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I will dispute that it is "easier to combine terms and create new meanings" in German than in English. You can combine words to create new words in either langu
by goto11 7y ago
I will dispute that it is "easier to combine terms and create new meanings" in German than in English. You can combine words to create new words in either language.
- coldtea 7y agoThe fact that "you can" doesn't mean that (1) people often do, (2) the language encourages it, (3) the terms are accepted as valid (e.g. when seen in an article or spoken), (4) there are as many compound words in English as in German, (5) it's as historically customary to create compound words and several other things besides. So I don't think one can dispute that it's easier in German.
- goto11 7y agoBut do you have data for any of those points? People combine terms in both languages all the time. It just looks different because English more often use compounds with space between the terms, e.g. "light bulb" rather than "lightbulb".
- Redoubts 7y agoI’d replace compound words with gerunding in English.