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Nouns with final schwa as the left-hand member of compounds
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Nouns with a plural ending in -en ( /-ən/) have an allomorph ending in schwa if they are the left-hand member of a compound. This allomorphy is the subject of this topic.

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As the left-hand member of compounds, many nouns have an allomorph which ends in schwa. Some examples are given in (1):

Table 1: NN compounds with a left-hand member ending in schwa: Monosyllabic nouns
knine#hok /kninə-/ rabbit cage cf. knyn /knin/ rabbit and kninen /knin+ən/ rabbits
ape#nut /a:pə-/ monkey nut, peanut cf. aap /a:p/ monkey and apen /a:p+ən/ monkeys
heite#lân /haitə-/ (native) country (lit. father land) cf. heit /hajt/ father and heiten /hajt+ən/ fathers
memme#taal /mɛmə-/ mother tongue (lit. mother language) cf. mem /mɛm/ mother and memmen /mɛm+ən/ mothers
toske#dokter /toskə-/ dentist (lit. tooth doctor) cf. tosk /tosk/ tooth and tosken /tosk+ən/ teeth
Table 2: NN compounds with a left-hand member ending in schwa: Polysyllabic nouns ending in a stressed syllable
kastiele#tocht /kastiələ-/ tour along castles cf. kas'tiel /kastiəl/ castle and kastielen /kastiəl+ən/ castles
riviere#rjocht /riviərə-/ International River Law cf. ri'vier /riviər/ river and rivieren /riviər+ən/ rivers
studinte#tiid /stydɪntə-/ college days (lit. student time) cf. stu'dint /stydɪnt/ student and studinten /stydɪnt+ən/ students
Table 3: NN compounds with a left-hand member ending in schwa: (Monosyllabic) nouns without overt plural form
berne#boek /bɛnə-/ children's book cf. bern /bɛ:n/ child; children
skieppe#tsiis /skjɪpə-/ sheep's cheese cf. skiep /skiəp/ sheep (singular and plural form)
Table 4: NN compounds with a left-hand member ending in schwa: (Monosyllabic) nouns with an irregular plural form
kowe#fleis /ko:wə-/ beef cf. ko /ko:/ cow and kij /kɛj/ cows
Table 5: NN compounds with a left-hand member ending in schwa: Inherently plural nouns
hûnsdage#waar /hu:nzda:ɣə-/ weather typical for the dog days cf. hûnsdagen /hu:nzda:ɣən/ dog days
sake#man /sa:kə-/ businessman cf. saken /sa:k+ən/ business

As to nouns with an overt plural form, is is only those which select the plural marker /-ən/ that may have a compound allomorph in /-ə/. These are (countable) nouns which are either monosyllabic or which contain more than one full vowel (sequence) and end in a stressed syllable (see table (1) and table (2)). The following noun classes also have this allomorph:

  • nouns with a plural form without plural marker, like bern child and skiep sheep (see table (3));
  • nouns with an irregular plural form, like ko cow (see table (4) above);
  • inherently plural nouns which end in /-ən/, like saken business and hûns#dagen dog days (see table (5)).
The allomorph can have both a singular and a plural interpretation, as in knine#jacht shooting of rabbits (cf. jacht /jaxt/ hunting, shooting) and knine#fel skin of a rabbit (cf. fel /fɛl/ skin). We might express the relation between base form and allomorph as follows:
base form-compound allomorph relation
Figure 1
[click image to enlarge]
condition
The base noun either selects the plural ending /-ən/, it has an irregular plural, it is an inherently plural noun in /-ən/ or it does not have an overt plural form.

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Inherently plural nouns not ending in /-ən/, like klean /klɪən+∅/ clothes, mûzels /muzəl+s/ measles, and simmels /sɪməl+s/ bran do not not have this kind of allomorph, as can be seen in compounds like those in (1):

i
klean#kast wardrobe ; cf. kast /kɔst/ cupboard
mûzel#prip measles vaccination ; cf. prip /prɪp/ injection
simmel#brea rye bread with bran ; cf. brea /brɪə/ rye bread
extra

The relation between the plural form in /-ən/ and the compound allomorph in /-ə/ is also clear from the fact that in case a noun with a centring diphthong or a long monophthong has a plural with a broken diphthong (see Breaking: the environment) or a short vowel (see Vowel Shortening), it is the vowel of the plural form which shows up in the allomorph. Examples are provided below:

Table 6
beam /bɪəm/ tree ~ beamme#rige /bjɛmə-/ row, line of trees cf. beammen /bjɛm+ən/ trees
goes /ɡuəz/ goose ~ guozze#aai /ɡwozə-/ goose egg cf. guozzen /ɡwoz+ən/ geese
laam /la:m/ lamb ~ lamme#sturt /lamə-/ lamb's tail cf. lammen /lam+ən/ lambs
hân /hɔ:n/ hand ~ hanne#biner /hɔnə-/ tie cf. hannen /hɔn+ən/ hands
hûs /hu:z/ house ~ huze#bou /hyzə-/ house-building, housing construction cf. huzen /hyz+ən/ houses
As to the few nouns with a plural in -en and concomitant lengthening of the stem vowel (see Forms with vowel lengthening), the long vowel also shows up in the allomorph, see the examples below:
Table 7
lid /lɪd/ member ~ lede#list /le:də-/ membership list cf. leden /le:d+ən/ members
gebed /ɡəbɛd/ prayer ~ gebede#boek /ɡəbe:də-/ prayer book cf. gebeden /ɡəbe:d+ən/ prayers
god /ɡɔd/ god ~ goade#wrâld /ɡoədə -/ world of the gods cf. goaden /ɡoəd+ən/ gods

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Nouns ending in schwa also select the plural marker /-ən-/ as exemplified in the table below:

Table 8
balke /bɔlkə/ beam ~ balken /bɔlkə+ən/ beams
planke /plaŋkə/ plank ~ planken /plaŋkə+ən/ planks
For such nouns, base form and allomorph are homophonous. For compounds like balke#brekker violent storm, gale (lit. beam breaker) and planke#koarts stage fright (lit. plank fever) therefore it is not clear whether the left-hand member is the base form balke/planke or the allomorph balke-/planke-.

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