The Compounding of English Words: When and why Joining Or Separation is Preferable, with Concise Rules and Alphabetical Lists |
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accent actual adverb after-consideration analogous apple arbitrary attributive beef blackcap blue blue-fish Box drain brick certainly church classification common compound noun compound words considered coolwort course court Cusco dead defined diamond dictionary vocabularies distinction door-key double English language erroneous exemplified expression fact flying fore French Geneva Bible German given glass Goold Brown grammarians greenfish hair half hyphen hyphened compound idea Imperial Indian instance iron joint Jones's kind law merchant lexicographers literal logical masterwort matter meaning merchant merely pairs paper phrase pig metal potato pound preposition principle proper compound proper form properly two words reason regular construction rule salt sawwort says seems sense separate adjective separate words side similar single word solid form solid words Spanish sparrowwort sulphurwort thing ticket tion tionary tive two-word form usage verb Webster's dictionary Webster's International wild Worcester Worcester's wort write written
Popular passages
Page 16 - Restore us, and regain the blissful seat, — form in the estimation of the logician only one name ; one Categorematic term. A mode of determining whether any set of words makes only one name, or more than one, is by predicating something of it, and observing whether, by this predication, we make only one assertion or several.
Page 22 - BUT the mortallest enemy unto knowledge, and that which hath done the greatest execution upon truth, hath been a peremptory adhesion unto authority ; and more especially, the establishing of our belief upon the dictates of antiquity.
Page 116 - HARRISON.— ON THE RISE, PROGRESS, AND PRESENT STRUCTURE of the ENGLISH LANGUAGE. By the Rev. M. HARRISON, MA late Fellow of Queen's College, Oxford. Post 8vo. 8s. 6d. cloth. HARRY HIEOVER.— THE HUNTING-FIELD. By HARRY HIEOVER, Author of " Stable-Talk and Table-Talk ; or, Spectacles for Young Sportsmen.
Page 30 - The general principle followed in this work is to refrain from using the hyphen, (1) when the words have the same meaning in unconnected succession as when joined, and (2) when the compound may have the form of a continuous word without confusing the eye.
Page 5 - COMPOUNDS. t) 394. Compound words in English, as distinguished from derivatives, have received comparatively but little attention ; yet, from the great variety of the component parts, and the different relations in which they stand to each other, it is evident that these words deserve a more minute investigation. Composition is the union of two independent words in order to form one. This union may be more or less complete. I. Imperfect Composition. — When the two words denote distinct attributes...
Page 51 - help to the sense" is not always equally necessary, nor its need equally appreciated in the same place, it is impossible that its use should be uniform. Nevertheless after-consideration, as used above, is on the way to become a single word, which reconsideration (chiefly because re- is not a separate word, but also because we have reconsider) is reckoned to be...
Page 117 - When two substantives are in apposition, and either of the two is separately applicable to the person or thing designated, the hyphen should be omitted ; as, Lord chancellor. When they are not in apposition, and only one of the two is separately applicable to the person or thing, the hyphen should be inserted ; as, a horse-dealer, one who is a dealer, but not a horse. When the first substantive serves the purpose of an...
Page 129 - ... 2. A few compounds, mostly pronouns or adverbs, of very common occurrence; as, Jiere'upon', nevertheless', what'soev'er, 3. Compounds terminating in monger ; as, ir'onmon'ger. § 206. . II. When one of the words of which a compound is formed is pronounced without a distinct accent, no hyphen should be inserted between them; as, black' smith^ clergyman., earth
Page 50 - After consideration had been given to the proposal, it was duly accepted', 'After consideration the proposal was accepted', 'After-consideration had shown him his mistake...
Page 121 - ... wineseller. These coincidences take place only when the second part of the compound is a very general or indefinite term, or has become so by use. In this way words originally compound acquire much of the character of derivatives. 12. Composition differs also from the mere syntactical combination of ideas. Composition is a development of words for constant, not merely for occasional use. It is not an arbitrary process in language, or a process to be adopted at pleasure. A proper compound must...