[Guest]

My thread got me thinking about compound words in English and how they are constructed. (Wikipedia has some good content on the topic of compound words)

I can come up with a 3 component compound word: SEA MAN SHIP

Can you identify others, or even a FOUR component compound word ?

[plainglazed]

Was just about to go back to your last topic with compliments and suggest maybe a puzzle or similar thread to this one. There are a bunch of adverbs/prepositions that may qualify. like neverthesess, notwithstanding, etc. The one noun that popped into mind is kinda similar to your example - longshoreman. There's lots of words that can be divided into three words that are not really compound words, too. like concentration.

[Guest]

... longshoreman, nevertheless, notwithstanding

Nice ones! There's sportsmanship as well, of course, but I can't come up with a 4 component one yet...

Edited March 28, 2011 by WombatBreath

[Guest]

This one's like seamanship and sportsmanship...

PENMANSHIP (pen-man-ship)

Some funny ones:

BADMINTON (bad-mint-on)

My teacher told me this one when I was in elementary - TOGETHER (to-get-her)

[Guest]

This one's like seamanship and sportsmanship... PENMANSHIP (pen-man-ship)

Some funny ones: BADMINTON (bad-mint-on)

My teacher told me this one when I was in elementary - TOGETHER (to-get-her)

Hehe Nice!

I'm surprised that none of us can come up with a four component one.

Shows what a weird language English is, I guess.

[fabpig]

One that seems a bit contrived to me, but is there nonetheless:

fatherlessness

[Guest]

One that seems a bit contrived to me, but is there nonetheless:

fatherlessness

Oooo, FAT HER LESS NESS is genuinely 4 word component (equivalent of TO GET HER)

I wonder if there is a proper 4 component compound out there... waiting...

[Guest]

outdoorsmanship

Edited March 29, 2011 by maurice

[Guest]

outdoorsmanship

Cool bananas! Good one maurice - did you nut out the likely structure first or did you stumble into it ?

[Guest]

tried to come up with two compound words that could form a compund word. Stared out my window at the rain and thought up "outdoors" then outdoorsman followed. With a little help from your discussions outdoorsmanship was not too far off.

Now a little help with the term "nut out". I don't believe we have that term in the States. I can make it mean something that fits, but I do believe you meant something else?

[Guest]

BTW by 'nut out' I mean analyse or think through a sequencial path of logic.

(I'm showing my London, UK upbringing) In the UK your 'nut' is your head or brain so nut gets use in many ways:

* 'nut someone' = headbutt them;

* "use yer nut" = "think about it";

* "he's off his nut"="he is intellectually challenged"

Maybe we could start another thread of fruit being used to represent body parts? Hmm... maybe not.

Edited March 30, 2011 by WombatBreath

[Guest]

Quick question...is outdoorsmanship a true four word compound word. I guess I'm questioning the use of ship as a word and not a suffix...ship vs -ship. Same would go for less vs -less. Is fatherless a compound word or simply a single word with a suffix added to it? Thoughts?

[Guest]

Quick question...is outdoorsmanship a true four word compound word. I guess I'm questioning the use of ship as a word and not a suffix...ship vs -ship. Same would go for less vs -less. Is fatherless a compound word or simply a single word with a suffix added to it? Thoughts?

This is probably a bit deep for me (as I'm no linguist) but I guess it depends on whether the suffix used is genuinely related to the meaning of the same characters when set alone, as a word.

For 'less', I think that is an easy assessment to make (the absence of something) but for 'ship' it appears to be a "longer bow". Can you regard 'ship' as a method of delivery, rather than a literal vehicle? An apprenticeship is a method of achieving an apprentice, isn't it?

Any English Language professors out there...?

[bonanova]

This is probably a bit deep for me (as I'm no linguist) but I guess it depends on whether the suffix used is genuinely related to the meaning of the same characters when set alone, as a word.

For 'less', I think that is an easy assessment to make (the absence of something) but for 'ship' it appears to be a "longer bow". Can you regard 'ship' as a method of delivery, rather than a literal vehicle? An apprenticeship is a method of achieving an apprentice, isn't it?

Any English Language professors out there...?

Not a linguist either, more a reasonably informed layman.

Just to push the envelope into ridiculous territory, shall we try for five?

Fatherlessnessship.

[Guest]

My thread got me thinking about compound words in English and how they are constructed. (Wikipedia has some good content on the topic of compound words)

I can come up with a 3 component compound word: SEA MAN SHIP

Can you identify others, or even a FOUR component compound word ?

The word SHIP comes from the Old English scip "ship, boat" from the Proto-Germanic *skipan and derived from the Proto-Indo-European base *skei- "to cut, split". The word is a root word in compound words AIRSHIP and BATTLESHIP, but it is not in the word SEAMANSHIP. In SEAMANSHIP,

-SHIP is a suffix (preceded here with hyphen to indicate it is a bound morpheme and not a word) denoting a profession, state or office, from the Old English -sciepe from the Proto-Germanic *-skapaz "to create, ordain, appoint" which derived from the Proto-Indo-European base *(s)kep-.

SEAMANSHIP does have three components: SEA MAN -SHIP, but it is not a compound of three words, but of two words and a morpheme.

[Guest]

A compound word is word formed from the joining of two or more words. There are three forms of compound words: closed form, hyphenated form and open form. Most compound words of 4+ component words will be either of the hyphenated form or the open form, or a mixture of the two. One example is HOLE-IN-THE-HEAD FROG. I assume you instead seek a 4+ component compound word of closed form.

Edited May 11, 2011 by Dej Mar

[Guest]

subordinator

SUB OR DIN AT OR

greatgreat....greatgrandfather

[Guest]

subordinator

SUB OR DIN AT OR

greatgreat....greatgrandfather

subordinator is certainly not a compound word. It is simply a word that is made up of syllables that happen to each form a word. Great-great-...-great-grandfather is not an "enclosed" compound word, as DM described above,

[Guest]

oh were we supposed to do real compound words

[Guest]

oh were we supposed to do real compound words

btw - kudos...I was impressed nontheless

[Guest]

thanks but why doesn't great..greatgrandfather count

[Guest]

thanks but why doesn't great..greatgrandfather count

I think because it's hyphenated. We're looking for non-hyphenated compound words.

[Guest]

I think because it's hyphenated. We're looking for non-hyphenated compound words.

shows how much i know about english

[Guest]

i dont know how to put your name on quaote cna you tell me

[Guest]

[_quote name=googon' date='11 May 2011 - 02:37 PM' timestamp='1305142672' post='280418]

i dont know how to put your name on quaote cna you tell me

[_/quote]

Hit the reply button and the above pops into your reply box (sans the _)

i dont know how to put your name on quaote cna you tell me

Or type [_quote name=googon] text [_/quote] (again sans the _)

i dont know how to put your name on quaote cna you tell me

Edited May 11, 2011 by maurice

[Guest]

[_quote name=googon' date='11 May 2011 - 02:37 PM' timestamp='1305142672' post='280418]

i dont know how to put your name on quaote cna you tell me

[_/quote]

Hit the reply button and the above pops into your reply box (sans the _)

Spoiler for example

googon, on 11 May 2011 - 02:37 PM, said:

i dont know how to put your name on quaote cna you tell me

Or type [_quote name=googon] text [_/quote] (again sans the _)

Spoiler for example

googon said:

] i dont know how to put your name on quaote cna you tell me