Memorization and the compound phrase distinction : an investigation of complex constructions in German French and English The book investigates compounds and phrases from a structural semantic functional and crucially cognitive perspective. Maintaining the compound phrase distinction the author argues that compounds are by their nature more appropriate to be stored in the mental lexicon than phrases. The analysis focuses on compounds and phrases that are composed of either an adjective and a noun or two nouns in German French and English Over the last decades it has been hotly debated whether and how compounds i.e. word formations and phrases differ from each other. The book discusses this issue by investigating compounds and phrases from a structural semantic functional and crucially cognitive perspective. The analysis focuses on compounds and phrases that are composed of either an adjective and a noun or two nouns in German French and English. Having distinguished compounds from phrases on structural and semantic functional grounds the author claims that compounds are by their nature more appropriate to be stored in the mental lexicon than phrases and supports his argument with empirical evidence from new psycholinguistic studies. In sum the book maintains the separation between compounds and phrases and reflects upon its cognitive consequences