You have probably come across German compound words that are linked with an “s”, called linking “s” in English and Fugen-s in German, for example:

die Liebesgeschicht – love story

der Gerechtigkeitssinn – sense of justice

die Schönheitskur – beauty treatment

 

But other words do not contain this linking “s”, for example:

die Tee-kanne – tea pot

der (m)/die (pl) Kopf-hörer – headphone(s)

das Brillen-etui – glasses case

Note: I only placed dashes between the German building blocks to single them out.

 

So, why do some German words obtain such an “s” while others do not?

 

1. The linking “s” is used in German when…

… the first word of the compounding ends with one of the following syllables: -tum, -ling, -ion, -tät, -heit, -keit, -schaft, -sicht, and -ung. Compare:

das Altertum – antiquity -> die Altertumsforschung – archaeology

der Frühling – spring -> das Frühlingserwachen – spring awakening

die Kommunion – communion -> das Kommunionsfest – communion celebration

die Realität – reality -> der Realitätsverlust – loss of (the sense of) reality

die Einheit – unity -> die Einheitsregierung – unity government

die Heiterkeit – serenity -> der Heiterkeitsanfall – spell/fit of serenity

die Eigenschaft – quality -> das Eigenschaftswort – adjective

die Ansicht – view, opinion -> die Ansichtskarte – picture postcard

die Erinnerung – memory -> das Erinnerungsvermögen – powers of recall

Note: You may have recognized that the article of the nouns change when they appear in compound words. This is because the second word of the compounding always determines the grammatical gender of the word.

 

The linking “s” or, in German, Fugen-s is also used with compound words in which the first word ends with “-en”, which are usually nominalized infinitives of verbs. Compare:

essen – to eat -> die Essensreste (pl) – leftovers

leben – to live -> die Lebensfreude – joy of living

leiden – to suffer -> der Leidensweg – way of suffering/grief

schlafen – to sleep -> die Schlafenszeit – bedtime

sehen – to see -> die Sehenswürdigkeit – sight

sterben – to die -> kein Sterbenswörtchen – not a single word

wissen – to know -> Wissenslücke – knowledge gap

schaden – to damage -> der Schadensersatz – compensation

 

 

2. The linking “s” is not used when…

… the first part of the compound word is grammatically feminine and does not end with the syllables under point 1 (see above). Compare:

die Welt – world -> die Weltkugel – world ball; der Weltschmerz – world weariness

die Nacht – night -> der Nachtzug – night train; die Nachtblindheit – night blindness

die Frucht – fruit -> der Fruchtsaft – juice; das Fruchtmark – pulp

die Kammer – chamber -> der Kammerdiener – valet; die Kammermusik – chamber music

die Lage – situation, location -> der Lageplan – site plan; der Lagebericht – review of the situation

die Rede – speech -> die Redezeit –speaking time; der Redefluss – oral fluency

die Musik – music -> das Musikzimmer – music room; die Musikabteilung – music department

die Natur – nature -> der Naturschutz – nature protection; die Naturkatastrophe – natural disaster

 

To be continued…

 

Reference: Sick, Bastian (2004): Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod – Ein Wegweiser durch den Irrgarten der deutschen Sprache, Kiepenheuer & Witsch. (Translation: The dative is the genitive his death – A guide through the labyrinth of the German language)