holden

The current paper discusses the lexicalization of complex constructions composed of an adjective and a noun. It is argued that compounds/compound-like constructions are more prone to become lexicalized than phrases/phrase-like constructions. The relationship between lexicalization and the cognitive process of memorization represents a key point of our analysis. We report evidence from psycholinguistic studies contrasting compounds/compound-like constructions to phrases/phrase-like constructions either within a single language or across different languages. The results suggest that the former type of constructions show a memorization advantage in comparison to the latter type. These findings support the idea that the two construction types fundamentally differ with regard to their lexicalization.

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@inproceedings{doi:10.17170/kobra-202107094296,
  author    ={Schlechtweg, Marcel and Härtl, Holden},
  keywords ={400 and Morphologie  and Wortbildung and Adjektivkompositum and Nominalkompositum},
  title    ={The lexicalization of complex constructions: an analysis of adjective-noun combinations},
  copyright  ={http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/},
  language ={en},
  year   ={2016}
}