zusammengeschriebene

Zusammengeschriebene is the attributive form of the German adjective derived from zusammenschreiben, used to describe words that are written as a single unit rather than as separate words or with a hyphen. In linguistics and orthography, the phrase zusammengeschriebene Wörter refers to such closed compounds created by joining lexemes into one word.

Etymology and form: Zusammenschreiben combines the prefix zusammen- (together) with schreiben (to write). The resulting participle II form, zusammengeschrieben, is used as an adjective, so it can appear in inflected forms like zusammengeschriebene Wörter or zusammengesetzte Substantive, depending on gender, number, and case.

Usage and examples: The concept describes many common German compounds written without spaces, such as Hausaufgabe (house assignment), Kaffeemaschine (coffee machine), Autowerkstatt (auto repair shop), and Tagesordnung (agendas). These are contrasted with open compounds (offene Zusammenschreibung) written as separate words, and with hyphenated forms (Bindestrichschreibung) used in cases of readability, ambiguity, or special orthographic rules. In practice, the majority of everyday German compounds are zusammengeschrieben, especially when the meaning is clear and the noun is lexicalized.

Orthographic context: German orthography distinguishes closed (zusammengeschrieben) from separated or hyphenated forms. Reforms in the late 20th century clarified many rules about when compounds are written as one word and when hyphens or spaces are appropriate. Exceptions occur with certain prefixes, proper names, or terms where readability or ambiguity would suffer without a hyphen.

See also: Zusammenschreibung, Getrenntschreibung, Bindestrich.

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