Linking elements in compounds - LOT publications

SIMILARITY OF PLURAL ENDINGS AND LINKING ELEMENTS
2003). In Table 1, an overview of the geographic regions in the Netherlands
with different pronunciations of the plural -en and the specific regions selected
for consideration in the present study can be found.
Table 1
Overview of the Realization of Plural -e(n) according to Geographic Region of the
Netherlands with Specific Region indicated in Parentheses
Region Plural -e(n)
North (Friesland) often realized as [(ǝ)n]
East (Achterhoek) often realized as [(ǝ)n]
Middle (Veluwe) variable realization, [(ǝ)n] or [ǝ]
South (Limburg) often realized as [ǝ]
West (South-Holland) often realized as [ǝ]
Pronunciation of the plural -n is generally preserved in the Northern and
Eastern regions of the Netherlands. In the Southern and Western regions, the
plural -n is often deleted (Goeman, 2001; Goossens, 1987; de Schutter, 2001; de
Wulf & Taeldeman, 2001). The Middle region of the Netherlands (e.g., the
Veluwe, the western part of the province Gelderland) is considered as a
transitional area where speakers produce both plural [(ǝ)n] and [ǝ] (Goeman,
2001).
In the present study, the pronunciations of the plural suffix -en and the
linking element en in compound words were compared. 2 These two
morphological categories can be homographic in Dutch as in boeken (boek+en,
‗books‘) and boekenkast (boek+en+kast, ‗bookcase‘) or tanden (tand+en, ‗tooth‘)
2 Some linguists use the notion ―linking element‖ exclusively for those elements that are
meaningless in their view (Bauer, 2003, p. 30; Booij, 2007, p. 316; see further). Here, we
make no distinction between ―meaningful‖ (plural morphemes) and ―meaningless‖
elements (linking elements) and use the term for all those interfixes that occur between
the modifier and the head of the compound.
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