Taalportaal - the digital language portal

Dutch
Frisian
Saterfrisian
Afrikaans

Show all

Stress in nominal compounds

quickinfo

In nominal compounds, the rightmost constituent is a noun (N), while the initial constituent can be:

a noun (N),
an adjective (A),
a verb (V),
a preposition (P),
a numeral (Num)

The largest groups of nominal compounds are of the type NN or VN. AN is less frequent; some of such compounds might be analyzed as univerbations, while others get an exocentric interpretation. Of the nominal compounds, those of the types PN and NumN have the lowest rate of occurrence.

NN compounds
AN compounds
VN compounds
PN compounds
NumN compounds

[+]NN compounds

Coordinate NN compounds are very rare in Frisian. These compounds usually have primary stress on their final and secondary stress on their first constituent, see the examples in (1):

Coordinate NN compounds

skriuwer-ponghalder

[[skriuwer][ponghâlder]]

[ˌskrjo:.wər-'poŋ.hɔ:.dər]

writer-treasurer

kafee-restaurant

[[kafee][restaurant]]

[ka.ˌfe:-rɛs.to:'.rɔnt]

restaurant

rum-kola

[[rum][kola]]

[ˌrøm-'ko:.la]

rum and coke

stasjon Grou-Jirnsum

[[Grou][Jirnsum]]

[ˌɡrɔw-'jɪ̃:.səm]

trainstation Grou-Jirnsum

Subordinate NN compounds, which form a large group, have a strong-weak pattern most of the time; examples are given in (2):

Subordinate NN compounds with strong-weak pattern

sinneljocht

[[sinne][ljocht]]

['sɪn.nə.ˌljɔxt]

sunshine

túnbroek

[[tún][broek]]

['tym.bruk]

overalls

skuonwinkel

[[skuon][winkel]]

['skwõ.vɪŋ.kəl]

shoe shop

bûsdoek

[[bûse][doek]]

['buz.duk]

handkerchief

hynsteblom

[[hynste][blom]]

['hĩs.tə.ˌblom]

dandelion

keningsdochter

[[kenings][dochter]]

['ke:.nɪŋz.ˌdɔx.tər]

king's daughter

The weak-strong pattern also occurs. First, there are compounds whose first constituent has the augment -en-, as exemplified in (3):

rizenbrij	[[rizen][brij]]	[ˌri.zəm.'brɛj]	rice pudding
weitenbôle	[[weiten][bôle]]	[ˌvaj.təm.'bɔ:.lə]	wheat bread

The words in (3), however, may also be analyzed as univerbations of an adjective in -en + a noun, it would explain why they have the phrasal stress pattern (with stress on the rightmost word).

Besides that, there are some other compounds with the weak-strong pattern, see the examples in (4):

Subordinate NN compounds with weak-strong pattern

stedhûs

[[sted][hûs]]

[stɛt.'hu:s]

town hall

deihier

[[dei][hier]]

[daj.'hiər]

daily wage

boeresoan

[[boere][soan]]

[ˌbuə.rə.'soən]

farmer's son

arbeidslean

[[arbeids][lean]]

[ˌar.bajts.'lɪən]

pay

festeljûn

[[festel][jûn]]

[ˌfɛs.səl.'jun]

Shrove Tuesday

extra

Frisian also has genitive compounds, with a weak-strong pattern. According to their semantics, most of these have a partitive-possessive relation between both parts: the second word denotes a part of the first word. In general, genitive compounds denote objects which are very near to people, displaying so-called inalienable possession. More details can be found in Stress in genitive compounds.

[+]AN compounds

Stress in AN compounds is on the initial constituent, as exemplified in (5):

lytsjild	[[lyts][jild]	['lits.jɪlt]	small change
weakdier	[[weak][dier]]	['vɪəɡ.diər]	mollusc
gruthannel	[[grut][hannel]]	['ɡrøt.hɔn.nəl]	wholesale business
kâldfjoer	[[kâld][fjoer]]	['kɔ:t.fjuər]	gangrene
droechskuor	[[droech][skuor]]	['drux.skwor]	shrinkage crack
jongfee	[[jong][fee]]	['joŋ.fe:]	young cattle
jongfolk	[[jong][folk]]	['joŋ.folk]	young people, youngsters

Next to AN compounds, one can find AN univerbations in Frisian. This group is larger than that of the compounds. They differ from compounds in that they have stress on the final constituent (compare lytsjild [[lyts][jild] ['lits.jɪlt] small change with lytsjonge [[lyts][jonge]] [lits.'joŋə] little boy. Besides, the relationship in meaning between adjective and noun is always the same in univerbations: the adjective denotes a property of the noun. An âldman [[âld][man]] is always an old man. In compounds, different relationships in meaning between the adjective and the noun are possible. Examples of the stress pattern in AN univerbations are given in (6):

bangeskiter	[[bange][skiter]]	[baŋ.ŋə.'ski.tər]	funk
blaumodder	[[blau][modder]]	[blɔw.'mod.dər]	blue mud
legerwâl	[[leger][wâl]]	[ˌle:.ɣər.'vɔ:l]	lee shore
Goedfreed	[[Goed][freed]]	[ɡuət.'fre:t]	Good Friday
jongkeardel	[[jong][keardel]]	[joŋ.'kɪə.rəl]	young man
kweageast	[[kwea][geast]]	[kwɪə.'ɡɪəst]	an evil spirit
swierwaar	[[swier][waar]]	[swiə.'va:r]	stormy weather

More details on compounding can be found in the Frisian Morphology.

[+]VN compounds

Compounds of the structure VN are formed by combining a verb stem and a noun. They always have initial compound stress, see the examples in (7):

roeiboat	[[roei][boat]]	['ru:j.boət]	rowing boat
timmerman	[[timmer][man]]	['tɪm.mər.ˌmɔn]	carpenter
skearapparaat	[[skear][apparaat]]	['skɪər.ap.par.ˌra:t]	electric shaver
knyptange	[[knyp][tange]]	['knip.taŋ.ŋə]	pincers
fleanmasine	[[flean][masine]]	['flɪəm.mas.ˌsi.nə]	airplane

[+]PN compounds

Like VN and AN compounds, PN compounds are always stressed on the first constituent, as exemplified in (8):

foarkeamer	[foar][keamer]]	['fwa.kɪə.mər]	front room
neipetear	[[nei][petear]]	['naj.pə.ˌtɪər]	(subsequent) discussion
tsjinargumint	[[tsjin][argumint]]	['tsjɪn.ar.ɣy.ˌmɪnt]	counter argument
ûnderliif	[[ûnder][liif]	['un.dər.ˌli:f]	lower part of the body

[+]NumN compounds

Nominal compounds which have a numeral as their first part are always stressed on the first constituent:

twalûd	[[twa][lûd]]	['twa.lu:t]	diphthong
tûzenpoat	[[tûzen][poat]]	['tu:.zəm.ˌpoət]	centipede
njoggeneach	[[njoggen][each]]	['njoɣ.ɣən.ˌɪəx]	lamprey
fiifkop	[[fiif][kop]]	['fi:f.kop]	measure of capacity for five litres

References

⇑ Back to top

About this article

Author(s): Willem Visser, Joke Weening

Category: Frisian Phonology

Keywords: stressnominal compound

Version: 1.0, December 2015

Version history:

version	editor(s)	date	remarks
1.0	Willem Visser, Joke Weening	December 2015

printreport errorcite

Jump to:

introduction
references
related articles