A significant part of Russian spelling is occupied by the rules of hyphen, separate and fused spelling of word forms. Complex adjectives, spelling examples of which will be given in the article, illustrate the spelling rules of the Russian language.
Compound word - what is it?
In the lexical arsenal of the Russian language there are simple words consisting of one root, one base ( blue, young, red, autumn ). If a word consists of several foundations or parts of the foundations, then it is considered complex. Complicated adjectives, examples of which are given below in the tables, consist of two roots.
Compound word: ways of education
Complex words are formed in three main ways: addition, fusion, abbreviation.
Compound words: ways of education| Way | Description | Compound nouns and compound adjectives: examples |
| Addition | A morphological method of word formation, in which a compound word is formed by merging the stems using a vowel (the connecting vowel O follows the solid consonants, the vowel E follows the soft ones). | wool weaving, carnivorous, circulatory, long-range |
| Fusion | Lexical-syntactic method: a whole combination of words merges into a complex without connecting vowels. | two-story (of two floors), forty-day (of forty days), crazy (crazy) |
| Abbreviation | Conditionally-phonetic way: a compound word (noun) is formed from combinations of words, but, unlike merging, only parts of the stems are connected: syllables, letters. | department store, salary, KamAZ, NATO, USE |
Complex adjectives: spelling
The spelling of complex adjectives is subject to a number of spelling rules, their complex names are illustrated by adjectives, examples of which are given in the tables below.
In this case, complex adjectives can be written with a hyphen and together or be part of a phrase, where the adjective is not part of a compound word.
Spelling complex adjectives| No. | The rule | Complex adjectives: examples |
| Together |
| 1 | When a compound adjective is formed from a compound noun, which is written together. | oil pipeline - oil pipeline, ship - shipping |
| 2 | In the formation of a complex adjective from a subordinate combination of words, including from the phrases "noun + adjective", calling geographical objects. | alpine skiing - skiing, science - natural sciences, daily average - average per day; Lysogorsky - Bald Mountains, Yagodnaya Polyana - Yagodnaya Polyana |
| 3 | If the name adjective denotes a scientific term or is a special word. | Lepidoptera, viviparous, mammals, canned milk, bakery, exploration |
| 4 | If the first part of the compound word is as follows: high-, higher-, deep-, densely-, cool-, large-, easy-, small-, small-, multi-, low-, lower-, sharp, flat-, strongly -, weak, thick, thin, hard, heavy, narrow, wide . If there are explanatory words with such elements, then the spelling is separate. | little studied (but: little studied by students), difficult to remove (but: difficult to remove from the body), widely known (widely known abroad) |
| 5 | If the first part of a compound word is general, upper, middle, lower, ancient, early, late. | generally accepted, Central Russian, Lower Volga, Old English, early ripening, Late Scythian |
Complex adjectives: hyphenation
Many adjectives are written half-together. Hyphenation rules and compound adjectives (examples) are given in the table below.
| No. | The rule | Compound adjectives with a hyphen: examples |
| Hyphenated |
| 1 | When a compound adjective is formed from a compound noun, which is written with a hyphen. | northwest - northwest, social democratic - social democracy, Issyk-Kul - Issyk-Kul (but: Zaisysskul, as there is a prefix) |
| 2 | If the adjective is formed from two proper names, for example, from two surnames or a name and surname. An exception is eastern surnames. | Pushkin-Gogol, Leo-Tolstoy, Jules-Vernovsky (but: Dzhekichanskaya, Ho Chi Minh) |
| 3 | If the adjective is formed by the merger of several equal words (between them you can put in a union and or but ). | convex-concave, apple-plum, Russian-Chinese, expressive-emotional |
| 4 | If the adjective is formed by the merger of several equal, but heterogeneous words. | official business, electronic computing, comparative historical |
| 5 | If the first part of a compound word is military, popular, mass, educational, scientific. | military-legal, national liberation, mass-sports, educational-methodical, scientific and technical |
| 6 | If the adjective reflects a hue of color. | gray green, yellow blue, deep black |
| 7 | Complex adjectives-place names. | West Korean, North Ossetian, South Ural |
The phrase "adverb + adjective"
Compound words - adjectives, examples of which are given above, can be difficult to distinguish from similar phrases.
So,
moral and ethical is an adjective, and
morally combined is a phrase, where you can ask a question to the adverb: "
In what relation?"Spelling complex adjectives: examples from the literature
Complicated adjectives are widely used in fiction.
They allow you to accurately describe the object, to distinguish it from the environment; they make the text unique. For example, in the stories of I. A. Bunin there are many individual epithets - complex adjectives:
smoky-purple distance, cloudy-milky fog, dull-pale foliage, gray-winged eagles, cheeky-beautiful woman, light golden maples, thin-broad-shouldered doctor, metallic - voiced screams and others.