COMPOUND WORDS ENDING IN MAN

1. 英 手册
语
English Handbook
Compound words
Variant Pronunciations in words
ending in
‘man’

2. April 2012
Words ending in ‘man’
Contents Table
1 Word count Number of words
2 Use Frequency of use
3 Origin Word origin
4 Englishing The Great Stress Shift
5 Spelling Written variations
6 Pronunciation Variations in sound
7 History Historical use
8 Wordbuilding New words
9 Shortening Short forms

3. Intro
The breakdown here below can be used as a reference guide by teachers and students alike. It
forms just one small part of a general analysis of the sound patterns of compound words in Modern
English.
1 Word countup
From this 4 way split word count, we can see at a glance which words currently have which
sound for the ‘man’ ending. This gives the basic reference material as a starting point for further
useful breakdown.
The words have been classed into 4 groups based on the phonetic given in current online
Webster dictionary entries, and these are set out below. Group 1 has all the words in which
Compound Words ending in ‘man’ Word count split by syllable and sound group
Groups
Two
syllable
words
Three
syllable words
Four
syllable words
Five
syllable
words
Six
syllable
words
Total
1 [stressed ‘a’] 14 15 2 - - 31
2 [DUAL SOUND] 5 3 1 - 9
3 [ DUAL SOUND] 6 3 1 1 - 11
4 [unstressed ‘a’] 57 22 3 - 82
Sub totals 82 43 7 1 -
Total 133

4. ‘man’ is sounded with a stressed ‘a’. Groups 2 & 3 have the two types of dual sound, and
group 4 details all the words in which ‘man’ is sounded with an unstressed ‘a’ only. Words
with the second word of the compound in bold show an established use of a ‘woman’ form.
Group 1: ‘man’ is sounded with a stressed ‘a’ only
anchorman Everyman front-man hit-man minuteman stunt man superman yes-man
night-watchman ape-man caveman conman family-man fancy-man handyman he-man leading-
man mailman middleman muscle-man newspaperman snowman weatherman righthand-man
axe-man Spiderman gasman best-man taxman hatchet-man medicine-man 31
Group 2. Stressed ‘a’ is standard & unstressed ‘a’ is alternative
Businessman cameraman doorman frogman mad man serviceman spaceman milkman
repairman 9
Group 3. Unstressed ‘a’ is standard & stressed ‘a’ is alternative
cavalryman newsman oilman ombudsman plowman post man pressman signalman Walkman
cattleman deliveryman 11
Group 4. ‘man’ is sounded with an unstressed ‘a’ only
19
th
& 20
th
century:
crewman airman bandsman barman clans man frontiersman grounds-man infantryman
lawman linesman longshoreman Norseman patrolman police man swagman yachtsman 16
Pre 19
th
century:
batman batsman bushman congress man dustman laundryman oars man showman
sportsman tribesman washerman draftsman guardsman gunman highwayman liveryman
marksman midshipman militiaman nurseryman swordsman warehouseman woodsman

5. chairman clergyman freshman helmsman herdsman huntsman noble man salesman
spokesman statesman tradesman ferryman fisher man foreman henchman lay man
quarryman watchman boatman church man countryman Dutchman fireman footman
German hangman horse man Scotsman bowman craftsman Irishman Norman Welshman
alderman Englishman freeman Frenchman Gentleman headman kinsman seaman workman
juryman 66
Total number of compound words: 133
Number of words with stressed ‘a’ [Group 1] : 31
Number of words with dual sound ‘a’ [Groups 2 & 3]: 20
Number of words with unstressed ‘a’ [Group 4]: 82
Note: Surnames with ‘man’ as the ending have not been included here as they typically have the unstressed ‘a’ sound such
as in ‘Coleman’, ‘Shipman’, ‘Whitman’, & ‘Chapman’. Others with the double ‘n’ ‘mann’ ending can be treated the
same such as in ‘Zimmermann’, and so on.
Word count split by syllable
Group 1 : ‘man’ is sounded with a stressed ‘a’ only
2 syllable
Every syllable of the compound is a word:
front-man hit-man stuntman yes-man ape-man caveman conman he-man mailman snowman
axe-man gasman best-man taxman 14
3 syllable: anchorman Everyman minuteman superman family-man fancy-man handyman
leading-man middleman muscle-man weatherman Spiderman hatchet-man 13
Every syllable of the compound is a word:

6. night-watchman righthand-man 2
4 syllable
newspaperman medicine-man 2
Group 2 . Stressed ‘a’ is standard & unstressed ‘a’ is alternative
2 syllable
Every syllable of the compound is a word:
doorman frogman mad man spaceman milkman 5
3 syllable
Businessman serviceman repairman 3
4 syllable
Cameraman 1
Group 3 . Unstressed ‘a’ is standard & stressed ‘a’ is alternative
2 syllable
Every syllable of the compound is a word:
newsman oilman plowman postman pressman Walkman 6
3 syllable
ombudsman signalman cattleman 3
4 syllable
Cavalryman 1
5 syllable
deliveryman 1

7. Group 4. ‘man’ is sounded with an unstressed ‘a’ only
2 syllable
Every syllable of the compound is a word:
Crewman airman bandsman barman clans man grounds-man lawman linesman Norseman
swagman yachtsman batman batsman bushman dustman oars man showman sportsman
tribesman draftsman guardsman gunman marks man swordsman woodsman chair man
freshman helmsman herdsman huntsman sales man spokesman statesman tradesman foreman
henchman layman watchman boatman church man Dutchman fireman footman German
hangman horseman Scotsman bowman craftsman Norman Welshman freeman Frenchman
headman kinsman seaman workman 57
3 syllable
frontiersman patrolman policeman congressman laundryman washerman liveryman midshipman
clergyman nobleman ferryman fisher man quarryman country man Irishman alderman
Englishman Gentleman juryman 19
Every syllable of the compound is a word:
longshoreman highwayman warehouseman 3
4 syllable
infantryman militiaman nurseryman 3
2 syllable compounds: 82 of which all are made up of two words
3 syllable compounds: 40 of which 5 are made up of three words
4 syllable compounds: 7 of which 0 are made up of four words

8. 5 syllable words: 1
Number of compound words: 133
2 Split by frequency of use.
The frequency-of-use categories below can serve as a general guide and breakdown, from which the
dominant unstressed ‘a’ sound in ‘man’ can be taken as evidence of compound-words with a long
history of common use. However it does not follow that all words with the unstressed ‘a’ sound are
in common use now, and hence the need for a rough split based on current frequency of use.
In the ‘most common use ’ category, of the 5 out of 7 words that have the unstressed ‘a’ only
variant, all 5 predate the 19
th
century, and from this we can understand that their earlier historical
influence has been significant and still ongoing.
Most common use
Group 1
mailman
Group 2
businessman madman
Group3
postman
Group 4
chairman spokesman gentleman policeman gunman fisherman workman
Common use
Group 1
anchorman front-man hit-man stuntman superman yes-man conman family-man handyman
middleman snowman gasman best-man taxman 16

9. Group 2
cameraman doorman serviceman spaceman repairman milkman 6
Group3
oilman ombudsman Walkman deliveryman 4
Group 4
barman lawman linesman batsman congressman showman sportsman freshman salesman
statesman foreman layman countryman Dutchman fireman German Scotsman craftsman
Irishman Welshman Englishman Frenchman seaman 23
Less common use:
Group 1
Everyman minuteman night-watchman crewman juryman ape-man caveman fancy-man he-man
leading-man muscle-man newspaperman weatherman right-hand-man axeman spiderman
hatchet-man medicine-man 18
Group 2
frogman
Group3
cavalryman newsman plowman pressman signalman cattleman
Group 4
airman bandsman clansman frontiersman grounds man infantryman longshoreman Norseman
patrolman swagman yachtsman batman bushman dustman laundryman oarsman tribesman
washerman draftsman guardsman highwayman liveryman marksman midshipman militiaman
nurseryman swordsman warehouseman woodsman clergyman helmsman herdsman huntsman
nobleman tradesman ferryman henchman quarryman watchman boatman churchman footman
hangman horseman bowman Norman alderman freeman headman kinsman 51

10. 3 Origin
For hybrid compounds the Non-Germanic word is highlighted in bold. In this type of breakdown
the compound can usefully represent the hybrid nature of the language as a whole, and thus
work as handy reference material for word structure study.
Group 1: ‘man’ is sounded with a stressed ‘a’ only
anchorman Everyman front-man hit-man minuteman stuntman superman yes-man
night-watchman ape-man caveman conman family-man fancy-man handyman he-man
leading-man mailman middleman muscle-man news paperman snowman weatherman
righthand-man axe-man Spiderman gasman best-man taxman hatchet-man medicine-man
13 out of 31 are hybrid
Group 2. Stressed ‘a’ is standard & unstressed ‘a’ is alternative
Businessman cameraman doorman frogman madman serviceman spaceman milkman
repairman
4 out of 9 are hybrid
Group 3. Unstressed ‘a’ is standard & stressed ‘a’ is alternative
cavalryman newsman oilman ombudsman plowman postman pressman signalman Walkman
cattleman deliveryman
6 out of 11 are hybrid
Group 4. ‘man’ is sounded with an unstressed ‘a’ only
19
th
& 20
th
century:

11. crewman airman bandsman barman clansman frontiersman grounds-man infantryman
lawman linesman longshoreman Norseman patrolman policeman swagman yachtsman
9 out of 16 are hybrid
Pre 19
th
century:
batman batsman bushman congressman dustman laundryman oarsman showman
sportsman tribesman washerman draftsman guardsman gunman highwayman liveryman
marksman midshipman militiaman nurseryman swordsman warehouseman woodsman
chairman clergyman freshman helmsman herdsman huntsman nobleman salesman
spokesman statesman tradesman ferryman fisherman foreman henchman layman
quarryman watchman boatman churchman countryman Dutchman fireman footman
German hangman horseman Scotsman bowman craftsman Irishman Norman Welshman
alderman Englishman freeman Frenchman Gentleman headman kinsman seaman workman
juryman
16 out of 66 are hybrid
Total hybrid words: 48 out of 133
4 Englishing.--The Great Stress Shift
The tendency for the main stress to shift onto the first word in compounds is the natural result of
their common use in spoken language contexts which then drive the change and thereby establish
it as a general rule. In the period of changeover from one stress pattern to another, dual stresses
are likely and often cause difficulty. For the words ending in ‘man’, those most likely to cause
problems are those which have a common use adjective as the first word such as ‘ superman’,
‘freshman’, ‘nobleman’, ‘freeman’, and ‘best-man’. Of these only ‘best-man’ has the
dictionary entry with ‘man’ as the main stress word of the compound, and therefore this word is a

12. good current example to test in context and thereby understand both the reasons for the stress
shift and how the changeover process works in practice.
The example of ‘best man’ :
Compounds with adjectives such as ‘best man’ will tend to take shifting stress when used
attributively.
1. Predicative use of the compound ‘best man’:
The groom’s classmate is the best man.
In such predicative usage, the typical ‘adjective plus noun structure’ stress pattern is unlikely to
cause difficulty at the end of the sentence.
2. Attributive use of ‘best man’
The best man speech was shocking!
In such usage the ‘best man’ stress pattern of the compound typically changes to follow the well
set historical model of firstly a dual pronunciation ‘best man - best man’ , and then changeover
to a final ‘best man’ stress only, as shown in the table below:
Stage
Histor
y
Main stress change process by stage 合 音化 程
复 词变 过
1 19
th
C best man
Stages 2-& 3 --------- Dual stress
STANDARD ALTERNATIVE
2 20
th
C best man best man
3 best man best man
4 best man

13. Notes:
1. best man dates from the early 19
th
century replacing groomsman.
The main reasons for change:
[1] To avoid misunderstanding
In the above attributive usage of ‘best man’, firstly, a change is likely if the predicative use stress
pattern for ‘best man’ results in ambiguity given the structural possibility of hearing ‘best’ as the
adjective, and ‘man speech’ as the compound. Thus to avoid a rephrasing such as ‘the speech
of the best man was shocking ’, a stress shift gives a new compound made up of ‘best man’
as the first word and ‘speech’ as the second.
Other examples in which a stress shift will change the meaning are ‘superman’, ‘freeman’,
‘nobleman’, & ‘freshman’. Thus compare the following pairs:
1. He’s a super man
2. He’s a superman.
1. He’s a free man now
2. He’s a freeman of this city
1. He’s a noble man
2. He’s a nobleman.
1. We need a fresh man for this job.

14. 2. We need a freshman for this job
[2] To suit common speech patterns
Secondly, such change in stress position can be understood as a simple adjustment to suit the
speech pattern of the sentence. This type of change can best be understood by reading Nursery
Rhymes. For example ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, Rich man, Poor man, Beggar man
Thief’ shows how ‘rich man’ & ‘poor man’ follow the ‘stressed then unstressed syllable’ speech
pattern of the first part of the rhyme, thus giving ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, Rich man,
Poor man, Beggar man Thief’. If we take out ‘Rich man’ and put ‘best man’ in its place and
then try to read from the top, the rhythm of the whole rhyme will be upset:
‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, Rich man, best man, Beggar man Thief’
Thus, ‘best man’ will change to ‘best man’.
5 Spelling
Although there are no fixed rules for spelling, most compound words listed in dictionaries are
written together as if one word. The noun function phrasal verbs are always either hyphenated or
written as one word for example, ‘blowup’ & ‘break-in’. New compound nouns are most likely to
be written apart or hyphenated. A glance through the list of words that are recent compounds
from the 19
th
and 20
th
centuries shows the different types of spelling. Generally, compounds that
are written together as if one word show a history of common use.
anchorman Everyman front-man hit-man minuteman stuntman superman
yes-man night-watchman ape-man caveman conman family man fancy man
handyman he-man leading-man mailman middleman newspaperman snowman

15. weatherman right-hand-man axe man Spiderman gasman best-man taxman
hatchet-man muscleman medicine-man
Compounds that are written apart are the most difficult to identify when reading and cause
further problems when used attributively in front of others giving 3, 4, & 5 word compounds as a
result. This use of such longer structures has been steadily increasing over the last 50 years and
is now well established in both speech and writing. However, since they are made-up creations,
unlike the established 2 word compounds, they can’t be looked up in a dictionary. Therefore
knowledge of their structure is a must in order to be able to interpret and pronounce them
correctly. Effectively they can be understood as being a ‘short form’, or a paraphrase of longer
traditional grammatical structures. [See footnote 1]
6 Variant pronunciations—Sound differences
1. General analysis:
Study of the dictionary record back to the 17
th
century shows that sound change in unstressed
vowels has been a typical feature of the multisyllabic words in general and the Latinate and
Greek part of English vocab in particular, but rare in compound words. Changes that have led to
variant pronunciations throughout this time have certainly been influenced by the common
‘stressed word followed by unstressed word ’ pattern of everyday speech, proverbs, nursery
rhymes, poetry, song, and so on. However into this pattern, the compound words do not easily fit
unless the two parts are separable as in the phrasal verbs, or joined by an unstressed linking
vowel in nouns. For example, ‘size down’ will fit the pattern in ‘size it down’ [SUS] , but not so
easily in the noun form ‘a sizedown’ [SS]. Inseparable ‘downsize’ as in ‘downsize it’ [SSU] also
has two stressed syllables side by side. In order to fit such compounds into the common speech
pattern the second word has to be reduced while at the same time keeping the vowel sound

16. intact. In speech therefore the second word is sounded with less force which when combined with
a reduced or mute final consonant, creates the effect of an unstressed syllable and thereby
restores the original pattern [SU]. Thus the second word of a compound can be classed as having
‘secondary’ stress on the strength of its vowel, but in a speech pattern analysis it will be classed
as an unstressed word. Thus, the monosyllabic words of the compound have been and still are
typically resistant to vowel reduction. The difference in behavior of unstressed vowels as a
function of word length can be understood by comparing the two parts of a compound in which
one part is multisyllabic and the other not. Thus, see for example the compound ‘cameraman’.
[‘camera’ + ‘man’. See footnote 2]
Although compounds are by definition multisyllabic, they are structurally different to other words
because each syllable is also a word in 2 syllable compounds, and sometimes in 3 syllable words,
and therefore they behave differently in context. Thus, ‘highwayman’ and ‘camera’ can both be
classed as 3 syllable words, however the vowels in ‘highwayman’ are all stressed and so each part
of the compound has to be assigned a stress level as either ‘main’, ‘secondary’, or ‘tertiary’. Thus
‘highwayman ’ can be classed as a three syllable, three word compound with main stress on the
first word, secondary stress on the second word, and tertiary stress on the last word, whereas
‘camera’ is a 3 syllable word in which the 1
st
syllable is the only one that is stressed and the
others can be classed as unstressed. If the ‘a’ in the third stress ‘man’ part of ‘highwayman’ is
de-stressed then this part of the compound can then be classed as ‘unstressed’. There are many
examples of this type of de-stressing in compounds ending in ‘man’, and although the historical
reason for it has not been explained, it is most likely due to a combination of factors, namely the
‘stressed word followed by unstressed word ’ pattern influence together with a high rate of
use in everyday speech. Furthermore, the large number of words, the similarity of the plural
sound of ‘men’ to that of the unstressed ‘man’, & lastly, the use of common surnames ending in
‘man’ are also likely to have had a big influence.

17. However, in the single syllable part of any compound that does not have the main stress, for
example in ‘fast’ of ’breakfast’, ‘wards’ of ‘forwards’, ‘land’ of ‘headland’, ‘& ‘man’ of
‘cameraman’, the ‘a’ can in theory easily be de-stressed, but in practice the stressed vowel has
to be used when such words stand alone. This influence can be understood as a strong counter
tendency that will clearly hold back any change in the compound. Thus historically there have
been few examples of such change.
Those words that have changed can therefore be thought of as exceptional and will usually have a
dual sound, and create persistent variant pronunciations. Thus in the word ‘man’ as the second
word of a compound, although the de-stressed sound of the ‘a’ has become standardized in many
words and also influences the sound in others, the stressed ‘a’ sound can still be used and is
typically heard in all new words. The persistence of this type of dual sound can be compared to
that found in the ‘a’ of the Germanic ‘are’, ‘was’, ‘can’, ‘shall’, ‘have’, ‘had‘, has’, ‘as’, ‘and’,
‘a’, ‘an’, & ‘at’ which can all be sounded with either a stressed or unstressed ‘a’ in standard
connected speech unless they are otherwise stressed to fit structurally, for emphasis or for special
effect, in which cases the stressed ‘a’ has to be used. In standard speech the unstressed variants
have long been the preferred sound.
2. The variant pronunciations of the ‘man’ ending in compound words
The variant pronunciations of the vowel sound ‘a’ in ‘man’ detailed in dictionary entries often
cause uncertainty over which one to use, and therefore the following breakdown of the current
dual sound entries can give some guidance on which variant to choose for the words in Groups 2
& 3 below:
Group 2. Stressed ‘a’ is standard & unstressed ‘a’ is alternative
Most common use: Businessman madman
Common use: cameraman doorman serviceman spaceman milkman repairman

18. Less common use: frogman
Group 3. Unstressed ‘a’ is standard & stressed ‘a’ is alternative
Most common use: postman
Common use: oilman ombudsman Walkman deliveryman
Less common use: cavalryman newsman plowman pressman signalman cattleman
From these groupings we can understand the current dual sounds as showing words in
changeover from an original single sound of ‘a’ as stressed ‘a’ to a final single sound of ‘a’ as
unstressed ‘a’ . This changeover can be understood as a 4 stage process of change as set out in
the table above which also gives a model starting point for understanding such variants in proper
historical context.
Given that the words currently in Group 2 have some history of usage with the unstressed ‘a’
sound, and are likely to move on to Group 3 in future, using the unstressed ‘a’ variant can be
understood as the progressive choice. Words currently in Group 3 can be understood as
Stage History sound change process by stages ------ 音 化 程
发 变 过
1 Stressed ‘a’ sound ONLY: [man] [ mæn ]
Stages 2-& 3 --------- DUAL sound
STANDARD ALTERNATIVE
2 [man] [ mæn ] [ m n
ə
]
3 [ m n
ə
] [man] [ mæn ]
4 Unstressed sound ONLY : [ m n
ə
]
Key
Webster: [US English phonetic]:
Stressed sound of ‘a’ [man]
Unstressed sound of ‘a’ [m n
ə
]
Oxford: [British English phonetic]
Stressed sound of ‘a’ [mæn]
Unstressed sound of ‘a’ [m n
ə
]

19. having a longer history of usage with the unstressed ‘a’ and can be understood as effectively
at stage 4, and a choice made accordingly. A good understanding of the current breakdown
and process is the best guide to understanding and interpreting the future changes as they
happen. The words classed currently in Group 1 can also be understood as transitional and
therefore likely to have dual pronunciation in future.
Group1 words
anchorman Everyman front-man hit-man minuteman stuntman
superman yes-man night-watchman ape-man caveman conman family-
man fancy-man handyman he-man leading-man mailman middleman
muscle-man newspaperman snowman weatherman righthand-man axe-man
Spiderman gasman best-man taxman hatchet-man medicine-man
Furthermore, understanding the earlier treatment of these words will give the overall historical
background. All the pre 19th century compound words with ‘ man’ given by Walker’s 1797
dictionary have the stressed sound of ‘a’ in ‘man’ as the standard, but in his general notes on
pronunciation Walker states that this ‘a’ when unstressed….. ‘might be written ‘mun’ in
‘nobleman’ ‘husbandman’, ‘woman’, and so on. ‘ The entries that he gives for all such
compounds can therefore be understood as dual sound and classed accordingly as either stage 2
or 3 at that time. Walker’s list of words with dual sound:
juryman madman milkman plowman dustman sportsman highwayman
liveryman marksman midshipman swordsman woodsman chairman clergyman
herdsman huntsman nobleman salesman spokesman statesman tradesman

20. ferryman fisherman foreman layman quarryman watchman churchman
countryman fireman footman hangman horseman bowman freeman
gentleman headsman kinsman seaman workman [words that still have a stressed
sound for the ‘a’ in ‘man’ are highlighted in bold] John Walker’s ‘Critical
Pronouncing Dictionary & Expositor of the English Language’, 2nd Edition 1797.
Words ending in ‘man’ Dual Sound words Current status [2012]
WORD
American
English
British
English History
Current
Frequency of
use
Notes
STAGE Differences between British and
American usage: Some differences are
likely in the period of changeover but it is
unusual to find older words such as
‘madman’, ‘plowman’ and ‘milkman’ that
are different.
businesman 2 2 19
th
C
Most common
madman 2 4 14
th
C
Doorman 2 4 19
th
C
common
repairman 2 1 19
th
C
cameraman 2 1 20
th
C
serviceman 2 4 19
th
C
spaceman 2 1 20
th
C
milkman 2 4 17
th
C
frogman 2 4 20
th
CLess common
postman 3 4 19
th
CMost common
oilman 3 1 20
th
C
common
ombudsman 3 3 20
th
C
Walkman 3 4 20
th
C
deliveryman 3 ? 19
th
C
newsman 3 1 17
th
C
Less common
signalman 3 4 18
th
C

21. plowman 3 4 13
th
C
cattleman 3 4 19
th
C
cavalryman 3 4 19
th
C
pressman 3 1 17
th
C
7 History
20th century
Compound Words ending in ‘man’. The sound of the ‘a’ in ‘man’ is the stressed sound of
the letter ‘a’ as heard in the words, ‘can’, ‘fan’, ‘man’, ‘pan’, ‘ran’, ‘tan’ & so on.
anchorman
Everyman
front man
hit man
minuteman
stuntman
superman
yes-man
night watchman
crewman
19th century & 20th century
Compound Words ending in ‘man’. Dual Sound of the ‘a’:
From the words in this section we can understand the current dual sounds as showing words in
changeover from an original single sound of stressed ‘a’ to a final single sound of unstressed ‘a’
.
1. Standard sound is stressed ‘a’ and the alternative is unstressed ‘a’.
businessman 19th cameraman 20
th
doorman 19th

22. frogman 20
th

madman 14
th

serviceman 19th
spaceman 20
th

repairman 19th
milkman-17
th

2. Standard sound is unstressed ‘a’ and the alternative is stressed ‘a’.
cavalryman 19
th

newsman 17
th

oilman 19th
ombudsman 20th
plowman 13th
postman 19
th

pressman 17
th

signalman 18
th

Walkman 20th
cattleman 19
th

deliveryman19
th
19
th
century
1. Compound Words ending in ‘man’. Sound of the ‘a’ is unstressed ‘a’ which is the sound
of ‘a’ in the words, ‘along’, ‘among’, ‘alone’, ‘about’, ‘another’, ‘ago’ & so on.
airman bandsman barman clansman frontiersman grounds man infantryman lawman
linesman longshoreman Norseman patrolman policeman swagman yachtsman
2. Compound Words ending in ‘man’. The sound of the ‘a’ in ‘man’ is the stressed sound of
the letter ‘a’ as heard in the words, ‘can’, ‘fan’, ‘man’, ‘pan’, ‘ran’, ‘tan’ & so on.
ape-man caveman conman family-man fancy-man handyman he-man leading-man mailman
middleman newspaperman snowman weatherman right-hand-man axe-man Spiderman
gasman best-man taxman hatchet-man muscleman medicine-man
12th century to 18th century
Compound Words ending in ‘man’. Sound of the ‘a’ is unstressed ‘a’ which is the sound of
‘a’ in the words, ‘along’, ‘among’, ‘alone’, ‘about’, ‘another’, ‘ago’ & so on.
18th century
batman batsman bushman congressman dustman laundryman oarsman showman
sportsman tribesman washerman
17th century

23. draftsman guardsman gunman highwayman liveryman marksman midshipman militiaman
nurseryman swordsman warehouseman woodsman
16th century
chairman, clergyman statesman freshman helmsman herdsman huntsman nobleman
salesman spokesman statesman tradesman
15th century
ferryman fisherman foreman henchman layman quarryman watchman
14th century
boatman churchman countryman Dutchman fireman footman German hangman
horseman Scotsman
13th century
bowman craftsman Irishman Norman Welshman
12th century
alderman Englishman freeman Frenchman gentleman headman kinsman seaman workman
8 New words.
Made-to-suit compounds, still often called ‘ad hoc’ forms, are common in everyday speech, and
so new words are likely to come up in spoken or printed material contexts. Some useful guidelines
on new compounds are set out below:
Guidelines for 2 word compounds :
1. The first word of the compound takes the main stress.
2. The ‘man’ part of the compound takes the secondary stress, and thus the ‘a’ sound is a
‘stressed ‘a’.
3. For spelling there are no fixed rules but generally new compounds are written apart and
thereafter may be hyphenated and finally written together. Thus for example we can compare the

24. current ‘cavalryman’ with the 1913 Webster record which had it hyphenated as ‘ cavalry-
man’ .
4. Compounds which have adjectives as the first word such as ‘best man’ will tend to take shifting
stress when used attributively. [See: 4 Great Stress Shift].
5. The use of ‘man’ with the sense of ‘fan’ or simply to express preference is also common, as in
‘a football man’ instead of ‘a football fan’, and ‘a DIY man’ meaning a man who prefers to do
household jobs himself, rather than pay a professional to do them.
6. Some examples of recent words are: Action-man mega-man adman pizza-man earthman
Guidelines for 3 word compounds: [See ‘best man speech’ in 4 Great Stress Shift]
9 Shortening
Although the unstressed ‘a’ can be understood as a shortening, the words ending in ‘man’ that
are currently heard with this vowel unstressed are not usually classed as shortenings. However
since the final consonant ‘n’ is also reduced when it doesn’t link, then the combined effect of a
reduced vowel and a reduced consonant clearly shortens the syllable.
When the word or words preceding ‘man’ can also be shortened then the effect is greater: Thus,
for example in ‘postman’, the ‘t’ of ‘post’ can not link to the ‘m’ of ‘man’, and therefore it is
silent:
pos[t]m[a][n]
Thus, in ‘here’s the postman’, ‘postman’ can easily be heard as ‘posma’ [ ˈpəʊsmə] . Other
compounds with unstressed vowels that are typically not sounded are set out below:
med[e]cine man deliv[e]ryman

25. liv[e]ryman
cam[e]raman
ev[e]ryman
nurs[e]ryman
fam[i]ly man
p[o]liceman
Footnotes
[1] Compound word difficulties
3 word compounds
corruption clampdown list
Disaster Management Office
oil spill disaster
peak viewing time
privacy protection record
street vendor ban
4 word compounds
freight train drivers strike
Peak viewing time figures
Oil spill disaster victims
There is often confusion about the different ways of writing compound words, and so firstly the
terms used to define them are given below:

26. Definitions:
1.Established compound word : a compound word that can be looked up in the dictionary
2Ad hoc or ‘made-up’ compound word: a compound word that can’t be looked up in a
dictionary
3Joinedup compound word : a compound word that is written as one word.
4Hyphenated compound word: a compound word that uses a hyphen to join the two words
together.
5 Split compound: a compound in which the words are written apart.
As an everyday means of expression the compound has steadily been replacing other
constructions. For example, compare the following pairs of sentences:
Example 1
1.The voter turn-out was low. (5 words)
2.The number of voters that turned out was low. (9 words)
Example 2
1.The voter turn-out statistics are nearly finished. (8 words)
2.The statistics about how many people turned out to vote are nearly finished. (13 words)

27. Example 3
1.The voter turn-out statistic breakdown is nearly finished. (8 words)
2.The statistical breakdown of how many people turned out to vote is nearly finished. (14
words)
The meaning of each sentence is the same but clearly the structure is very different. If we now
add another word, the traditional construction becomes even longer.
Example 4
1.The voter turn-out statistic breakdown expert is nearly finished. (10 words)
2.The expert who deals with the statistical breakdown of how many people have turned out to
vote is nearly finished. (20 words)
When we compare these pairs of sentences for length we can understand why the compound has
been pushing out the other ways of expression. This explains why the written constructions have
changed. If we now compare how long it takes to say each of the sentences, we can also
understand how the compound has influenced the spoken word. All this makes logical sense given
the world of Radio and Television broadcasts that have to fit into a given time, and Newspapers
and magazines that have to fit words into limited space.
[2] The treatment of unstressed vowels in compounds.

28. In the multisyllabic part of the compound, ‘camera’, the unstressed ‘e’ has dropped out in
standard connected speech. [See Webster: [1.ˈkam-r ,
ə
2. ˈka-m r-
ə ə
] & Oxford: [ˈkæm(ə)rə] ]
.
However, in the single syllable part ‘man’, the vowel can be de-stressed but if it were to drop out
it would turn the word into a consonant cluster ‘mn’ that could not easily stand alone except as an
acronym and be pronounced accordingly.
In the few words that do have this cluster in English, the ‘n’ is silent when the ‘mn’ ends a syllable
such as in ‘autumn’, ‘condemn’, ‘damn’, ‘column’, ‘hymn’, & ‘solemn’, and typically sounded
when the ‘m’ ends one syllable and the ‘n’ begins the next one as in ‘ca-lum-ny’, ‘am-nes-i-a’,
‘am-nes-ty’, ‘chim-ney’, ‘in-dem-ni-ty’, ‘in-som-ni-a’, ‘gym-nast’, ‘om-ni-po-tent’, & ‘rem-
nant’.
The best example to show the process of de-stressing and final dropout to leave such a consonant
cluster is the last word in the above list ‘remnant’ which historically can be understood as the
Englished form of the Old French ‘remanant’. As a result of stress shift to the 1
st
syllable, either
directly or by step, the French sound of this word changed and the first ‘a’ of ‘rem anant’
eventually dropped out thus leaving ‘remnant’ which was later spelt as it was sounded and
entered the written language thus. It is a good example of a word that escaped the later attempts
by scholars to restore original Latin spellings of words adopted from French.
In ‘Re-ma-nant’, none of the syllables are words and thus the de-stressing of the vowels is
unlikely to be checked by any strong counter tendency. Thus, clearly sound change in words is
also a function of the intelligibility of their individual syllables.