Compounds
Esperanto Word-Building
Chapter 8 · Compounds
🔗 Compounds — Kunmetaĵoj
Affixes change a root. Compounds join two. In Esperanto you can put roots side by side and get a new word, as long as the reader can tell what you mean. This chapter gives the main rule, the small choices about the joining vowel, and the cases where the result is ambiguous.
The main part comes last
| Compound | Parts | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| kantobirdo | kant + o + bird + o | songbird |
| birdokanto | bird + o + kant + o | birdsong |
| velŝipo | vel + ŝip + o | sailing ship |
| ŝipvelo | ŝip + vel + o | a ship's sail |
| centjaro | cent + jar + o | a period of a hundred years |
| jarcento | jar + cent + o | a century |
The order is set by meaning, not by grammar. A useful test: say the compound as a phrase with the last part first. orminejo comes from minejo de oro (a mine of gold), and sunleviĝo from leviĝo de la suno (the rising of the sun).
The joining vowel
Roots can be joined directly or with a linking vowel, most often -o-. The choice is mostly about ease of pronunciation. These are the patterns reported in the sources I read:
| Situation | Example |
|---|---|
| The -o- is often omitted, especially when keeping it would not help the sound | velŝipo, sunleviĝo |
| It is kept when the two consonants differ in voicing | rozokolora (rose-coloured) |
| It is kept when the two consonants are identical | vivovespero |
| It is kept when the first part is very short | diosimila (godlike) |
| It is kept to avoid matching another word | konkoludo (not konkludo) |
| Another ending replaces it when the first part must change its part of speech | multekosta (expensive) |
One teaching page puts it plainly: the -o- is optional, "usually omitted unless its presence eases pronunciation (in the opinion of the speaker)". So both skribotablo and skribtablo (writing desk) occur.
Hyphens
A hyphen may optionally join the parts. One teaching page notes that a string of free-standing nouns cannot modify the noun after it, as English allows ("the garden furniture shop"), and that hyphenating the whole string is possible but, in its words, "silly". Rewrite such a phrase instead, with de, por or el.
Adjective plus noun: a new word, or not
Adjectives are normally kept apart from the noun they describe: bona tago (a good day), bela infano (a beautiful child). Fusing the two makes a new word with a new meaning, so do it only for a fixed idea:
| Fused | Meaning | Compare |
|---|---|---|
| bonveno | welcome (good + coming) | bona veno a good arrival |
| belarto | the fine arts (beautiful + art) | bela arto a beautiful art |
| orminejo | gold mine | ora minejo a golden mine |
Prepositions as prefixes
Prepositions also join roots, acting like prefixes. You met two in Chapter 1: kun- (with) in kunlabori and sen- (without) in senlabora. The same idea gives pri-: pripensi ion (to think over something) beside pensi pri io (to think about something).
Ambiguity: when a compound is not clear
A compound is acceptable only if the context makes the relationship clear. The same teaching page shows three phrases that a compound would blur:
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| skatolo da oro | a boxful of gold |
| skatolo por oro | a box for gold |
| skatolo el oro | a box made of gold |
The compound orskatolo could mean either of the last two. When the relationship matters, write the phrase out with the right preposition.
📖 A Short Text — Mallonga teksto
Find the compounds and say how each is built.
Matene
Show a translation
I live next to a forest. In the morning the birdsong wakes me, and I watch the sunrise from the window.
✏️ Try It Yourself — Ekzercoj
Say the answer first, then click to check.
1. What is the difference between kantobirdo and birdokanto?
Show answer
The last part is the main word: kantobirdo is a kind of bird (songbird); birdokanto is a kind of song (birdsong).
2. Which is a ship that sails, and which is a part of a ship: velŝipo or ŝipvelo?
Show answer
velŝipo is a sailing ship; ŝipvelo is a ship's sail.
3. Say orminejo as a phrase with de.
Show answer
minejo de oro: a mine of gold.
4. Why is orminejo different from ora minejo?
Show answer
orminejo is a gold mine; ora minejo is a mine that is golden (made of, or coloured like, gold).
5. Why is bonveno not just "a good coming"?
Show answer
Fusing an adjective and a noun makes a new word with a new meaning: bonveno is "welcome".
6. Why does rozokolora keep its -o-?
Show answer
The consonants meeting at the join differ in voicing (z and k), so the linking vowel helps pronunciation.
7. Write the three phrases for "gold box" that orskatolo could replace.
Show answer
skatolo da oro (a boxful of gold), skatolo por oro (a box for gold), skatolo el oro (a box made of gold). orskatolo could mean either of the last two.
8. Which prepositions are used as prefixes in kunlabori and senlabora?
Show answer
kun- (with) and sen- (without).
9. Rewrite "the garden furniture shop" in Esperanto without piling up nouns.
Show answer
One possibility: vendejo de ĝardenaj mebloj (a shop of garden furniture). The point is to use de or por rather than a string of nouns.
10. Invent a compound, then give the phrase it stands for and one other meaning a reader might give it.
Show answer
For example tetaso (taso por teo, a cup for tea); a reader might also take it as "a cup of tea" (taso da teo). If the difference matters, write the phrase.
Words used in this chapter
kunmetaĵo compound · kantobirdo songbird · birdokanto birdsong · velŝipo sailing ship · sunleviĝo sunrise · orminejo gold mine · bonveno welcome · belarto fine art · skatolo box · arbaro forest · veki wake · rigardi look at