Unit IV.

Compound Nouns. Formation of Compound Nouns. Combinations of Two Nouns. Verb + Preposition. Plural of Compound Nouns.

IV.1. Grammar point

A. Formation

Compound nouns consist of at least two stems. The meaning of a compound is not a mere sum of its elements. The main types of compound nouns are:

noum stem + noun stem: seaman (моряк),

airmail (авиапочта)

adjective stem + noun stem: bluebell (колокольчик),

blackbird (черный дрозд)

verb stem + noun stem: pickpocket (карманный вор)

gerund + noun stem: looking-glass (зеркало),

dancing-hall (танцевальный зал)

noun stem + prepositions + noun stem: father-in-law(свекор, тесть)

mother-in-law(свекровь, теща)

man-of-war(военный корабль)

substantivised phrases: forget-me-not (незабудка)

pick-me-up (тонизирующий напиток)

Here are some more common examples.

alarm clock dining room (= the room where you eat meals)

credit card film star (e.g. Tom Cruise, Jodie Foster)

table tennis brother-in-law (= your sister's husband, your husband's brother)

T-shirt income tax (= the tax you pay on your salary)

earring writing paper (= paper for writing letters)

sunglasses washing machine (= the machine for washing clothes)

traffic lights cheque book (= a book which has cheques)

tin opener baby-sitter (= he/she looks after children when parents are out)

parking meter *mother tongue (= your first language)

*first aid *science fiction (= stories about the future)

*pedestrian crossing *box office (= where you buy tickets in cinemas and theatres)

In some cases, the meaning of a compound noun is not obvious from the words it consists of.

For example, someone's 'mother-tongue' is not the tongue of their mother but the language they learn as a child, and an 'old hand' is not a hand which is old but a person who is experienced at doing a particular job.

In other cases, the compound noun consists of words which do not occur on their own, for example 'hanky-panky', 'hodge-podge', and 'argy-bargy'. These nouns are usually used in informal conversation rather than formal writing.

The rest of your question I find rhetorical hocus-pocus. She is invariably up to some sort of jiggery-pokery.

B. One word or two?

Compound nouns are usually written as two words (e.g. credit card), but sometimes they are joined by a hyphen (e.g. baby-sitter), or written as one word (e.g. sunglasses). Unfortunately there is no rule for this, so you may need to check in a dictionary.

Use of hyphens

Some compound nouns are written with hyphens instead of spaces between the words.

The only experience I've got of foreign languages is pen-friends.

Can't you find a baby-sitter and come over for dinner?

Judy's brother-in-law lived with his family.

Some are written with either a hyphen or a space between the words. For example, both 'air-conditioner' and 'air conditioner' are widely used.

A few compound nouns which consist of more than two words are written partly with hyphens and partly with spaces, for example 'back-seat driver' and 'bring-and-buy sale'.

... children from one-parent families.

Another route is by active participation in a Parent-Teacher Association.

C. Pronunciation

The main stress is usually on the first part (e.g. parking meter) but sometimes it is on both parts (e.g. mother tongue). In A, the compounds marked *all have the stress on both parts. Some dictionaries show the stress on compounds.

D. Forming new compounds

Quite often, one part of a compound forms the basis for a number of compound nouns, e.g. post/ticket/box office, traffic lights/warden/jam, film/pop/rock star, brother/sister/father/mother-in-law dining/sitting/waiting room.

Note: A traffic jam is a long line of cars which are moving slowly because the road is busy; and traffic wardens patrol the streets to make sure you are not parked in the wrong place illegally. You buy theatre tickets at the box office and train tickets at the ticket office.

Compound nouns - combinations of two nouns

1. A compound noun is a fixed expression which is made up of more than one word and functions as a noun. Such expressions are frequently combinations of two nouns, e.g. address book, human being, science fiction.

B. Compound nouns may be written as two words, e.g. tin opener, bank account, or they may be written with a hyphen instead of a space between the words, e.g. pen-name, baby-sitter. Some expressions are occasionally written with a hyphen and occasionally as two separate words. For instance, both letter box and letter-box are correct. Sometimes they may be written as one word, e.g. earring.

C. Compound nouns may be countable, uncountable or only used in either the singular or the plural. There are examples of each of these types below. Check that you understand the meanings of each of the expressions listed. If you understand both elements of the expression, the meaning will usually be clear.

D. Usually the main stress is on the first part of the compound but sometimes it is on the second part.

Here is a list of some common countable compound nouns:

address book air conditioner air raid alarm clock assembly line baby-sitter back-seat driver bank account bird of prey book token blood donor bride-to-be bring-and-buy sale brother-in-law burglar alarm bus stop can opener car park come-on compact disc comrade in arms contact lens cover-up	credit card dining room drawing pin driving license estate agent fairy tale film star fire engine fork-lift truck frying pan guided missile health centre heart attack high school human being letter-box lily of the valley looker-on musical instrument nervous breakdown news bulletin old hand one-parent family
package holiday Parent-Teacher Association parking meter passer-by pen-friend personal computer polar bear police station post office runner-up sleeping bag summing-up	swimming pool T-shirt tea bag telephone number traveller's cheque tea-table washing machine X-ray youth hostel zebra crossing

Here are some examples of common uncountable compound nouns.

These are never used with an article.

air conditioning air-traffic control barbed wire birth control blood pressure bubble bath capital punishment central heating chewing gum common sense cotton wool data processing do-it-yourself dry-cleaning family planning fancy dress fast-food f first aid food poisoning

further education general knowledge hay fever heart failure higher education hire purchase income tax junk food law and order lost property mail order make-up mineral water nail varnish natural history old age pocket money remote control science fiction

show business show jumping sign language social security social work soda water stainless steel table tennis talcum powder toilet paper turn-over tracing paper unemployment benefit value added tax washing powder washing-up liquid water-skiing writing paper

Here is a list of some common singular compound nouns:

age of consent arms race brain drain colour bar cost of living death penalty diplomatic corps dress circle drying-up fire brigade

general public generation gap greenhouse effect human race labour force labour market long jump mother-tongue open air private sector

public sector rank and file solar system sound barrier space age welfare state women's movement

Here is a list of some common plural compound nouns:

armed forces baked beans civil rights current affairs French fries grass roots high heels human rights

industrial relations inverted commas licensing laws luxury goods modern languages natural resources race relations road works

social services social studies swimming trunks vocal cords winter sports yellow pages

Compound nouns - verb + preposition

1. A large number of compound nouns are based on phrasal verbs. In Sections В to E you will see a number of examples of such nouns in context. The meaning of the compound noun is indicated in brackets at the end of the sentence. To form the plural, V is added to the end, e.g. pin-ups.

B. Nouns based on phrasal verbs often have an informal feel to them and they are particularly common in newspaper reporting. Here are examples of such nouns in use.

In response to the pay offer, there was a walk-out at the factory, [strike]

There is going to be a crack-down on public spending, [action against]

There has been a break-out from the local prison, [escape]

Last month saw a tremendous shake-up in personnel, [change]

I never expected the break-up of the USSR, [collapse]

C. A number of these nouns have economic associations.

The takeover of one of our leading hotel chains has just been announced, [purchase by another company]

We're trying to find some new outlets for our products, [places to sell]

Take your things to the check-out to pay for them, [cash-desk]

Cutbacks will be essential until the recession is over, [reductions]

We made a profit of £1000 on a turnover of £10,000. [money passing through a company]

D. Some of these nouns are associated with technology and other aspects of contemporary life.

What the computer produces depends on the quality of the input, [information that is put in]

Output has increased thanks to new technology, [production]

We have a rather rapid staff turnover, [change]

Just after leaving school he went through the stage of being a dropout, [person who rejects society]

It will be a long time before the consequences of fallout from Chernobyl are no longer felt, [radio-active dust in the atmosphere]

I can easily get you a printout of the latest figures, [paper on which computer

information has been printed]

A breakthrough has been made in AIDS research, [important discovery]

E. Some of the words can be used in more general circumstances.

Many of the problems were caused by a breakdown in communications, [failure]

The outlook for tomorrow is good - sunny in most places, [prospect]

There are drawbacks as well as advantages to every situation, [negative aspects]

The outcome of the situation was not very satisfactory, [conclusion]

TV companies always welcome feedback from viewers, [comments]

It was clear from the outset that the set-up would cause problems, [start; situation]

We parked in a lay-by on the by-pass, [parking space at the side of a road; road

avoiding the centre of a town]

The outbreak of war surprised them, [start of something unpleasant, e.g. disease, violence]

Plural of Compound Nouns.

a) In compound nouns usually the head-noun takes the plural form: fellow-worker – fellow-workers; school-mate – school-mates; air-raid – air-raids; editor-in-chief – editors-in-chief; brother-in-law – brothers-in-law.

b) Compounds ending in -man change -man into -men in spelling, but in pronunciation there is no difference between the singular and the plural: postman ['poustmen] – postmen [poustmen].

Such nouns as German, Roman, Norman are not compounds. They form their plural in the usual way: Germans, Romans, Normans.

c) When the compound does not contain any noun, the plural is formed by adding -s to the last word: forget-me-not – forget-me-nots; merry-go-round (карусель) – merry-go-rounds; hold-all – hold-alls (портплед); overall – overalls.

d) Compounds in -ful add -s to the end: handful – handfuls; spoonful – spoonfuls; but also: columns-full (in newspapers).

e) If a proper noun is preceded by a title, the sign of the plural is added either to the title or to the proper noun itself; in colloquial speech it is usual to add the -s to the proper noun; in official speech the title is pluralized.

Colloquial: The two doctor Thomsons. The Miss Smiths.

Official: Messrs Jones. The Misses Smith.

The Miss Crumptons or to quote the authorities of the inscription on the garden-gate: The Misses Crumpton. (Dickens.)

f) In first words of compounds the singular is as a rule used even if the meaning is plural: the Five-Year Plan, a four-storey house, a five-act play, letter-writing, the printed-book section of the museum.

It was a three-mile walk, along a dry white road, made whiter to-night by the light of the moon. (Hardy).

There is, however, a growing tendency in recent times to use the plural form, especially in long official terms: a two-thirds majority; the food products department; the sports grounds; the United Nations Organization; parcels post.

He takes an active part in the activities of our sports section.

In many instances where the form in -s is used it may be understood either as the plural form of the common case or as the plural possessive. Accordingly, the use of the apostrophe wavers:

a) no apostrophe:

I enjoyed several hours sleep. There is twenty years difference in their age. I had only two shillings pocket money. A bridge of only two planks breadth.

b) an apostrophe:

A five years' child. The Seven Years' War. A two months' baby.