.... At least we don't
run them together into compound words to confuse our eyes!
That would be Amuchmoredifficultwayofdoingthings!
I beg to differ on two counts:
First, German's way of forming compound nouns is extremely
convenient for us foreign speakers: it means you can (a) understand
the meaning of many words (not all) when you meet them for the first
time, and (b) make yourself understood by forming your own
idiosyncratic ones :-)
Second, English *has* always done it too - eg "skyscraper"
(Wolkenkratzer) not "sky scraper". Furthermore though many English
compounds have used hyphens, there is a modern tendency
(particularly from the USA, it seems to me) to dispense with the
hyphen. And finally there is a really modern tendency (especially
among techies) to form compounds and make them easier, for those
with the above aversion, by introducing capitals at the start of
each element. Both these last two are of course frowned on by
those who like their language "correct" (a word which is defined at
the moment whoever defines it sat their high-school* English exams)
and ignore the act that it is continually changing - English faster
than most.
*Dictionary prefers "high school" as a noun, but traditional grammar
allows me to hyphenate it to form a compound adjective. Next year
it will be either highschool or "highSchool". :-) The German
cognate (not an exact translation) is "Hochschule". I note with
some chagrin that, while Hochschullehrer (Lehrer=teacher) is in my
Duden (the definitive German dictionary), Hochschulpruefung
(Pruefung=exam) is not. This is a pity because it is just the sort
of word I would use: I demand a reference if it ever gets into
Duden - you heard it here first. :-)
Dave
--
David Webber
Author MOZART the music processor for Windows -
http://www.mozart.co.uk
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