Linking past and present: compounds as cross-cultural encounters

The English lexicon is not a strictly regulated “closed” system, but rather an “open” series in a state of constant change and evolution. This change can be described as a sea-saw movement, where new words and usages come more quickly into the language than others going out of use, so that the whole lexical stock is ever on the increase. Many volumes and articles have been written about word-formation in the English language both from a diachronic and a synchronic point of view. This paper focuses on the way these well-known processes of compounding are a living constant resource in the development of the English language, as lively today, possibly livelier than in Anglo-Saxon times, in spite of the changes brought about by the Norman Conquest.