O trudnościach w pisowni zestawień apozycyjnych
About difficulties with spelling appositional compounds

Summary/Abstract: Despite unambiguous normative recommendations related to spelling noun compounds with coordinate and non-coordinate elements provided for in the descriptive part of orthographic dictionaries of Polish, it is still problematic for a considerable number of users of Polish, including specialists (authors of academic publications, columnists, etc.). This is reflected in various errors occurring in texts, consisting in unjustified insertion of a hyphen between the non-coordinate elements of a two-element noun (e.g. prezydent-elekt, słowa- ‑klucze) or its removal from classic nominal structures with coordinate elements (e.g. wańka wstańka, ojczyzna polszczyzna, pomnik głaz). In numerous cases, the cause of such a choice on the part of authors is their insufficient knowledge about the applicable rule as well as the semantic aspect of compound nouns that is at times difficult to determine in an unambiguous manner and the primacy of one element over the other. It seems that the discussed issue is worth devoting more space in dictionaries in the future, i.e. entries should be accompanied with spelling examples of compound nouns.

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