I can only speak for the use in the German language: The German language allows you to compose several words into one long word, which is no longer structured

I can only speak for the use in the German language: The German language allows you to compose several words into one long word, which is no longer structured by spaces. This can lead to ambiguities, especially where a sub-word ends with an S. Due to the rule that words always end with a round S, these ambiguities were resolved. Examples from German wikipedia: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langes_s https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langes_s Kreiſchen (Krei·schen, shouting) vs Kreischen (Kreis·chen, a small circle) Verſendung (Ver·sen·dung, posting) und Versendung (Vers·en·dung, end of a verse)