composition (n.)

A term used in LINGUISTICS to refer to a HIERARCHICAL MODEL of linguistic STRUCTURE in which larger UNITS are seen as being made up out of smaller units. For example, in GRAMMATICAL analysis, the relationship between SENTENCE, CLAUSE, PHRASE, WORD, and MORPHEME is sometimes described as one of composition (CONSTITUENCY, or RANK), the units of higher rank being analyzable (decomposable) into units of lower rank. One might subsequently analyze such structures in terms of their compositional meaning. Compositional models are to be found especially in SCALE-AND-CATEGORY, TAGMEMIC, STRATIFICATIONAL and PHRASE-STRUCTURE GRAMMARS. In relation to WORD-FORMATION, the term is used both in the general sense of ‘processes of compounding’, and sometimes in a restricted sense, referring to a particular type of compound. In TRANSFORMATIONAL grammar, PHRASAL VERBS (e.g. switch on, take off) may be referred to as composite verbs. In SEMANTICS, compositionality is the view that the MEANINGS of individual words can be used to build up the meanings of larger units: the meaning of the whole is determined by the meaning of its parts and the way in which they are assembled. The notion is important in, for example, MONTAGUE GRAMMAR.