Section 36. THE[1] AIR-OCEAN. I.
Reading edition
Section 36. THE[1] AIR-OCEAN. I.
Enveloping[2] this solid globe of ours are two oceans, one[3] partial, and the other universal. There is the[4] ocean of water, which has[5] settled down into all the depressions[6] of the earth’s surface[7], leaving[8] dry above it all the high lands, as mountain-ranges, continents, and islands; and[9] there is an ocean of air, which enwraps[10] the whole in one transparent mantle.
Through[11] the bosom of that ocean, like fishes with their fins (App. § 14), birds[12] and other winged creatures swim; whilst man[13] and other mammalia creep like[14] crabs at the bottom of this aerial sea[15].
A. When the component parts of Compound Nouns are substantives, we combine them often without any connecting link; as—das Lasttier, beast of burden; das Stadtviertel, the quarter of a town, ward.
B. Neither do we require a connecting link for the formation of Compound Nouns the first component of which is an adjective or a particle; as—die Großmutter, grandmother; das Unglück, misfortune; der Urquell, fountain-head.
C. The Gender of Compound Nouns (with the exception of a few compounds with Mut, m.) is determined by the last component, which is always a noun.