Compound Nouns

Level 5

Noun + noun = one word, with the main noun last: ahemfie (palace) = ɔhene (chief) + efie (house).

How It Works

1. The main noun comes last
In Kofi fie (Kofi's house) the owner comes first. A compound keeps that order, but the two nouns become one word:

  • ahemfie (palace): ɔhene (chief) + efie (house)
  • abusuafie (family house): abusua (family) + efie
  • sukuudan (classroom, school building): sukuu (school) + ɛdan (building)
  • abusuapanin (family head): abusua + ɔpanin (elder)
  • Asanteman (the Asante nation): Asante + ɔman (nation, state)

2. What changes at the join
The second noun drops its vowel prefix: efie becomes -fie, ɛdan becomes -dan, ɔman becomes -man, ɔpanin becomes -panin. A nasal prefix usually stays: abɛ (palm nut) + nkwan (soup) gives abɛnkwan (palm nut soup). Sounds can also change where the parts meet. In ahemfie, ɔhene appears as ahem-: it starts with a-, its final e drops, and n becomes m before f, the same spelling rule you see after the Negative Prefix N-.

3. A compound or two words?
A compound names one kind of thing. Ahemfie is a palace, the chief's official house. The phrase ɔhene no fie just means the chief's house, whatever house that is. Words such as no and adjectives follow the whole compound: ahemfie no (the palace), sukuudan foforɔ (a new classroom).

4. Spelling
Standard spelling writes a compound as one word. In everyday writing some are split, such as nkate nkwan for nkatenkwan (groundnut soup).

5. The same idea elsewhere
A place or group plus -hene names its ruler in the same way: Asantehene. Other nouns are built from a verb and its object, as in Nouns From Verb Expressions, or with -foɔ for people.

Examples (6)

  1. Ɔhene no wɔ ahemfie.

    The chief is at the palace.

    Word by Word: chief the is-at chief-house

    Ahemfie joins ɔhene (chief) and efie (house).

  2. Mmofra no wɔ sukuudan mu.

    The children are in the classroom.

    Sukuudan joins sukuu (school) and ɛdan (building). Ɛdan drops its prefix ɛ-.

  3. Yɛn abusuapanin na ɔkasaeɛ.

    It was our family head who spoke.

    Abusuapanin joins abusua (family) and ɔpanin (elder).

  4. Me maame renoa abɛnkwan.

    My mother is cooking palm nut soup.

    Abɛ (palm nut) + nkwan (soup). The nasal n- of nkwan stays.

  5. Yɛn abusuafie wɔ Kumase.

    Our family house is in Kumasi.

    Abusuafie joins abusua (family) and efie (house).

  6. Asanteman nyinaa ani agye.

    The whole Asante nation is happy.

    Asanteman joins Asante and ɔman (nation). Ɔman drops its prefix ɔ-.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping the prefix of the second noun.

    Mmofra no wɔ sukuuɛdan mu.
    Mmofra no wɔ sukuudan mu.

    When two nouns join into one word, the second noun drops its vowel prefix. Ɛdan becomes -dan, so school building is sukuudan.

How It Connects

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Compound NounsLevel 5

Learn This First

Compound nouns join two nouns in the order of possession.

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Patterns that build on this one.