Compounding Confusion
The Dutchlanguage is full of compoundwords. I guess I’ve been here in the Netherlands too long, because now I’m getting myself all confused. Now, I know that my Englishlanguageskills are failing a bit, but this is bad. At first, way back when we were living in Rotterdam, I could easily point out compoundwordproblems – like when the churchbulletin said “weddingservice” instead of “wedding service”. Well, that’s all gone kaput. Take, for instance, the package of toiletpaper that I stare at when I’m…err…on the toilet. So, in English, is it toilet paper or toiletpaper?
And what about the carton of sinaasappelsap? Again, in my mother tongue, is it orangejuice or orange juice?
Is it attraction park or attractionpark?
Is it babywipes or baby wipes?
Is it oatmeal or oat meal? (What am I doing with German oatmeal anyway?)
Is it wheat flour or wheatflour? (Why not just flour, come to think of it?)
Is it peanutcheese…I mean peanutbutter or peanut butter? (Pindakaas literally means peanutcheese. I like it!)
Is it Nilehorse or hippopotamus? (Oh, wait, that’s not really a compoundword.)
In fact, there are so many compoundwords in this language, that there is special grammar associated with them. For example, “Hand and Nail Cream” is (translated) “hand- and nailcream”. That little dash had me scratching my head for awhile a few months ago, “Hmm, does that exist in English?” I thought. I don’t think so, but it seems awfully convenient.
Thank goodness for the little red squigglyline underneath all the wrong compoundwords when I type them into MS Word. Keeps me a little less confused, unless my computer isn't close by. Or is it closeby?
And what about the carton of sinaasappelsap? Again, in my mother tongue, is it orangejuice or orange juice?
Is it attraction park or attractionpark?
Is it babywipes or baby wipes?
Is it oatmeal or oat meal? (What am I doing with German oatmeal anyway?)
Is it wheat flour or wheatflour? (Why not just flour, come to think of it?)
Is it applesauce or apple sauce?
Is it peanutcheese…I mean peanutbutter or peanut butter? (Pindakaas literally means peanutcheese. I like it!)
Is it Nilehorse or hippopotamus? (Oh, wait, that’s not really a compoundword.)
In fact, there are so many compoundwords in this language, that there is special grammar associated with them. For example, “Hand and Nail Cream” is (translated) “hand- and nailcream”. That little dash had me scratching my head for awhile a few months ago, “Hmm, does that exist in English?” I thought. I don’t think so, but it seems awfully convenient.
Thank goodness for the little red squigglyline underneath all the wrong compoundwords when I type them into MS Word. Keeps me a little less confused, unless my computer isn't close by. Or is it closeby?
posted by Beth at 11:54 PM
7 Comments:
I think applesauce goes both ways over here..see? I did it!
I thoroughly researched the first item you wondered about and found that historically and hysterically it has generally been a two word product! Please check for yourself at this most informative address! http://nobodys-perfect.com/vtpm/index.html
I should add that I do know the Dutch are rather conservation minded so it seems reasonable for them to make compound words as you have shown. It is the absolute and incontrovertible truth that by skipping the space they save tons of paper. Here in America where we feel that we are lavishly overgrown with excess plant life in the form of pines and popples and birches which reproduce like rabbits and grow equally fast the general behavior is that we have no need to conserve paper or any thing for that matter. That assumption has been proven to some degree of correctness with a quick scan of my cupboards where I find that most of the products you showed as possessive of compound nanes were here not compounded but two or even in some cases three or more words. Florida Low Pulp Orange Juice would be an example of a multi word name of separate words. In conclusion I find that that American products are seldom compounded which is what I was going to say in the first place!
Is it cup boards or cupboards?
My head hurts. I have a headache. At least the Dutch don't do that crazy capitalize-the-nouns thing that the Germans do. Do they?
no, no capital letters are for germans and americans and english only.
Hello Beth! Oh this was funny to read. Yes...in Afrikaans they're doing the same thing as in Dutch: make all the words forget the space in between and have some coffee together hihihi
At school I used to do that with the English words; bring them together... which ended up in red circles in my grammar books.
So the English teacher shook his head again when I wrote Capetown (Kaapstad)in stead of Cape Town. He called me to the front and then said: "Monique, I'm going to shake your hand officially and then remember this day and rember that in English you should separate the words unless there are a exception, but stick to the 2 words idea". So he shook my hand, a red headed teacher, we called Carrots, on a sunny day at his desk.
;-)
now I'm making a blend of Dutch, Afrikaans and English(South African English... UK English and American English).
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