Passe-partout-Komposita im gesprochenen Deutsch

Abstract

Abstract This paper proposes an analysis of German passe-partout compounds like Straßending (streetthing) and Bananendinger (banana things) as morphological constructions. The study shows that these constructions are characteristic of spoken language and must therefore be considered with respect to the particular properties of that genre. Based on the findings about the pragmatically driven word formation an argument is made for a Construction Morphology that is based on usage and speaker interaction. This proposal can be seen as an extension of the current theory of Construction Morphology (Booij 2010). The notion of pragmatically driven word formation is illustrated by a case study of the [X-Ding]N construction in spoken German. It will be shown that partially filled constructions with Ding as a determinatum have specific semantic and functional-pragmatic properties and are part of a complex family of passe-partout constructions.