Compositionality of Complex Concepts

This presentation will look at the nature of compositionality in language, specifically concerning the formation of complex concepts. This involves a look into the varying theories of how concepts themselves are characterised, and the ongoing debate concerning both the nature of compositionality and what information we include in compositionality. This then is relevant to the broader question of where the boundary between semantics and pragmatics lies. Semantic theories such as Default Semantics (Jasczcolt, 2010), which include more than just our lexical and syntactic output as a source for default semantic meanings, are of particular interest and this investigation hoped to support them. A questionnaire was carried out asking for participants to describe compound nouns that fell into one of three categories: conventional and predictable, unconventional and unpredictable, and ambiguous between a more part-based and a more holistic interpretation. Responses have supported the view of a weaker definition of compositionality, in which experience and familiarity play a significant role in the formation of complex concepts, especially visible in those compounds that are unfamiliar and unpredictable. This supports the less modular approach of Default Semantics.