1 Chapter 1. Introduction: status and definition of compounding ...

(16) a woman that sells fish
b woman that has brought fish
c woman standing close to fish
d woman eating fish
e woman looking like a fish
f spouse of a fish
g woman and fish at the same time (i.e. mermaid)
h woman having Pisces as zodiac (German Fisch)
i woman as cold as a fish
In cases like these, the context is responsible for the exact interpretation, and a speaker cannot
always be sure that the hearer is able to understand the compound in the intended way.
Following Fanselow (1981), many attempts have been made to identify preferred interpretation
strategies. In effect, however, any interpretation that is pragmatically sensible is a possible one
(cf. Haspelmath 2002: 87). In this sense, the meaning structure of determinative compounds is
underspecified.
In the actual vocabulary, however, a familiar compound typically has a usual
interpretation drawn from the open set of possible interpretations. Fischfrau is an atypical
example of an established compound in that there is no usual reading available. The compound
Haustür, in contrast, usually refers to a door leading inside a house. In order to evoke a different
interpretation of this compound, the linguistic or non-linguistic context has to supply strong
enough clues to make such an understanding possible. For example, when walking through a
corridor inside a building and seeing several doors with pictures on it, one of them depicting a
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