Comment on 7 years ago there were no billionaires worth more than $100 billion - today there are 18!
KyuubiNoKitsune@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 months agoI think it’s because it’s describing the noun.
Comment on 7 years ago there were no billionaires worth more than $100 billion - today there are 18!
KyuubiNoKitsune@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 months agoI think it’s because it’s describing the noun.
yetAnotherUser@discuss.tchncs.de 10 months ago
It’s not describing the noun, it’s part of the noun.
Quick analogy in German:
space billionaire = Weltraummilliärdär
spacefaring billionaire = weltraumreisender Milliärdär
In German, adjective + noun cannot be written together to form a new noun. To form one, only noun + noun can be used. And English is close enough to Germanic languages for that rule to remain the same, I think.
SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 months ago
You are correct. In English, when a noun is used to modify another noun (as an adjective does), it’s referred to as a noun adjunct, attributive noun, or, more rarely, an adjective noun. While it serves the purpose of an adjective, it’s still technically a noun.
Examples are chicken soup, toy store, race car, boat lane, etc.
phdepressed@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
To be clear it’s not about “spacefaring” billionaires but about “spacing” billionaires aka dumping them out an airlock into space as seen in various “The Expanse” scenes.
yetAnotherUser@discuss.tchncs.de 10 months ago
That’s for the second one though, for the [verb] [noun] combination. The “[adjective]” [noun] combination implies spacefaring or similar, doesn’t it?
Rubisco@slrpnk.net 10 months ago
You’ve convinced me.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compound_(linguistics)
merriam-webster.com/…/spelling-using-compound-wor…
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Corrected
phdepressed@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
Yes, correct.