Related aspects of compositionality

• A phrasal idiom, such as to jump down someone's throat, for example, is is a lexical sign which is assigned an ID structure which reflects the non-idiomatic structure of the phrase, and permits compositional mapping on to a phrasal level prosodic QLP template by a phonetic interpretation function. The mapping is compositional, in the strict sense that the phonetic interpretation of the whole is a function of the phonetic interpretation of the parts (similarly, the orthography is also compositional). However, unlike the phonetic interpretation, the semantic interpretation of the whole is not a compositional function of the parts, but assigns the expression to a class of phrasal expressions which have metonymic and metaphorically mediated interpretations, yielding the sense ``suddenly to attack someone verbally''.
• Similarly, the phonetic (and orthographic) interpretations of the lexical sign pen-knife are fully compositional, including the regular lexical stress pattern, while the semantic interpretation is partially compositional, mediated by a Head Feature Convention for the semantics of compounds (a pen-knife is a knife), but with an opaque reading for pen and a non-transparent, idiosyncratic further semantic specification for the compound as a whole. Similar considerations apply to Oxford Street, but the assignment of lexical stress is non-compositional in Oxford Road.
• A lexical sign like dustman in British English (``garbage collector'') is orthographically compositional (consisting of dust and man), i.e. the orthography of the whole is a function of the orthography of the parts. But phonetically the sign is only partially compositional, being pronounced [dVsm@n], not [dVstm{n]. Likewise, the semantic interpretation is only partially compositional, pertaining to a male occupation by default and, among other things, somehow involving dust.
• A lexical morpheme such as table - [teIbl] - ``typically a horizontal surface for sitting at, supported by legs'' is a lexical sign which has a morphosyllabic ID structure consisting of an onset, a nucleus and a complex coda sequence, and is interpreted by a morphosyllabic QLP template in which the coda sequence is interpreted as a syllabic sonorant. However, the semantic interpretation is not compositional but stipulated (though it may be `decomposed' on the basis of the relations between table and lexical items such as chair, table-top, table-leg, or phrases such as on the table.
• A morphophoneme is also a lexical item with distinctive properties expressed as attribute-value pairs, but with no semantic interpretation other than its distributional role within morphosyllabic structures. Similar considerations same applies to graphemes, which may be further structured into letters (in this they resemble affricates and diphthongs in morphophonology), each of which has its own distinctive features.
• Tones (like many other phonetic features) differ from language to language in their lexical role. In one language, a tone may be morphophonologically distinctive without having a semantic interpretation; in another it may realise a syntactic inflectional category; in another it may signify a derivational or compounding relationship in word formation, while in yet another it may have an autonomous meaning, as in intonation languages (compare `rise-fall' tones used for appraisals, or the phatic `chanted tones' used to establish, maintain and terminate contacts, and for children's taunts and games).

Examples such as these, but taken from German, will be discussed in more detail below. The examples illustrate a central explicandum for Integrated Lexicon Theory: compositionality and degrees of partial compositionality (partial irregularity, down to idiosyncracy) on the dimensions of surface (phonetic and orthographic) and semantic interpretation in the lexicon.

These facts offer a solution to the ongoing linguistic controversy about whether words or morphemes are the basic units of syntax, whether morphology is distinct from syntax at all, or whether words or morphemes should be listed in the lexicon on the basis of generalisations which are shared by word syntax and phrasal syntax. The opposite property, that of having properties which can not be generalised requires these ID rank distinctions. This is the property of being lexicalised, and is manifested partial compositionality, down to complete idiosyncrasy. In the lexicon, morphology and syntax are distinct, and entries are required for, among others, words, stems of different ranks, and morphemes.