Compound Words (Komposita) (2024)

	Election Notice.

German can create new words with a variety of tools, including suffixes,separable prefixes,inseparable prefixes, and various ways of derivingnouns from strong verbs,nouns from verbs with separable or inseparable prefixes, oradjectives and adverbs from such verbs.

	Nature Preserve.

The Compound Noun:

Like English, German also offers the possibility of combining of words, especially nouns. The resulting noun chains in English typically feature spaces or hyphens between the different elements, whileGerman ones normally appear as one word.The German penchant for creating complex compound nouns has long been the stuff of comedy. Mark Twain devotes part of his essay on The Awful German Language to these "curiosities," and many people are familiar with ones like "der Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän" (the Danube Steamship Navigation Company Captain).

The basic German compound word, like its English relation, consists of two vocabulary items, although longer chains are possible. Take the example: "die Sprachschule." The second element, "Schule", is called the "primary word" (das Grundwort), and it designates the larger set (in this case, schools) of which the compound noun is a part. It also establishes the gender and the plural form of the compound noun. The first item "Sprach", is called the "determiner", or "determinative element" (das Bestimmungswort). It designates the subset of the category that the primary word defines. Thus a "Sprachschule" is a school that teaches languages.

This list of provided cleaning services illustrates some of the possibilities that employ the primary word, Reinigung ("cleaning"):

	Cleaning of business and medical offices Glass surface cleaning Housecleaning Staircase cleaning Thorough cleaning Janitorial cleaning Doormat service Building site clearance and final cleaning Carpet and textile cleaning

As some of the above examples show, the two parts of the compound may also have a connecting element (die Fuge) that can have various forms:

See Also

Compound Words—What Are They?1000 Examples of Compound Words - English Study HereWhat Are Compound Words in English?Compound words – what they are and why they matter

	pork

[no connecting element]: "der Arbeitgeber" (employer); "der Arbeitnehmer" (employee);"der Autofahrer" (driver); "der Briefträger" (postman, letter-carrier); "das Gasthaus" (inn);"die Handfläche" (palm of the hand); "der Hausbesitzer" (home-owner);"die Jugendsünde" (youthful folly); "das Muttersöhnchen" (mamma's boy); "das Trinkgeld" (tip).

["-e-"]:"hundemüde" (dog-tired); "die Mausefalle" (mousetrap); "der Pferdestall" (horse stable); "das Schweinefleisch (pork); "das Wartezimmer" (waiting room).

["-n" or "-en"]:"das Backpfeifengesicht" (a face that makes you want to slap it); "das Bauernbrot (farmhouse bread); "das Freudenhaus" (brothel); "die Gedankenfreiheit" (freedom of thought); "der Kettenraucher" (chain-smoker); "der Tintenkleks" (inkblot).

["-ens"]: "die Herzensgüte" (goodness of heart); "das Friedensabkommen" (peace agreement);"das Schmerzensgeld" (compensation for pain and suffering).

["-er"]: "der Bilderrahmen" (picture frame); "der Geisterfahrer" (wrong-way driver).

["-s-" or "-es-"]: "das Arbeitstier" (eager beaver; workaholic); "der Freundeskreis" (circle of friends);"geistesgestört" (deranged);"der Glückspilz" (lucky fellow); "der Gottesdienst" (church service); "die Jahreszeit" (season [of the year]); "das Landesgeld" (domestic currency); "der Liebeskummer" (lover's grief, heart-sickness);"die Staatspolizei" (state police); "das Tageslicht" (daylight); "der Verbesserungsvorschlag" (suggestion for improvement);"das Verhütungsmittel" (contraceptive); "das Verkehrsamt" (tourist office).

mobile phone accessories		Which of our four seasons do you most look forward to?

While these compounds are normally written as a single word, hyphenated forms occasionally appear in new coinages:

"Berlin-Kenner" (someone who knows Berlin); "der Balkon-Raucher" (a man who goes out onto the balcony to smoke); "der Cyber-Diebstahl"(cyber-theft), "die E-Mail" (e-mail),"der Jeans-Bügler" (a man who irons his jeans).

	All the best with a cold • With throat-, head-, and joint-pains • With sniffles• Alleviates throat-tickle• With an extra portion of vitamin C Two capsules 3 times a day at the first sign of a cold

	Part- and whole-body massages Neck-, shoulder-, and back-massages

Hyphens are also used when a series of compounds share a "primary word". Thus in the advertisem*nt on the right, for cold medicine, "Halsschmerzen," "Kopfschmerzen," and"Gliederschmerzen" are compressed to "Hals-, Kopf- und Gliederschmerzen".
On the left, the primary word is first "massages," then "body-massages," with thedeterminers "part" and "full";in the next line, the primary word is again"massages," while the determiners are "neck," "shoulder," and "back"

Sometimes, perhaps due to the influence of English, some constellations are even written as separate words:

"die Monster Laufzeit" (monstrous contract period)

	Mobile internet without a monstrous contract period.

The previous examples of compound nouns are derived from other nouns. But the "determinative element" can also be a verb, which is represented by the stem:

	Feed-in of water for fire-fighting.

"die Baugenehmigung" (building permit); "das Esszimmer" (dining room); "der Fahrgast" (passenger);"das Lehrbuch" (textbook); "das Lesebuch" (storybook; reader); "das Löschwasser" (quench water [water for fire-fighting]); "der Mietvertrag" (rental agreement);"die Mitfahrgelegenheit" (ride; lift);"der Rasierapparat" (electric shaver);"der Rollstuhl" (wheelchair); "der Schreibtisch" (desk); "der Spielplatz" (playground);"die Sprechblase" (speech balloon; speech bubble [in a comic strip]); "die Stehlampe" (floor lamp);"die Tragfähigkeit" (carrying capacity);"die Verschlimmbesserung" (an intended improvement that makes things worse).

The "determinative element" can also be an adjective or adverb. One could make the case that some of these "determiners"fall into the category of separable prefix,at least when the "primary word," though a noun, derives from a verb. The effect is the same either way.

"der Feinschmecker" (gourmet);"der Fernfahrer" (long-distance trucker);"das Großmaul" (loudmouth);"die Hochkultur" (high culture);"der/die Schnellfahrer/in" (speeder);"die Schwarzmalerei" (doom-saying);"der Schwarzmarkt" (black market);"die Spätschicht" (late shift);"die Sprechstunde" (office hour);"der Wichtigtuer" (pompous ass);"die Zusammensetzung" (compound).

	unauthorized parked vehicles will be towed at the owner's expense

The "primary word" can also be a verb. The "determiner" then becomes a separable prefix:

"achtgeben" (to be careful; to pay attention);"gutmachen" (to make amends for);"preisgeben" (to relinquish; to disclose);"stattfinden" (to take place);"teilnehmen" (to participate);"wahrnehmen" (to discern; to experience; to avail oneself of).

The "primary word" can also be an adjective or adverb, so that the compound itself becomes that part of speech:

See Also

What Are Compound Words? A Guide for Teachers and Families

"arbeitsbereit" (ready to work); "arbeitsscheu" (afraid of hard work); "bärenstark" (strong as an ox [bear]);"baufällig" (dilapidated); "berufstätig" (employed [outside the home]);"butterweich" (soft as butter); "gertenschlank" (willowy, svelte, slender as a willow reed); "hustenreizlindernd" (throat-tickle-alleviating); "kostenpflichtig" (liable for the costs); "lebensgefährlich" (life-threatening; mortally dangerous); "linkshändig" (left-handed); "nervtötend" (tedious, pesky); "reisefertig" (ready to leave [on a trip]); "spindeldürr" (skinny as a rail);"steinalt" (old as the hills); "todsicher" (dead certain); "vollautomatisch" (fully automatic); "vollbesetzt" (completely occupied); "vollreif" (fully ripe)"umweltfreundlich" (eco-friendly); "wildfremd" (totally unknown).

Intensifiers / Augmentative prefixes

Especially in colloquial speech, German-speakers enjoy a special category of compound nouns or modifiers in which the "determinative element" functions as an augmentative, or intensifying, prefix.

In some cases, the determinative element's meaning is obvious. When derived, for example, from "der Riese" [giant], it keeps the notion of "gigantic": "der Riesenfehler" [huge mistake], "der Riesenhunger" [gigantic hunger], "die Riesenfreude" [huge pleasure], "die Riesensauerei" [gigantic mess], "der Riesenspaß" [a lot of fun].Similarly, "die Spitze" (as well as "top-") raises something to the highest category: "die Spitzenleistung" [top performance; outstanding achievement], "der Spitzenlohn" [top wage]."Super" and "ultra" are also used frequently, much as in English: "superbequem" [supercomfortable]; das Superwetter [super weather]; "ultraschnell" [ultrafast].

Another group modifies colors: "dunkelblau" (dark blue); "hellgelb" (light yellow); "pechschwarz" (pitch-black); "rabenschwarz" (crow-black); "schneeweiß" (snow-white); "veilchenblau" (violet).

But in many cases, the determiners are not so semantically obvious. For example, a comment on the cold weather can be intensified with a variety of prefixes to become, among a great many other possibilities: "arschkalt"; "saukalt", "scheißkalt", "schweinekalt", or "teufelskalt". In none of these examples does the determinative element (e.g. "der Arsch" [ass], "die Sau" [sow], "die Scheiße" [sh*t], "das Schwein" [pig], or "der Teufel" [devil]) carry a literal meaning. At the most, they signal a traditionally negative attitudeassociated with these things.

Here are just a few other examples of augmentative constructions:

Some "determiners" appear so frequently that they have become a standard prefix. A word like "das Haupt," for example, an older term for head (and largely replaced in modern usage by "der Kopf"),appears in a great many well-established compounds, as well as in more spontaneous coinages. It means "central," "chief," "main," "primary," or "principal". Just a few examples:

"die Hauptachse" (main axle); "die Hauptabteilung" (central department); "der/die Hauptaktionär/in" (majority shareholder);"der Hauptakzent" (main emphasis); "der Hauptbahnhof" (main railway station); "die Hauptbeschäftigung" (main occupation);"die Haupteigenschaft" (primary characteristic; major feature); "der Haupteingang" (main entrance); "das Hauptfach" ([academic] major);"die Hauptfigur" (main character); "der Hauptgrund" (chief reason); "die Hauptperson" (central figure);"das Hauptproblem" (main problem); "die Hauptrolle" (primary role); "die Hauptsache" (most important thing);"die Hauptschuld" (primary share of the blame); "der Hauptsitz" (headquarters); "die Hauptstadt" (capital city);"die Hauptstraße" (main street); "die Haupttätigkeit" (main activity); "der Hauptunterschied" (principal difference);"der Hauptvertreter" (principal representative); "der Hauptwohnsitz" (primary residence); "das Hauptwort" (noun);"das Hauptziel" (primary goal).

	Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, the principal representative of German Idealism,lived from 1828-1831 in the house next-door (Am Kupfergraben 4a), which was destroyed in World War II.

In some compounds the "determiners" and "primary words" are equal:

"altklug" (precocious); "nasskalt" (wet and cold); "schwarzrotgold" (black-red-gold [the colors of the German flag]);"süßsauer" sweet-and-sour.

Still another form duplicates sounds, with the stem vowel changing between a high-front position and a lower-back one:

"der Mischmasch" (mishmash, hodgepodge);"schickimicki" (trendy, fancy-schmancy);"der Schnickschnack" (bric-a-brac, knick-knack);"der Wirrwarr" (hurly-burly, imbroglio);"wischiwaschi" (wishy-washy);"larifari" (airy-fairy).

Most of the previous examples consist of one determiner affixed to one primary word, but more elaborate noun chainsare possible:

	Wheelchair Entrance

	Semester Ticket Office of AStA (Allgemeiner Studentenausschuss [Students' Association]) of theFree University of Berlin. Entrance to the left past the driveway.

"die Bankdienstleistungen" (banking services);"das Eintopfgericht" (stew; boiled dinner);"der/die Fußballspieler/in" (soccer player);"die Feuerwehrzufahrt" (fire department access);"die Geschirrspülmaschine" (dishwasher);"das Jugendschutzgesetz" (law for the protection of youth);"die Lebensversicherungsgesellschaft" (life-insurance company);"der Minderwertigkeitskomplex" (inferiority complex);"der Rathaussaal" (city council chamber);"der/die Rollstuhlfahrer/in" (wheelchair-user);"der Schreibtischcomputer" (desktop computer);"das Semesterticketbüro" (Semester Ticket Office [A semester ticket is a public transportation pass available to students during the term]);"der Windschutzscheibenwischer" (windshield wiper).

	Fire Department Access

Mark Twain is not the only person to find whimsical possibilities in complex compounds.There is a long tradition of constructing nouns like"die Hottentottenpotentatentantenattentäterin" (the Hottentot potentate's aunt's [female] assassin) orother humorous combinations:

The all-round-feel-good cough-drop		We wash washmachine water [ad by the Berlin Waterworks].

A more recent phenomenon is the "Weichei"-definition. A "Weichei" is a wimp or wussie, the opposite of a "real man."Some of the many definitions, which combine noun-compounds with the masculine suffix "-er":

More important are the complex meanings that can be compressed within compounds, constructions that are very hard to translate.Here is an example of one such possibility:

	Trittbrett (running-board)

In Hans-Ulrich Treichel's novel Tristanakkord (Suhrkamp, 2000), the protagonist is, in a small way, about to assist a famous musician in composing a work. In contemplating the fame that he will achieve, he refers to it as "eine Trittbrettunsterblichkeit" (p. 212). This coinage is made up of six separate elements:"der Tritt" (step) and "das Brett" (board) combine to fashion "das Trittbrett" (running-board, the foot-board that runs along the side of certain trucks and antique automobiles). German usage has given this word a metaphorical connotation: "hanging on" or "freeloading," especially in the term of "Trittbrettfahrer" (literally: running board rider).To "Trittbrett" the author adds "Unsterblichkeit" (immortality). That term is derived from "sterben" (to die);by adding the suffix "-lich" to the stem "sterb-", we get the adjective "sterblich" (mortal). To that comes the suffix "-keit", forming the noun "Sterblichkeit" (mortality). The prefix "un-", just as in English, produces the opposite meaning (immortality). Finally, the author combines "Trittbrett" and "Unsterblichkeit" to create a spontaneous coinage that will appear in no dictionary but is comprehensible to all: "Trittbrettunsterblichkeit" is an immortality that is achieved by riding in someone's wake (or on someone's coattails). The English translation necessarily lacks both the compactness - and the humor - of the German original.

	Floor-sander rentals

Portmanteau Words (Kofferwörter or Schachtelwörter)

German also uses portmanteau words, which blend two words and combine their meanings. Often these constructions are borrowed wholesale from English, e.g. "brunch", "motel", "smog", "brexit",but others are of German origin: