Abstract
Abstract
The features of coordinative compounds are hard to determine because what is called a ‘coordinative compound’ varies so much from language to language. Different features of such compounds are discussed, and the variation between languages is illustrated. Some analytical questions of relevance for morphological theory are shown to be particularly difficult to answer. (i) Are coordinative compounds, despite the label, morphological or syntactic constructions – or something in‐between? (ii) How can we distinguish consistently between coordinative compounds and other compounds? (iii) What are the boundaries of coordinative compounding? (iv) Are there constructions which look like compounds whose elements might be thought to be coordinated but which are not coordinative compounds, either because they are not coordinative or because they are not compounds? Such questions are considered in a survey of potential coordinative compounds in English, a language which is generally considered poor in coordinative compounds.