HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

A compound modifier (also called a compound adjective, phrasal adjective, or
adjectival phrase An adjective phrase (or adjectival phrase) is a phrase whose head is an adjective. Almost any grammar or syntax textbook or dictionary of linguistics terminology defines the adjective phrase in a similar way, e.g. Kesner Bland (1996:499), Crystal ...
) is a
compound Compound may refer to: Architecture and built environments * Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struc ...
of two or more
attributive In grammar, an attributive expression is a word or phrase within a noun phrase that modifies the head noun. It may be an: * attributive adjective * attributive noun * attributive verb or other part of speech, such as an attributive numeral. ...
words: that is, two or more words that collectively modify a noun. Compound modifiers are grammatically equivalent to single-word modifiers, and can be used in combination with other modifiers. (In the preceding sentence, "single-word" is itself a compound modifier.) The constituents of compound modifiers need not be adjectives; combinations of
noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, ...
s,
determiner A determiner, also called determinative ( abbreviated ), is a word, phrase, or affix that occurs together with a noun or noun phrase and generally serves to express the reference of that noun or noun phrase in the context. That is, a determine ...
s, and other
parts of speech In grammar, a part of speech or part-of-speech (abbreviated as POS or PoS, also known as word class or grammatical category) is a category of words (or, more generally, of lexical items) that have similar grammatical properties. Words that are as ...
are also common. For example, ''man-eating (shark)'' and ''one-way (street)''. The punctuation of compound modifiers in English depends on their grammatical role. Attributive compounds—modifiers within the
noun phrase In linguistics, a noun phrase, or nominal (phrase), is a phrase that has a noun or pronoun as its head or performs the same grammatical function as a noun. Noun phrases are very common cross-linguistically, and they may be the most frequently oc ...
—are typically
hyphen The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. ''Son-in-law'' is an example of a hyphenated word. The hyphen is sometimes confused with dashes ( figure ...
ated, whereas the same compounds used as
predicate Predicate or predication may refer to: * Predicate (grammar), in linguistics * Predication (philosophy) * several closely related uses in mathematics and formal logic: **Predicate (mathematical logic) **Propositional function **Finitary relation, o ...
s will typically not be (if they are temporary compounds), unless they are permanent compounds attested as dictionary
headword In morphology and lexicography, a lemma (plural ''lemmas'' or ''lemmata'') is the canonical form, dictionary form, or citation form of a set of word forms. In English, for example, ''break'', ''breaks'', ''broke'', ''broken'' and ''breaking'' ...
s.


Compound adjectives

Words that function as compound
adjective In linguistics, an adjective ( abbreviated ) is a word that generally modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives were considered one of the ...
s may modify a
noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, ...
or a
noun phrase In linguistics, a noun phrase, or nominal (phrase), is a phrase that has a noun or pronoun as its head or performs the same grammatical function as a noun. Noun phrases are very common cross-linguistically, and they may be the most frequently oc ...
. Take the English examples ''heavy metal detector'' and ''heavy-metal detector''. The former example contains only the bare adjective ''heavy'' to describe a device that is properly written as
metal detector A metal detector is an instrument that detects the nearby presence of metal. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal objects on the surface, underground, and under water. The unit itself, consist of a control box, and an adjustable shaft, ...
; the latter example contains the phrase ''heavy-metal'', which is a
compound noun A compound is a word composed of more than one free morpheme. The English language, like many others, uses compounds frequently. English compounds may be classified in several ways, such as the word classes or the semantic relationship of their ...
that is ordinarily rendered as heavy metal absent an accompanying adjective. In the latter example, however, ''heavy-metal'' functions as a compound adjective that modifies the noun ''detector''. Note that whether a word sequence such as "heavy + metal + detector" implies a ''compound adjective + noun'' or ''bare adjective + compound noun'' depends on the punctuation. For instance, ''heavy-metal detector'' and ''heavy metal detector'' can refer to quite different things: ''heavy-metal
detector A sensor is a device that produces an output signal for the purpose of sensing a physical phenomenon. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a device, module, machine, or subsystem that detects events or changes in its environment and sends ...
'' implies a device that detects heavy metals (wherein ''heavy-metal'' functions as a compound adjective that modifies the noun ''detector''). By contrast, ''heavy metal detector'', without the hyphen, refers to a metal detector that is heavy. ''
Heavy Heavy may refer to: Measures * Heavy (aeronautics), a term used by pilots and air traffic controllers to refer to aircraft capable of 300,000 lbs or more takeoff weight * Heavy, a characterization of objects with substantial weight * Heavy, ...
'' is a bare adjective that modifies the compound noun ''metal detector''. Thus, ''heavy metal detector'' is a ''bare adjective + compound noun'' sequence. A strategy to avoid conflation of ''compound adjective + noun'' versus ''bare adjective + compound noun'' sequences is to clearly distinguish the usage of an attributive adjective and a
noun adjunct In grammar, a noun adjunct, attributive noun, qualifying noun, noun (pre)modifier, or apposite noun is an optional noun that modifies another noun; functioning similarly to an adjective, it is, more specifically, a noun functioning as a pre-modif ...
. Accordingly, the phrase ''heavy
metallic Metallic may be a reference to: *Metal *Metalloid, metal-like substance *Metallic bonding, type of chemical bonding *Metallicity, in astronomy the proportion of elements other than helium and hydrogen in an object *Metallic color, a color that g ...
detector'' unequivocally employs a compound adjective to describe a ''weighty detector made of metal.''


Hyphenation of elements in English

Conventionally, and with the support of modern writing guides, compound modifiers that appear ''before'' a noun phrase should include a
hyphen The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. ''Son-in-law'' is an example of a hyphenated word. The hyphen is sometimes confused with dashes ( figure ...
between each word, subject to certain exceptions. Hyphens are used in this way to prevent confusion; without their use, a reader might interpret the words separately, rather than as a phrase. Hyphens join the relevant words into a single idea, a compound adjective. A compound modifier that is not hyphenated is referred to as an . When a numeral and a noun are used in a compound modifier that precedes a noun, the numeral and the noun take the singular form. For example, the
2021 Belmont Stakes The 2021 Belmont Stakes was the 153rd running of the Belmont Stakes and the 110th time the event took place at Belmont Park. The race, known as the "test of the champion", is the final leg in the American Triple Crown, open to three-year-old Th ...
was a "12-furlong race" and an "eight-horse race", but not a "12-furlongs race" or an "eight-horses race".


Exceptions

Major style guides advise consulting a dictionary to determine whether a compound adjective should be hyphenated; compounds entered as dictionary
headword In morphology and lexicography, a lemma (plural ''lemmas'' or ''lemmata'') is the canonical form, dictionary form, or citation form of a set of word forms. In English, for example, ''break'', ''breaks'', ''broke'', ''broken'' and ''breaking'' ...
s are permanent compounds, and for these, the dictionary's hyphenation should be followed even when the compound adjective precedes a noun. According to some guides, hyphens are unnecessary in familiar compounds used as adjectives "where no ambiguity could result", while other guides suggest using hyphens "generally" in such compounds used as adjectives before nouns. It may be appropriate to distinguish between compound modifiers whose adverb has the
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carr ...
'' -ly'', such as ''quickly'' and ''badly'', and those whose adverb does not, such as ''well''. The ''-ly'' suffix on an adverb allows readers to understand its
lexical category In grammar, a part of speech or part-of-speech (abbreviated as POS or PoS, also known as word class or grammatical category) is a category of words (or, more generally, of lexical items) that have similar grammatical properties. Words that are assi ...
(if not in the technical sense, then at least in the sense of the intended meaning), showing that it is intended to modify the adjective that it precedes and so not requiring hyphenation. ''Quickly'' and ''badly'' are unambiguously adverbs. Other adverbs (such as ''well'' can commonly be used as adjectives; these adverbs without the ''-ly'' suffix therefore commonly take a hyphen. For example, one could speak of a ''well-known actress'' or a ''little-known actress''. If the compound modifier that would otherwise be hyphenated is changed to a post-modifier—one which is located after the modified noun phrase—then the hyphen is conventionally not necessary: ''the actress is well known''. Finally, the word ''very'' in a compound modifier is generally not accompanied by a hyphen. Where both (or all) of the words in a compound modifier are nouns, it is seen as not necessary to hyphenate them, as misunderstanding is unlikely.


Examples

*''
Man-eating shark A shark attack is an attack on a human by a shark. Every year, around 80 unprovoked attacks are reported worldwide. Despite their rarity, many people fear shark attacks after occasional serial attacks, such as the Jersey Shore shark attacks of ...
'' (as opposed to ''man eating shark'', which could be interpreted as a man eating the meat of a shark) *''
Wild-goose chase Wild-goose chase or wild goose chase may refer to: * A pursuit of something unattainable or non-existent, such as in a fool's errand or snipe hunt A snipe hunt is a type of practical joke or fool's errand, in existence in North America as earl ...
'' (as opposed to ''wild goose chase'', which could be interpreted as a goose chase that is wild) *''Long-term contract'' (as opposed to ''long term contract'', which could be interpreted as a long contract about a term) *''Zero-liability protection'' (as opposed to ''zero liability protection'', which could be interpreted as there being no liability protection) *''College-football-halftime controversy'' (as opposed to ''college-football halftime controversy'', a controversy occurring during the halftime of a college-football match)This example was taken from ''
The Chicago Manual of Style ''The Chicago Manual of Style'' (abbreviated in writing as ''CMOS'' or ''CMS'', or sometimes as ''Chicago'') is a style guide for American English published since 1906 by the University of Chicago Press. Its 17 editions have prescribed writi ...
'', to show how "when a compound noun is an element of a phrasal adjective, the entire compound noun must be hyphenated to clarify the relationship among the words." See:


Other languages


Hungarian

Hungarian orthography describes three types of this modification in spelling, as described in the main article.


Japanese

Japanese adjectives This article deals with Japanese equivalents of English adjectives. Types of adjective In Japanese, nouns and verbs can modify nouns, with nouns taking the 〜の particles when functioning attributively (in the genitive case), and verbs in the ...
can compound. This is quite common for ''na''-adjectives, which function essentially as attributive noun phrases, while it is relatively uncommon for ''i''-adjectives, and is much less common than
Japanese compound verbs In linguistics, a compound verb or complex predicate is a multi- word compound that functions as a single verb. One component of the compound is a '' light verb'' or ''vector'', which carries any inflections, indicating tense, mood, or aspec ...
. Common examples include (noun + ''i''-adjective) and (''i''-adjective stem + ''i''-adjective).


See also

*
Adjectival phrase An adjective phrase (or adjectival phrase) is a phrase whose head is an adjective. Almost any grammar or syntax textbook or dictionary of linguistics terminology defines the adjective phrase in a similar way, e.g. Kesner Bland (1996:499), Crystal ...
*
Compound verb In linguistics, a compound verb or complex predicate is a multi- word compound that functions as a single verb. One component of the compound is a '' light verb'' or ''vector'', which carries any inflections, indicating tense, mood, or aspec ...
*
English compound A compound is a word composed of more than one free morpheme. The English language, like many others, uses compounds frequently. English compounds may be classified in several ways, such as the word classes or the semantic relationship of the ...


References

*''
The Chicago Manual of Style ''The Chicago Manual of Style'' (abbreviated in writing as ''CMOS'' or ''CMS'', or sometimes as ''Chicago'') is a style guide for American English published since 1906 by the University of Chicago Press. Its 17 editions have prescribed writi ...
'', 15th ed. 2003, Clause 5.92, p. 171 *''The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual,'' Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc. (1992)


Further reading


Compound Adjectives and Hyphenation
Writing Center at Concordia University in St. Paul


External links


Compound Modifiers
at writing.com {{Portal bar, Languages English language English grammar