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  • 3 - From Protolanguage to Deuterolanguage: The Importance of Compounds

  • from Part I - The Evolution of Syntax
  • Edited by Dany Adone, Universität zu Köln, Astrid Gabel, Universität zu Köln
  • Book:
    The Evolution, Acquisition and Development of Syntax
    Published online:
    19 February 2025
    Print publication:
    06 February 2025, pp 34-48

  • Summary

    Carstairs-McCarthy’s chapter explores Jackendoff’s suggestion that exuberant compounding of the kind that is possible in English may be a ‘coelacanth of language’, that is a relic of a pre-syntactic stage of linguistic evolution. In support of this view, he contrasts English compounding possibilities with those of other Germanic languages and French, where compounds typically involve more than mere juxtaposition. The peculiar characteristics of compounding help to explain the ambiguity of the term ‘lexical’, used to mean both ‘listed in the lexicon’ and ‘relating to words’.