Non-verbal Endocentric Compounds in Alashtari Laki

The present article aims to investigate the non-verbal endocentric compounds in Laki language. The research data include endocentric compounds collected from two sources: the daily speech of Laki speakers by the researcher and the two-volume book of ‘Laki Dictionary’ (Kiyani Kolivand, 2011). The results of the research show that the most frequent structures of non-verbal endocentric compounds in Laki include [noun + noun], [noun + adjective] and [adjective + noun]. In addition to these structures, there are three subsidiary low frequency structures in this language: [noun + preposition], [preposition + noun] and [number + noun]. The semantic analysis of the structures above shows that the diversity of relations between components of compounds results in various interpretations, among which the semantic diversity of [noun + noun] compounds is by far more than other endocentric compounds. The [noun + noun] endocentric compounds are classified into two categories, head-initial and head-final, in which numerous concepts are found: source, content, usage, similarity, material, place, dependency, amalgamation, time, specialty, type, nutrition, manner, and purpose. The [noun + adjective] endocentric compounds also have considerable semantic diversity and different meanings are found, including performance, an instrument of production, content, relation, features, and special relationship.