compound nouns

PARK COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

HS 8251 TECHNICAL ENGLISH

COMPOUND NOUNS

COMPOUND NOUNS:

Look at the following terms:

            Research station

            Heat transfer

            Computer science

These three terms have more than one noun. Groups of nouns like these are called compound nouns. You will come across such compound nouns in your professional and daily life. Read them carefully and understand their meanings. 'For example, ‘computer science’ can be explained as ‘a science of computers’.

Compound nouns may have more than two nouns:

Examples:

Software Technology Park

File transfer protocol

Compound nouns mostly consist of two elements, the second of which is usually a noun

The first element may be:

·        A noun (noun+noun)

Gold smith      night club        head ache        house keeper   wine glass        man-servant

·        An adjective (adjective+noun)

Blackboard      blackbird         bluebell            green room      highway          first night

·        A pronoun(pronoun+ noun)

She-dog           He-goat

·         A verb( verb+noun)

Play ground        treadmill              draw bridge        passport

·         An adverb( adverb+noun)

After thought    outpost                                overcoat              downpour

Note:

The first element of a compound noun may itself be compound.

Examples:          

Dead-letter office            dirty- cloths basket

How compound nouns are written:

1. Closed: as one word: undoubled compounds

Undoubled compounds are written as a single word or as one word.

Examples:

Goldsmith           policeman           boyfriend            baseball               keyboard             notebook

Bedroom             flashlight

2. Hyphenated: as two words joined with a hyphen

Examples:

She-wolf         dining-table     fifty-five         sky-scraper      editor-in-chief great-grandfather

A hyphen should be used when two elements are occasionally combined and therefore, to some extend preserve their individuality in combination.

3. open-spaced: as two separate words:

Examples:

Fish tank         tennis shoe      police officer   seat belt           high school      post office

4. When in doubt: consult a good dictionary

More about hyphenated words:

Hyphens are short lines (-) that we put between words in expressions like , ticket- office or ex- husband. Hyphen is essentially a combining mark.

Hyphens are most common in the following cases:

            a) Compound nouns

                        Compound nouns where the second part ends in –er

                                    Examples:        Lorry-driver    bottle-opener

                        Compound nouns where the first part ends in –ing

                                    Examples:        waiting- room  writing-pad

                        Compound nouns with prepositions and adverb particles:

                                    Examples:        sister-in-law     make-up

                        Many compounds of two nouns, where the first noun has the main stress

                                    Examples:        water-bottle     or         water bottle

                                                            Apple-tree       or         apple tree

                        Note: hyphens are becoming less common in these cases

            b) Compound adjectives

                                    Examples:        red-hot                        blue-eyed        nice-looking

            c) Compound verbs beginning with a noun

                                    Example:         baby-sit           house-hunt

            d) Prefixes

                                    Example:         mid-term         self-study        non-violence

            e) Numbers: fractions:

                                    Example:         twenty-one      thirty-six          two-thirds

Some combinations can be found written in all the three ways.

            Examples:

                                    (One-word)                 bookshop                     motorcar

                                    (Hyphenated)              book-shop                   motor-car

                                    (Separate words)         book shop                    motor car

Some hints for expanding compound nouns:

·        Use appropriate prepositions to expand compound nouns

·        Start with, ‘A” if the compound noun is singular

·        Start with, ”THE” if the compound noun is plural

·        Try to make the last word of the compound noun as the base word.

Example: 1. car battery- the battery of a car   2. Battery car-A car that runs on battery       

The compound noun structure is extremely varied in the types of meaning relations it can indicate.

It can be used to indicate:

1. What someone does                                    language teacher

2. What something is for                                 grind stone

3. What the quality of something is                white board

4. How something works                                immersion heater

5. When something happens                           night frost

6. Where something is                                     door mate

7. What something is made of                                    wood pile

Example  1

            Expand the following compound nouns:

            1. petrol engine                       Engine that runs on petrol

            2. wooden box                                    Box made of wood

            3. dam construction                Construction of dam

            4. computer memory               Memory of a computer

            5. air supply                             Supply of air

            6. water source                        a source of water

            7. circuit diagram                    A diagram that shows a circuit

            8. computer language              language used for computer operation

            9. control tower                       Tower that controls

            10. car battery                         Battery  of a car

            11. battery car                         car that runs on battery

            12. concrete structure              structure made of concrete

            13. water truck                        Truck containing water

            14. space travel                       Travel in air ( or) travel to space

            15. spark plug                          Plug that emits spark

            16. steel box/chair                   Box/ Chair  made of  box/ chair

            17. stop valve                          Valve that stops flow

            18. diesel engineer                  An engine that runs on diesel

            19. copper wire                       Wire made of copper

            20. aluminum extraction         The extraction of aluminum   

            21. information centre             Centre for providing information

            22. Solar power                       Power from the sun

            23. research centre                  Centre for research

            24. silver extraction                 Extraction of silver

            25. data input                          input of data

Example 2:

            Suggest compound nouns for the following descriptions:

            1. a tap for measuring :           measuring tap

            2. reduction in cost     :           cost reduction

            3. plug with three pins            :           a three pin plug

            4. electricity from mains:        mains electricity

            5. a room for stores:                a store room

            6. a station for express trains: express train station

Example3:

            Change the following phrases into compound nouns:

            1. A branch of engineering that deals with transportation:    transportation engineering

            2. A branch of science that is concerned with information:   information science

            3. A field of engineering that deals with software:                software engineering

            4. A technology that is devoted to textiles:                            textile technology

            5. A science about polymer:                                                    polymer science

ASSIGNMENT:

            Expand the following compound nouns:

            1. A shoe shop                        2. A tooth brush          3. Trouser pockets       4.  A ticket office

            5. An oil well              6. A sheep dog                        7. A milk man             8. A post man

            9. A program organizer                                   10. A power corporation