Doubts about whether to write words separately or together in German are frequently grammatical in nature. Here various combinations are discussed (noun-verb combinations, adjective-verb combinations, various combinations with adjectives and participles) to establish whether the examples in question are complex words or syntagmas. In the process, criteria are identified for words and non-words (syntagmas) and drawn upon to propose rules for writing words separately or together. At the same time it leaves a degree of latitude, as tolerance in doubtful cases is appropriate to the system.

The topics addressed in this volume dedicated to the linguist and German studies scholar Peter Eisenberg are grouped under four headings. The first section devoted to phonology, syllabification and the word is followed by essays on the grammar of two central parts of speech, the noun and the verb. Section four is given over to the illumination of sentence grammar from very different vantages. All four sections encompass a wide array of perspectives, ranging from theoretical concerns to practical questions of school instruction, the teaching of German as a foreign language, orthography and language cultivation.