Classification of compound word

The great variety of compound
types brings about a great variety of classifications. Compound words
may be classified according to the type of composition and the
linking element; according to the part of speech to which the
compound belongs; and within each part of speech according to the
structural pattern. It is also possible to subdivide compounds
according to other characteristics, i.e. semantically, into motivated
and idiomatic compounds (in the motivat­ed ones the meaning of
the constituents can be either direct or figura­tive).
Structurally, compounds are distinguished as endocentric and
exo-centric, syntac­tic and asyntactic combinations. A
classification according to the type of the syntactic phrase with
which the compound is correlated has also been suggested. Even so
there remain some miscellaneous types that defy classification, such
as phrase compounds, reduplicative compounds, pseudo-compounds and
quotation compounds.

The classification according
to the type of composition permits us to establish the following
groups:

1)
The predominant type is a mere juxtaposition without connecting
elements: heartache
n, heart-beat n,
heart-break
n,
heart-breaking
a,
heart-broken
a,
heart-felt
a.

2)
Composition with a vowel or a consonant as a linking element. The
examples are very few: electromotive
a,
speedometer
n,
Afro-Asian
a,
handicraft
n,
statesman
n.

3)
Compounds with linking elements represented by preposition or
conjunction stems: down-and-out
n,
matter-of-fact
a,
son-in-law
n,
pepper-and-salt
a,
wall-to-wall
a,
up-to-date
a,
on
the up-and-up adv
(continually improving), up-and-coming,
as
in the following example: A’o doubt
he’d had the pick of some up-and-coming jazzmen
in Paris (Wain). There are also a few other lexicalized phrases like
devil-may-care
a,
for­get-me-not
n,
pick-me-up
n,
stick-in-the-mud
n,
what’s-her
name n.

The classification of
compounds according to the structure of imme­diate constituents
distinguishes:

1)
compounds consisting of simple stems: film-star;

2)
compounds where at least one of the constituents is a derived stem:
chain-smoker;

3)
compounds where at least one of the constituents is a clipped stem:
maths-mistress
(in
British English) and math-mistress
(in
American Eng­lish). The subgroup will contain abbreviations like
H-bag
(handbag) or
Xmas
(Christmas), whodunit n
(for mystery novels) considered sub­standard;

4)
compounds where at least one of the constituents is a compound stem;
wastepaper-basket.

3. Relationship between the components of a compound word

Compound words are inseparable
vocabulary units that are structurally and semantically based on the
relationship between their components through which they are
motivated. There are two types of relationship between the components
of a compound generally recognized in linguistic literature:

that
of coordination and subordination and accordingly com­pound words
may be classified into coordinative
(often termed copulative)
and subordinative
(often termed deter­minative).

a)
coordinative
compounds

In
coordinative compounds neither of the components dominates the other,
both are structurally and semantically independent and constitute two
structural and semantic cen­tres as in
secretary-stenographer, actor-manager, bitter­sweet,
etc. The constituent stems in these compounds belong to the same part
of speech and most often to the same seman­tic group.
Coordinative compounds distinguish three groups:

a)
the so-called
additive
compounds
that best represent coordinative compound words, e.g.
queen-bee, actor-manager. They
denote a person or an object that is two things at the same time;
thus, e.g.
secretary-stenographer
is a person who is both a stenographer and a secretary;
actor-manager
is an actor and a manager at the same time.

b)
reduplicative
compounds
which are the result of the repetition of the same stem as in
goody-goody, fifty-fifty, hush-hush, pooh-pooh, tick-tick.

c)
compounds formed by joining
the phonically variated rhythmic forms
of the same stem which either alliterate with the same initial
consonant but vary the vowels, e.g.
drip-drop, sing-song, ding-dong,
or rime by varying the initial con­sonants, e.g.
walkie-talkie, clap-trap, willy-nilly, pell-mell, helter-skelter.
Words of this subgroup are often termed pseudo-compounds and some
linguists consider them irrele­vant to productive word-formation
owing to the doubtful morphemic status of their components. In most
cases the constituent members of these words, when substracted from
them do not present stems of independently functioning words, carry
no lexical meaning of their own and are mere rime combinations of
fanciful, meaningless sound-clusters.

Coordinative compounds of the
last two groups (re­duplicated and riming words) are mostly
restricted to the colloquial layer and are characterized by a heavy
emotive charge.

b)
subordinative
compounds.

In
subordinative compounds the components are neither structurally nor
semantically equal in importance but are based on the domination of
one component over the other. The second component in these words is
the structural centre, the grammatically dominant part of the word,
which imparts its part-of-speech meaning to the whole word and refers
it to a certain lexico-grammatical class, as in
stone-deaf, age­long
which are obviously adjectives,
wrist-watch, baby-sit­ter, road-building
which are nouns.

It
must be mentioned that though a distinction between coordinative and
subordinative compounds can generally be made, there is no hard and
fast borderline between them. On the contrary, the borderline, and
this is especially true of additive coordinative compounds, is rather
vague and tran­sitions are greatly fluctuating. It often happens
that one and the same compound may with equal right be interpreted
ei­ther way—as a coordinative or a subordinative compound, e.g.
woman-doctor
may be understood as ‘a woman who is at the same time a doctor’;
clock-tower—’a
tower that at the same time serves as a clock’ or there can be traced
a difference of importance between the components—a
woman-doctor is
primarily felt to be
‘a doctor
who happens to be a woman’; a
clock-tower—’a tower
with a clock fitted in’;
mother-goose is
primarily understood as
‘a goose,
who is a mother’, etc.; thus the relations between the components
tend to be under­stood as relations of apposition, i.e. relations
of subordina­tion. Coordinative compounds make a comparatively
small group of words whereas the bulk of Modern English com­pound
words belong to subordinative words, so in our further treatment we
shall confine ourselves to the description of subordinative
compounds.

c)
distributional
formulas
of subordinative compaunds.

The internal structure of
subordinative compounds is marked by a specific pattern of order and
arrangement in The order in which the stems are placed within a
compound is rigidly fixed in Modern English as the structural centre
of the word is always its second component. Stems of almost every
part of speech are found in compounds but they are combined to make
up compound words accord­ing to a set of rigid rules for every
part of speech. The choice of stems and the rules of their
arrangement and order are known as distributional or structural
formulas and patterns of compound words.

As to the order of components
subordinative compound words may be classified into two groups:

a)
Syntactic
compounds
whose components are placed in the order that resembles the order of
words in free phrases arranged according to the rules of syntax of
Modern English.

The
order of the stems in compounds, e.g.
bluebell, slow­coach, mad-doctor
(a+n) reminds one of the order and arrange­ment of the
corresponding words in phrases like
a blue bell, a slow coach, a mad doctor
(A+N); compounds like, e.g. know-nothing,
kill-joy, tell-tale
made up on the formula v+n
resemble the arrangement of words in phrases like (to) kill
joy, (to) know nothing, (to) tell tales
(V+N); the order of components in compounds consisting of two
noun-stems door-handle,
day-time
(n+») resembles the order of words in nominal phrases with the
attributive function of the first noun as in
stone wall, spring time, peace movement, etc. (N+N).

b)
Asyntactic
compounds
whose stems are not placed in the order in which the corresponding
words can be brought together under the rules of syntax of the
language. For example it is universally known that in free phrases
adjec­tives cannot be modified by adjectives, noun modifiers
can­not be placed before adjectives or participles, yet this kind
of asyntactic arrangement of stems is typical of compounds among
which we find combinations of two adjective stems, e.g.
red-hot, bluish-black, pale-blue;
words made up of noun-stems placed before adjective or participle
stems, e.g. oil-rich,
tear-stained,
etc.

Both
syntactic and asyntactic compound words in each part of speech should
be described in terms of their distribu­tional formulas. For
example, compound adjectives are mostly formed of noun, adjective or
participle stems according to the formulas n+a,
e.g.
oil-rich, world-wide;
n+Ved¹,
e.g. snow-covered,
home-grown;
a+a, e.g.
pale-green, red-hot,
etc.

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In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme (less precisely, a word or sign) that consists of more than one stem. Compounding, composition or nominal composition is the process of word formation that creates compound lexemes. Compounding occurs when two or more words or signs are joined to make a longer word or sign. A compound that uses a space rather than a hyphen or concatenation is called an open compound or a spaced compound; the alternative is a closed compound.

The meaning of the compound may be similar to or different from the meaning of its components in isolation. The component stems of a compound may be of the same part of speech—as in the case of the English word footpath, composed of the two nouns foot and path—or they may belong to different parts of speech, as in the case of the English word blackbird, composed of the adjective black and the noun bird. With very few exceptions, English compound words are stressed on their first component stem.

As a member of the Germanic family of languages, English is unusual in that even simple compounds made since the 18th century tend to be written in separate parts. This would be an error in other Germanic languages such as Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, German, and Dutch. However, this is merely an orthographic convention: As in other Germanic languages, arbitrary noun phrases, for example «girl scout troop», «city council member», and «cellar door», can be made up on the spot and used as compound nouns in English too.

For example, German «Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän» would be written in English as «Danube steamship transport company captain» and not as «Danubesteamshiptransportcompanycaptain».

The addition of affix morphemes to words (such as suffixes or prefixes, as in employ → employment) should not be confused with nominal composition, as this is actually morphological derivation.

Some languages easily form compounds from what in other languages would be a multi-word expression. This can result in unusually long words, a phenomenon known in German (which is one such language) as Bandwurmwörter or tapeworm words.

Sign languages also have compounds. They are created by combining two or more sign stems.

So-called «classical compounds» are compounds derived from classical Latin or ancient Greek roots.

Formation of compounds[edit]

Compound formation rules vary widely across language types.

In a synthetic language, the relationship between the elements of a compound may be marked with a case or other morpheme. For example, the German compound Kapitänspatent consists of the lexemes Kapitän (sea captain) and Patent (license) joined by an -s- (originally a genitive case suffix); and similarly, the Latin lexeme paterfamilias contains the archaic genitive form familias of the lexeme familia (family). Conversely, in the Hebrew language compound, the word בֵּית סֵפֶר bet sefer (school), it is the head that is modified: the compound literally means «house-of book», with בַּיִת bayit (house) having entered the construct state to become בֵּית bet (house-of). This latter pattern is common throughout the Semitic languages, though in some it is combined with an explicit genitive case, so that both parts of the compound are marked, e.g. Arabic عبد الله ʕabd-u l-lāh-i (servant-NOM DEF-god-GEN) «servant of-the-god: the servant of God».

Agglutinative languages tend to create very long words with derivational morphemes. Compounds may or may not require the use of derivational morphemes also. In German, extremely
extendable compound words can be found in the language of chemical compounds, where, in the cases of biochemistry and polymers, they can be practically unlimited in length, mostly because the German rule suggests combining all noun adjuncts with the noun as the last stem. German examples include Farb­fernsehgerät (color television set), Funk­fernbedienung (radio remote control), and the often quoted jocular word Donau­dampfschifffahrts­gesellschafts­kapitänsmütze (originally only two Fs, Danube-Steamboat-Shipping Company captain[‘s] hat), which can of course be made even longer and even more absurd, e.g. Donau­dampfschifffahrts­gesellschafts­kapitänsmützen­reinigungs­ausschreibungs­verordnungs­diskussionsanfang («beginning of the discussion of a regulation on tendering of Danube steamboat shipping company captain hats») etc. According to several editions of the Guinness Book of World Records, the longest published German word has 79 letters and is Donau­dampfschiffahrts­elektrizitäten­hauptbetriebswerkbau­unterbeamten­gesellschaft («Association for Subordinate Officials of the Main Electric[ity] Maintenance Building of the Danube Steam Shipping»), but there is no evidence that this association ever actually existed.

In Finnish, although there is theoretically no limit to the length of compound words, words consisting of more than three components are rare. Even those with fewer than three components can look mysterious^{[clarification needed]} to non-Finnish speakers, such as hätäuloskäynti (emergency exit). Internet folklore sometimes suggests that lentokone­suihkuturbiinimoottori­apumekaanikko­aliupseerioppilas (Airplane jet turbine engine auxiliary mechanic non-commissioned officer student) is the longest word in Finnish, but evidence of its actual use is scant and anecdotal at best.^[1]

Compounds can be rather long when translating technical documents from English to some other language, since the lengths of the words are theoretically unlimited, especially in chemical terminology. For example, when translating an English technical document to Swedish, the term «Motion estimation search range settings» can be directly translated to rörelse­uppskattnings­sökintervalls­inställningar, though in reality, the word would most likely be divided in two: sökintervalls­inställningar för rörelse­uppskattning – «search range settings for motion estimation».

Subclasses[edit]

Semantic classification[edit]

A common semantic classification of compounds yields four types:

• endocentric
• exocentric
• copulative
• appositional

An endocentric compound (tatpuruṣa in the Sanskrit tradition) consists of a head, i.e. the categorical part that contains the basic meaning of the whole compound, and modifiers, which restrict this meaning. For example, the English compound doghouse, where house is the head and dog is the modifier, is understood as a house intended for a dog. Endocentric compounds tend to be of the same part of speech (word class) as their head, as in the case of doghouse.

An exocentric compound (bahuvrihi in the Sanskrit tradition) is a hyponym of some unexpressed semantic category (such as a person, plant, or animal): none (neither) of its components can be perceived as a formal head, and its meaning often cannot be transparently guessed from its constituent parts. For example, the English compound white-collar is neither a kind of collar nor a white thing. In an exocentric compound, the word class is determined lexically, disregarding the class of the constituents. For example, a must-have is not a verb but a noun. The meaning of this type of compound can be glossed as «(one) whose B is A», where B is the second element of the compound and A the first. A bahuvrihi compound is one whose nature is expressed by neither of the words: thus a white-collar person is neither white nor a collar (the collar’s colour is a metonym for socioeconomic status). Other English examples include barefoot.

Copulative compounds (dvandva in the Sanskrit tradition) are compounds with two semantic heads, for example in a gradual scale (such a mix of colours).

Appositional compounds are lexemes that have two (contrary or simultaneous) attributes that classify the compound.

Type	Description	Examples
endocentric	A+B denotes a special kind of B	darkroom, smalltalk
exocentric	A+B denotes a special kind of an unexpressed different semantic meaning C	redhead, scarecrow
copulative	A+B denotes ‘the sum’ of what A and B denote	bittersweet, sleepwalk
appositional	A and B provide different descriptions for the same referent	hunter-gatherer, maidservant

Syntactic classification[edit]

Noun–noun compounds[edit]

All natural languages have compound nouns. The positioning of the words (i.e. the most common order of constituents in phrases where nouns are modified by adjectives, by possessors, by other nouns, etc.) varies according to the language. While Germanic languages, for example, are left-branching when it comes to noun phrases (the modifiers come before the head), the Romance languages are usually right-branching.

English compound nouns can be spaced, hyphenated, or solid, and they sometimes change orthographically in that direction over time, reflecting a semantic identity that evolves from a mere collocation to something stronger in its solidification. This theme has been summarized in usage guides under the aphorism that «compound nouns tend to solidify as they age»; thus a compound noun such as place name begins as spaced in most attestations and then becomes hyphenated as place-name and eventually solid as placename, or the spaced compound noun file name directly becomes solid as filename without being hyphenated.

German, a fellow West Germanic language, has a somewhat different orthography, whereby compound nouns are virtually always required to be solid or at least hyphenated; even the hyphenated styling is used less now than it was in centuries past.

In French, compound nouns are often formed by left-hand heads with prepositional components inserted before the modifier, as in chemin-de-fer ‘railway’, lit. ‘road of iron’, and moulin à vent ‘windmill’, lit. ‘mill (that works)-by-means-of wind’.

In Turkish, one way of forming compound nouns is as follows: yeldeğirmeni ‘windmill’ (yel: wind, değirmen-i: mill-possessive); demiryolu ‘railway’ (demir: iron, yol-u: road-possessive).

Occasionally, two synonymous nouns can form a compound noun, resulting in a pleonasm. One example is the English word pathway.

Verb–noun compounds[edit]

A type of compound that is fairly common in the Indo-European languages is formed of a verb and its object, and in effect transforms a simple verbal clause into a noun.

In Spanish, for example, such compounds consist of a verb conjugated for the second person singular imperative followed by a noun (singular or plural): e.g., rascacielos (modelled on «skyscraper», lit. ‘scratch skies’), sacacorchos ‘corkscrew’ (lit. ‘pull corks’), guardarropa ‘wardrobe’ (lit. ‘store clothes’). These compounds are formally invariable in the plural (but in many cases they have been reanalyzed as plural forms, and a singular form has appeared). French and Italian have these same compounds with the noun in the singular form: Italian grattacielo ‘skyscraper’, French grille-pain ‘toaster’ (lit. ‘toast bread’).

This construction exists in English, generally with the verb and noun both in uninflected form: examples are spoilsport, killjoy, breakfast, cutthroat, pickpocket, dreadnought, and know-nothing.

Also common in English is another type of verb–noun (or noun–verb) compound, in which an argument of the verb is incorporated into the verb, which is then usually turned into a gerund, such as breastfeeding, finger-pointing, etc. The noun is often an instrumental complement. From these gerunds new verbs can be made: (a mother) breastfeeds (a child) and from them new compounds mother-child breastfeeding, etc.

Verb-noun compounds derived from classical languages tend to be nouns; rarely, a verb-noun classical compound can be a verb. One example is miscegenate, a word that literally falls into disuse nowadays, which is derived from a Latin verb and a Latin noun. In the Australian Aboriginal language Jingulu, a Pama–Nyungan language, it is claimed that all verbs are V+N compounds, such as «do a sleep», or «run a dive», and the language has only three basic verbs: do, make, and run.^[2]

A special kind of compounding is incorporation, of which noun incorporation into a verbal root (as in English backstabbing, breastfeed, etc.) is most prevalent (see below).

Verb–verb compounds[edit]

Verb–verb compounds are sequences of more than one verb acting together to determine clause structure. They have two types:

• In a serial verb, two actions, often sequential, are expressed in a single clause. For example, Ewe trɔ dzo, lit. «turn leave», means «turn and leave», and Hindi जाकर देखो jā-kar dekh-o, lit. «go-CONJUNCTIVE PARTICIPLE see-IMPERATIVE«, means «go and see». In Tamil, a Dravidian language, van̪t̪u paːr, lit. «come see». In each case, the two verbs together determine the semantics and argument structure.

Serial verb expressions in English may include What did you go and do that for?, or He just upped and left; this is however not quite a true compound since they are connected by a conjunction and the second missing arguments may be taken as a case of ellipsis.

• In a compound verb (or complex predicate), one of the verbs is the primary, and determines the primary semantics and also the argument structure. The secondary verb, often called a vector verb or explicator, provides fine distinctions, usually in temporality or aspect, and also carries the inflection (tense and/or agreement markers). The main verb usually appears in conjunctive participial (sometimes zero) form. For examples, Hindi निकल गया nikal gayā, lit. «exit went», means ‘went out’, while निकल पड़ा nikal paRā, lit. «exit fell», means ‘departed’ or ‘was blurted out’. In these examples निकल nikal is the primary verb, and गया gayā and पड़ा paRā are the vector verbs. Similarly, in both English start reading and Japanese 読み始める yomihajimeru «read-CONJUNCTIVE-start» «start reading», the vector verbs start and 始める hajimeru «start» change according to tense, negation, and the like, while the main verbs reading and 読み yomi «reading» usually remain the same. An exception to this is the passive voice, in which both English and Japanese modify the main verb, i.e. start to be read and 読まれ始める yomarehajimeru lit. «read-PASSIVE-(CONJUNCTIVE)-start» start to be read. With a few exceptions, all compound verbs alternate with their simple counterparts. That is, removing the vector does not affect grammaticality at all nor the meaning very much: निकला nikalā ‘(He) went out.’ In a few languages both components of the compound verb can be finite forms: Kurukh kecc-ar ker-ar lit. «died-3pl went-3pl» ‘(They) died.’
• Compound verbs are very common in some languages, such as the northern Indo-Aryan languages Hindustani and Punjabi, and Dravidian languages like Tamil, where as many as 20% of verb forms in running text are compound. They exist but are less common in other Indo-Aryan languages like Marathi and Nepali, in Tibeto-Burman languages like Limbu and Newari, in Turkic languages like Turkish and Kyrgyz, in Korean and Japanese, and in northeast Caucasian languages like Tsez and Avar.
• Under the influence of a Quichua substrate speakers living in the Ecuadorian altiplano have innovated compound verbs in Spanish:

De rabia puso rompiendo la olla, ‘In anger (he/she) smashed the pot.’ (Lit. from anger put breaking the pot)

Botaremos matándote ‘We will kill you.’ (Cf. Quichua huañuchi-shpa shitashun, lit. kill-CP throw.1plFut.

Likewise in Hindi: तेरे को मार डालेंगे tere ko mār DāleNge, lit. «we will kill-throw you»).

• Compound verb equivalents in English (examples from the internet):

What did you go and do that for?

If you are not giving away free information on your web site then a huge proportion of your business is just upping and leaving.

Big Pig, she took and built herself a house out of brush.

• Caution: In descriptions of Persian and other Iranian languages the term ‘compound verb’ refers to noun-plus-verb compounds, not to the verb–verb compounds discussed here.

Parasynthetic compounds[edit]

Parasynthetic compounds are formed by a combination of compounding and derivation, with multiple lexical stems and a derivational affix. For example, English black-eyed is composed of black, eye, and -ed ‘having’, with the meaning ‘having a black eye’;^[3] Italian imbustare is composed of in- ‘in’, busta ‘envelope’, -are (verbal suffix), with the meaning ‘to put into an envelope’.^[4]

Compound adpositions[edit]

Compound prepositions formed by prepositions and nouns are common in English and the Romance languages (consider English on top of, Spanish encima de, etc.). Hindi has a small number of simple (i.e., one-word) postpositions and a large number of compound postpositions, mostly consisting of simple postposition ke followed by a specific postposition (e.g., ke pas, «near»; ke nīche, «underneath»).

Examples from different languages[edit]

Chinese (traditional/simplified Chinese; Standard Chinese Pinyin/Cantonese Jyutping):

• 學生/学生 ‘student’: 學 xué/hok6 learn + 生 shēng/sang1 living being
• 太空/太空 ‘space’: 太 tài/taai3 great + 空 kōng/hung1 emptiness
• 摩天樓/摩天楼 ‘skyscraper’: 摩 mó/mo1 touch + 天 tiān/tin1 sky + 樓 lóu/lau2 building (with more than 1 storey)
• 打印機/打印机 ‘printer’: 打 dǎ/daa2 strike + 印 yìn/yan3 stamp/print + 機 jī/gei1 machine
• 百科全書/百科全书 ‘encyclopaedia’: 百 bǎi/baak3 hundred + 科 kē/fo1 (branch of) study + 全 quán/cyun4 entire/complete + 書 shū/syu1 book
• 謝謝/谢谢 ‘thanks’: Repeating of 謝 xiè thank

Dutch:

• arbeids­ongeschiktheids­verzekering ‘disability insurance’: arbeid ‘labour’ + ongeschiktheid ‘inaptitude’ + verzekering ‘insurance’.
• rioolwater­zuiverings­installatie ‘sewage treatment plant’: riool ‘sewer’ + water ‘water’ + zuivering ‘cleaning’ + installatie ‘installation’.
• verjaardags­kalender ‘birthday calendar’: verjaardag ‘birthday’ + kalender ‘calendar’.
• klantenservice­medewerker ‘customer service representative’: klanten ‘customers’ + service ‘service’ + medewerker ‘worker’.
• universiteits­bibliotheek ‘university library’: universiteit ‘university’ + bibliotheek ‘library’.
• doorgroei­mogelijkheden ‘possibilities for advancement’: door ‘through’ + groei ‘grow’ + mogelijkheden ‘possibilities’.

Finnish:

• sanakirja ‘dictionary’: sana ‘word’ + kirja ‘book’
• tietokone ‘computer’: tieto ‘knowledge data’ + kone ‘machine’
• keskiviikko ‘Wednesday’: keski ‘middle’ + viikko ‘week’
• maailma ‘world’: maa ‘land’ + ilma ‘air’
• rautatieasema ‘railway station’: rauta ‘iron’ + tie ‘road’ + asema ‘station’
• kolmivaihe­kilowattitunti­mittari ‘electricity meter’: ‘three-phase kilowatt hour meter’

German:

• Wolkenkratzer ‘skyscraper’: Wolken ‘clouds’ + Kratzer ‘scraper’
• Eisenbahn ‘railway’: Eisen ‘iron’ + Bahn ‘track’
• Kraftfahrzeug ‘automobile’: Kraft ‘power’ + fahren/fahr ‘drive’ + Zeug ‘machinery’
• Stacheldraht ‘barbed wire’: Stachel ‘barb/barbed’ + Draht ‘wire’
• Rinder­kennzeichnungs- und Rindfleisch­etikettierungs­überwachungs­aufgaben­übertragungs­gesetz: literally cattle-marking- and beef-labeling-supervision-duties-delegation law

Ancient Greek:

• φιλόσοφος philosopher: φίλος phílos ‘beloved’ + σοφία sophíā ‘wisdom’
• δημοκρατία dēmokratíā ‘democracy’: δῆμος dêmos ‘people’ + κράτος ‘rule’
• ῥοδοδάκτυλος rhododáktylos ‘rose-fingered’: ῥόδον rhódon ‘rose’ + δάκτυλος dáktylos ‘finger’ (a Homeric epithet applied to the Dawn)

Icelandic:

• járnbraut ‘railway’: járn ‘iron’ + braut ‘path’ or ‘way’
• farartæki ‘vehicle’: farar ‘journey’ + tæki ‘apparatus’
• alfræðiorðabók ‘encyclopedia’: al ‘everything’ + fræði ‘study’ or ‘knowledge’ + orðabók ‘dictionary’ (orða ‘words’ + bók ‘book’)
• símtal ‘telephone conversation’: sím ‘telephone’ + tal ‘dialogue’

Italian:

• millepiedi ‘centipede’: mille ‘thousand’ + piedi ‘feet’
• ferrovia ‘railway’: ferro ‘iron’ + via ‘way’
• tergicristallo ‘windscreen wiper’: tergere ‘to wash’ + cristallo ‘crystal (pane of) glass’
• pomodoro: pomo d’oro = apple of Gold = tomatoes
• portacenere = porta cenere = ashtray

Japanese:

• 目覚まし（時計） mezamashi(dokei) ‘alarm clock’: 目 me ‘eye’ + 覚まし samashi (-zamashi) ‘awakening (someone)’ (+ 時計 tokei (-dokei) clock)
• お好み焼き okonomiyaki: お好み okonomi ‘preference’ + 焼き yaki ‘cooking’
• 日帰り higaeri ‘day trip’: 日 hi ‘day’ + 帰り kaeri (-gaeri) ‘returning (home)’
• 国会議事堂 kokkaigijidō ‘national diet building’: 国会 kokkai ‘national diet’ + 議事 giji ‘proceedings’ + 堂 dō ‘hall’

Korean:

• 안팎 anpak ‘inside and outside’: 안 an ‘inside’ + 밖 bak ‘outside’ (As two nouns compound the consonant sound ‘b’ fortifies into ‘p’ becoming 안팎 anpak rather than 안밖 anbak)

Ojibwe/Anishinaabemowin:

• mashkikiwaaboo ‘tonic’: mashkiki ‘medicine’ + waaboo ‘liquid’
• miskomin ‘raspberry’: misko ‘red’ + miin ‘berry’
• dibik-giizis ‘moon’: dibik ‘night’ + giizis ‘sun’
• gichi-mookomaan ‘white person/American’: gichi ‘big’ + mookomaan ‘knife’

Spanish:

• ciencia-ficción ‘science fiction’: ciencia, ‘science’, + ficción, ‘fiction’ (This word is a calque from the English expression science fiction. In English, the head of a compound word is the last morpheme: science fiction. Conversely, the Spanish head is located at the front, so ciencia ficción sounds like a kind of fictional science rather than scientific fiction.)
• ciempiés ‘centipede’: cien ‘hundred’ + pies ‘feet’
• ferrocarril ‘railway’: ferro ‘iron’ + carril ‘lane’
• paraguas ‘umbrella’: para ‘stops’ + aguas ‘(the) water’
• cabizbajo ‘keeping the head low in a bad mood’: cabeza ‘head’ + bajo ‘down’
• subibaja ‘seesaw’ (contraction of sube y baja ‘goes up and down’)
• limpiaparabrisas ‘windshield wiper’ is a nested compound:^[5] limpia ‘clean’ + parabrisas windshield, which is itself a compound of para ‘stop’ + brisas ‘breezes’.

Tamil:

• In Cemmozhi (Classical Tamil), rules for compounding are laid down in grammars such as Tolkappiyam and Nannūl, in various forms, under the name punarcci. Examples of compounds include kopuram from ‘kō’ (king) + ‘puram’ (exterior). Sometimes phonemes may be inserted during the blending process such as in kovil from ‘kō’ (king) + ‘il’ (home). Other types are like vennai (butter) from ‘veḷḷai’ (white) + ‘nei’ (ghee); note how ‘veḷḷai’ becomes ‘ven’.
• In koṭuntamizh (Non-standard Tamil), parts of words from other languages may be morphed into Tamil. Common examples include ‘ratta-azhuttam’ (blood pressure) from the Sanskrit rakta (blood) and Cemmozhi ‘azhuttam’ (pressure); note how rakta becomes ratta in Tamil order to remove the consonant-cluster. This also happens with English, for examples kāpi-kaṭai (coffee shop) is from English coffee, which becomes kāpi in Tamil, and the Tamil kaṭai meaning shop.

Tłįchǫ Yatiì/Dogrib:

• dlòotsǫ̀ǫ̀ ‘peanut butter’: dlòo ‘squirrel’ + tsǫ̀ǫ̀ ‘dung’
• eyakǫ̀ ‘hospital: eya ‘sick’ + kǫ̀ ‘house’
• dè gotłeè ‘kerosene’: dè ‘land’ + gotłeè ‘its fat’
• dǫ łèt’è ‘bannock’: dǫ ‘[Aboriginal] people’ + łèt’è ‘bread’

Germanic languages[edit]

In Germanic languages (including English), compounds are formed by prepending what is effectively a namespace (disambiguation context) to the main word. For example, «football» would be a «ball» in the «foot» context. In itself, this does not alter the meaning of the main word. The added context only makes it more precise. As such, a «football» must be understood as a «ball». However, as is the case with «football», a well established compound word may have gained a special meaning in the language’s vocabulary. Only this defines «football» as a particular type of ball (unambiguously the round object, not the dance party, at that), and also the game involving such a ball. Another example of special and altered meaning is «starfish» – a starfish is in fact not a fish in modern biology. Also syntactically, the compound word behaves like the main word – the whole compound word (or phrase) inherits the word class and inflection rules of the main word. That is to say, since «fish» and «shape» are nouns, «starfish» and «star shape» must also be nouns, and they must take plural forms as «starfish» and «star shapes», definite singular forms as «the starfish» and «the star shape», and so on. This principle also holds for languages that express definiteness by inflection (as in North Germanic).

Because a compound is understood as a word in its own right, it may in turn be used in new compounds, so forming an arbitrarily long word is trivial. This contrasts to Romance languages, where prepositions are more used to specify word relationships instead of concatenating the words. As a member of the Germanic family of languages, English is unusual in that compounds are normally written in separate parts. This would be an error in other Germanic languages such as Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, German and Dutch. However, this is merely an orthographic convention: As in other Germanic languages, arbitrary noun phrases, for example «girl scout troop», «city council member», and «cellar door», can be made up on the spot and used as compound nouns in English too.

Russian language[edit]

In the Russian language compounding is a common type of word formation, and several types of compounds exist, both in terms of compounded parts of speech and of the way of the formation of a compound.^[6]

Compound nouns may be agglutinative compounds, hyphenated compounds (стол-книга ‘folding table’, lit. ‘table-book’, «book-like table»), or abbreviated compounds (acronyms: колхоз ‘kolkhoz’). Some compounds look like acronym, while in fact they are an agglutinations of type stem + word: Академгородок ‘Akademgorodok’ (from akademichesky gorodok ‘academic village’). In agglutinative compound nouns, an agglutinating infix is typically used: пароход ‘steamship’: пар + о + ход. Compound nouns may be created as noun+noun, adjective + noun, noun + adjective (rare), noun + verb (or, rather, noun + verbal noun).

Compound adjectives may be formed either per se (бело-розовый ‘white-pink’) or as a result of compounding during the derivation of an adjective from a multi-word term: Каменноостровский проспект ([kəmʲɪnnʌʌˈstrovskʲɪj prʌˈspʲɛkt]) ‘Stone Island Avenue’, a street in St.Petersburg.

Reduplication in Russian is also a source of compounds.

Quite a few Russian words are borrowed from other languages in an already-compounded form, including numerous «classical compounds» or internationalisms: автомобиль ‘automobile’.

Sanskrit language[edit]

Sanskrit is very rich in compound formation with seven major compound types and as many as 55 sub-types.^[7] The compound formation process is productive, so it is not possible to list all Sanskrit compounds in a dictionary. Compounds of two or three words are more frequent, but longer compounds with some running through pages are not rare in Sanskrit literature.^[7] Some examples are below (hyphens below show individual word boundaries for ease of reading but are not required in original Sanskrit).

• हिमालय (IAST Himālaya, decomposed as hima-ālaya): Name of the Himalaya mountain range. Literally the abode of snow.^[8] A compound of two words and four syllables.
• प्रवर-मुकुट-मणि-मरीचि-मञ्जरी-चय-चर्चित-चरण-युगल (IAST pravara-mukuṭa-maṇi-marīci-mañjarī-caya-carcita-caraṇa-yugala): Literally, O the one whose dual feet are covered by the cluster of brilliant rays from the gems of the best crowns, from the Sanskrit work Panchatantra.^[7] A compound of nine words and 25 syllables.
• कमला-कुच-कुङ्कुम-पिञ्जरीकृत-वक्षः-स्थल-विराजित-महा-कौस्तुभ-मणि-मरीचि-माला-निराकृत-त्रि-भुवन-तिमिर (IAST kamalā-kuca-kuṅkuma-piñjarīkṛta-vakṣaḥ-sthala-virājita-mahā-kaustubha-maṇi-marīci-mālā-nirākṛta-tri-bhuvana-timira): Literally O the one who dispels the darkness of three worlds by the shine of Kaustubha jewel hanging on the chest, which has been made reddish-yellow by the saffron from the bosom of Kamalā (Lakshmi), an adjective of Rama in the Kakabhushundi Rāmāyaṇa.^[9] A compound of 16 words and 44 syllables.
• साङ्ख्य-योग-न्याय-वैशेषिक-पूर्व-मीमांसा-वेदान्त-नारद-शाण्डिल्य-भक्ति-सूत्र-गीता-वाल्मीकीय-रामायण-भागवतादि-सिद्धान्त-बोध-पुरः-सर-समधिकृताशेष-तुलसी-दास-साहित्य-सौहित्य-स्वाध्याय-प्रवचन-व्याख्यान-परम-प्रवीणाः (IAST sāṅkhya-yoga-nyāya-vaiśeṣika-pūrva-mīmāṃsā-vedānta-nārada-śāṇḍilya-bhakti-sūtra-gītā-vālmīkīya-rāmāyaṇa-bhāgavatādi-siddhānta-bodha-puraḥ-sara-samadhikṛtāśeṣa-tulasī-dāsa-sāhitya-sauhitya-svādhyāya-pravacana-vyākhyāna-parama-pravīṇāḥ): Literally the acclaimed forerunner in understanding of the canons of Sāṅkhya, Yoga, Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika, Pūrva Mīmāṃsā, Vedānta, Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, Śāṇḍilya Bhakti Sūtra, Bhagavad Gītā, the Ramayana of Vālmīki, Śrīmadbhāgavata; and the most skilled in comprehensive self-study, discoursing and expounding of the complete works of Gosvāmī Tulasīdāsa.^[10] An adjective used in a panegyric of Jagadguru Rambhadracharya. The hyphens show only those word boundaries where there is no sandhi. On including word boundaries with sandhi (vedānta=veda-anta, rāmāyaṇa=rāma-ayana, bhāgavatādi=bhāgavata-ādi, siddhānta=siddha-anta, samadhikṛtāśeṣa=samadhikṛta-aśeṣa, svādhyāya=sva-adhyāya), this is a compound of 35 words and 86 syllables.

Sign languages[edit]

Also in sign languages, compounding is a productive word formation process. Both endocentric and exocentric compounds have been described for a variety of sign languages.^[11] Copulative compounds or dvandva, which are composed of two or more nouns from the same semantic category to denote that semantic category, also occur regularly in many sign languages. The sign for parents in Italian Sign Language, for instance, is a combination of the nouns ‘father’ and ‘mother’. The sign for breakfast in American Sign Language follows the same concept. The words eat and morning are signed together to create a new word meaning breakfast.^[12] This is an example of a sequential compound; in sign languages, it is also possible to form simultaneous compounds, where one hand represents one lexeme while the other simultaneously represents another lexeme. An example is the sign for weekend in Sign Language of the Netherlands, which is produced by simultaneously signing a one-handed version of the sign for Saturday and a one-handed version of the sign for Sunday.^[11] In American Sign Language there is another process easily compared to compounding. Blending is the blending of two morphemes to create a new word called a portmanteau.^[13] This is different from compounding in that it breaks the strict linear order of compounding. ^[14]

Recent trends in orthography[edit]

Although there is no universally agreed-upon guideline regarding the use of compound words in the English language, in recent decades written English has displayed a noticeable trend towards increased use of compounds.^[15] Recently, many words have been made by taking syllables of words and compounding them, such as pixel (picture element) and bit (binary digit). This is called a syllabic abbreviation.

In Dutch and the Scandinavian languages there is an unofficial trend toward splitting compound words, known in Norwegian as særskriving, in Swedish as särskrivning (literally «separate writing»), and in Dutch as Engelse ziekte (the «English disease»). Because the Dutch language and the Scandinavian languages rely heavily on the distinction between the compound word and the sequence of the separate words it consists of, this has serious implications. For example, the Danish adjective røykfritt (literally «smokefree», meaning no smoking allowed) if separated into its composite parts, would mean røyk fritt («smoke freely»). In Dutch, compounds written with spaces may also be confused, but can also be interpreted as a sequence of a noun and a genitive (which is unmarked in Dutch) in formal abbreviated writing. This may lead to, for example, commissie vergadering («commission meeting») being read as «commission of the meeting» rather than «meeting of the commission» (normally spelled commissievergadering).

The German spelling reform of 1996 introduced the option of hyphenating compound nouns when it enhances comprehensibility and readability. This is done mostly with very long compound words by separating them into two or more smaller compounds, like Eisenbahn-Unterführung (railway underpass) or Kraftfahrzeugs-Betriebsanleitung (car manual). Such practice is also permitted in other Germanic languages, e.g. Danish and Norwegian (Bokmål and Nynorsk alike), and is even encouraged between parts of the word that have very different pronunciation, such as when one part is a loan word or an acronym.

Compounding by language[edit]

• Classical compounds
• English compounds
• German compounds
• Sanskrit compounds

See also[edit]

• Compound modifier
• Bracketing paradox
• Etymological calque
• Genitive connector
• Incorporation (linguistics)
• Kenning
• Multiword expression
• Neologism
• Noun adjunct
• Phono-semantic matching
• Portmanteau compounds
• Status constructus
• Syllabic abbreviation
• Tweebuffelsmeteenskootmorsdoodgeskietfontein, South African placename
• Word formation
• Univerbation: a phrase becomes a word

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

• Kortmann, Bernd: English Linguistics: Essentials, Cornelsen, Berlin 2005.
• The Oxford Handbook of Compounding, eds. Lieber, Rochelle & Pavol Štekauer, 2009. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Plag, Ingo: Word-formation in English, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003.
• Scalise Sergio & Irene Vogel (eds.) (2010), Cross-Disciplinary Issues in Compounding, Amsterdam, Benjamins.

External links[edit]

• Compound word, encyclopedia.com
• Compounds and multi-word expressions in the languages of Europe by Rita Finkbeiner and Barbara Schlücker, 2019
  • Compounds and multi-word expressions in English by Laurie Bauer, 2019
  • Compounds and multi-word expressions in Finnish by Irma Hyvärinen, 2019
  • Compounds and multi-word expressions in French by Kristel Van Goethem, 2018
  • Compounds and multi-word expressions in German by Barbara Schlücker, 2019
  • Compounds and multi-word expressions in Greek by Maria Koliopoulou, 2019
  • Compounds and multi-word expressions in Hungarian by Ferenc Kiefer, 2019
  • Compounds and multi-word expressions in Italian by Francesca Masini, 2019
  • Compounds and multi-word expressions in Polish by Bozena Cetnarowska, 2019
  • Compounds and multi-word expressions in Russian by Ingeborg Ohnheiser, 2019
  • Compounds and multi-word expressions in Spanish by Jesús Fernández-Domínguez, 2019

There are various classes of words in the English Language ranging from nouns to prepositions. All these have been discussed in the post, Parts of Speech. However, some words are regarded as compound words. This post gives 1000 Compound Words Examples out of the several thousands of examples of compound words in English.

There is no end to how many compound words there are in English; but with these 1000 Compound Words Examples in English, though not exhaustive, you can research further on other compound words not captured here or, probably, generate your own.

Before I list the 1000 Compounds Word Examples in English, it would be great to describe compound words. The question then comes: what is a compound word? Let us proffer an answer to this important question…

What is a Compound Word?

Compound words in English are usually formed when we join two or more words together. In other, words, a compound word is the combination of two or more free morphemes to form a new word.

Compounding: A Word Formation Process

This takes us to the concept of Compounding, which is one of the word formation processes in English. Compounding takes place when two or more free morphemes that can stand severally on their own are brought together to create a new word. It could happen that the meaning of a compound word could be related to or different from the meaning or connotation it its constituent parts when considered severally.

Types of Compound Words

There are three types of compound words and these include: closed compound words, hyphenated compound words and open compound words. See more…

Closed Compound Words

In the closed compound words, the words involved are combined together. Closed compound words, most likely, are usually monosyllabic units already established in the language for a long time. Examples include: flowerpot, keyboard, notebook, bookstore, basketball, etc.

Hyphenated Compound Words

For the hyphenated compound words, a hyphen is used to join the words involved; for example: mother-in-law, merry-go-round, off-the-cuff, etc. The use of a hyphen in this instance helps to prevent ambiguity.

Open Compound Words

In the open compound words, there is a space between the compound words that are written together such as school bus, living room, carbon dioxide, snow white, blood red, etc.

What Determines Types of Compound Words

What determines if a compound word is classified as closed, hyphenated or open could depends on whether we use it as a noun, adjective or verb.

Verbs are usually open. For example:

• You must always back up the files on your computer.
• It is not good for students to carry over their courses
• Police usually follow up on a new lead.

Adjectives and nouns are usually closed or hyphenated. For instance:

1. You can access backup copies of your files in case of any eventuality.
2. The students had many carryovers in their courses.
3. The police had already worked on the follow-up lead.

Adjective–adjective compounds, as well as, verb–verb compounds, such as blue-green and freeze-dried, are often hyphenated. Compounds that contain articles, prepositions or conjunctions, such as rent-a-cop, mother-of-pearl and salt-and-pepper, salt-and-sugar, hard-and-fast, etc. are also often hyphenated.

Longer words usually fall under the category of open compound words such as distance learning, player piano, lawn tennis, etc.

It is important to note that usage or forms of compound words in American English and British English Usage varies and is usually contingent on the individual choice of the writer rather than on a hard-and-fast rule; therefore, it is possible to encounter closed, hyphenated, and open forms for the same compound noun, such as the trio of:

• Container ship, container-ship or containership
• Particle board, particle-board or Particleboard.

Classifications of Compound Words

The constituent words in a compound word can be classified based on their Word Classes or Parts of Speech. We can call this type of classification a Syntactic Classification. The constituent words may be from similar Part of Speech or may be of different parts of speech. Let us see some examples:

Noun-Noun

This is an instance where both constituent words in the compound words are nouns. Examples include: airport, wallpaper, textbook, doorknob, waterbed, wastebasket, football, cufflinks, housewife, lawsuit, wallpaper, basketball, sodium chloride, classroom, workstation, tapeworm, crankshaft, etc.

Noun-Verb

The noun-verb compound word has a noun as the first constituent and a verb as the second constituent. For example: browbeat, sidestep, manhandle, safeguard, water borne, value-added, rocket-propelled, sunbathe, airlift, etc.

Noun-Adjective

The noun-adjective combination has a noun as the first constituent and an adjective as the second constituent. Examples include: snow white, world population, overcoat, trustworthy, blood red, handpicked, world famous, heartbroken, heart problem, prize worthy, lead strong, worldwide, lifelong, tax-free, sky blue, self-important, spoon-fed, praiseworthy, water-repellant, air-tight, bulletproof, etc.

Adjective-Noun

This is an instance where the first constituent word in the compound word is an adjective and the other one a noun. Examples include: blackboard, smartphone, whiteboard, badmouth, blue sky, red light, four wheel, full-time, long-term, etc.

Adjective-Verb

This instance is when the first constituent is an adjective while the second word in the compound word is a verb. Examples of this instance include: whitewash, blacklist, highlight, proofread, shortlist, etc.

Verb-Verb

In this instance, both constituents of the compound words are verbs. Examples include: typewrite, test-drive, freeze-dry, etc.

Verb-Noun

This is an instance where the first constituent word in the compound word is a verb and the other one a noun. Examples include: dreadnought, typewriter, breakfast, cutthroat, pickpocket, killjoy, spoilsport, know-nothing, breakwater, carrycot, etc.

Verb-Preposition

In this instance, we have a combination of a verb and a preposition forming the compound word respectively. Examples of this instance include: Roll off, roll on, stick on, walk on, stand by, walk through, see through, lay by, cut through, lookout, Work on, take down, take away, tear up, etc. Some of these examples also pass for Phrasal Verbs. You can take a look at the over 500 Phrasal Verbs discussed here.

Preposition-Noun

In this combination of compound words, we have a preposition coming first and followed by a noun. Examples of this combination include: overview, downsize, upgrade, underworld, oversight, undergraduate under-development, etc.

Preposition Noun (Phrase) Combinations

Examples of Preposition-Noun Phrase include: Off-the-record, over-the-counter, off-the-cuff, round-the-block, off-the-deep-end, off the hook, off the wall, off-your-head, off-your-own-bat, off-your-rocker, round-the-twist, round-the-corner, etc.

Preposition-Verb

This combination comprises a preposition and a verbs in the first and second constituents respectively. Examples include: overhang, counterattack, undercut, overpay, counterbalance, overrate, underlie, outrun, outvote, overreact, oversleep, overwork, undersell, undervalue, etc.

Other Combinations

There are other possible combinations like:

• Adjective-adjective (blue-green)
• Adverb-preposition (forthwith)
• Verb-adverb (tumbledown)
• Preposition-adjective (overripe, off-white)
• Verb-adverb (takeout)
• Preposition-adverb (without)
• Compound Adverbs (moreover, however, nonetheless, furthermore, meanwhile)
• Determiner-Noun Combinations or wh-forms (anyhow, somewhere, nowhere, sometimes, anytime)

You can attempt to fit the 1000 examples of compound words provided below into their appropriate combinations. I’m sure that should not be difficult for you to do.

It is also important to note that compound words in English, save for exceptions, are usually stressed on their first words.

1000 Compound Words Examples

It is really impossible to give an exhaustive list of all the compound words in English; especially, those that fall under the open class segment as there is no end to compound words that could be therein generated. But the list below contains 1000 Compound Words Examples in English. For emphasis, there are thousands of other examples. So, the list is not limited to what is provided below. Take a look…

1000 Compound Words Examples (A-D)

• Above-board
• Afterglow
• Afterimage
• Afterlife
• Afternoon
• Airbag
• Airbase
• Airborne
• Aircraft
• Airfield
• Airlift
• Airline
• Airmen
• Airplane
• Airport
• Airtight
• Airtime
• All-over
• Allspice
• Alongside
• Anybody
• Anyhow
• Anymore
• Anyone
• Anyplace
• Anytime
• Anyway
• Arm-twist
• Ashtray
• Baby bed
• Baby boom
• Baby boomers
• Baby carriage
• Baby-faced
• Babyhood
• Babyminder
• Babysit
• Babysitter
• Backache
• Backbeat
• Backbench
• Backbenchers
• Backbend
• Backbite
• Backblast
• Backbone
• Backbreaker
• Backdrop
• Backfire
• Background
• Backhand
• Backlash
• Backlog
• Backpack
• Backside
• Backslap
• Backslide
• Backspace
• Backspin
• Backstage
• Backstroke
• Backtrack
• Backward
• Ballpark
• Ballroom
• Bandwagon
• Bankbook
• Bankroll
• Baseball
• Basketball
• Beachcomb
• Bedclothes
• Bed lamp
• Bedrock
• Bedroll
• Bedroom
• bedspread
• Bellbottom
• Bellboy
• Bellhop
• Below
• Berrylike
• Billboard
• Billhook
• Bitterroot
• Bittersweet
• Bitterweed
• Bitterwood
• Blackball
• Blackberries
• Blackbird
• Blackboard
• Blackjack
• Blacklist
• Blackmail
• Blackout
• Blackpool
• Blacksmith
• Blacktop
• Blowgun
• Bluebell
• Blueberry
• Bluebird
• Bluefish
• Bluegrass
• Blueprint
• Boardwalk
• Body bag
• Body-boarding
• Body blow
• Bodybuilder
• Body hair
• Bodywork
• Bodyguard
• Bodywork
• Boldface
• Bookcase
• Bookend
• Bookkeeper
• Bookmark
• Bookmobile
• Bookseller
• Bookshelf
• Bookstore
• Bookworm
• Bootstrap
• Bowlegs
• Bowtie
• Brainchild
• Brainwash
• Brotherhood
• Brow beat
• Bugspray
• Butterball
• Buttercup
• Butterfingers
• Butterflies
• Buttermilk
• Butternut
• Butterscotch
• Bypass
• Cabdriver
• Candlelight
• Candlestick
• Candyfloss
• Candytuft
• Cardboard
• Cardsharp
• Cardstock
• Carefree
• Caretaker
• Careworn
• Carfare
• Cargo
• Carhop
• Carload
• Carpetbagger
• Carpool
• Carport
• Carrack
• Carryall
• Carsick
• Cartwheel
• Catchword
• Cattail
• Catwalk
• Caveman
• Centercut
• Cheeseburger
• Cheesecake
• Classmates
• Classroom
• Clockwise
• cocksure
• Coffeemaker
• Comeback
• Comedown
• Commonplace
• Commonwealth
• Cornmeal
• Counterattack
• Counterproductive
• Courthouse
• Courtyard
• Crewcut
• Crossbow
• Crossbreed
• Crosscut
• Crossover
• Crosswalk
• Dairymaid
• Daisywheel
• Daybed
• Daybook
• Daybreak
• Daydream
• Daylight
• Daytime
• Deadbeat
• Dead body
• Deadbolt
• Dead drop
• Dead-end
• Deadeye
• Deadfall
• Dead heat
• Dead letter
• Deadlight
• Deadline
• Dead load
• Deadlock
• Deadlocked
• Dead mail
• Dead march
• Dead metaphor
• Dickhead
• Dick test
• Dishcloth
• Dishpan
• Dishwasher
• Dishwater
• Diskdrive
• Dog-tired
• Dogwood
• Doorstop
• Double agent
• Double-barrelled
• Double-bedded
• Double bond
• Doublecross

1000 Compound Words Examples (D-N)

• Double-date
• Double-decker
• Downbeat
• Downcast
• Downcourt
• Downtime
• Downtown
• Downtrodden
• Downunder
• Drawbridge
• Driveway
• Duckbill
• Duckpin
• Duckweed
• Earache
• Eardrop
• Eardrum
• Earring
• Earthbound
• Earthquake
• Earthward
• Earthworm
• Egghead
• Eggshell
• Elsewhere
• Everything
• Extraordinary
• Eyeballs
• Eyebath
• Eyebeam
• Eye-catching
• Eyeglasses
• Eyelash
• Eyelid
• Eyesight
• Eyewitness
• Fatherhood
• Fatherland
• Firearm
• Fireball
• Fireboat
• Firebomb
• Firebreak
• Firecracker
• Firefighter
• Fireflies
• Firehouse
• Fireproof
• Firewater
• Fishbowl
• Fisherman
• Fisheye
• Fishhook
• Fishlike
• Fishmonger
• Fishnet
• Fishpond
• Fishtail
• Football
• Foothill
• Footlights
• Footlocker
• Footnote
• Footprint
• Footprints
• Footrest
• Footwear
• Forbearer
• Forbid
• Forebode
• Forearm
• Forebear
• Forebrain
• Forecast
• Forecastle
• Foreclose
• Foreclosure
• Foredoom
• Forefather
• Forefeet
• Forefinger
• Forefoot
• Forego
• Foregone
• Foreground
• Forehand
• Forehead
• Foreknowledge
• Foreleg
• Foreman
• Foremost
• Forepaws
• Foresee
• Foreshadow
• Foresight
• Forestall
• Forethought
• Foretell
• Foretold
• Forever
• Forewarn
• Foreword
• Forget
• Forgive
• Forklift
• Format
• Fortnight
• Friendship
• Fruitcup
• Gearshift
• Glassmaking
• Goodbye
• Goodnight
• Grandaunt
• Grandchild
• Grandchildren
• Granddaughter
• Grandfather
• Grandmaster
• Grandmother
• Grandnephew
• Grandnieces
• Grandparent
• Grandson
• Grandstand
• Granduncle
• Grasshopper
• Grassland
• Graveyard
• Gumball
• Haircut
• Hamburger
• Hammerhead
• Handbook
• Handcuff
• Handgun
• Handmade
• Handout
• Headache
• Headdress
• Headlight
• Headline
• Headquarters
• Heaven-sent
• Heavenward
• Helpdesk
• Helpline
• Helpmate
• Hereafter
• Hereby
• Herein
• Hereupon
• Herself
• Highball
• Highchair
• Highland
• Highway
• Himself
• Homemade
• Hometown
• Honeybee
• Honeybees
• Honeycomb
• Honeycreeper
• Honeydew
• Honeymoon
• Honeypot
• Honeysuckle
• Hookup
• Hookworm
• Horseback
• Horsefly
• Horsehair
• Horseman
• Horseplay
• Horsepower
• Horseradish
• hotbed
• hothead
• Houseboat
• Household
• Housekeeper
• Housetop
• Housework
• However
• Intake
• Interstate
• Ironwork
• Itself
• Jackpot
• Jailbait
• Jellybean
• Jellyfish
• Jetliner
• Jetport
• Jumpshot
• Jumpstart
• Keyboard
• Keyhole
• Keynote
• Keypad
• Keypunch
• Keystone
• Keystroke
• Keyway
• Keyword
• Lacklustre
• Lifeblood
• Lifeboat
• Lifebuoy
• Lifeguard
• Lifejacket
• Lifelike
• Lifeline
• Lifelong
• Lifesaver
• Lifestyle
• Lily-livered
• Lifetime
• Lifework
• Limelight
• Limestone
• Longhand
• Longhouse
• Lukewarm
• Mainland
• Mainline
• Matchbox
• Meantime
• Meanwhile
• Moneybag
• Moneylender
• Moonbeam
• Moonflower
• Moonlight
• Moonlit
• Moonscape
• Moonshine
• Moonstruck
• Moonwalk
• Moorfields
• Moorfowl
• Moorland
• Mopboard
• Moreover
• Mothball
• Motherhood
• Motorcycle
• Nearby

1000 Compound Words Examples (N-S)

• Nevermore
• Newborn
• Newfound
• Newsboy
• Newsbreak
• Newscaster
• Newsdealer
• Newsletter
• Newsman
• Newspaper
• Newsperson
• Newsprint
• Newsreel
• Newsroom
• Newsstand
• Newsworthy
• Nightfall
• Noisemaker
• Northeast
• Notebook
• Noteworthy
• Nowhere
• Nursemaid
• Nutcracker
• Offbeat
• Off-record
• Oilbird
• Oilcan
• Oilcloth
• Oilfield
• Oilman
• Oil-rich
• Oneself
• Onetime
• Outbalance
• Outbid
• Outboard
• Outdoor
• Outflank
• Outflow
• Outlive
• Outnumber
• Overabundance
• Overboard
• Overcoat
• Overflow
• Overland
• Overshoes
• Overview
• Pacemaker
• Pancake
• Passbook
• Passkey
• Passover
• Paycheck
• Peppermint
• Pickup
• Pinhole
• Pinstripe
• Pinup
• Pinwheel
• Pipe-borne
• Play-actor
• Playback
• Playbill
• Playbook
• Playboy
• Play day
• Play dough
• Playground
• Playhouse
• Playthings
• Ponytail
• Popcorn
• Postcard
• Poverty grass
• Poverty level
• Poverty line
• Poverty trap
• Poverty-stricken
• Priesthood
• Punchbag
• Punchboard
• Punchbowl
• Racquetball
• Railroad
• Railway
• Rainbow
• Raincheck
• Raincoat
• Raindrop
• Rainstorm
• Rainwater
• Rattlesnake
• Rattletrap
• Repairman
• Riverbanks
• Rollerblade
• Rollercoaster
• Roller-skating
• Rubberband
• Sailboat
• Salesclerk
• Sand dune
• Sandlot
• Sandstone
• Saucepan
• Scapegoat
• Scarecrow
• Schoolbook
• Schoolboy
• Schoolbus
• Schoolhouse
• Schoolwork
• Seaport
• Seashore
• Setback
• Shadyside
• Sharecropper
• Sharpshooter
• Sheepskin
• Shipbottom
• Shoelace
• Shoemaker
• Shortbread
• Showoff
• Showplace
• Sideburns
• Sidekick
• Sideline
• Sideshow
• Sidestep
• Sidetrack
• Sidewalk
• Silver age
• Silver ash
• Silver beech
• Silver bell
• Silver berry
• Silver-blue
• Silver-bodied
• Silver bromide
• Silver-bush
• Silver cord
• Silver dollar
• Silver fern
• Silver fir
• Silverfish
• Silver grass
• Silver-gray
• Silver-green
• Silver-haired
• Silversmith
• Sisterhood
• Sixfold
• Skateboard
• Skintight
• Skylark
• Skylight
• Skyscraper
• Slapstick
• Slowdown
• Slumlord
• Smartphone
• Snakeskin
• Snowball
• Snowbank
• Snowbird
• Snowboard
• Snowdrift
• Snowfall
• Snowflakes
• Snowshovel
• Softball
• Software
• Somebody
• Someday
• Somehow
• Someone
• Someplace
• Something
• Sometimes
• Somewhat
• Somewhere
• Soulmate
• Soundproof
• Southeast
• Southwest
• Soybean
• Spacewalk
• Spearmint
• Spillway
• Spokesperson
• Stagehand
• Stage-manage
• Standby
• Standoff
• Standout
• Standpipe
• Standpoint
• Starfish
• Steamboat
• Steamship
• Stepson
• Stockroom
• Stonewall
• Stoplight
• Stopwatch
• Storerooms
• Stronghold
• Subway
• Sunbaked
• Sunbathe
• Sunbeams
• Sunbelt
• Sunberry
• Sunblock
• Sunburn
• Sunday
• Sundial
• Sundown
• Sunfish
• Sunflower
• Sunglasses
• Sunlit
• Sunrays
• Sunroof
• Sunup
• Supercargo
• Supercharge

1000 Compound Words Examples (S-W)

• Supercool
• Superego
• Superfine
• Supergiant
• Superhero
• Superhighways
• Superhuman
• Superimpose
• Superman
• Supermarket
• Supermen
• Supernatural
• Superpower
• Superscript
• Supersensitive
• Supersonic
• Superstar
• Superstrong
• Superstructure
• Supertanker
• Superweapon
• Superwoman
• Sweetheart
• Sweetmeat
• Swift-footed
• Swordfish
• Tablecloth
• Tablespoon
• Tabletop
• Tableware
• Tadpole
• Tagalong
• Tailbone
• Tailcoat
• Tailgate
• Taillight
• Taillike
• Tailpiece
• Tailspin
• Takeoff
• Takeout
• Takeover
• Talebearer
• Taleteller
• Tapeworm
• Taproom
• Taproot
• Taskmaster
• Taxicab
• Taxpayer
• Teacup
• Teammate
• Teamwork
• Teapot
• Teaspoon
• Teenager
• Telltale
• Tenderfoot
• Tenfold
• Textbook
• Themselves
• Therefore
• Throwaway
• Throwback
• Thunderbird
• Thunderbolt
• Thunderclap
• Thundercloud
• Thunderflash
• Thunderhead
• Thundershower
• Thunderstorm
• Thunderstruck
• Timekeeper
• Timepieces
• Timesaver
• Timesaving
• Timeshare
• Timetable
• Tonguefish
• Tongue-lash
• Toolbox
• Toothpaste
• Toothpick
• Touchdown
• Township
• Turnabout
• Turnaround
• Turnbuckle
• Turncoat
• Turndown
• Turnkey
• Turnoff
• Turntable
• Typewrite
• Typewriter
• Underachieve
• Underact
• Underage
• Underarm
• Underbelly
• Underbid
• Undercharge
• Underclothes
• Undercover
• Undercurrent
• Undercut
• Underdevelop
• Underdog
• Underestimate
• Underexpose
• Underfoot
• Underground
• Upbeat
• Upbringing
• Upcoming
• Upcourt
• Update
• Upend
• Upgrade
• Upheaval
• Upheld
• Uphill
• Uphold
• Upkeep
• Upland
• Uplift
• Uplink
• Upload
• Upmarket
• Uppercase
• Upperclassman
• Uppercut
• Uppermost
• Upright
• Uprising
• Uproar
• Uproot
• Upscale
• Upset
• Upshot
• Upside
• Upstage
• Upstairs
• Upstanding
• Upstart
• Upstate
• Upstream
• Upstroke
• Uptake
• Upthrust
• Uptight
• Uptime
• Uptown
• Upturn
• Upward
• Upwind
• Vainglory
• Viewpoint
• Vineyard
• Violin cello
• Volleyball
• Voltmeter
• Vouchsafe
• Waistline
• Walkways
• Walleyed
• Wallpaper
• Wardroom
• Warehouse
• War advocacy
• War baby
• War bride
• War chest
• War cloud
• War correspondent
• War crime
• War criminal
• War cry
• Warfare
• Warlike
• Warmonger
• Warmblooded
• Warpath
• Washboard
• Washbowl
• Washcloth
• Washhouse
• Washout
• Washrag
• Washroom
• Washstand
• Washtub
• Wastebag
• Wastebasket
• Wastebin
• Wasteland
• Wastepaper
• Wastewater
• Watchband
• Watchdog
• Watchmaker
• Watchman
• Watchtower
• Watchword
• Waterbed
• Water beetle
• Water birch
• Waterbird
• Water biscuit
• Waterboarding
• Water boatman
• Waterborne
• Waterbottle
• Water boy
• Water buck
• Water buffalo
• Water bug
• Watercolour
• Watercooler
• Watercourse
• Watercraft
• Waterfall
• Waterfowl
• Waterfront
• Waterline
• Waterlog

1000 Compound Words Examples (W-Z)

• Watermark
• Watermelon
• Waterpower
• Waterproof
• Waterscape
• Watershed
• Waterside
• Waterspout
• Watertight
• Waterway
• Waterwheel
• Waterworks
• Wavelength
• Wavelike
• Waxwork
• Waybill
• Wayfarer
• Waylaid
• Wayside
• Wayward
• Weathercock
• Weatherman
• Weatherproof
• Weekday
• Weekend
• Weeknight
• Wetland
• Whatever
• Whatsoever
• Wheelbarrow
• Wheelbase
• Wheelchair
• Wheelhouse
• Wheelhouse
• Whereabouts
• Whipcord
• Whip hand
• Whiplash
• Whiplike
• Whipsaw
• Whip snake
• Whipstitch
• Whipstock
• Whiptail
• Whip through
• Whip top
• Whiteboard
• Whitecap
• Whitefish
• Whitehall
• Whitehead
• Whitewall
• Whitewash
• Widespread
• Wipeout
• Wisplike
• Without
• Wood ant
• Woodblock
• Woodborer
• Wood-burning
• Woodcarver
• Woodcarving
• Woodchip
• Wood coal
• Woodcock
• Woodcraft
• Wood-creeper
• Woodcutter
• Wood duck
• Woodshop
• Yachtsman
• Yachtsman
• Yachtsmen
• Yachtsmen
• Yard bird
• Yard birds
• Yard land
• Yard lands
• Yard wand
• Yard wands
• Yard work
• Yard works
• Yardarms
• Yardman
• Yardmaster
• Yardmasters
• Yardstick
• Yardsticks
• Yearbook
• Yearbooks
• Yearlong
• Yellow fin
• Yellow fins
• Yellow ware
• Yellow wares
• Yellowhammer
• Yellowhammers
• Yellowlegs
• Yellowtail
• Yellowtails
• Yellowthroat
• Yellowthroats
• Yellowwood
• Yellowwoods
• Yokefellow
• Yokefellows
• Yokemate
• Yokemates
• Youngberries
• Youngberry
• Youth quake
• Zoo technical
• Zoogeographer
• Zoogeographers
• Zoogeographies
• Zoogeography
• Zookeeper
• Zoosperms
• Zootechnics

Closing Words and Related Posts

It is possible that some of these 1000 Compound Words Examples could be written differently in other instances where they appear; but remember that this also depends on the choice of the writer to select any of the three types of compound words that we have. However, there are some of these compound words that have to be written based on acceptable convention. You can check out other related posts as listed below:

9 Types of Nouns with Examples

10 Examples of Complex Sentences

100 Examples of Synonym Words

100 Examples of Compound Sentences in English

25 Examples of Complex Sentences

50 Examples of Simple Sentences