Re: German question: Bundesgesundheitsamt

Kou wrote:
>Philip Newton wrote:
>
>>Weiben Wang wrote:
>>
>>>  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,
>>
>>Something like that. To make things sound better. Sometimes an -n- is
>>also used, though I can't think of an example right now.
>
>
>Orangensaft?
>
>Seems to me I read somewhere some *general* guidelines (like what
>Andreas outlined for Swedish), which made whether to add -s-, -n-, or
>nothing seem a little less capricious. It was a mini "aha" moment,
>but I have since forgotten the "rules" and don't remember where I
>read them. Hence, I still have to revert to the "just learn it"
>school. If I can find that text in the next few days, I'll pass the
>info along.
>
Minor nit-pick; that was Daniel Andreasson, not me.

                                          Andreas


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