2.2 COMPOUND WORDS

Adapted by Marcia Timmel From Vocabulary Through Morphemes by Susan Ebbers and A1 Word Roots by Cherie Blanchard

WHAT ARE COMPOUND WORDS?

Compound words are words that combine more than one word, such as fireplace and heartbeat. Compounds may contain suffixes and prefixes. Some compounds contain Latin or Greek roots: manuscript, genuflect, astronaut,, and biosphere. The English language has countless compounds.

COMPOUND STRUCTURE

In many compounds, the last word - the endword - indicates the category and basic meaning. Thus, a birdhouse names a kind of house (a noun). The first word of the compound modifies the endword, telling more about it. A birdhouse is a house for a bird.

1. A doghouse is a _______________

2. A housedog is a _______________

3. A goldfish is a _________________

4. A fishpond is a kind of _________

PRACTICE COMPOUND WORDS

house for dogs

dog who lives in a house

fish that is gold

pond with fish

TYPES OF COMPOUNDS

CLOSED COMPOUNDS: In closed compound words, the two words are put together without a space or punctuation. For example, sandbox, shoebox, mailbox, breadbox are all part of the category box. The first word tells more about the box (it modifies box): A sandbox is a box filled with sand, but even if the sandbox is empty we still call it a sandbox.

TYPES OF COMPOUNDS

HYPHENATED COMPOUNDS: In hyphenated compound words, the two words are put together with a hyphen. Noise-free, red-headed and self-destructive are examples of this type of compound word.

TYPES OF COMPOUNDS

Open Compounds: In open compounds the words go together even though they are not joined. Examples are swimming pool, polar bear, and swing set.

TYPES OF COMPOUNDS

Figurative Compounds: Some compounds do not say exactly what they mean. A merry-go-round is not a type of round, a pickpocket is not a type of pocket, a dumbbell is not a type of bell. With figurative compounds we must look outside the word to the context clues to understand meaning.