english grammar - compound words

7/29/2019 English Grammar - Compound Words

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Definition

In English, words, particularly adjectives and nouns, are combined into compound

structures in a variety of ways. And once they are formed, they sometimes metamorphose over

time. A common pattern is that two words fire fly, say will be joined by a hyphen for a

time fire-fly and then be joined into one word firefly. In this respect, a language like

German, in which words are happily and immediately linked one to the other, might seem to

have an advantage. There is only one sure way to know how to spell compounds in English: use

an authoritative dictionary.

There are three forms of compound words:

the closed form, in which the words are melded together, such as firefly,

secondhand, softball, childlike, crosstown, redhead, keyboard, makeup,

notebook;

the hyphenated form, such as daughter-in-law, master-at-arms, over-the-

counter, six-pack, six-year-old, mass-produced;

and the open form, such as post office, real estate, middle class, full moon, half

sister, attorney general.

How a word modified by an adjective "a little school," "theyellow butter" is different from

a compound word " a high school," "the peanut butter" is a nice and philosophical

question. It clearly has something to do with the degree to which the preceding word changes the

essential character of the noun, the degree to which the modifier and the noun are inseparable. If

you were diagramming a sentencewith a compound word, you would probably keep the words

together, on the same horizontal line.

Modifying compounds are often hyphenated to avoid confusion. The New York Public

Library's Writer's Guide points out that an old-furniture salesman clearly deals in old furniture,

but an old furniture salesman would be an old man. We probably would not have the same

ambiguity, however, about a used car dealer. When compounded modifiers precede a noun, they

are often hyphenated: part-time teacher, fifty-yard-wide field, fire-resistant curtains, high-speed

chase. When those same modifying words come after the noun, however, they are not

hyphenated: a field fifty yards wide, curtains that are fire resistant, etc. The second-rate opera

company gave a performance that was first rate.

Comparative and superlative forms of adjectives are hyphenated when compounded withother modifiers: the highest-priced car, the shorter-term loan. But this is not always the case: the

most talented youngster. Adverbs, words ending in -ly, are not hyphenated when compounded

with other modifiers: a highly rated bank, a partially refunded ticket, publicly held securities.

Sometimes hyphenated modifiers lose their hyphens when they become compound nouns:

A clear decision-making process was evident in their decision making. The bluish grey was
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slowly disappearing from the bluish-grey sky. This is not always so, however: your high-rise

apartment building is also known as a high-rise.

When modifying a person with his or her age, the compounded phrase is hyphenated: my

six-year-old son. However, when the age comes after the person, we don't use a hyphen. My son

is six years old. He is, however, a six-year-old.

Plurals and Possessives

Most dictionaries will give variant spellings of compound plurals. When you have more

than one truck filled with sand, do you have several truckfuls or trucksful? The dictionary will

give you both, with the first spelling usually preferred. (And the same is true of teaspoonfuls,

cupfuls, etc.) The dictionary will help you discover that only one spelling is acceptable for some

compounds likepassersby.

For hyphenated forms, the pluralizing -s is usually attached to the element that is actuallybeing pluralized: daughters-in-law, half-moons, mayors-elect. The Chicago Manual of Style says

that "hyphenated and open compounds are regularly made plural by the addition of the plural

inflection to the element that is subject to the change in number" and gives as examples "fathers-

in-law," "sergeants-in-arms," "doctors of philosophy," "and courts-martial" (196). The

NYPL Writer's Guide puts it this way: "the most significant word generally the noun takes

the plural form. The significant word may be at the beginning, middle, or end of the term" (396).

And then we get examples such as "attorneys at law," "bills of fare," chiefs of staff," notaries

public," assistant attorneys general," "higher-ups," "also-rans," and "go-betweens."

Note: some dictionaries will list "attorney generals" along with "attorneys general" asacceptable plurals of that office. Whether that's a matter of caving in to popular usage or an

inability to determine the "significant word" is unknown.

As a general rule, then, the plural form of an element in a hierarchical term belongs to the

base element in the term, regardless of the base element's placement:

first sergeants

sergeants major

sergeants first class

colonel generals [Russian]

lieutenant generals

lieutenant colonels

apprentice, journeyman, and master mechanics


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deputy librarians

deputy assistant secretaries of state

The possessive of a hyphenated compound is created by attaching an apostrophe -s to the

end of the compound itself: my daughter-in-law's car, a friend of mine's car. To create thepossessive of pluralized andcompounded forms, a writer is wise to avoid the apostrophe -s form

and use an "of" phrase (the "post genitive") instead: the meeting of the daughters-in-law, the

schedule of half-moons. Otherwise, the possessive form becomes downright weird: the

daughters-in-law's meeting, friends of mine's cars.

One of the most difficult decisions to make about possessives and plurals of compound

words occurs when you can't decide whether the first noun in a compound structure is acting as a

noun that ought to be showing possession or as what is called an attributive noun, essentially an

adjective. In other words, do we write that I am going to a writers conference or to a writers'

conference? The Chicago Style Manual suggests that if singular nouns can act as attributive

nouns city government, tax relief then plural nouns should be able to act as attributive

nouns: consumers group, teachers union. This principle is not universally endorsed, however,

and writers must remember to be consistent within a document.

This section does not speak to the matter of compounded nouns such as "Professor Villa's

and Professor Darling's classes have been filled." See the section on Possessives for additional

help.

Compounds with Prefixes

With a handful of exceptions, compounds created by the addition of a prefix are not

hyphenated:

anteroom, antisocial, binomial, biochemistry, coordinate, counterclockwise, extraordinary,infrastructure, interrelated, intramural, macroeconomics, metaphysical, microeconomics,midtown, minibike, multicultural, neoromantic, nonviolent, overanxious, postwar, preconference,pseudointellectual, reunify, semiconductor, socioeconomic, subpar, supertanker, transatlantic,unnatural, underdeveloped

Exceptions include

compounds in which the second element is capitalized or a number:

anti-Semitic, pre-1998, post-Freudiancompounds which need hyphens to avoid confusion

un-ionized (as distinguished from unionized), co-op

compounds in which a vowel would be repeated (especially to avoid confusion)

co-op, semi-independent, anti-intellectual (but reestablish, reedit)

compounds consisting of more than one word

non-English-speaking, pre-Civil War
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compounds that would be difficult to read without a hyphen

pro-life, pro-choice, co-edited

Also, when we combine compound nouns, we would use a hyphen with the first, but not the last:

when under- and overdeveloped nations get together. . . .

Spelling

The following table presents a mini-dictionary of compound modifiers and nouns. Perhaps

the best use of a very partial inventory like this is to suggest the kinds of words that a writer

would be wise either to memorize or to be at least wary of. It is sometimes enough to know when

we should get the dictionary off the shelf.

2-year education

one-week vacation

A-frameAfrican American

Air Forceall-city tournament

attorney general

blood pressureblue-green dress

bull's-eye

database

daughter-in-lawEnglish-speaking person

ex-wifefirst-rate accommodationsfootball

grandmother

grant-in-aidgreat-aunt

half sister

high-level officials

I-beamItalian-American

Italian-American clubjack-in-the-box

lifelike

light yearmayor-elect

salesperson

secretary-treasurer

stockbrokerT-square

threefoldup-to-the-minuteV-formation

vice president

well-made clothesworldwide inflation

X-ray

Notice that African American contains no hyphen, but Italian-American does. There are no

hard and fast rules about this, and social conventions change. (There is no hyphen in FrenchCanadian.) Some groups have insisted that they do not want to be known as "hyphenated

Americans" and resist, therefore, the use of a hyphen, preferring that the word "American" be

used as an adjective. Some resources even suggest that a term like Italian-American should be

used only when the individual thus referred to has parents of two different nationalities. That's

probably a stretch, but a writer must be aware that sensibilities can be aroused when using

nationalities of any description. Consistency within a document is also important.


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Suspended Compounds*

With a series of nearly identical compounds, we sometimes delay the final term of the final

term until the last instance, allowing the hyphen to act as a kind of place holder, as in

The third- and fourth-grade teachers met with the parents.

Both full- and part-time employees will get raises this year.

We don't see many 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children around here.

Be careful not to overuse this feature of the hyphen; readers have to wait until that final instance

to know what you're talking about, and that can be annoying.

FOR ADDITIONAL HELP

The Chicago Manual of Style contains an extensive section devoted to compoundedmodifiers and nouns. That book's table of compounds categorizes compounds into various types,

and helps us discover principles of spelling (and some really strange exceptions). Styles of

compounding words change over the years, however, and writers might even find different

versions in different dictionaries. The Chicago Manual is especially helpful because it tries to

define the principles by which such decisions are made.

english grammar - compound words

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