A Contrastive Analysis of Compound Nouns in German and Albanian Languages

Abstract Language is an important mean of communication and it is constantly changing. During the language change a lot of words become out of use and many other new words become part of lexicon. The lexicon of the language is constantly enlarging and one important way to enlarge a language is by word formation. In German and Albanian Languages word formation is defined as a process of forming new words. In both, German and Albanian Languages an important contribution in word formation is given by compounding. In German Language compound words make up 2/3 of lexical language. The dominant part of compound words is the formation of compound nouns. German Language has got a lot of compound nouns so it has the ability to create new compounds between the connection of nouns or the connection of a noun with the other parts of discourse. In most cases the compounds of German Language find their equivalent in Albanian Language in simple words or phrases. In both languages a compound noun consists of two or more (lexical parts) components; they can have subordinate and coordinate relations. The majority of compounds is done by coordinate relations (determinate compositions). The composition components have a strict word order. If the word order changes in German Language, the meaning of composition will change, it will take a new meaning. (Of course there are exceptions in a few cases). If the word order changes in Albanian Language, the word becomes meaningless. In Albanian language the components of a compound noun are connected without fugues. Compound nouns with connecting vowels (o / a) are very few, while in German linking elements (fugues : e-, -s-, -es-, -n-, -en-, -er-, -ens-, -o-, ) are typical.