In Dutch compounds the head of the word is the right-hand part of the word. This means that the meaning of the word is determined by its right-hand part, its head, as is clear from the difference between ‘cursustaal’ and ‘taalcursus’

Can you guess which part of the word is the head in English compounds?

(If your native language is not Dutch or English try to find out the headedness of your first language!)

Answer

To answer this question you need to make a list of English compounds. You can make compounds simply by putting two words together (of course not all words go together). Let’s start with the word ‘cup’.

tea cup
coffee cup
milk cup

These are all types of cups. What if we put a different word in the right-hand position?

tea water
swim water
drink water

These are all sorts of water. What if we put ‘cup’ and ‘water’ in the first position? Do they still dominate the meaning of the word?

cup cake
cup holder
cup bearer

water bottle
water hole
water pipe

These aren’t types of cup of water. Again the right-hand part is important for the meaning of the word. This means that English is also subject to the right-hand head rule: English compounds are right headed.

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