Thus, words like fearless, unhappyР В РІР‚в„ўР вЂ™Р’В and international are not compounds because they have fewer than two roots. un-, in-, mis-, pre-) cannot be separate words, but a few like -less can (see 106.

less, -ness, -tion, -ly, -ing some prefixes, e.g. The -less ending is called not a Р В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р РЋРЎв„ўrootР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р РЋРЎС™ but an Р В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р РЋРЎв„ўaffixР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р РЋРЎС™, a meaningful word part added to a root to modify its meaning. horti- in horticulture).Р В РІР‚СњР В РІР‚С›nother problem with Р В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р РЋРЎв„ўjoined wordsР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р РЋРЎС™ is that some, such as fearless, are not considered compounds at all. Linguists, though, like to speak of joined roots or stems rather than words, partly because the joining into a compound stops them being words (a few are not even words by themselves, e.g. One can think of a compound as two or more words joined together. How Computers Get Grammar Wrong), but the question of why ordinary compound words give especial problems is interesting. As a linguist, I usually disregard computer advice about language (see 68. They include words like coursework, which I like to write as a single word but my Microsoft Word spellchecker tells me should be two.

Ordinary compounds are the area with the fewest guidelines. They mostly involve combinations that can make either one word or two, depending on meaning or grammar. I wish here to indicate some of these guidelines. They are made worse by the fact that in some cases both spellings are correct, but mean different things.Р В РІР‚СњР В РІР‚С›re there any guidelines for resolving such uncertainties? It seems that in some cases there are and in some there are not. Is it correct to write bath tub, or should it be the single word bathtub? Is every day a correct spelling, or everyday? Uncertainties like this are widespread in English, even among proficient users. There are some rules for joining two different words into one, but they do not cover all cases AREAS OF UNCERTAINTY ABOUT JOINING WORDS TOGETHER

Is cannot one word or two words