{"id":3608,"date":"2012-02-22T15:28:08","date_gmt":"2012-02-22T15:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=3608"},"modified":"2012-02-20T23:31:47","modified_gmt":"2012-02-20T23:31:47","slug":"compound-words-das-fugen-s-im-deutschen-the-linking-s-in-german-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/compound-words-das-fugen-s-im-deutschen-the-linking-s-in-german-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Compound words: Das Fugen-s im Deutschen \u2013 The linking \u201cs\u201d in German, part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

You have probably come across German compound words that are linked with an \u201cs\u201d, called linking \u201cs\u201d in English and Fugen-s<\/em><\/strong> in German, for example:<\/p>\n

die Liebes<\/strong>geschicht \u2013 love story<\/p>\n

der Gerechtigkeits<\/strong>sinn \u2013 sense of justice<\/p>\n

die Sch\u00f6nheits<\/strong>kur \u2013 beauty treatment<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But other words do not contain this linking \u201cs\u201d, for example:<\/p>\n

die Tee-kanne \u2013 tea pot<\/p>\n

der (m)\/die (pl) Kopf-h\u00f6rer \u2013 headphone(s)<\/p>\n

das Brillen-etui \u2013 glasses case<\/p>\n

Note: I only placed dashes between the German building blocks to single them out.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So, why do some German words obtain such an \u201cs\u201d while others do not?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. The linking \u201cs\u201d is used in German when\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2026 the first word of the compounding ends with one of the following syllables: -tum, -ling, -ion, -t\u00e4t, -heit, -keit, -schaft, -sicht, and -ung. Compare:<\/p>\n

das Altertum <\/strong>\u2013 antiquity -> die Altertums<\/strong>forschung \u2013 archaeology<\/p>\n

der Fr\u00fchling<\/strong> \u2013 spring -> das Fr\u00fchlings<\/strong>erwachen \u2013 spring awakening<\/p>\n

die Kommunion<\/strong> \u2013 communion -> das Kommunions<\/strong>fest \u2013 communion celebration<\/p>\n

die Realit\u00e4t<\/strong> \u2013 reality -> der Realit\u00e4ts<\/strong>verlust \u2013 loss of (the sense of) reality<\/p>\n

die Einheit<\/strong> \u2013 unity -> die Einheits<\/strong>regierung \u2013 unity government<\/p>\n

die Heiterkeit<\/strong> \u2013 serenity -> der Heiterkeits<\/strong>anfall \u2013 spell\/fit of serenity<\/p>\n

die Eigenschaft<\/strong> \u2013 quality -> das Eigenschafts<\/strong>wort \u2013 adjective<\/p>\n

die Ansicht<\/strong> \u2013 view, opinion -> die Ansichts<\/strong>karte \u2013 picture postcard<\/p>\n

die Erinnerung<\/strong> \u2013 memory -> das Erinnerungs<\/strong>verm\u00f6gen \u2013 powers of recall<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The linking \u201cs\u201d or, in German, Fugen-s is also used with compound words in which the first word ends with \u201c-en\u201d, which are usually nominalized infinitives of verbs. Compare:<\/p>\n

essen \u2013 to eat -> die Essens<\/strong>reste (pl) \u2013 leftovers<\/p>\n

leben \u2013 to live -> die Lebens<\/strong>freude \u2013 joy of living<\/p>\n

leiden \u2013 to suffer -> der Leidens<\/strong>weg \u2013 way of suffering\/grief<\/p>\n

schlafen \u2013 to sleep -> die Schlafens<\/strong>zeit \u2013 bedtime<\/p>\n

sehen \u2013 to see -> die Sehens<\/strong>w\u00fcrdigkeit \u2013 sight<\/p>\n

sterben \u2013 to die -> kein Sterbens<\/strong>w\u00f6rtchen \u2013 not a single word<\/p>\n

wissen \u2013 to know -> Wissens<\/strong>l\u00fccke \u2013 knowledge gap<\/p>\n

schaden \u2013 to damage -> der Schadens<\/strong>ersatz \u2013 compensation<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. The linking \u201cs\u201d is not used when\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2026 the first part of the compound word is grammatically feminine and does not end with the syllables under point 1 (see above). Compare:<\/p>\n

die Welt \u2013 world -> die Weltkugel \u2013 world ball; der Weltschmerz \u2013 world weariness<\/p>\n

die Nacht \u2013 night -> der Nachtzug \u2013 night train; die Nachtblindheit \u2013 night blindness<\/p>\n

die Frucht \u2013 fruit -> der Fruchtsaft \u2013 juice; das Fruchtmark \u2013 pulp<\/p>\n

die Kammer \u2013 chamber -> der Kammerdiener \u2013 valet; die Kammermusik \u2013 chamber music<\/p>\n

die Lage \u2013 situation, location -> der Lageplan \u2013 site plan; der Lagebericht \u2013 review of the situation<\/p>\n

die Rede \u2013 speech -> die Redezeit \u2013speaking time; der Redefluss \u2013 oral fluency<\/p>\n

die Musik \u2013 music -> das Musikzimmer \u2013 music room; die Musikabteilung \u2013 music department<\/p>\n

die Natur \u2013 nature -> der Naturschutz \u2013 nature protection; die Naturkatastrophe \u2013 natural disaster<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To be continued\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reference: Sick, Bastian (2004): Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod \u2013 Ein Wegweiser durch den Irrgarten der deutschen Sprache, Kiepenheuer & Witsch. (Translation: The dative is the genitive his death \u2013 A guide through the labyrinth of the German language)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You have probably come across German compound words that are linked with an \u201cs\u201d, called linking \u201cs\u201d in English and Fugen-s in German, for example: die Liebesgeschicht \u2013 love story der Gerechtigkeitssinn \u2013 sense of justice die Sch\u00f6nheitskur \u2013 beauty treatment   But other words do not contain this linking \u201cs\u201d, for example: die Tee-kanne…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[11971,8],"tags":[95287,95286],"class_list":["post-3608","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-grammar-language","category-language","tag-fugen-s","tag-linking-s"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3608"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3612,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3608\/revisions\/3612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}