A Simplified Grammar of the Danish Language/Part II/Composition of Words
Composition of Words.
Composition and decomposition exercise a great influence on the character of words, and admit of being very largely employed in Dano-Norwegian. Thus verbs may be compounded with several different parts of speech; as, at korsfæste, 'to crucify' (fasten on a cross); at fuldstændiggöre, 'to (make) complete;' at istandsætte, 'to repair' (put into order); at påtage, 'to assume.'
In many such cases the verb admits of being decomposed without losing its meaning, as at sætte i Stand, or at istandsætte. Often, however, the verb changes its meaning; as, at oversætte, 'to translate;' at sætte over, 'to put over,' 'to put across' (a stream, &c.)
The composition of nouns may be made in various ways, and more especially as follows:—
1. Without any change in the words; as, Stuedör, Stue, 'room;' Dör, 'door.'
2. By the rejection of the final vowel of the first word; as, Kvindfolk, Kvinde, 'woman;' Folk, 'folk,' 'kind.'
3. By the addition of e to the first word; as, Fåreuld, Får, 'sheep;' Uld, 'wool.'
4. By the addition of s to the first word; as, Mindesmærke, 'monument;' Minde, 'memory;' Mærke, 'mark.'
5. By the addition of n to the first word; as, Rosenbusk, Rose, 'rose;' Busk, 'bush.'
6. By the addition of er to the first word; as, Nattergal, 'nightingale;' Nat, 'night,' at gale, 'to crow,' &c.
In regard to some of these, and other forms of termination, it may be observed that we have here survivals of older Northern modes of declension; thus, Náttar is the Old Northern genitive singular of Nátt, 'night,' whence the word Nattergal has derived its now obsolete genitive termination of er.
Similarly we have often to look to the Old Northern for an explanation of compound words, either or both of whose component parts may be lost in the modern speech; as, Davre, 'first meal,' 'breakfast;' Nadvere, 'supper,' (especially in the sense of the Lord's Supper); Solhverv, 'solstice.' In the first of these we have a survival of ' dagverðr, dag, 'day,' verðr, 'meal;' and in the second, we have the Old Northern Nattverðn, 'night-meal;' while the hverv in Solhverv is derived from the Old Northern hverfa, 'to turn round.'
Many compounds have been borrowed directly from German; as, Slobrok (Schlafrock), 'dressing-gown;' Mistbænk (Mistbeet), 'dung-heap, hot-bed.'
The principal terminal affixes which enter into the composition of nouns have been already treated of, and we will, therefore, only indicate the special meaning attached to some of these terminations.
1. ...Heit, '...hood,' ...skap, '...ship,' the former of which is of German, and the latter of Northern origin, are not of precisely the same significance—the first conveying the idea of a property or a quality, and the latter a condition, as Vildhed, 'wildness' (ferocity), Vildskab, 'state of unculture, misrule.'
2. Dom (Old Northern domr, a thing, or position of importance) indicates a power, as Kongedom or Kongedömme, 'kingdom,' Fyrstendömme (Fyrst, 'a prince'), 'principality.'
3. Else sometimes indicates a property, as Tykkelse, 'thickness;' but more frequently an action, as Anvendelse, 'application.' A similar idea is conveyed by the termination ning, as Skrivning, 'writing.' These two terminations serve to form nouns from the corresponding verbs, and thus constitute an important characteristic of Dano-Norwegian, distinguishing it from Swedish, in which the participles, and not the root of the verb, serve as the basis of words. The German mode of construction, which admits of using the infinitives of verbs as nouns, as das Schreiben, has found its way into Danish; as, Hans Skriven er vel god, men hans Læsen er mådelig, 'His writing is well enough, but his reading is indifferent.'
4. Er (ner) generally betokens an active agent; as, en Tænker, 'a thinker;' en Konstner, 'an artist.' It also marks nationality; as, en Dansker, 'a Dane;' en Bornholmer, 'a native of Bornholm.'
5. Inde, or ske, are used to indicate female persons; as, Fyrstinde, 'princess;' Svogerske, 'sister-in-law'.
6. Eri, in many cases, conveys a disparaging meaning; as, Nöleri, 'loitering about;' Tyveri, 'thieving.' It also, however, indicates a working or trading place; as, Bryggeri, 'a brewery'. Among the various terminations of adjectives, the following may be noted as indicating some special degree or kind of resemblance, or some distinctive character:—(1) agtig, as in grönagtig, 'greenish,' conveys a sense of moderate greenness. (2) bar answers to the English 'ful' and 'able;' as, frugtbar, 'fruitful;' agtbar, 'respectable.' (3) en expresses a quality; as, doven, 'idle;' vranten 'cross.' (4) lig, which is often identical with English 'ly,' is frequently associated with words having a passive significance, while adjectives ending in som convey the idea of some mental condition; as, enlig, 'lonely;' ensom, 'solitary.' (In many of these words, as fölsom, fölelig, 'feelingly,' the distinctions of meaning do not admit of being given in English without circumlocution). (5) The termination sk, which indicates nationality, as norsk, svensk, dansk, &c., belongs also to many adjectives conveying an evil or disparaging meaning; as, spodsk, 'mocking;' fjendsk, 'inimical;' lumsk, 'cunning.'
Many of the terminations of adverbs and prepositions in use in Dano-Norwegian point to an earlier phase of the language, when the Old Northern inflections were not yet eradicated. Thus, where adverbs have not been derived immediately from adjectives, they would often seem to be simply an adaptation of an inflected noun; as, hjem, and hjemme, 'at home;' bort, borte, 'away.' Here, as in such words as ud, ude; ned, nede, etc., the terminal e implies rest, (heimi, Old Northern dative sing., 'home'): Fruen er hjemme, 'the lady is at home.' The word without this terminal e, and derived from the accusative form of the Old Northern heim (modern Dano-Norwegian hjem), is used where motion is implied: Fruen går hjem, 'the lady is going home;' han löber ud, 'he runs out;' han kommer ned, 'she is coming down.' Such survivals are numerous in the modern Scandinavian tongues, and in many instances show the grammatical affinity between Old Northern and Latin.
FINIS.