What are German compound words called? How to form compound German words

Compound German nouns is the hallmark of the German language. They are understood as words in which several different roots coexist. Moreover, their number in some cases is in the tens.

Formation of compound nouns in German avoids excessive repetition of the genitive case and simplifies the use of difficult German grammar in speech.

Compound nouns in modern German

In German, there are a huge number of nouns that consist of several words and allow you to express a three-dimensional meaning.

Compound nouns in German. examples:

• Two words: das Schlafzimmer - bedroom.
• Three words: das Kopfsteinpflaster - cobblestone pavement.
• Four words: der Schreibtischdrehstuhl - a swivel chair for a desk.

The Germans are masters at the formation of interesting phrases:

• Der Handschuh - die Hand (hand) + der Schuh (shoe) = mitten.
• Der Hexenkessel - die Hexe (witch) + der Kessel (cauldron) = hell.
• Die Hornhaut - das Hörn (horn) + die Haut (skin) = cornea (eyes).
• Die Kornblume - das Korn (grain) + die Blume (flower) = cornflower.

Table 1. Compound nouns in German: ways of formation.

Education	Example	Translation
noun + noun	der Tischtennis - die Tisch + der Tennis	Table tennis
adjective + noun	die Hochschule - hoch+die Schule	graduate School
Verb + noun	der Bestimmungshafen - bestimmen + der Hafen	Port of destination
Noun + verb	der Haushalt - das Haus + halten	Household
Numeral + nouns	der Zweijahrplan - zwei + das Jahr + der Plan	2 year plan
Preposition + noun	der Mitarbeiter - mit + der Arbeit	Employee
The words that make up a compound noun can be attached to each other directly with the help of connecting elements: -(e)s; -(e)n;	– die Leben s mittel – der Trag e handel – das land er spiel – das Student en Wohnheim – die Psych o hygiene	Food product trade from stalls international competition student hostel mental hygiene

The gender of compound nouns depends on the gender of the base word. The first part is the defining word, the last part in the compound word is the main word. The emphasis falls on defining words.

If two or more compound nouns are listed that have the same stems or defining words, then one compound noun is written, replacing the common part with a hyphen, for example: die Kindergarten und -krippen (kindergartens and nurseries).

According to the new spelling rules, complexly formed words can be written with a hyphen, especially if they end and start with the same letter, for example, Flusssand - Fluss-Sand, Seeelefant - See-Elefant, etc.

Translation of German compound nouns into Russian

Compound nouns in German are often formed during conversation, so you need to learn how to translate without resorting to a dictionary.

Ways to translate compound nouns in German

There are several ways to translate compound nouns into Russian. For ease of reference, we suggest using Table 2.

Table 2. Features of the translation of German compound nouns.

rule	Compound noun	Translation
Translation of syntactic German compound nouns by the phrase "adjective + noun"	die Wintersonne. die Gatterpforte. der Eisbrei. die Siebensachen. der Wotanshut. der Jupiterbart. das Aussermenschliche	Winter sun. Latticed gates. Snow porridge. School belongings. Wotan hat. Jupiter beard. Inhuman nature
Translation of syntactic German compound nouns as a phrase with a genitive non-prepositional	der Bank director. der Ballettmeister. das Vogelgezwitscher. der Sofawinkel. die Strasenecke. der Fruhlingsarom	Director of the bank. Dance teacher. Tweet. Sofa corner. Street corner. The scent of spring
Translation of German compound nouns with prepositional constructions	die Bücherpäckchen. die Weingeleegläser. die Pferdebucher	Bags with books. Glasses with wine jelly. horse books
Translation of German compound nouns into Russian by a simple or compound noun	die Mittelmäßigkeit. das Widespiel. der Gegenteil. die Sehnsucht	middle. Countermeasures Opposite Yearning.
Translation of German compound nouns into Russian in a descriptive way or with the help of semantic expansion	die Selbstverachtung. das Klavierzimmer. die Damenwahl	self-contempt. The room with the piano. Ladies turn to choose gentlemen

MKOU Karmaklinskaya secondary school

Head: Belokrinitskaya E.M.,

German language teacher

Karmakla, 201 8 year

Content.

Introduction____________________________________________ page 2

Main body ______________________________________ pages 2-8

1. Ways of word formation.

2. Types of composition.

3. Ways of translating complex nouns.

4. Similarities and differences in word composition in German and Russian.

5. Frequency of using compound nouns.

III. Conclusions____________________________________________________________pages 8-9

IV. References ______________________________________ page 9

Introduction.

Being in constant motion, the language is constantly developing, improving, having its own present, past and future. The enrichment of the vocabulary is one of the most important factors in the development of the language, evidence of its dynamic nature. The vocabulary of the language is in a state of continuous change in accordance with the laws of the language. With the development of society, new objects, phenomena appear, they are imprinted in new words and new meanings.

Objective - consideration of word formation as one of the ways of word formation in German.

In accordance with this goal, the work is supposed to solve the followingtasks:

1. Describe the composition of nouns in German;

2. Compare word composition in German and Russian;

3. To identify the frequency of the use of compound nouns in German using the text as an example.

Such a phenomenon as word formation is very developed in the German language. Even the famous English writer Mark Twain mentioned this extraordinary phenomenon in his writings. Hardly any otherlanguagecan boast of so many nouns, consisting not of two or three, but of a fairly large number of simple words combined into one compound, which can sometimes replace a whole sentence or part of it. However, the most common case is still nouns made up of two simple words. Compound words abound in all spheres of our life without exception.

Main part

Among the complex nouns in German, one can single out both those often found in German speech, and those that can be formed in the process of forming an utterance in an arbitrary order, therefore, not all complex nouns can be found in the dictionary. Such freedom in the formation of complex words in many cases can significantly improve the style of the text, allowing you to concisely express an idea and not go into lengthy descriptions. Sometimes the formation of compound words helps to form the plural from nouns that do not have it (das Unglück - die Unglücksfälle ).

Compound nouns in Germanare not always formed by adding together several simple nouns. With the same success, the stem of the verb + noun, adjective + noun, preposition + noun, numeral + noun can take part in word formation.

For example:

noun + noun

Der Fuß + der Ball = der Fußball

Der Herbst + der Wind = der Herbstwind

Der Wasser + die Melone = die Wassermelone

Die Mutter + die Sprache = die Muttersprache

Die Natur + der Freund = der Naturfreund

Das Regen + der Mantel = der Regenmantel

Der Schnee + der Mann = der Schneemann

verb (stem) + noun

Schwimmen + der Halle = der Schwimmhalle

Turnen + die Schuhe = die Turnschuhe

Fahren + das Rad = das Fahrrad

Schauen + das Fenster = das Schaufenster

Schlafen + das Zimmer = das Schlafzimmer

Wohnen + das Haus = das Wohnhaus

Traumen + der Beruf + der Traumberuf

Spielen + die Waren = die Spielwaren

adjective + noun

Rot + das Käppchen = das Rotkäppchen

Rot + der Kohl = der Rotkohl

Rot + das Banner + das Ensemble = das Rotbannerensemble

Gleich + das Gewicht = das Gleichgewicht

preposition + noun

Nach + der Mittag = der Nachmittag

Mit + das Leid = das Mitleid

Ab + der Fall = der Abfall

Auf + der Satz = der Aufsatz

Aus + die Stellung = die Ausstellung

Bei + das Spiel = das Beispiel

Über + die Schrift = die Überschrift

Unter + die Tasse = die Untertasse

numeral + noun

Zwei + Zimmer + Wohnung = die Zweizimmerwohnung

Vier + das Eck = das Viereck

Drei + das Eck = das Dreieck

Drei + der Master = der Dreimaster

Drei + der bunt = der Dreibund

Hudert + das Jahr + die feier = die Hundertjahrfeier

Fünf + der Tag + die Woche = die Fünftagewoche

Different words can be combined into a compound noun by simple compounding or by using the appropriate connecting elements (-e-, -er-, -(e)n-, -(e)s-).

for example:

der Naturfreund )

-e- Das Gastezimmer ,

-er-, Der Kinderwagen

-(e)n-, Die Massen Medien

-(e)s- Das Arbeitszimmer

Here it is important to note the fact that the main semantic word in such compound words in last place is always a noun. It is this that determines the gender of the newly formed word. All other components of compound words act as definitions for the main word. The stress in compound nouns is always the first word.

Compositionvery widely used in German. When translating compound nouns, it is very important to correctly decompose the noun into a defining and a defined word. Compound words are translated into Russian by a group of words or by one word.

The defining word of a compound noun can be translated into Russian by the following parts of speech:

AdjectivedieEisbahnRailway

Genitive noun die Schprachgeschichte History of language, der Stundenplan lesson schedule

Prepositional noun der Briefkasten

Simple noun das Tintenfaß inkwell, die Hauptstadt capital, das Wörterbuch dictionary.

The Russian and German languages, being genetically and typologically close, have much in common in their word-formation systems. First of all, the ways of formation of new nominative units in these languages ​​are similar. In the field of morphemic word formation in both languages, two methods are distinguished - affixation and compounding. The relationship between these two ways of morphological word production is different in these languages: affixation is more characteristic of the Russian language, word composition is more characteristic of German.

If we compare compound words in German and Russian, we can observe similarities in the type of word formation:

In russian language

viaconnecting vowel (o, e):

root+root = locomotive;

root + similarity of the word = agriculture;

root + word = logging.

In German

using the appropriate connecting elements:

-e- Das Gastezimmer ,

-er-, Der Kinderwagen

-(e)n-, Die Massen Medien

-(e)s- Das Arbeitszimmer

In russian language

without a connecting vowel:

the combination of truncated words or truncated roots - collective farm;

truncated root + word with a “taken out” middle: es (cadre) min (nose) ets = destroyer, nar (one) kom (issari) at = people’s commissariat;

a combination of a truncated root + word: dance floor = dance floor, party + ticket = party card.

In German

by simple wording (derNaturfreund)

The addition of stems is a type of morphological word formation when, as a result of the addition of two or more stems, a new word is formed. This method is widely used in modern Russian in the formation of nouns (especially in scientific and production-technical speech). The word types are as follows:

1) the connection of two bases (noun and verb) using the connecting vowel -o- (-e-): haymaking, timber truck, vacuum cleaner, steelmaker, icebreaker, bread cutter.

Sometimes, when forming words of this type, suffixes are also used, for example, -ets, -tel-, -k-a: destroyer, legislator, butter churn, water pump, etc .;

Comparable to German: Fahren + das Rad = das Fahrrad (Unlike the Russian language, the verb comes first, the noun comes second)

2) the connection of two nouns (equal in rights or with syntactic subordination of the first part) with or without a connecting vowel: radio center, reinforced concrete, water supply, reading room, northeast;

ATGermanlanguage: Die Pause + der Raum = der Pausenraum

3) a combination of the bases of an adjective and a noun with the help of a connecting vowel -o- (-e-): chernozem, small forest, Zheleznovodsk;

ATGermanlanguage: Schnell + der Zug = der Schnellzug

4) combination of the genitive case of the numeral with the stem of the noun, complicated by the suffix: five years, millennium, triangle;

In German:Vier + das Eck = das Viereck (Unlike the Russian language, in German the numeral is in the nominative case)

5) a combination of the bases of a pronoun and a verb, complicated by a suffix: self-criticism, self-will, cost. (In the study of the text and the dictionary, there were no such cases in the German language)

On the contrary, in the Russian language there are no complex nouns formed by combiningpreposition with a noun, such as in German, for example,

Nach + der Mittag = der Nachmittag

In Russian, a special type of word formation is represented by compound words (abbreviations). This type of word formation, although already known in the 19th century, was most widely used in the Soviet era, mainly for the names of organizations, institutions, and positions. This type of composition is no less productive at the present time. According to the nature of the combination of the initial parts of the words included in such a formation, the following types are distinguished:

1) sound - a compound abbreviated word is formed by adding the initial sounds of its constituent words (university - a higher educational institution, dot - a long-term firing point, Youth Theater - theater of a young spectator);

2) alphabetic - a compound word is formed by combining the initial letters of words and is read by the names of the letters (NTO - Scientific and Technical Society, Moscow State University - Moscow State University, the words are read: en-te-o, em-ge-u);

3) syllabic - a complex abbreviated word is formed by combining the initial parts of words (Ministry of Health - Ministry of Health, battalion commander - battalion commander);

4) mixed - a compound abbreviated word is formed from the initial syllable of one word and another word used without abbreviations (professional ticket, agitpunkt, State Duma), sometimes from the initial syllable of one word and the initial sounds of other words (KamAZ - Kamsky Automobile Plant).

To find out how often compound nouns are used in German, I analyzed a reading text from a 6th grade textbook.In the text for reading „DieWeihnachtsgansAuguste“ ( nachF. wolf) calculated the total number of nouns, they turned out to be -110, and the number of complex ones, they are 24, which is 22%. One text is not enough to draw any conclusions, so I studied the vocabulary of the textbook for grade 6. When counting nouns, she found out that out of 621 nouns, 191 are complex, which is 31%. By calculating the arithmetic mean of these indicators, I got about 26.5%. This is the average number of compound nouns used in German. This means that every fourth noun in German speech is complex. This is a very high figure, which I tried to show with my work.

At the end of my work I will conclude:

compounding is a productive way of word formation of nouns in German;

the composition of nouns in German and Russian has much in common;

The frequency of the use of compound words in German is very high, according to rough estimates, every fourth noun is compound.

IV. Bibliography:

I.L. Beam, L.M. Sannikova, L.V. Sadomova. German textbook for grade 6, Moscow, Education, 2007

Internet resources.

L.D. Zvik, I.Ya. Galperin. A short guide to the grammar of the German language. Moscow, Education, 1987

Formation of compound words from nominal parts of speech and verbs

One of the striking features of the German language is the formation of compound words, which, although it is currently developing most actively in the field of business communication, is still present in other layers of the linguistic community. […] It is worth noting, however, that nouns and verbs behave differently.

A compound noun always represents a kind of linguistic unity, the members of which follow directly one after another and carry one main stress; and it is fundamental that any parts of speech can act as the first member. Compare compound words with the root -fahrt, such as: Abfahrt (departure), Vorfahrt (rule of passage in the first place), Überfahrt (railway crossing), Zufahrt (entrance), Rundfahrt (tour), Schwarzfahrt (use of a car without the consent of the owner ), Wohlfahrt (charity), Bergfahrt (a trip to the mountains), Schifffahrt (navigation), Vergnügungsfahrt (pleasure trip), Wallfahrt (pilgrimage) - adverb, preposition, adjective, noun and verb are found here as the first elements. The verb has no such freedom. Only in a very limited environment can verbs form compound words that are a stable temporal and semantic unity. In essence, such compound words exist only with linguistic indicators that indicate the end of the action or its relation to the world. These are prefixes called prefixes (be-, er-, ent-, ge-, ver-, zer-, miß-), which are not used as independent words, and a number of prepositions (über / unter, durch / um, wider), to which you can add the adjective voll. Examples are compound words with the verbs fahren (to go) and stehen (to stand): befahren (to drive), erfahren (to learn), entfahren (to escape), verfahren (to act), überfahren (to move), durchfahren (to pass), umfahren (to run into ), widerfahren (to occur); bestehen (consist), erstehen (acquire), gestehen (recognize), verstehen (understand), überstehen (endure), unterstehen (obey), umstehen (encircle), widerstehen (resist) (you can also add: missraten (advise) and vollziehen (perform)). Compound words that appear to be derived from nouns, such as weissagen (predict) and wetteifern (compete), are in fact derived from nouns. Therefore, the verb only to a small extent takes part in the formation of these compound words.

Reichling understands by a compound word only such a combination of words, the elements of which always follow each other inseparably and can change their place in the sentence only as a whole; another condition is that the members must be united by a common accent. None of the members can be isolated. Names like Heiliges Land (Holy Land), Rotes Meer (Red Sea) are not complex words, but phrases that in this case denote one object; the combination of an adjective and a noun, from the point of view of the language, is not a word, but is combined due to the relation to the object (that is, extralinguistically). In accordance with this, words with the so-called. separable prefixes such as ausgehen (to go out) (er geht aus) cannot really be compound words.

Obviously, this is affected by the fact that in German the sentence is built around the verb, and the verb plays a defining role. The verb is associated with the process of constructing a sentence in time. In a simple declarative sentence (“Aussagesatz”), the “finite”, i.e. personal, form of the verb always takes second place, while the verb in the impersonal form tends to the end of the sentence: wir werden morgen die Versammlung besuchen (We will go tomorrow to meeting) - wir haben gestern die Versammlung besucht (We went to the meeting yesterday). No one will deny that in the mind of the German, the personal and impersonal forms of the verb are connected with each other. Both forms interact to form a characteristic German sentence frame that, in a simple declarative sentence, helps to transform temporal succession into simultaneous coexistence in consciousness. It is the separation of personal and impersonal forms from each other (and, consequently, their separation in time) that contributes to the fact that the sentence is perceived as an integral unity.

But how, then, should the relationship between personal and impersonal forms be considered? On the one hand, linguistic flair (and following the Latin tradition in language learning) suggests that both forms are one (albeit analytical, as it is usually called). However, on the other hand, the impersonal form of the verb plays a role that it shares with numerous other language structures. So, one might say, for example: Die Versammlung hat um acht Uhr begonnen (The meeting began at eight o'clock); or Die Versammlung fing um acht Uhr an (The meeting began at eight o'clock); in addition, Wir werden die Versammlung besuchen (We will go to the meeting) - Wir nehmen an der Versammlung teil (We will take part in the meeting); further - Ich werde sein Verhalten beobachten (I will observe his behavior) - Ich gebe auf sein Verhalten acht (I will pay attention to his behavior). In the place that in the first case is occupied by a verb in an impersonal form (which is usually considered as a single whole together with a personal verb), in the second case there is a preposition or a noun, which are placed directly next to the verb only in the subordinate clause.

[…] This means that the question of the integrity of the word for the nominal parts of speech and for the verb should be decided differently. Only among names (and, above all, nouns) there are compound words that are given in the statement and in all types of syntactic links. The close connections that the verb enters into depend on time and, when forming a sentence, each time lead to a predictable result. […]

Compound word and infinitive

These circumstances play a role in the discussion about changing our orthography; we are talking about the question of whether it is necessary to write a noun and a verb together and, if necessary, when. By adhering to the rule of capitalizing nouns, we are forced to make a difficult decision. It is necessary to determine whether we will consider a noun, which, as it seems to us, is closely related to the verb, as a noun or as part of a verb, whether we will, therefore, along with teilnehmen (take part), achtgeben (pay attention), haushalten ( housekeeping) also write radfahren (to ride a bike), skilaufen (to ski), kopfstehen (to stand on one's head) (i.e., are we going to consider a noun as a verb element when it comes before an infinitive or before a verb form that ends subordinate clause). Today there seems to be a growing tendency to think that in such cases there is a close connection between the noun and the verb. The reason for this lies in the presence of corresponding nominal forms, on the model of which the verb forms are formed. Since we have the noun Haushalt (housekeeping), we say haushalten (household), because we know the word Radfahrer (cyclist), we use radfahren (to ride a bike); since we use Skilaufen (skiing) and Skiläufer (skier), we write skilaufen (to ski); the word blindflug (blind flight) refers to the appearance of the verb blindfliegen (to fly aloft), and the word hellsehen (to be perspicacious) is associated with the noun Hellseher (clairvoyant) (in the last two cases, the verb is combined with an adjective). Such formations are largely limited to the infinitive, so it is safe to say that in these cases the infinitives of verbs can be formed from compound nouns. […] Through this, the characteristic of the noun becomes, to a limited extent, suitable for the verb. In this case, a circular process takes place. At the beginning there is a phrase: Er fährt auf dem Rad (He rides a bicycle). Under the influence of a noun, it can develop into a real compound word, which then has traces of a syntactic connection erased (here, a preposition and an article), as always happens when nominal compound words are formed; the essence of a compound word is that it neutralizes syntactic relations that do not belong to the word, but only to the sentence. Therefore, Auf dem Rade fahren der Radfahrer (A cyclist rides a bicycle) appears. Since a new single concept is introduced here, the language would also like to have a single name denoting this action. This completes the circular process that leads from the phrase auf dem Rad fahren and the noun Radfahrer to the corresponding verb radfahren. How syntactic links can lead to the formation of an independent compound is shown by such compound words as Afrikareisender (explorer of Africa) (from: Er reist durch Afrika (He travels around Africa)) and Türsteher (gatekeeper) (from: er steht / immer / vor der Tür (He stands /always/ at the door)). Whether verbs will subsequently be formed from such nouns depends on the frequency of their use.

Saint Petersburg State University

Faculty of Philology

Department of English Philology

Work on translation practice

(in German)

Die Zusammensetzung im Deutschen

H. Brinkman

Compound words in German

(pp. 27 – 30)

Completed by a student of the 5th year, 10th group of the Department of English Philology

supervisor

St. Petersburg

German grammar, t. Henzen, W. Word formation in German, ed. 2. - 1957.

Weissagen is derived from wîs-sago, which in turn is a rethinking of dvn. wîzzago "prophet"

Reichling, A.: Het Woord (Nijenegen 1935).

« Others believe that death is better than the German language. It is difficult for me to solve this issue on the go, without preparation ... Deep philological research has led me to the conclusion that a person who is not devoid of abilities can learn English in thirty hours (excluding pronunciation and spelling), French in thirty days, and German in thirty years. From this it seems to follow that it would not hurt to cut off this last language and put things in order in it. If it remains in its current form, no matter how respectfully and delicately it would be necessary to hand it over to the archive, ranking it among the dead languages. For verily, only the dead have time to study it." (Mark Twain)

This quote from the appendix to Mark Twain's book Walking Europe clearly demonstrates what teachers sometimes have to deal with when teaching German. Some students believe that the German language is the most difficult subject among all disciplines studied at the university. And to a large extent this is facilitated by compound words (Komposita), of which there are a huge number in the German language. Moreover, many of them are the fruit of the author's imagination, they arise in the course of speech, and, therefore, the possibility of finding their translation in the dictionary is reduced to zero. The reference literature contains words consisting of "record" 68, 73 and even 99 letters. It is clear that in oral speech no one will ever be able to pronounce such a word without looking into the cheat sheet. But in technical texts, such words, of course, with fewer letters, are very common. The teacher's task is to teach students the basic methods of translating compound words, to form the skills of analyzing such "long" words. As always, the principle "from simple to complex" will help. So let's start with the basic rules of word formation.

In any language, new words constantly appear and old words disappear. The German language is no exception in this respect. For example, there are complex words that have come into use and are used constantly - der Güterwagen - a freight car, der Personenzug - a passenger train, der Bahnhof - station and others. But there are words that arise at the moment of speech, spontaneously, they are not in dictionaries. For example: der Bahnhofsangestellte - an employee at the station, der Bahnsteigsarbeiter - a worker on the platform, der Bahnsteigsignalwiederholer - a platform signal repeater.

These newly formed words may include different parts of speech: verbs, adjectives, nouns, participles, adverbs. The task of the teacher is to help the student analyze the compound word, highlight the roots, determine the main word, i.e. help you understand what is going on. So, compound nouns in German can be formed from the following combinations:

• noun + noun: die Bahn - road + das Gleis - path, track = das Bahngleis - railway track; die Güter - cargo + der Wagen - wagon = der Güterwagen - freight wagon; der Zug - train + die Bremsung - braking = die Zugbremsung - train braking.
• adjective + noun: schwer - difficult, heavy + die Achse - axis = die Schwerachse - axis of the center of gravity; leicht - easy + der Transporter - truck = der Leichttransporter - light vehicle; viel - a lot + die Achse - axle \u003d der Vielachser - multi-axle vehicle (trailer).
• verb + noun: fahren - to drive + die Eigenschaften - properties, qualities = die Fahreigenschaften - driving, dynamic qualities, befördern - to transport + die Leistung - performance, power, result = die Beförderungsleistung - traffic volume, freight turnover; steuern - control, regulate + die Nadel - needle = die Steuernadel - adjustable needle valve.
• preposition + noun: vor + der Alarm - alarm = der Voralarm - warning signal, nach + die Arbeit - work = die Nacharbeit - additional work, elimination of defects; mit + der Fahrer - driver = der Mitfahrer - fellow traveler, companion, passenger (on a motorcycle).
• adverb + noun: vorwärts – forward + die Bewegung – movement = die Vorwärtsbewegung – progressive movement, progress; fertig - ready + die Abmessung - size, size = die Fertigabmessung - final size; frei - free + der Balken - beam = der Freibalken - freely lying beam.
• particle + noun: nicht - not + der Raucher - smoker + das Abteil - compartment = das Nichtraucherabteil - compartment for non-smokers; nur - only + das Lesen - reading + der Speicher - storage device, memory = der Nur-Lese-Speicher - read-only memory;
• numeral + noun: drei - three + die Ecke - angle + die Feder - spring, spring = die Dreieckfeder - triangular spring; vier - four + die Draht - wire + der Anschluß - connection, joint + die Einheit - unit = die Vierdrahtanschlußeinheit - a device for switching from a two- to a four-wire circuit.

In compound words consisting of several roots, gender, case, number and part of speech are determined by the last word, for example:

die Hand - hand + das Gepäck - luggage = das hand gepä ck(hand luggage, hand luggage);

das Rad - wheel + drehen - rotate, turn + die Zahl - number = die Raddreh zahl(number of wheel revolutions; wheel rotation speed);

scheinen - shine + werfen - throw, throw + der Bogen - arc, arch + die Lampe - lamp = die Scheinwerferbogen lampe(projector arc lamp);

die Spirale - spiral + geschweißt (Partizip II from schweißen - weld) = spiralgeschweißt (with a welding seam in a spiral (about a pipe));

selbst - himself, independently + stellend (Partizip I from stellen - install, install) = selbststellende (Weiche) (automatic arrow);

drei - three + das Gleis - path, track = dreigleisige (Weiche) (double turnout).

But you should always remember that newly formed words may differ in their meaning from the words that make them up. So, for example, in the "German-Russian and Russian-German Dictionary" of "False Friends of the Translator" the following is given: der Meister is a master, and in the words der Baumeister is an architect, der Bühnenmeister is the head of the production, der Hausmeister is a janitor, doorkeeper, der Herdmeister - horn, der Zahlmeister - treasurer, head of financial allowance, the original word "master" in the translation is never found. Of course, a person who knows the original word "der Meister" will have difficulty translating complex words that include it. One more example can be given that clearly demonstrates how far the search words and the translation of the newly formed word are from each other: das Glück (happiness) + der Pilz (mushroom) = der Glückspilz (lucky, lucky, darling of fate). Nothing to do with the meaning of the word "mushroom", included in it. Or another example: grün (green) + der Schnabel (mouth, beak) = der Grünschnabel - newcomer, sucker. In German technical language, this is rather an exception to the rule. The last word in the compound is main, this is exactly what we are talking about, no matter how many roots there are in front of this main word:

der Leichtmetallspezialguter wagen- we are talking about a wagon, and all other words only characterize it - a special freight wagon with light metal elements;

die Starkstromschutz erdung– grounding – but in general: high current protective grounding.

Let us dwell on how compound words are written in German. They can be written with a hyphen or together. Often nouns are written with a hyphen when it is necessary to avoid repeated repetition of words. For example:

die Be- und Entladestelle - place of loading and unloading - the hyphen in this example replaces the word dieLadestelle;

die Ein- und Ausfahrtgleisen - reception - departure routes - word replacement die Fahrtgleisen;

die Bau- und Betriebsordnung - construction and operation rules - word replacement dieOrdnung.

Sometimes a compound word is written with a hyphen, in which it is necessary to emphasize the meaning of each word that makes it up: die Haus-Haus-Gepäckbeförderung - transportation of luggage “from house to house” or “from door to door”.

Usually, compound words are also written with a hyphen, which include proper names: der Baudot-Telegraf - Bodo's telegraph, das Diamont-Drehgestell - a trolley like "Diamond", etc.

The German technical language is characterized by the continuous spelling of compound words. When merged writing, there are several ways to connect the roots. Consider them:

• simple addition of the bases, without connecting elements (Fugenelement): der Gas + der Filter = der Gasfilter - gas filter; der Druck + die Luft + die Pumpe = die Druckluftpumpe - air pump, compressor; das Öl + der Spiegel = der Ölspiegel - oil level;
• with connecting elements (Fugenelemente) -e, -es, -en, -ens, -n, -s, er:

-e– der Weg + e+ die Brücke = die Weg e brücke - an overpass over the railway bed;

-es–das Land + die Bank = die Land es bank - land (regional) bank; das Jahr + der Verkehr = der Jahr es verkehr is the annual traffic volume;

-en– die Schicht + der Plan = der Schicht en plan – horizontal plan; (often, part of a compound word coincides with the plural form of the noun included in its composition); die Gefahr + die Bremse = die Gefahr en bremse - brake in case of danger;

-ens– das Herz + der Freund = der Herz ens freund - cordial, bosom friend

-n– die Rampe + die Brücke = die Rampe n brücke - a bridge with a canvas running along a slope; die Glocke + das Signal = das Glocke n signal - the signal given by the bell;

-s– der Betrieb + der Dienst = der Betrieb s dienst - traffic or operation service; die Abfahrt + das Gleis = das Abfahrt s gleis is the way of departure.

er- das Rad (die Räder - plural) + das Gestell = das Rädergestell - wheelset (part of the compound word coincides with the plural form of the noun included in it); das Gut (die Güter - plural) + der Zug = der Güterzug - freight train.

• with the help of word truncation (i.e. a word without an ending), nouns are usually formed from verb + noun phrases: rangieren + der Bahnhof = der Rangierbahnhof - marshalling yard; bestellen + der Zettel = der Bestellzettel - demand sheet; drehen + das Moment = das Drehmoment - torque, torque; laufen + der Abschnitt = der Laufabschnitt - section of the car run.
• by word truncation + adding connecting vowels: bremsen + das Haus + der Wagen = Brems er hauswagen - a wagon with a brake pad.
• In words borrowed from other languages, -i, -o, -al are used as a connecting element (Fugenelement): die Differenti al bremsung - differential braking, der Elektr o motor - electric motor, die Radi al achse - moving axle.

Compound words without connecting elements (Fugenelemente) can be formed by combining an adjective and a noun:
· hoch + die Bahn = die Hochbahn - elevated, elevated railway; leer + das Gewicht = das Leergewicht - empty weight (of the wagon); stark + der Strom = der Starkstrom - strong current;
· noun and noun: das Rad + die Last = die Radlast – pressure from the wheel on the rail; der Schnee + die Lokomotive = die Schneelokomotive - snowplow;
· as well as from the connection of service parts of speech (preposition, particle, union) and a noun: neben + die Bahn = die Nebenbahn - access road, line of secondary importance; mehr + die Leistung = die Mehrleistung - excess power; vor + aus + das Fahren = das Vorausfahren - overtaking.
The difficulty lies in the fact that there are no rules that would explain why in one case it is so, and in another it is different, because even the same word, being part of compound words, can be attached using different connecting elements:
die Fahrt - trip, flight; die Fahrtanweisung - permission to depart; der Fahrt en speicher - route accumulator; die Farbe - color; das Farbglas - colored (signal glass); die Farb en scheibe - colored disk (electric centralization device); die Fracht - cargo, freight charge; der Frachtbrief - railway bill of lading; der Fracht en bahnhof - goods station.
The difficulty of translating compound words also lies in the fact that sometimes the adjectives that make up the word can change the root vowel: kalt - cold, die Kaltbrücke - a place with poor thermal insulation in the wall of the car (the vowel has not changed); die Kälteanlage - refrigeration unit (the vowel acquired an umlaut). Or: warm - warm; die Warmauswaschanlage - warm washing device; die Wärmeabfuhr - heat transfer, heat leakage.
When translating complex words, prefixes must also be taken into account, since they also affect the translation of the word, changing its meaning. For example: der Fahrkartenverkauf - sale of railway tickets, and in the word der Fahrkarten vor verkauf - advance ticket sales - prefix vor is of key importance.
We can give an example of how to the already known word das Gleis - path, track, other words are added one by one, which ultimately leads to the creation of a "monster" - a very complex word consisting of several roots. So, der Gleisbau - track construction (2 roots), die Gleisbaustelle - track construction site (3 roots), die Gleisbremsmaschinenanlage - machine installation of wagon retarders (4 roots), der Gleisbildstellwerkmeister - relay system centralization master with a scoreboard panel (5 roots) – and this is not the limit. In my practice, there were cumbersome words from 9-10 roots. Of course, students cannot cope with the translation on their own. Therefore, as always, we go from simple to complex. So, the rules for translating complex German words. Remember that the main thing is base word standing on last place. It determines the gender and number of the entire compound word.
1. The defining word is translated by an adjective, which is a definition for the main word: der Bauzug - construction and installation train; der Vorortbahnhof is a suburban station.
2. The defining word is translated by a noun in the genitive case: der Stellapparat - centralization apparatus, die Leitungsstrecke - section of the transmission line.
3. The defining word is translated by a noun with a preposition: die Rückfahrkarte - ticket on the return journey, die Staubdüse - nozzle for pulverized fuel, die Flanschendichtung - gasket between flanges, der Rückleistungsschutz - protection from reverse power, der Rückstellhebel - lever with counterweight.
4. A compound German noun sometimes corresponds to a compound noun in Russian: die Neubauten - new buildings, der Hubschrauber - helicopter.
5. But the most amazing thing is when a complex German word can be translated in one simple word of the Russian language: die Bahnüberführung - viaduct, overpass; der Brennstoff - fuel, fuel. But this is rather an exception to the rule.
When translating complex German words (Komposita), attention should be paid to the correctness of the translation of the term, since the German language is characterized by polysemy of words, and the correct choice of the meaning of even a seemingly familiar word can become decisive. So, for example, the words familiar from the first year of study: die Mutter - mother, der Kopf - head, die Luft - air, die Sohle - sole, der Pilz - mushroom - acquire new meanings in German technical language, becoming a "false friend". For example: der Bahnhofs kopf– station neck, die Luft- backlash, gap, clearance, der Luken pilz- hatch oval, das Mutter gleis - the main path for the output of the formed composition, die Mutter hülse - bushing with internal thread, die Sohle- floor level, bottom. Therefore, when translating, a purely mechanical substitution of a Russian word instead of a “familiar” German one leads to nonsense.
« There are a number of very useful words in the German language. For example, the word Schlag and the word Zug. In the dictionary, “Shlyag” has three-quarters of a column, and “Tsugu” has one and a half.
Its direct meaning is draft, draft, movement, procession, column, line, herd, flock, team, convoy, train, caravan, line, line, stroke, chess move, netting, breathing, death cramp, agony, gun cutting, lace. When its legal appendages are attached to the word “Zug”, it can mean absolutely everything in the world – scientists have not yet been able to discover a meaning that is unusual for it.” Mark Twain
And again, the reference to Mark Twain shows how difficult it is sometimes from several meanings of a familiar word der Zug choose the correct one according to the context. The student, as a rule, chooses the first one, which is not always suitable for this sentence. It came to curiosities when a student translated "The naked conductor ran around the car", while the correct translation is "The bare wire passed through the car." The student translates without thinking much about the meaning of the words and without choosing: nackt- naked or naked and derLeiter- wire, conductor, but electric current, not a person.
Another peculiarity in translating complex German words (Komposita) is that sometimes a German word can only be translated descriptively, using a few words. The following words can be cited as an example: die Bahnbetriebsspannung - operating voltage in the contact wire of an electric railway; die Zugleitung - train traffic control, die Stoßstufe - the excess of one end of the rail over the other at the junction.
So, having considered in this article the numerous ways of forming compound words (Komposita), the features of writing them, all kinds of ways to translate “long” words, we can draw the following conclusion: having met a long word in a technical article, first, analyze it, disassemble it into components parts. But remember that the main word is the last word. It determines the gender, number or part of speech of a given word. Secondly, do not be lazy, look into the dictionary, find this main word there, then, if you are unfamiliar with the rest of the words, find them, and only then, and this is already, thirdly, start carefully connecting them all together so that your the translation took on a "pretty" look. And I would like to end with the statement of my beloved Mark Twain:
“It is not so difficult to read a German book - you just need to bring it to a mirror or stand on your head to reverse the order of words - in my opinion, not a single foreigner is able to learn to read and understand a German newspaper”
Mark Twain

Splicing two or more words is one of the main ways of word formation in German. For example, das Haus (house) + der Garten (garden) = der Hausgarten (house garden). In German, such words are called Komposita, that is, compound words.

Splicing words is very convenient, because it does not need to coordinate words among themselves by gender and case. Compare, for example, the word die Zimmerpflanze and the Russian translation "houseplant". In the German version, two words are simply written together, while in Russian we have a whole phrase with a complex grammatical structure.

When forming compound words in German, the article, gender and case are determined by the last word in the link, but the stress always falls on the first word. For example, der Handschuh (mitten).

What do you already know about compound words in German?

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Ways to form compound words in German

Compound words in German can be formed not only from splicing several nouns, but also from splicing:

• adjectives and nouns, e.g. weiß (white) + der Wein (wine) = der Weißwein (white wine), groß (large) + das Projekt (project) = das Großprojekt (large project),
• verbs and nouns, e.g. schreiben (to write) + der Tisch (table) = der Schreibtisch (desk), fahren (to drive) + das Zeug (object) = das Fahrzeug (vehicle), schwimmen (to swim), das Bad ( bathroom) = das Schwimmbad (pool),
• adverbs and nouns, e.g. wieder (again) + die Gabe (gift) = die Wiedergabe (playback), vorwärts (forward) + die Bewegung (movement) = die Vorwärtsbewegung (forward movement), links (to the left) + der Abbieger (that who is turning) = der Linksabbieger (vehicle turning left),
• pronouns and nouns, e.g. all (all) + die Macht (power) = die Allmacht (omnipotence), ich (I) + Kult (cult) = der Ich-Kult (cult of self), wir (we) + das Gefühl (feeling) = das Wir-Gefühl (feeling of unity),
• prepositions and nouns, e.g. mit (with) + der Arbeiter (worker) = der Mitarbeiter (employee), vor (before) + die Speise (food) = die Vorspeise (aperitif), nach (after) + der Winter (winter) = der Nachwinter (spring frost),
• particles and nouns, e.g. nicht (not) + die Achtung (respect) = die Nichtachtung (disrespect), nicht (not) + die Anerkennung (recognition) = die Nichtanerkennung (non-recognition), nur (only) + der Hausmann (householder) = der Nurhausmann (non-working householder),
• adjectives and adjectives, e.g. hell (light) + blau (blue) = hellblau (light blue), dunkel (dark) + grün (green) = dunkelgrün (dark green), dunkel (dark) + rot (red) = dunkelrot (dark red).

Some compound words are built using the so-called frozen forms (German: Scheinwort), that is, words that are not used in modern German by themselves, but for some historical reasons are still preserved as part of some words. For example, Auerochse (bison), Brombeere (blackberry), Damhirsch (doe).

longest word in german

If you have already understood how compound words work, then you are probably interested in knowing how long words can be in German. In 1999, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Germany) passed a law transferring the responsibility for beef labeling control. The official German wording of the law is Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz. Impressive, right? Indeed, this is a living example of how a whole sentence of the modern German language can become one word!

It is not surprising that many deputies laughed at this wording. After that, the Minister of Agriculture of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Til Backhaus, apologized for the excessive length of the title of the law.

More German practice with Eliane

If you want to master the art of forming complex words in German, sign up for first free lesson in our online center. The session will be led by one of our professional tutors from Germany– Christoph Deininger and Eliane Roth. They will be happy to answer all your questions related to the German language and German culture, as well as help you create the optimal class schedule.