Re: German question: Bundesgesundheitsamt

En réponse à Weiben Wang <weibenw@...>:

> I have a niggly question about German grammar which I
> hope is appropriate to ask here.  I was asked why you
> add the S's in "Bundesgesundheitsamt."  At first I
> thought they were some kind of genitive, ie. der Bund,
> des Bundes.  But then Gesundheit is feminine, and
> doesn't take an "s", ie. die Gesundheit, der
> Gesundheit.  So, where do the S's come from?  I
> presume there's a better explanation than simply,
> "That's just how it works." Does anyone have a proper
> explanation?  TIA,
>
In Dutch they have the same -s-, and the teacher told us that "it's just how it
works" :)) . It seems to be a kind of genitive, but in Dutch it's sometimes
absent even when the relation would be genitive. I find it quite a mystery
myself...

Christophe.

http://rainbow.conlang.free.fr

Take your life as a movie: do not let anybody else play the leading role.