(The representation of compound words in Ñspel)
1. Compound nouns are written without a hyphen or space, eg. relwe (railway), paṣnjrtren (passenger train), mītñples (meeting place), except where:
(a) one of the nouns is already a compound, eg. relwe steśn (railway station), mǎntn relwe (mountain railway)
(b) the second noun: begins with a vowel, eg. sì er (sea air); is a short form, eg. cuntri ppl (country people); or has an abbreviated prefix, eg. fizics xam (physics exam)
(c) the first element is a proper noun, eg. Bucñm Palis (Buckingham Palace), Rījnt Strīt (Regent Street)
(d) the first element indicates what the second is made of, eg. rasḅri jam (raspberry jam), or what it is like, eg. brd bren (bird brain – as a pejorative term for a person)
(e) the two nouns intentionally rhyme, eg. mumbo-jumbo
Notes:
(i) A schwa at the end of the first noun is represented by a dot, eg. teṛcoṭpot (terracota pot)
(ii) Where the first noun ends, and the second begins, with the same consonant letter, the letter is written just once, with a comma beneath it (or above in the case of G and P), eg. nîțîm (night-time), lanscep̓entñ (landscape painting)
(iii) Where either noun is a monosyllable ending in I, IZ, U or UZ, a macron is added, eg. tīparti (tea party), afṭnuntī (afternoon tea), carcīz (car keys), śūlêsz (shoe laces), wŭdscrū (wood screw), dansñśūz (dancing shoes).
(iv) Where the first noun is a monosyllable ending in E or O, a circumflex is added, eg. dêlît (daylight), snǒbōl (snowball). Compare sumrdez (summer days), flǎrśo (flower show).
2. Compound adjectives are hyphenated – eg. wel-of (well-off), bric-bilt (brick-built) – except where:
(a) the second element begins with the schwa, eg. wel’qentd (well-aquainted)
(b) the first element is an adverb ending in LI, eg. bytifli dn (beautifully done)
INTRODUCTIONEXAMPLESALPHABETCONSONANTSVOWELSPREFIXESSUFFIXESSHORT FORMSVERBAL CONTRACTIONSHOMOGRAPHSHOMOPHONESFOREIGN WORDS