A Dictionary of Compounds

A resource for conlangers, compiled by Herman Miller
Begun Jan. 1, 2000; last updated Jan. 4, 2000.

Introduction

This is a list of compound words from various languages, arranged by the approximate English meanings of their components (facilitating comparison between compounds in different languages). Since the original roots often have varying meanings in English, the English equivalents have been selected with regard to possible usefulness in conlangs. For example, the German word Sauerstoff (oxygen) is listed under acid rather than sour. For comparison, words from different languages with similar but not identical meanings may be listed together. For instance, German Krankenhaus means "house for sick people", while Japanese 病院 byōin means "sickness institution". Since the main goal of this list is to enrich the vocabulary of conlangs, highly idiomatic compounds such as Chinese 东西 dōngxi (east+west, meaning "thing") and Japanese 十分 jūbun (ten+portion, meaning "enough") are generally not included. A few examples of borrowings into Jarrda, Tirelat, and other conlangs are given, to show how these words might be adapted to other languages.

Fonts

To the extent that is possible, this document uses Unicode. However, each Unicode font contains only a subset of the complete character set, and not all scripts are readily available in a free Unicode font. For these reasons, mixed fonts are used in this document, as appropriate for each language.

Language Font Available from
Chinese (simplified) MS Song Microsoft
Japanese MS Gothic Microsoft
Korean GulimChe Microsoft
Jarrda Lhoerr My font page
All others Thryomanes My font page

Language abbreviations

DEGerman (Deutsch)
ESSpanish (español)
FRFrench (français)
JAJapanese (日本語 nihongo)
JRJarrda (Jarda)
KOKorean (한국말 hangukmal)
LALatin
RURussian (русский)
TTirelat
ZHChinese (中文 zhōngwén, 汉语 hànyǔ)

Compound list

acid+stuff (DE Sauerstoff, RU кислород) oxygen.
almost+island (FR presqu'île, LA paeninsula > JR rebRin rrebrin) peninsula. (cf. half+island)
animal+garden (DE Tiergarten, JA 動物園 dōbutsuen > JR xRinmaz khrinmaz, T jaivimagh) zoo.
animal+study (JA 動物学 dōbutsugaku) zoology.
ash+color (JA 灰色 haiiro) gray.
bad+mouth (JA 悪口 waruguchi) slander.
bad+spirit (JA 悪気 warugi) ill will, malice.
before+promise (JA 予約 yoyaku) reservation.
big+study (JA 大学 daigaku) university.
big+water (JA 大水 ōmizu) flood.
book+building (JA 図書館 toshokan) library.
broad+place (JA 広場 hiroba) plaza.
build+thing (JA 建物 tatemono) building.
buy+thing (JA 買い物 kaimono) shopping.
center+nation (ZH 中国 zhōngguó, JA 中国 chūgoku) China.
change+study (JA 化学 kagaku) chemistry.
child+cow (JA 子牛 koushi) calf.
child+dog (JA 子犬、小犬 koinu) puppy.
come+week (JA 来週 raishū) next week.
come+year (JA 来年 rainen) next year.
construction+place (JA 工場 kōba, kōjō) factory.
construction+study (JA 工学 kōgaku) engineering.
cooking+shop (JA 料理屋 ryōriya) restaurant.
cow+meat (ES carne de vaca, DE Rindfleisch, JA 牛肉 gyūniku) beef.
daytime+sleep (JA 昼寝 hirune > T velz'ozi) nap.
dog+tooth (JA 犬歯 kenshi) canine tooth, eye tooth.
doing+way (JA 仕方 shikata) method.
drink+thing (JA 飲み物 nomimono > T glibavit) drink, beverage.
drink+water (DE Trinkwasser, JA 飲み水 nomimizu) drinking water.
earth+matter+study (JA 地質学 chishitsugaku) geology.
earth+science (JA 地理 chiri) geography (cf. earth+matter+study).
east+capital (JA 東京 tōkyō) Tokyo.
eat+exceed (JA 食べ過ぎる tabesugiru) to overeat.
eat+hall (JA 食堂 shokudō) dining room.
eat+thing (JA 食べ物 tabemono > T kajavit) food.
electric+stairs (ZH 电梯 diàntī) elevator (Dublex: voltpedmestser = escalator [Felix Wan]).
electric+talk (ZH 电话 diànhuà, JA 電話 denwa) telephone.
electric+vehicle (JA 電車 densha) electric train.
elephant+bone (RU слоновая кость) ivory.
elephant+tooth (ZH 象牙 xiàngyá, JA 象牙 zōge > T gandatiek) ivory.
empty+hand (JA 空手 karate) karate.
enter+opening (JA 入口 iriguchi) entrance.
evening+meal (DE Abendessen, JA 夕飯 yūhan) evening meal.
eye+doctor (DE Augenarzt, RU глазной врач, JA 目医者 meisha) oculist.
eye+study (JA 見学 kengaku) study by observation.
eye+water (KO 눈물 nunmul > JR 5RipEn shripên) tear(drop).
face+color (DE Gesichtsfarbe, RU цвет лица, JA 顔色 kaoiro > JR RElston rêlston, T geziljar) complexion.
far+see (DE Fernsehen) television.
fire+bowl (JA 火鉢 hibachi > JR s8ljal sòlyal, T lashaghar) brazier.
fire+mountain (JA 火山 kazan > JR s8lpan sòlpan, T lasherom) volcano.
fire+stone (DE Feuerstein) flint.
flame+color (JA 炎色 enshoku) bright reddish, orange.
flat+ground (JA 平地 heichi, hirachi) plain, level ground.
flower+fire (JA 花火 hanabi) fireworks.
flower+shop (JA 花屋 hanaya) florist.
fold+paper (JA 折り紙 origami) origami.
foot+finger (ES dedo del pie, RU палец на ноге > T sanelarma) toe.
fox+fire (JA 狐火 kitsunebi) will-o'-the-wisp.
front+direction (JA 前方 zenpō) forward.
full+feeling (ZH 满意 mǎnyì) satisfaction.
ground+under (JA 地下 chika) underground.
half+island (DE Halbinsel, RU полуостров, ZH 半岛 bàndǎo, JA 半島 hantō > T tanigira) peninsula. (Although "cönbrin" would be a possible Jarrda equivalent, JR already had "rrebrin", from the Latin almost+island. At first, that seemed more logical, but think about what "half-island" really means: if an "island" is "land surrounded by water", a "half-island" can reasonably be defined as "land half surrounded by water"! As they say in Tirelat, zyankiya!)
hand+fast (JA 手早い tebayai > T kelhetiski) nimble. (In Jack's case, though, wouldn't it be "foot-fast"?)
hand+paper (JA 手紙 tegami) letter.
hand+shoe (DE Handschuh) glove.
iron+road (FR chemin de fer, DE Eisenbahn, RU железная дорога, ZH 铁道 tiědào, JA 鉄道 tetsudō > T zinishar) railroad.
know+person (JA 知人 chijin) acquaintance.
land+picture (ZH 地图 dìtú, JA 地図 chizu > T kalajidri) map.
leave+opening (JA 出口 deguchi) exit.
medicine+person (JA 医者 isha) medical doctor.
medicine+study (JA 医学 igaku) medical science.
meet+building (JA 会館 kaikan) meeting hall.
meet+talk (JA 会話 kaiwa) conversation.
money+have (JA 金持ち kanemochi) wealthy person.
morning+meal (JA 朝ご飯 asagohan) breakfast.
move+thing (JA 動物 dōbutsu) animal.
movie+building (JA 映画館 eigakan) movie theater.
mutual+talk (JA 相談 sōdan) discussion.
near+place (JA 近所 kinjo > T ujivor) neighborhood. Tirelat uses "vor" ("range") rather than the closer translation "yut" ("place") since "ujiyut" would refer to a particular nearby place instead of the overall vicinity as a whole.
near+way (JA 近道 chikamichi) shortcut.
new+hear (JA 新聞 shinbun) newspaper.
noon+after (JA 午後 gogo) afternoon, P.M.
noon+before (JA 午前 gozen) morning, A.M.
on+off (ZH 开关 kāiguān) switch. Coincidentally, Jarrda "prrel" combines the meanings of "on" and "open", while Jarrda "lhêg" combines the meaning of "shut" and "off", the same as the Chinese roots! This suggests "prrel-lhêg" (prelLEg) as a Jarrda equivalent of kāiguān.
outside+land (DE Ausland, ZH 外国 wàiguó, JA 外国 gaikoku) foreign country.
outside+person (JA 外人 gaijin) foreigner.
over+wear (JA 上着 uwagi) jacket.
pleasure+garden (JA 楽園 rakuen > T tilamagh) paradise.
previous+day (JA 昨日 kinō, sakujitsu) yesterday.
project(v.)+picture (JA 映画 eiga) movie.
public+garden (JA 公園 kōen > JR 5ynmaz shünmaz) park. Since the meanings of "garden" and "park" are closely related, Tirelat uses one word for both: magh.
rain+cloud (DE Regenwolke, JA 雨雲 amagumo > JR gRamGiD gramghidh, T shujepalan) rain cloud.
rat+color (JA 鼠色 nezumiiro) gray.
reside+room (DE Wohnzimmer, JA 居間 ima) living room.
ride+thing (JA 乗物 norimono > T yalpavit) vehicle.
rise+fall+machine (ZH 升降机 shēngjiàngjī) elevator.
screw+key (DE Schraubenschlüssel > T klagisark) wrench.
self+move (ZH 自动 zìdòng, JA 自動 jidō) automatic.
self+move+vehicle (JA 自動車 jidōsha) automobile.
self+turn+vehicle (JA 自転車 jitensha) bicycle.
sickness+building (DE Krankenhaus, JA 病院 byōin) hospital.
sky+color (JA 空色 sorairo) sky-blue.
sky+harbor (JA 空港 kūkō) airport.
sky+spirit (JA 天気 tenki) weather.
sleep+pedestal (JA 寝台 shindai) bed.
sleep+room (DE Schlafzimmer, JA 寝室 shinshitsu > JR daznan daznan, T z'ozativa) bedroom.
sound+color (JA 音色 neiro, onshoku > T dunajar) timbre. Since the Jarrda word for "sound" is itself derived from the verb "to hear", this compound is simplified to "hear+color" (dulston dulston).
sound+pleasure (JA 音楽 ongaku) music.
spirit+change (JA 気が変わる ki ga kawaru) to change one's mind.
stone+head (JA 石頭 ishiatama) inflexible person.
study+person (JA 学者 gakusha) scholar.
sun+root (ZH 日本 rìběn, JA 日本 nihon) Japan.
tea+color (JA 茶色 chairo) brown.
tea+room (JA 茶の間 chanoma) (Japanese-style) family room.
thick+character (JA 太字 futoji) bold face.
thought+flavor (JA 意味 imi) meaning.
time+measure (JA 時計 tokei) clock, watch.
tooth+doctor (DE Zahnarzt, RU зубной врач, JA 歯医者 haisha) dentist.
travel+building (JA 旅館 ryokan) (Japanese-style) inn.
travel+ticket (JA 旅券 ryoken) passport.
tree+rat (JA 木鼠 kinezumi) squirrel.
underground+iron (JA 地下鉄 chikatetsu) subway.
underground+room (JA 地下室 chikashitsu) cellar, basement.
under+wear (JA 下着 shitagi) underwear.
war+place (JA 戦場 senjō) battlefield.
war+vehicle (JA 戦車 sensha) tank.
water+stuff (DE Wasserstoff, RU водород) hydrogen.
wear+thing (JA 着物 kimono) kimono.
week+end (DE Wochenende, JA 週末 shūmatsu) weekend.
wide+announce (JA 広告 kōkoku) advertisement.
word+book (DE Wörterbuch) dictionary.
year+hundred (DE Jahrhundert > T ragayagi) century.
year+thousand (DE Jahrtausend > T ragavili) millennium.