Compound Nouns

I have just studied in a grammar book that " a large number of compound nouns are built up with the help of suffixes and prefixes. The prefixes may be added to: verbs.

eg.
to abolish-abolishion
to accept-acceptance
to accuse-accusation
etc

Now, my question is the following: are the words abolishion. acceptance, accusation, etc compound nouns?

As far as I know, compound nouns are built up of two or more parts/words.

eg. butterfly, redhead, upgrowth, heavyweight, outlaw, income, outcome, downpour, downbreak, etc

Madox

Question: Are the words abolition. acceptance, accusation, etc compound nouns?

Answer: No, they are nouns created by the addition of suffixes to other words. Compound nouns are, as you stated, two nouns put together.

~R

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mad-ox

I have just studied in a grammar book that " a large number of compound nouns are built up with the help of suffixes and prefixes. The prefixes may be added to: verbs.

eg.
to abolish-abolishion
to accept-acceptance
to accuse-accusation
etc

Now, my question is the following: are the words abolishion. acceptance, accusation, etc compound nouns?

As far as I know, compound nouns are built up of two or more parts/words.

eg. butterfly, redhead, upgrowth, heavyweight, outlaw, income, outcome, downpour, downbreak, etc - these are compound nouns

Madox

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Hi Madox

Abolishion. acceptance, accusation, etc are not compound nouns. These are new words formed by suffixation, i.e. by adding a suffix to the end of a word to form a new word:
e.g. abolish[verb] + suffix -ion = abolishion [noun]
play [verb] + suffix - ed = played [past tense/past participle form of the verb play]

The same thing happens with prefixation, when a prefix is put in front of the root or stem of a word to form a new word:
dis[prefix] + charge = discharge
dis [prefix] + charge + ed [suffix] =discharged

Suffixes and prefixes are called affixes. Affixation is the process or the act of putting a suffix or a prefix to the root of a word to form a new word.

Compound words are made when two words are joined to form a new word :
e.g. news + paper = newspaper
table+ cloth = tablecloth


I hope it helps you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by teia_petrescu

Hi Madox

Abolishion. acceptance, accusation, etc are not compound nouns. These are new words formed by suffixation, i.e. by adding a suffix to the end of a word to form a new word:
e.g. abolish[verb] + suffix -ion = abolishion [noun]
play [verb] + suffix - ed = played [past tense/past participle form of the verb play]

The same thing happens with prefixation, when a prefix is put in front of the root or stem of a word to form a new word:
dis[prefix] + charge = discharge
dis [prefix] + charge + ed [suffix] =discharged

Suffixes and prefixes are called affixes. Affixation is the process or the act of putting a suffix or a prefix to the root of a word to form a new word.

Compound words are made when two words are joined to form a new word :
e.g. news + paper = newspaper
table+ cloth = tablecloth


I hope it helps you.

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Thank you for your reply,

Even though I had know all these information, I was puzzled when I read in a grammar book that those words ( abolishion, acceptance, etc) were compound nouns. It seems to be a terrible mistake in that book.

Madox

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mad-ox

Thank you for your reply,

Even though I had know all these information, I was puzzled when I read in a grammar book that those words ( abolishion, acceptance, etc) were compound nouns. It seems to be a terrible mistake in that book.

Madox

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I myself found a lot of mistakes in grammar books, so, don`t be astonished at what you might find from now on regarding this problem.

By the way:

I know of only one spelling for abolition.

abolition
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Also, have you tried Infoplease.com? It has both a dictionary and an encyclopedia. It also has an almanac and quizzes about various things. It also has news articles. You can learn more there than you ever wanted to know. (Go to Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free online reference, research & homework help..)
;-)