‫‪COMPOUND WORDS‬‬

‫‪Prepared for Dr Eman Allam‬‬

‫محمد صالح عبد اللطيف ابراهيم‬

‫الفرقة الرابعة‬
‫الشعبة‪ :‬لغة‬
 New words in English are invented almost daily, and a great part of these new
words tend to be compounded. Compounds normally have two parts. First part
usually tells about what kind of object or person is it, or what its purpose is. The
second part identifies the object or person in question. For instance, a friend zone is
a compound noun that consists of two parts "friend' and "zone". Compound nouns
often have a different meaning when they combined together. Compound nouns are
usually written as one word, with or without a hyphen and also can be written closed
(Jakobsen 1992: 33). They are usually (noun + noun), (verb + noun), (adjective
+noun), (noun+ verb), (verb+ preposition), (noun+ prepositional phrase) (preposition
+ noun) or (noun + adjective). This creates some intriguing issues when it comes to
translation as the more complicated compound nouns will typically require some
kind of change when they are translated. Even though long compound nouns can
simply be made with a string of separate words in English.
Influence of the mother tongue and linguistic differences are considered the most
difficulties that they face during the translation process. Translators must be aware
of the SL and the TL. They encounter obstacles in translating compound nouns from
English into Arabic because compounding does not play such an important part in
Arabic.

Compound Words are two or more words that have been grouped together to create
a new word that has a different, individual meaning. There are three different kinds of
compound words: closed compound words, open compound words and hyphenated
compound words.
Compound nouns
We usually make compound nouns with a noun + noun, with a verb (or a word made
from a verb) + noun, or with an adjective + noun:

noun + noun: earphones verb -ing form + noun: parking ticket

verb base form + noun: rescue team adjective + noun: blackboard

The usual spoken stress pattern is with stress on the first item
(earphones, blackboard).
In a compound noun, we can combine different elements. These include:
1. subject + verb: earache (an ear that aches), rainfall (rain that falls)
2. verb + subject: cleaning products (products that clean)
3. verb + object: know-all (person who thinks they know everything)
4. object + verb: shoe-polish (polishes shoes), dishwasher (washes dishes)
Compound adjectives
Compound adjectives most commonly end in an adjective (e.g. homesick), or in an -
ing or -ed adjective form (e.g. ground-breaking, short-sighted).
Compound verbs
Compound verbs are far less common than compound nouns or adjectives. They
can be made by making a verb from another word class, normally from an already
existing compound noun (e.g. a daydream – to daydream).
some general rules and guidelines for when to use hyphens:
• when there is a prefix (e.g. post-war, pre-lunch, self-interest, semi-skilled)
• when a compound adjective comes before a head noun (e.g. a well-
known singer, an angry-sounding email)
• when the pre-head item in a compound is a single capital letter (e.g. U-turn, X-
ray, D-day)
• when words are difficult to recognise as compounds and could be confused
The band has decided to re-form. (form again)
The Government promise to reform the health system. (improve)
• when compound adjectives containing numbers appear before a noun
A twenty-two-year-old cyclist won the race.
From here to Tokyo, that’s a twelve-hour flight at least.
If you’re not sure about whether to use a hyphen, a good dictionary will tell you.

The poet gazed the new comer gratefully and said sadly, thanks be to God dr Boshy.
Dr boshy greeted him, sat next to him and he was wearing cloak, skullcap and
wooden clogs.

oh man! "No deal" 20 pounds can solve your dept, change your situation and
tomorrow is Eid eladha and you haven't bought your sacrifice yet. I swear l just want
to help you, otherwise this plam tree isn't equal 10 pounds