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Understanding the meanings of ambiguous noun-noun compounds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 January 2025

Megumi Hamada Open the ORCID record for Megumi Hamada [Opens in a new window]  and
Faisal Hamad Alharbi Open the ORCID record for Faisal Hamad Alharbi [Opens in a new window]
Megumi Hamada*
Affiliation:
Department of English, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, USA
Faisal Hamad Alharbi
Affiliation:
Department of Arabic as a Second Language, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
*
Corresponding author: Megumi Hamada; email: mhamada@bsu.edu
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Abstract

This study investigated whether nonnative speakers of English would be able to identify the meanings of ambiguous English noun-noun compounds, focusing on semantic relation between the modifier and head. English noun-noun compounds with varying degrees of ambiguity were selected through an analysis of contexts from COCA. The participants were two groups of college students, who were natives peakers of Arabic (n = 20) and Chinese (n = 20). The participants thought-aloud the meanings (more common vs. less common) of the English noun-noun compounds shown in the contexts. The overall accuracy was comparable between the groups, but by-item accuracy showed some differences in the meanings the groups identified more accurately.

Keywords

semanticsESPSLAlexicology
Type
Research Article
Information
English Today , First View , pp. 1 - 8
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

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