possesive form vs compound nouns

[Jaskin]

Hello,

Could someone give me a link or reference to rules, if there are any, of the usage of possessive forms and compound nouns to express the link between two nouns.
What are the differences ?
How do we decide which one is to be used ?

(I hope someone will get what I mean)

Cheers,

[Tdol]

Generally, the more common the pairing, the more likely they are to form a compound noun- I'm afraid it's not an exact science.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Hello,

Could someone give me a link or reference to rules, if there are any, of the usage of possessive forms and compound nouns to express the link between two nouns.
What are the differences ?
How do we decide which one is to be used ?

(I hope someone will get what I mean)

Cheers,

Could you explain more? Some examples of possessive compound nouns are:

the birdhouse's residents
summertime's end
the workhorse's job
the roadrunner's speed

The rules are the same as for any other possessive.

[I edit copy and have tutored college writing.]

[Jaskin]

Hello,

Often I face a problem which form to use, let me take the simplest example with a simple solution :
“table's leg” or “a leg of a table” or “table leg”
where of course the “table leg” is the right answer.

But recently I was wandering whether to say :
“Alaska's glacier” or “glacier of Alaska” or simply “Alaska glacier”

I'll make notes when I have problem with it and try to find out as it seems that there aren't any rules.
In the few references I've found the “rules” are very foggy; as Tdol said it's not an exact science.

Cheers,