1 Chapter 1. Introduction: status and definition of compounding ...

of such constructions in the Germanic languages, cf. Mod. E There's a man wants to see you).
An alternative interpretation as "imperative compounds" (Darmesteter 1984: 168-234) is
problematic in view of the late development of verbal inflection and is therefore rejected by
Schindler (1997: 539; cf. also already Jacobi 1897: 73). This does not mean that a later
reinterpretation along these lines might not have taken place, and modern formations such as
forget-me-not, G Rühr-mich-nicht-an 'don't touch me' seem indeed to be more readily interpreted
as imperative constructions. The type itself is not too frequent in the early IE daughter languages,
but is found more frequently in the later stages. The reason seems to be its colloquial status (cf.
already Jacobi 1897: 73), e.g. in the function of nick-naming, which would not have made it into
written records. Formations become very frequent in the emerging Romance languages and it is
therefore sometimes assumed that the English type pickpocket, which begins to show up in early
Middle English (there are no Old English examples), was influenced by French (cf. F coupe-
gorge = E cut-throat, F coupe-bourse = E cut-purse from the 12th and 13th centuries). But in
view of German names such as Fürchtegott 'fear God', Habedank 'have thanks' going back to
Middle High German where French influence was negligible (cf. also Carr 1939: 170-174), this
does not seem likely. Rather, as Jacobi had suggested, the type had been part of spoken language
and only surfaced in written language when spoken features entered written texts, probably in
connection with name-giving.
The fourth group of IE compounds discussed by Jacobi are the bahuvrīhi-compounds
(bahuvrīhi 'having much rice'), which he also traced back to relative clause structures. More
recent studies on IE word-formation, especially compounding, have suggested that this was
perhaps the most important type for the genesis of compounds in Indo-European. IE bahuvrīhis
occur both as adjectives and nouns. According to Brugmann (1889: 87), the type originated as
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