Determinans (word formation)
Determinans is a term used in linguistics , especially in older literature, for that part of a construction that defines another expression. Accordingly, there is also talk of a determinant . The concept of "Determinierens" as used herein is also found in the term Determinativkompositum ; it is to be distinguished from “determinative” in the sense of a part of speech .
An example of a determinant as part of a word compound ( compound ) is house in house wall . The house part is a determinant because it defines the type of wall it is about. In addition, the designation can also be used for word groups in a sentence ( syntactic connections), for example: blue in the blue butterfly .
The term that defines the determinant is called determinatum . The terms determinans and determinatum are important terms in Hans Marchand's theory of word formation (1958).
In syntax nowadays one speaks more of the determinant as a modifier and the determinatum as the head of a construction , but the terms are not congruent, as "head" is more general and more closely defined in grammar.
literature
- Helmut Glück (Ed.), With the collaboration of Friederike Schmöe : Metzler Lexikon Sprache. 3rd, revised edition. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2005, ISBN 3-476-02056-8 (keyword: Determinans).
- Hans Marchand: The categories and types of present-day English word formation. A synchronic-diachronic approach . 2nd Edition. Beck, Munich 1969, DNB 457505494 (English).
- Hans Marchand: Studies in syntax and word-formation. Selected articles . On the occasion of his 65th birthday on October 1st, 1972. Ed .: Dieter Kastovsky. Fink, Munich 1974, DNB 740338102 (English).
