"Watertank" and add ons

[Issacus Divus]

Ok. So I'm not sure where to post this question, but what I'm trying to ask is this:
Is there any attested construction in Latin to make compound words (more like the Germanic languages?) I'm not sure if you can do that in Latin.

 

[legio septima]

I think you need to consult grammar books on word formation and compounds.
There are some information in Allen and Greenough's New Latin grammar for schools and colleges
https://archive.org/details/allengreenoughsn00alleiala/page/160
I would advise to cross-check with Gildersleeve
https://archive.org/details/gildersleeveslat00gilduoft/page/140
Good luck!

 

[Issacus Divus]

Lol, I meant unusual attested compounds, but I appreciate the links nonetheless. Maybe I'll find the answer in there.

 

[Bitmap]

Ok. So I'm not sure where to post this question, but what I'm trying to ask is this:
Is there any attested construction in Latin to make compound words (more like the Germanic languages?) I'm not sure if you can do that in Latin.

I thought I've seen one or two examples, before, but I have nothing concrete in mind right now ... if anything comes back to my mind, I'll let you know it's certainly not the most usual way to do it in Latin.

 

[Issacus Divus]

it's certainly not the most usual way to do it in Latin.

Undoubtedly! That's what got me thinking about this in the first place; I remember comparing Germanic compounds with Latin's constructions, and now I'm wondering how it would look like in Latin.

 

[Bitmap]

Undoubtedly! That's what got me thinking about this in the first place; I remember comparing Germanic compounds with Latin's constructions, and now I'm wondering how it would look like in Latin.

Germanic compounds in Latin would either be done with genitive constructions or with adjectival construction.

I can think of quite a few Neo-Latin words, like pediludium (= football) that are rather compound-like ... but I think that they A) sound stupid and were B) probably invented by German people

 

[Dantius]

Not a compound in that way, but still a rather unusual formation for a compound word: Nerei repandirostrum incurvicervicum pecus from Pacuvius, describing dolphins.

 

[Callaina]

Not a compound in that way, but still a rather unusual formation for a compound word: Nerei repandirostrum incurvicervicum pecus from Pacuvius, describing dolphins.

Interesting; I'd never before heard of the guy.

 

[Dantius]

His works only survive in fragments so he doesn't have much reason to come up unless you're specifically studying Roman tragedy or fragments of early authors, I guess.

 

[cinefactus]

Plautus seems to do it. There are some more obvious examples, but stultiloquium comes to mind.

 

[Glabrigausapes]

He does it with gusto. Come to think of it, the fact that both the Greek and Roman comedians (the latter following suit) used these words to get a couple of laughs, specially those with plenty of short syllables (your 'stultiloquium' or 'ferricrepinus'), is pretty telling.

 

[cinefactus]

I wonder if he isn't getting the laughs from pretending to be Greek.

 

[Issacus Divus]

That made me laugh.