For instance, subjects are given three words such as "age", "mile" and "sand"—and asked to come up with a single word that can precede or follow each of them to form a compound word.

例如，给受试者三个单词，如“年龄”、“英里”和“沙子”，并要求他们想出一个单词，这个单词可以在这三个词之前或之后组成一个复合词。

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Housetop is a compound word.

(屋顶)是一个复合词。

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"Fingerprint" is a compound word.

(指纹)是一个复合词。

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William thought there must be a long compound German word for the way that large events in the world could affect your personal life: the scale was reduced to the point of insignificance, but the everyday effect was amplified.

NEWYORKER: The Proxy Marriage

And how, for example, do you treat a German compound verb, or a Hungarian word formation which can incorporate a whole sentence?

ECONOMIST: Shape-shifting

Each code word represented a different stage of the mission: leaving Jalalabad, entering Pakistan, approaching the compound, and so on.

NEWYORKER: Getting Bin Laden