Compound words are common not only in English but also in many other languages. They are very useful for forming words. Let us look at ten compound words from different languages.
abrelatas (Spanish) can opener
Handschuh (German) glove
lábújj (Hungarian) toe
maailma (Finnish) world
pindakaas (Dutch) peanut butter
Regenschirm (German) umbrella
smörgåsbord (Swedish) smorgasbord
solros (Swedish) sunflower
sommerfugl (Danish/Norwegian) butterfly
surlendemain (French) day after tomorrow
Now we can analyze the compound words.
abrelatas = abre + latas (open + cans)
Handschuh = Hand + Schuh (hand + shoe)
lábújj = láb + újj (foot + finger)
maailma = maa + ilma (land + air)
pindakaas = pinda + kaas (peanut + cheese)
Regenschirm = Regen + Schirm (rain + shield)
smörgåsbord = smörgås + bord (sandwich + table)
solros = sol + ros (sun + rose)
sommerfugl = sommer + fugl (summer + bird)
surlendemain = sur + lendemain (over + the next day)
Dutch uses the word cheese to refer to peanut butter. Danish and Norwegian use a compound for butterfly, but unlike English which combines butter and fly, they combine the words summer and bird. The word glove is not a compound in English, but it is in German and combines the words hand and shoe. The word smorgasbord is used in English, but it is not a compound in English because it is borrowed from Swedish.
Though compound words are common in many languages, they are often used differently. Compound words in one language are often not compounds in another. In certain cases, languages use compound words to refer to the same object, but the internal composition of the compound words is different. The list illustrates a few compound words in different languages.
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