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English [N[N]] compounds in Russian: Constructional borrowing

English [N[N]] compounds in Russian: Constructional borrowing. Vsevolod Kapatsinski University of Oregon Department of Linguistics. Part of a collaborative project on [N[N]] with Cynthia Vakareliyska. Issues in constructional borrowing. How abstract are borrowed constructions?

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English [N[N]] compounds in Russian: Constructional borrowing

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  1. English [N[N]] compounds in Russian:Constructional borrowing Vsevolod Kapatsinski University of Oregon Department of Linguistics Part of a collaborative project on [N[N]] with Cynthia Vakareliyska

  2. Issues in constructional borrowing • How abstract are borrowed constructions? • Fully schematic: [N[N]] • Can compound two nouns, head is on the left • Partially lexically specific (Langacker 1987, Goldberg 1995, 2003) • [N [N]] available only for certain nouns • If so, what triggers the availability of a structure? The head or the modifier or either? • Are some languages more predisposed to borrow a construction? • [N [N]] is being borrowed into several Slavic languages (Bulgarian, Polish, Slovene, Russian) but appear to not be productively used in Baltic languages (Cynthia Vakareliyska). Why? • Friends and/or foes in the constructicon? (related constructions already in the language)

  3. English [N [N]] compounds • [N [N]] compounding is productive in English with a wide variety of relations • Constructional interpretation of compounding supported by the possibility of long-term priming of compound relations (Gagné & colleagues) • Cat people, cat food, cat pack

  4. English [N [N]] compounds in Slavic • From my Russian corpus: • Выборг Бар Vyborg Bar • Кочубей Палас Kochubej Palace • Дворец князя КочубеяDvorecknjaz’-Gen Kochubej-Gen • Why constructional borrowing? • Partial lexical specificity: • A given head noun can appear with a wide variety of modifier nouns, even Russian ones, which are nonetheless left uninflected • Some modifiers also appear to co-occur with a much wider variety of heads, e.g., арт-чайхана, арт-крыша

  5. The corpus • Restaurant/bar/café names from allcafe.info • Mostly St. Petersburg (N=6710) and Moscow (N=5152) • Variable context: • [N[N]] or [[N] PP] or [[[N]A] N]] • The head noun must be a kind of building/place • Restaurant, bar, club, cafe, palace, hall, garden, yard • The head noun is part of the name (is in quotes) • The whole [N[N]] could not have been borrowed • The whole Adj N is not a placename • The first part is not a possible clipped adjective or prefix • Seks, aero, super • Neither part is a number • The [N [N]] is not based on word play • Азия КафеЛобби бар • Абхазский дворДжаз холл • Врунгель-бар Рок клуб • Пельмени-барАэроклуб • Охотничий клубХантер-хаус • Домик Петра ПервогоБар 1 • Дом кукераСамоБар • Арахис-барБелый Бар

  6. Results St. Petersburg & Moscow p=.02 p<.000000001 p<.00001 p<.0000000000000001 p=.01 Even if the modifier for a Russian head noun is foreign, [N[N]] is outlawed but [N[N]] is allowed even with Russian modifiers when the head noun is foreign ?Джаз двор, Джаз дом, Рок зал *Кукер дом *Хауз Деда Мороза Дом кукераДед Мороз Хауз

  7. What is borrowed? • [N [бар]] • [N [клуб]] • [N [кафе]] (cf. DuGruözand Backus 2007, 2009) • Note: the head nouns themselves have long existed in Russian; it is the association with [N [N]] that is recent • Influx of borrowed [N [N]] names? • Associations with foreign as opposed to Soviet clubs and café’s? • Signs used to just say “café”, today’s clubs are not the same kind of entity as Soviet clubs

  8. [N[N]] and impression consistency • A name of a restaurant must convey a certain impression • Homey/old-fashioned vs. urban/cosmopolitan • ДворикТрактир Бар • Adj N N PP[N[N]] • Mixing the construction and head noun does not achieve a consistent impression

  9. Precursor constructions in Slavic • Clipped adjectives • Горсовет, Военторг, Госзаказ, авторучка • Cf. Авторадиоклуб • [[N]-Gen] with null genitives • Чашка кофе • Cf. the wordplay name Часть суши • [[N] N] Сompounds (esp. with null Nom. Sg. Inflection on the head) • Диван-кровать, ковер-самолет • The native [N [N]]’s (restricted to some modifiers) • `чудо-N, Жарптица, бой-баба, cf. Чудо бар • Did these open the gates to this English invader?

  10. Future work • Do the same head nouns favor [N[N]] across Slavic? • What is the role of the modifier vs. the head? • Some modifiers appear with a much wider variety of heads than others, e.g., art, rock, and may be developing into prefixes like super or sverx but head identity is important as well • It appears either the head or the modifier needs to be one that is known to license [N[N]] • Ability to licence [N[N]] may be determined by appearance in compounds that are borrowed wholesale from English • However, head identity seems more important (unlike for the native construction with zhar and chudo): some head nouns seem to require [N[N]] (e.g., hall appears with it 15/15 times). Some appear to outlaw it. This does not seem to happen with modifiers. • How do listeners judge these constructions? Are they perceived as having a flavor of foreignness or are they perceived as fully Russian? • Other languages, [N[N]] in other domains. Any corpora you would recommend?

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