Welsh springer spaniel

4.7

A medium-sized friendly hunting dog with a red and white coat from Wales

noun
/wɛlʃ ˈsprɪŋɚ ˈspæn.jəl/

: spaniel galés

The Welsh springer spaniel is known for its friendly temperament and striking red-and-white coat.

Examples

Unlike its English cousin, the Welsh springer spaniel is slightly smaller and has a distinct coloration.
Their family adopted a Welsh springer spaniel because of its affectionate nature and manageable size.
The Welsh springer spaniel is known for its friendly nature.
My friend has a Welsh springer spaniel named Max.
The Welsh springer spaniel is a playful and energetic breed, ideal for families with children.
With its beautiful red-and-white coat, the Welsh springer spaniel stands out at the dog park.
Known for its excellent hunting skills, the Welsh springer spaniel was originally bred in Wales.

Surface Forms

Welsh springer spaniel singular

Welsh springer spaniels plural

Morphology

Welsh + springer + spaniel

The phrase is fully compositional: 'Welsh' indicates origin, 'springer' specifies the subtype of spaniel, and 'spaniel' names the dog breed, so together they denote a particular breed of dog from Wales. This follows a regular adjective+noun naming pattern (common cross-linguistically), so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words should be able to infer the meaning.

Etymology

Welsh springer spaniel comes from where the dog came from and what it did: Welsh shows it came from Wales, and springer comes from the old word 'to spring' because these dogs would make birds fly up for hunters. So the name describes a hunting dog from Wales and explains the breed's job.