Absolutely PHAB Towards a general model of associative relations Steve Pepper and Pierre J. L. Arnaud University of Oslo | Université Lumière Lyon 2 There have been many attempts at classifying the semantic modifcation relations (ℜ) of N + N compounds but this work has not led to the accep- tance of a defnitive scheme, so that devising a reusable classifcation is a worthwhile aim. The scope of this undertaking is extended to other binom- inal lexemes, i.e. units that contain two thing-morphemes without explicitly stating ℜ, like prepositional units, N + relational adjective units, etc. The 25-relation taxonomy of Bourque (2014) was tested against over 15,000 binominal lexemes from 106 languages and extended to a 29-relation scheme (“Bourque2”) through the introduction of two new reversible rela- tions. Bourque2 is then mapped onto Hatcher’s (1960) four-relation scheme (extended by the addition of a ffh relation, similarity, as “Hatcher2”). This results in a two-tier system usable at diferent degrees of granularities. On account of its semantic proximity to compounding, metonymy is then taken into account, following Janda’s (2011) suggestion that it plays a role in word formation; Peirsman and Geeraerts’ (2006) inventory of 23 metonymic patterns is mapped onto Bourque2, confrming the identity of metonymic and binominal modifcation relations. Finally, Blank’s (2003) and Koch’s (2001) work on lexical semantics justifes the addition to the scheme of a third, superordinate level which comprises the three Aristote- lean principles of similarity, contiguity and contrast. Keywords: modifcation relations, compounds, binominal units, metonymy, association relations, compound semantics The research presented here was motivated by two observations made during our work on the semantics of N + N compounds and other types of binominal lexemes. There have been “innumerable attempts” (Bauer & Tarasova, 2013) to systematize the semantic links in N + N compounds, but most researchers have devised new classifcation schemes for the same data. This constant reinvention of the wheel is an obstacle to progress in our understanding of compound semantics, and our frst https://doi.org/./ml..pep The Mental Lexicon : (), pp. –. issn - | e‑issn - © John Benjamins Publishing Company