Properties
The following properties are specified for modifiers and/or heads:
Abbreviation
If one part of the compound is an abbreviation, it is labelled as Abkürzung.
Examples:
Compound | Modifier | Head |
SIM-Karte | SIM (abbreviation) | Karte |
ISO-Norm | ISO (abbreviation) | Norm |
Bonus-CD | Bonus | CD (abbreviation) |
Affixoid
Affixoids are morphemes with a special status between bound and free morphemes. As they have a clearly assigned meaning, it makes sense to split the respective words. The bound morpheme is labelled as Affixoid.
Examples:
Compound | Modifier | Head |
Grundfrage | grund (affixoid) | Frage |
Riesenchance | riesen (affixoid) | Chance |
Hauptsaison | haupt (affixoid) | Saison |
Generalschlüssel | general (affixoid) | Schlüssel |
Foreign Word
If one part (or more) of the compound is not a German word, it is labelled as Fremdwort. Note that those constituents which are borrowed words but are nowadays used as loanwords defined in a standard German dictionary (such as Duden) are not considered as foreign words in GermaNet (e.g. Drink and Pool in the examples below).
Examples:
Compound | Modifier | Head |
Longydrink | long (foreign word) | Drink |
Swimmingpool | swimming (foreign word) | Pool |
Logdatei | log (foreign word) | Datei |
Konfix
The label Konfix refers to a word which is borrowed from a foreign language, in many cases from Latin or Greek, and whose meaning stems from that particular language. Konfixes are bound morphemes, but in opposition to all other affixes two Konfixes can be combined to form a so-called Konfixkompositum. Those Konfixkomposita are not split in GermaNet, whereas compounds existing of a Konfix and a native word are split.
Examples:
Compound | Modifier | Head |
Milligramm | milli (Konfix) | Gramm |
Zentimeter | zenti (Konfix) | Meter |
Monokultur | mono (Konfix) | Kultur |
Opaque Morpheme
Modifiers whose meaning is not transparent any more without considering the etymology of the word are labelled with the property opaques Morphem.
Examples:
Compound | Modifier | Head |
Himbeere | Him (opaque morpheme) | Beere |
Karfreitag | Kar (opaque morpheme) | Freitag |
Sintflut | Sint (opaque morpheme) | Flut |
Lebkuchen | Leb (opaque morpheme) | Kuchen |
Elfenbein | Elfen (opaque morpheme) | Bein |
Proper Name
If the whole compound is a named entity, it is not split in GermaNet. If only the modifier is a proper name, the compound is split and the label Eigenname is added to the modifier.
Examples:
Compound | Modifier | Head |
Hubbleteleskop | Hubble (proper name) | Teleskop |
Wertherstimmung | Werther (proper name) | Stimmung |
Hiobsbotschaft | Hiob (proper name) | Botschaft |
Virtual Word Form
Virtual word forms, labelled as Virtuelle Bildung, are regularly built according to existing word formation rules. However, they do not exist in isolation, but only as part of a compound.
Examples:
Compound | Modifier | Head |
Einflussnahme | Einfluss | Nahme (virtual word form) |
Fragesteller | Frage | Steller (virtual word form) |
Farbgebung | Farbe | Gebung (virtual word form) |
Word Group
Modifiers consisting of a phrase are marked as Wortgruppe and the parts of the phrase are annotated as the modifier.
Examples:
Compound | Modifier | Head |
Dreiwege-Katalysator | drei Weg (word group) | Katalysator |
Nacht-und-Nebel-Aktion | Nacht und Nebel (word group) | Aktion |
Pro-Kopf-Einkommen | pro Kopf (word group) | Einkommen |
The following table gives an overview of the constituent parts of a compound (i.e. modifier and head) and the corresponding properties that are annotated for each constituent in GermaNet:
Property | Modifier | Head |
Abbreviation | x | x |
Affixoid | x | x |
Foreign Word | x | x |
Konfix | x | |
Opaque Morpheme | x | x |
Proper Name | x | |
Virtual Word Form | | x |
Word Group | x | |