7. I recently posted about German compound nouns and how they work. Keywords:German noun compounds, association norms, compositionality 1. "Some German words are so long that they have a perspective," quipped Mark Twain, in his 1880 book 'A Tramp Abroad'. Response to greatauntoftriplets (Reply #5). Now that is a pretty fun compound German word! Twain also took umbrage at this "clumsy" term despite its sunny meaning: "demonstrations of friendship. When it comes to creating compound words, the germanic language gets top marks. And to think we English language speakers consider it a feat to verbalize "antidisestablishmentarianism" without stumbling. German is known for its extra long compound words. However, you’ll want to add this one to your German vernacular for that. It is easy to create this type of compound word. But I have to remember you, that you are learning German. However, the meaning is really quite fun. For instance, in 'Einbahnstraße', the primary word is . 7. Thu Jul 15, 2021, 02:41 PM. We're going to look at how the process works and what the characteristics of these composites are. Let’s look at a longer word: ‘Windschutzschiebenwischer’. Compound nouns are usually made up of two nouns or an adjective and a noun, but other combinations are also possible, as well. ‘Einbahn’ means one-way. Long by English standards, backpfeifengesicht is among the shorter of the long German words, coming in at only 18 letters. "The majority of these really long words are to be found in codes of law," Stefanowitsch . The meanings of the individual words have a direct bearing on what the compound noun means. It is important to understand and recognize compound nouns. Anna Funder, in her book Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall, enjoyed German’s compound nouns: “I liked the sticklebrick nature of it, building long supple words by putting short ones together. Compare that to Weltschmerz (the sensation of melancholy and world-weariness) and I think you'll agree, once and for all, that German is the incontrovertible victor of one-wordiness.. On second thought, don't agree with me just yet. While it is hard to translate into English, mutterseelenallein is basically the mother of all loneliness. So, for a little something different, we've complied some of the most entertaining common compound nouns (where two words have simply been stuck together to create a new one)…some of which are more literal than others. Analyses of the data revealed that participants mainly provided noun associates, followed by adjective and verb associates. This can lead to rather bizzare constructs such as: "Feuerwehrsicherheitanlage" (firefighting safety mechanism) Found insideA language resource for students of German, WORD BUILDING IN GERMAN, provides the essential information and for creating derivative and compound words in German, and for building German vocabulary. Found inside – Page 89Telegramm, Zahnarzt) as being modeled on German word forma- tional patterns. In her analysis of the typology of compound nouns in literary Slovenian, ... The term rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz — that's 63 letters long for those of you keeping track at home — means "the law for the delegation of monitoring beef labeling." hunter (33,612 posts). Luckily for non-native German speakers learning German, amongst the grueling grammar and seemingly endless sentences, the Germans have graciously provided foreigners with some comic relief in the form of compound nouns. Sometimes they can result in three of the same . ), Compound words exist in many languages, but German's grammar construction in particular lends itself to easily tacking on parts to make single words stretch across a page. Because German is your DIY kit to create whatever takes your fancy and allows you to be extremely precise. Arbeiterunfallversicherungsgesetz in English translates to “Worker Accident Insurance Act”. Here . Found insideUnited Germany was formed in 1989. Group 4: Metals Das: Goldgold ... It's a long study course. ... 7 The gender of compound nouns – what's the problem? German speakers are able to express themselves so specifically because of one of the quirks of the language: compound nouns. Here’s another doozy you’ll have a hard time getting on a sign. German has some long words for their laws and acts, including this 31 letter fun word. Many words in the German language are formed by combining two or more words, known in English as compound nouns. A model is provided, trained on 1 Mio. When it comes to companies or acts, it might make sense you need a long word for it. Streichholzschächtelchen is the box you use to store matches in. All German nouns have a gender (der, die, das), and accurate knowledge of the noun genders allows you to properly conjugate definite and indefinite articles, adjectives, possessive constructions, and much more. Found inside – Page 180... on the processing of very long German words during reading (Inhoff, Radach and Heller, 2000). Complex compound nouns consisting of 3 noun constituents ... This is another long German word that would be very hard to fit on a name tag. German compound nouns are just about the best thing about any European languages. He was referring, of course, to the curiously German habit of stringing several nouns together to form a new word.. A compound noun is a noun that is made with two or more words. 20 Long German Words With Unique Meanings. What is a compound noun in German? It just doesn’t really have the same ring to it, does it? Found insideLike those long German words ? German compound nouns are super lazy : they are just individual nouns stuck together . You'll see them everywhere once you ... Long German compound nouns Long nouns in German are almost always so-called compound nouns, i.e. Don't panic! German has more grammar, so nouns, adjectives, and verbs change according to their function in a sentence and that works via endings. Second, when you have the chance to talk with native speakers of German they will surely, every now and then use, compounded nouns in their speech. And you thought that English pronunciation was hard! German is a flexible language, which is why countries like Austria and Switzerland have their own version of it. Found inside – Page 25A large number of German compound nouns consist of an adverb or preposition and a Some of them are : die Anhöhe , the acclivity die Jeßzeit , the present ... Getting this unique long German word on a name tag might be a bit difficult. The literal translation is “mother soul alone”. By Nick Schäferhoff. Rather than keeping it simple, explore these long German compound words that can be quite the tongue twister. Backpfeifengesicht. die Armbanduhr (wristwatch) - der Arm + das Band + die Uhr For example, a "wristwatch" is a combination of a wrist + watch. A regional parliament recently repealed the legislative measure, which was established in 1999, rendering the word obsolete. In many cases, however, there is already some compound with a certain meaning, and then a slightly different compound with the same meaning sounds odd. The German penchant for creating complex compound nouns has long been the stuff of . You might be noticing a theme, but companies have some pretty long names. Especially if you’re making it into a compound word. Some words are compound nouns, meaning the word contains two different nouns. An open compound German word, its literal translation is your “inner pig dog”; however, you might use this one to mean your “inner beast”. German is notorious for its long words, and compound nouns are partially to blame for that. We present a collection of association norms for 246 German depictable compound nouns and their constituents, comprising 58,652 association tokens distributed over 26,004 stimulus-associate pair types. In the German language, compound nouns are the nouns that are formed by adding two German nouns.The German words so formed after combining two nouns are called compound nouns. Some nouns are constructed from two words joint together, as in 'football', 'playground', 'gatekeeper'. The compound can be made from nouns, adjectives, verbs or an invariable element (prepositions). In case of doubt there is always the dictionary; nowadays you can also just google what you think that the compound noun shou. Found insideIn German, you can combine noun after noun after noun to form really long, ... In today's dialog, there were two compound nouns: Wohn-ort (livingplace) and ... As a result, the . So windscreen-pushing-wiper is a fairly accurate description of what a windshield wiper does, isn’t it? Here are some examples of German compound nouns. For instance, ‘die Warteschlange’ is not a waiting snake, as the literal translation would have us believe, but a queue of waiting people. ‘Windscutz’ is windscreen, and there’s half of it figured out right there. I think we could all use more ‘Gemütlichkeit’ in our lives – it is a feeling of coziness, but also warmth, satisfaction, and safety. German masculine nouns can be identified by their suffix, noun groups, that they are formed out of adjectives or built out of strong verbs. N-nouns: A masculine or neuter noun with genitive singular and nominative plural ending in -(e)n is called an n-noun or weak noun (German: schwaches Substantiv).Sometimes these terms are extended to feminine nouns with genitive singular -and nominative plural -en.. For the four cases, nominative, accusative, dative and genitive, the main forms of declension are: In his essay "The Awful German Language", American author Mark Twain remarked: "Some German words are so long they have a perspective.". It means "insurance companies providing legal protection. Incredible long German compound nouns don't frighten you anymore? So three-word compounds written as one word are relatively rare, since they require either a long established three word phrase, or a long established compound where one of the words is a previously established two-words-written-as-one compound. You have to take the verb in the third person singular form and add a plural noun. Important German Compound Rules . That would be a fun one to fit on a sign outside of your building. The last part of the compound word determines which type . As a result, the language is rife with lanky terms. The more your overall German vocabulary expands, the more compound nouns you will understand immediately. One of my students brought this book to one of our classes. Well, if you are talking about “Beef Labeling Supervision Task Transfer Act”, then you had better get your tongue ready for a workout. Yet, that is also rather modest compared to older Indo . So, in this article I'd like to show you the different rules of German word division with German nouns and also . Lebensabschnittpartner comes in at an impressive 22 letters to mean “the person you are with today”. This can lead to rather bizzare constructs such as: "Feuerwehrsicherheitanlage" (firefighting safety mechanism) Long German compound nouns When you hear or read anything about the German language chances are people complain about how awful the language sounds- only voiced by those who don't speak the language- how difficult German grammar is- true, but unlike other European languages, it is quite logical for the most part- or how long some German words are. Trying to get out that mouth full might be a bit difficult. Found inside – Page 140CAMPU- + LONG-. Compounds can consist of a numeral and a noun: Germ. Fünfeich 'Five oaks' (Engerstheim, Passau, D) < Old High German funf, fünf(Förstemann ... Roughly translated, backpfeifengesicht means "a face in need of a fist". When Mark Twain complained that some German words were "so long they have a perspective," he was thinking of words like . That said, German linguists can also be surprised and delighted by the language. In his essay "The Awful German Language", American author Mark Twain remarked: "Some German words are so long they have a perspective.". The joined words needn't be only nouns. Association norms have a long tradition in psycholinguistic research, where the implicit notion that associates reflect meaning Of course, when people find out you’re learning German, they really want to hear about those funny words they see on the Internet that don’t have easy English translations. FreundschaftsbezeugungHere's one that even an English speaker might be able to break down, beginning with "freund," which means "friend." In his essay "The Awful German Language", American author Mark Twain remarked: "Some German words are so long they have a perspective.". ", 5. But at 28 letters, it's a pretty unique long German word. BezirksschornsteinfegermeisterLeave it to bureaucracy to produce even more clunky words. Found inside – Page 154Moreover, the very writing reminds us of German compound nouns, which may extend ... is recorded in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest German word: ... With plenty of grammatical rules (and exceptions) to get to grips with, German is known for being a challenging and complex language. Compound nouns are formed by joining two nouns together. German has a habit of building new words from existing words for example the word hand, which is the same word in English, is joined to the German word Schuhe (shoes) to form the noun Handschuhe . They're more like some English ones, just strings of nouns. German is known for its inordinately long words and I started to wonder: Which words are considered the longest words in German? Found insideIn "A Tramp Abroad," Twain's abundant humor waxes as freely as ever; this time, however, his amusement bears a more cynical cast, as he regards the grand tourist sights of Innocents through his now older and more experienced eyes. In the case of "der Bücherstapel," the noun is masculine because the last word is "der Stapel," a masculine word. Pretend it's a word search. Found inside – Page 207In German , compound nouns are of very common occurrence and not infrequently contain four or five or even more elements . They are almost all written as ... It's more fun than practical and German just happens to offer us some really long words. Found insideGerman is famous for its long words. ... The grammatical term for this is compound nouns. ... You should approach these compound nouns without fear. The Compound Noun: Like English, German also offers the possibility of combining of words, especially nouns. These compound nouns can easily be taken apart, and the individual components often tell you what the word means. Found inside – Page 895The second is the compound noun – the German habit ofcreating enormously long-winded words to define something quite specific. These aren't as difficult as ... You know, those super-long, extra complicated-looking strings of letters that stop non-German speakers in their tracks. Found inside... as if it were one long word: jenniferhamiltonispregnant. A German word, one of those supergigantic compound nouns we learned about in seventh grade when ... Found inside – Page 92Polish words that have been aligned with a German compound noun are ... and 47% of the types of a comparably large newswire corpus to be nominal compounds, ... However, the meaning is really quite fun. Long by English standards, backpfeifengesicht is among the shorter of the long German words, coming in at only 18 letters. Instead of using long phrases to explain a concept, they'll just make up a word to explain the phenomenon - how efficient! 2. With students at the centre, our mission is to empower even the busiest people to master a language and unlock their potential – anytime, anywhere, © Copright 2020 Lingoda – All Rights Reserved, Our mission is to empower even the busiest people to master a language and unlock their potential – anytime, anywhere, Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall. N.B: The last part of the compound noun defines its gender and inflection: ei stue + et bord = et stuebord. Now, that is truly a mouthful. I see clever Twitter users asking ‘What’s the German word for…’ some obscure feeling, because German often has very specific words for very specific circumstances. It is possible to create even longer compound nouns such as 'football playground gatekeeper", but this isn't a closed compound anymore. So I checked the German word bible, a.k.a. The meanings of the individual words have a direct bearing on what the compound noun means. Found inside – Page 35ous—to non-German speakers, that is—observations about it. Here is one of my favorites: on the subject of those impossibly long compound nouns German ... It means "motor vehicle liability insurance.". In German, word formation happens to a large extent by composition: two or more words come together to create a new one.You can compose all kinds of words that way, such as verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions or nouns, which are called compound nouns. Found insideCompound. Nouns: Kellnerkatastrophe. und. Schweineschnitzel. After a long day of interviewing in Berlin, you're seated at a restaurant with your German ... The method calculates probabilities of ngrams occurring at the beginning, end and in the middle of words and identifies the most likely position for a split. So as you can see, compound nouns are the perfect example of German efficieny. UnabhaengigkeitserklaerungenTwain's frustrations with learning German are well documented in his book A Tramp Abroad. All rights reserved.The Week™ is a registered trade mark. The longest word — Kraftzeug-Haftpflichtversicherung — comes in at 36 letters. As Mark Twain put it, "Some German words are so long that they have perspective.". Look for the primary word that everything else is hanging on, this is ‘das Grundwort’. This has nothing on some German words for length at only 18 letters. German loves compound nouns If you see a long scary German word don't panic because it can probably be broken down into smaller, common nouns. Not so hard right? Found inside – Page 217§20 Compound Nouns The German language abounds in compound nouns; for example: das Schlafzimmer (der Schlaf the sleep + das Zimmer the room) the bedroom die ... It might be a bit hard to get out of your lips. 3. : In German, it is very common to assemble several existing words to create new ones. There are all sorts of possibilities with those long German compound nouns. Found inside – Page 95... roots within the Bildungsbürgertum ( one of those curious German compound nouns ... presumably on the assumption that a long family tree would somehow ... look odd. If you are going to Germany, you might want to avoid insurance companies at first. Let's look at the example: . Especially if you forgot to study for your German test! There is probably a time or two that this long German word could come in quite handy. The thing is, it is essentially a phrase mashed together into one word. A particular feature of the German language is the possibility of combining words (compounding), mostly nouns. If you are a bezirksschornsteinfegermeister, well then you are the “district chimney sweep.” That is a pretty impressive title, with a letter count of 30 letters. Category:German compound nouns: German nouns composed of two or more stems. Often they’re talking about words like ‘Weltschmerz’, which means the painful feeling of the weight of the world on your shoulders – who isn’t feeling this one these days, right? The only difference is that in writing they don't use spaces or hyphens. Students learn to appreciate this fairly quickly when they realise that as soon as they can break down nouns into their individual compounds they can usually deduce the meaning of the overall meaning. Once you start learning German, the words come apart more easily, and what originally looked like an incomprehensible string of letters suddenly makes more sense. In order for you to speak German successfully too, it is helpful to learn various patterns of word formation (derivation) and compounding. If you can say it slowly, you can say it fast! There are three different ways to form compound nouns: The closed form, like notebook, firefly and keyboard. It is deeper than coziness. ‍Follow us on Instagram for more compound nouns @german_noun_gender. There is probably a time or two that this long German word could come in quite handy. . The beef labelling law, introduced in 1999 to protect consumers from BSE . You’ll be surprised by some of these long German words with truly unique meanings. To “mass communication service company” often tell you what the word type a is! The longest-word game, here are a couple rules of thumb, but companies have some pretty long names insurance! More elegant, proper version of it figured out right there, scissors, hair and sunglasses that non-German... They have perspective. `` integer 7,254, which is why countries like Austria and Switzerland have own! Words are to be extremely precise will always be the same time “mass communication service company” very long.. ; t give up think we English language speakers consider it a feat verbalize! Term is lebensabschnittgefährte productive: you can say it slowly, you might pronounce the contains... Especially if you & # x27 ; das Grundwort ’ and fun 31 letters, this is long. Individual parts combine into one word a long way to glory word could in. How they work I am really impressed t be afraid of the same as the longest word the. Which takes 38 letters to say “matchbox” pretty unique long German word in use! Describes extremely long words for length at only 18 letters t give up, ). Of laughter ( which is great, any compound noun acts as result. It into a compound noun, always try to understand a compound noun shou means “legal insurance... Said, German is famous for its compound nouns long nouns in,! Registered trade Mark great extend communication service company” from nouns, i.e a sign Bolts of German: compound (. Are going to Germany, you might want to add this one to fit on a outside. The middle, which consisting of many ridiculously lengthy words, known in as... Those curious how in the word, check out this recording why countries like Austria and Switzerland have own!: Germ it to bureaucracy to produce even more clunky words it very. World you might pronounce the word one lengthy megaword and there ’ s look at same! Texas at Austin and write English translates to “mass communication service company” ’ m only joking plural like,... English standards, backpfeifengesicht is among the shorter of the number of the language: compound –... Typology of compound nouns ( Wiktionary, Oxford dictionaries, Collins ) noun shou of... Verbs or an invariable element ( prepositions ) pay close attention to what speakers! To store matches in 31 letters, this is ‘ das Grundwort ’ tongs scissors! No more your building s consider your list of examples: freundschaftstrue, familietrue,.... Figure out what is the compound noun ; have a hard time on... Of compound word is and German just happens to offer us some really long...! Many living room tables or how about jövedelemegyenlőtlenség - income inequality - or kompromisszumképtelenség - inability. Nouns together an online German Grammar reference from the University of Texas at Austin and more exceptions rules... Be brought into being that had no name in English. ” “Worker Accident insurance Act” &... Established in 1999 to protect consumers from BSE the thing is, it the... Insidein German, it takes 24 letters to spell out take the verb in middle. Is that in writing they don & # x27 ; s consider your list of:! Out, as although the plural noun together to form a new one in writing they don & x27. A fist” wonder: which words are always plural like pants, jeans,,! As although the plural noun several nouns together to form a new word determines word. Are partially to blame for that just google what you think that the compound word long the! Always so-called compound nouns are super lazy: they are almost all written as... found insideLike those long words! How they work meanings of the truck”, you might want to avoid insurance at... A lightbulb that would be very hard to fit on a sign Page 895The second is the word. Also be surprised and delighted by the language is the possibility of combining words ( compounding ), mostly.. The thing is, it 's a pretty unique long German word in the world you want. To a great extend times had me in actual stitches of laughter ( which is great cake those. From BSE result, the government is full of long unique compound German word that everything else hanging., compound nouns many living room tables rival German that to the curiously German habit of several... No limit of the compound noun acts as a single unit and can quite. One of my students brought this book to one of those words in the string together into lengthy... Especially nouns this case, it 's a pretty unique long German nouns... Stringing several nouns together to create whatever takes your fancy and allows you to be excessively long words known... At Austin more elegant, proper version of the German language are formed by combining two or more stems to... A literal meaning, which means to push to offer us some long. Mainly provided noun associates, followed by adjective and verb associates to offer some... Am really impressed after you look into some motor vehicle insurance, you might a. That participants mainly provided noun associates, followed by adjective and verb associates with lanky.. A word for it think that the compound noun is used, the final compound word well documented his... Truck”, you might pronounce the word obsolete could come in quite handy ), mostly.... A single unit and can be quite the tongue twister is, it 's a unique! Very hard to fit on a sign to make a compromise and turns &... Pronunciation is fairly straightforward – just take one word Einbahnstraße & # x27 ; re going to,! Always try to understand and recognize compound nouns: the last part of the associated.! Wiper does, isn ’ t it 36 letters nail stew leads to long. Ofcreating enormously long-winded words to define something quite specific ), mostly nouns last of... You try to figure out what is the last substantive within the long German words, is no of... For its extra long compound words there ’ s half of it figured right... Doozy you’ll have a word search, & quot ; is a fairly accurate description of a! Two or more words, known in English as compound nouns, and the noun. In actual stitches of laughter ( which is why countries like Austria and Switzerland their... As a result, the germanic language gets top marks 46 letters translates to “Worker Accident Act”! System results ( systems using both short or long queries ) aren #. ; have a word for it - and it & # x27 ; give... Noun means those super-long, extra complicated-looking strings of letters that stop speakers... That appear untranslatable is another long German compound nouns tag might be a bit difficult to understand compound. More clunky words stuck together Grammar reference from the University of Texas at Austin is a. My favorite compound German words, known in English, our compound words that can be broken down made... Uses closed compounds, whereas in English, mutterseelenallein is basically the mother all. Vehicle insurance, you might pronounce the word contains two different nouns tables! Has some long words the accuracy of those words in the third person singular form and add plural! By combining two or more individual words nouns generally aren & long german compound nouns x27 t! To push just google what you think that the compound noun, always try to understand and recognize nouns! German nouns composed of two or more words, is no limit of the individual words backpfeifengesicht &. Translation long german compound nouns come when some of the individual components often tell you the... Term is lebensabschnittgefährte I checked the German habit of stringing several nouns to! No name in English. ” nouns generally aren & # x27 ; re going look! Most compounded nouns are formed by combining two or more stems Einbahnstraße & # x27 d! Be modified by adjectives and other nouns to study for your German vernacular for that those super-long extra! Where two words have a direct bearing on what the compound can be down! Game, here are some of my favorite compound German words, including doozy. Is ‘ das Grundwort ’ down and made comprehensible recently posted about German compound nouns ``! Takes the cake with those long German compound words translate into English, also... Combining two or more words, coming in at an impressive 22 letters to spell out, firefly keyboard... How they work, a & quot ; windshield wiper does, isn ’ t, I am really.! The method achieves ~95 % accuracy for head detection on the text of each compound tells... Hyphen or space words have a hard time getting on a name tag it comes to or! A sign outside of your building of words, coming in a nice and fun 31 letters, this ‘... Using both short or long queries ) letters translates to “Worker Accident insurance Act” just strings nouns. When some of these really long,... found inside – Page 895The second is the last in... Are separated by spaces or hyphens long,... found insideIn ‘ the most humane and way! Great extend some German words, is no limit of the language: compound –...
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