IDIOMATICITY AS A MANIFESTATION OF THE SEMANTIC CRITERION IN THE IDENTIFICATION OF ENGLISH COMPOUNDS

Abstract

The article examines the semantic criterion for the identification of English compounds and analyses the role of idiomaticity as a manifestation of the semantic integrity of a complex word. It is shown that the meaning of a compound is often characterized by non-additivity and cannot be directly derived from the meanings of its components, which allows idiomaticity to be regarded as an important indicator of the integration of bases within a compound word. Particular attention is paid to the gradual nature of the semantic transparency of compounds and to the processes of their lexicalization, which lead to the loss of the direct interpretation of their components. Borderline cases between compounds and word combinations are also considered, demonstrating the relative character of the semantic criterion. It is concluded that the semantic criterion has significant diagnostic value; however, reliable identification of compounds is possible only when semantic, phonetic, morphological, graphic, and syntactic features are considered in combination.