Expanding the boundaries of word-formation – What German phrasal compounds tell us about the lexicon

Abstract

Phrasal compounds like Leck-mich-am-Arsch-Tag (‘kiss-my-ass day’) deviate from the prototypical pattern of compounding, but there is strong empirical evidence that we are dealing with a productive process of German word-formation which is by no means irregular or marginal. Due to their status as an interface phenomenon between morphology and syntax, phrasal compounds are challenging for morphological theorizing and for an adequate conception of the lexicon. With reference to corpus data from written and spoken German, this article will pursue the question of what phrasal compounds tell us about the lexicon. I will argue that existing approaches to this question often fall short because they do not take into account the remarkable number of phrasal modifiers that are built ‘on the fly’ and thus not lexicalized. The latter are clearly attested in corpus data and underline the need for a construction grammar approach in which the strict line between morphology and syntax is blurred.