28 THE NOUN.
COMPOUND NOUNS.
11 45. Compound nouns are very common, and can be form- ed at will. They generally consist either of two nouns or of a noun preceded or followed by the stem of an adjective or the indefinite form of a verb. As the indefinite forms of verbs are constantly used as nouns, two of them may combine to form a compound noun. The following are specimens of the various sorts of compound nouns. The student should notice how frequently the second member of the compound assumes the nigori (See 1i. 28).
furo-ba, "a bath-room;" fromfuro, "a bath," and ba (used only in composition), " a place."
ha-isha, " a dentist ;" from ha, " a tooth," and isha " a physician."
ke-mono, "a quadruped;" from ke, "hair," and mono, " a creature."
iia-fuda, "a visiting card;" from na, " a name," and fuda, " a ticket."
te-bukuro, " gloves;" from te "the hand," and/K&wo, "abag."
tetsudo-basha, "a street-car;" from tetsudo, "a rail- way," and basha, " a carriage."
aka-gane, "copper;" from akai, "red," and kane, " metal."
kuro-megane, " black goggles ;" from kuroi, " black," and megane, " spectacles."
to-megane, " a telescope ;" from toi, " far," and megane, " spectacles."
