Phrasal compounds in Modern Icelandic with reference to Icelandic word formation in general

In Icelandic, as in many other languages, phrasal compounds are an interface phe-
nomenon of the different components of grammar. The rules of syntax seem to
be preserved in the phrasal component of Icelandic compounds, as they show full
internal case assignment and agreement. Phrasal compounds in Icelandic can be
divided into two distinct groups. The first group contains common words which
are part of the core vocabulary irrespective of genre, and these are not stylisti-
cally marked in any way. Examples of these structures can be found in texts from
the 13th century onwards. The second group contains more complex compounds,
mainly found in informal writing, as in blogs, and in speech. These seem to be
20th century phenomena. Phrasal compounds of both types are relatively rare in
Icelandic, but other types of compounding are extremely productive. Tradition-
ally, Icelandic compounds are divided into two groups, i.e., compounds contain-
ing stems and compounds containing inflected word forms, mostly genitives, as
non-heads. Phrasal compounds in Icelandic also have genitive non-heads, raising
questions on the difference between the processes in non-phrasal and phrasal com-
pounding in Icelandic.