Structures and Relations between Elements in Compounds: A Focus on Neoclassical Compounds in English

In this paper, we examine the structures of neoclassical compounds in English (e.g. leukocytosis, microbiology, gastroenterology, electrocardiogram, phytophotodermatitis, etc.), which consist of three or more elements, focusing on how they reflect semantic relationships and cohesion between the elements. We clarify that neoclassical compounds differ from root compounds (restaurant coffee shop, football pitch, mother-child relationship, etc.) in the ways additional elements are incorporated. Specifically, although root compounds tend to form more complex compounds by adding elements to the right of the head, neoclassical compounds show the opposite tendency: it is easier to add elements to the left of the head. We identify several reasons for this pattern. First, the category of elements occurring to the left of the head in neoclassical compounds is relatively unspecified. Second, the structural appearance of these compounds remains uniform regardless of the relationship between the elements occurring before the head position. Third, neoclassical compounds have elements (-logy, -lysis, -osis, etc.) that occur exclusively in the head position, preventing new elements (other than suffixes such as -ical) from being added to the right. From a broader theoretical perspective, the analysis presented herein also clarifies the differences between free and bound morphemes. This is because the elements used in neoclassical compounds (such as leuko-, micro-, bio-, and -logy) are bound forms. This highlights a key distinction between neoclassical and root compounds, the latter of which have free morphemes as constituents.