Compounding (Zusammensetzung)
By combining two or more self-standing words, the result is a new word, a compound. It is possible to combine different parts of speech together, as the examples show:
| Noun + noun | Verb + noun | Adjective + verb |
|---|---|---|
| Garten-haus | Reit-halle | hell-sehen |
Derivation (Ableitung)
The creation of new words by adding suffixes and prefixes to existing words, and thus giving them new meanings, is called derivation.Prefixes: be, emp, ent, er, ge, miss, un, ur, ver, zer ...
Suffixes: -bar, -haft, -ig, -isch, -lich, -los, -chen, -er, -heit, -keit, -ung ...
Conversion
A word can be used as another part of speech without any changes in form:ernst(Adjective) -> Ernst(noun)
essen(Verb) -> Essen(noun)
Abbreviation (Kürzung)
New words can also be formed by shortening other words. Another example:| Base forms | Hof, Schuld |
| New words by compounding with different stems: | Schulhof, Schuldfrage |
| New words by adding a prefix | Vorhof, Unschuld |
| New words by adding a suffix | höflich, schuldig |
New words can't be formed by inflection
You can obtain different forms of a word by inflecting it at different grammatical categories, however this variation does not change the meaning of the word. You won't find them in a dictionary!
