Hyphen

“ The history of the language is a history of constant change. The Anglo-Saxon tongue was full of compounds, but the hyphen was an unknown device to those who spoke it. The English of Chaucer, the period when our new-born English tongue was differentiated from those which contributed to its composition, is full of compounds, and the compounds were generally written with a hyphen. Shakespeare used many compound words and phrases some of which sound strange, if not uncouth, to modern ears, but used the hyphen much less than Chaucer. In modern times the tendency has been and is to drop the hyphen. ”

“ Perley, in his little Grammar, has improperly converted by the hyphen into compound words: calling them the possessive forms of myself, thyself, himself, and so forth; as if one set of compounds could constitute the possessive case of an other! And again, as if the making of eight new pronouns for two great nations, were as slight a feat, as the inserting of so many hyphens! The word own, anciently written owen, is an adjective; from an old form of the perfect participle of the verb to owe; which verb, according to Lowth and others, once signified to possess. ”

“ See the documentation of those templates for the various cases that they support. If a hyphenated word is bold or in italics, and the hyphen is not to be kept, put the hyphen outside the bold/italic markup: First page: Sometimes hyphenated words are ''ita''- Second page: ''lic'' or bold. Final result: "Sometimes hyphenated words are italic or bold." ”

“ A compound word is a union of two or more words, either with or without a hyphen. It conveys a unit idea that is not as clearly or quickly conveyed by the component words in unconnected succession. The hyphen is a mark of punctuation that not only unites but separates the component words, and thus facilitates understanding, aids readability, and ensures correct pronunciation. When compound words must be divided at the end of a line, such division should be made leaving prefixes and combining forms of more than one syllable intact. ”

“ When the prefixes “co-,” “re-,” “pre-,” are followed by the same vowel, use the diæresis marked vowel for the second one, without the hyphen; as, “coördinate,” “reëlection,” “preëminent.” If the prefix comes at the end of a line, with the hyphen, the diæresis is not to be used. The diæresis is not to be used in words beginning with “aer”; as, aeroplane, aery, aerial, etc.
Before sounded h, long u, and the word “one,” use a as the form of the indefinite article; as, a hotel, a history, a union, such a one. ”

“ This is only a temporary expedient and does not supersede the list.
7.10.
Combining forms and prefixes are usually printed solid. For greater readability, the hyphen is sometimes used to avoid doubling a vowel (anti-inflation, naso-orbital) ; to facilitate a normally capitalized word (mid-April, non-European) ; to assure distinct pronunciation of each element of a compound or ready comprehension of intended meaning (contra-ion, un-ionized) ; or to join a combining form or prefix to a hyphenated compound (equi-gram-molar, pro-mother-in-law) . ”

“ High o’er our heads; I’ll for I will; Don’t for do not, sha’n’t, etc.
4. The custom of substituting the apostrophe for the letter e in poetry, at one time common, is now obsolete: e.g., At ev’ry word a reputation dies. This rule is disregarded when the letter is omitted for metrical reasons.
THE HYPHEN
The hyphen is employed to join words together which have not become single words through general usage, and where words are necessarily broken at the end of a line. It is also used to separate the syllables of words, in showing the correct pronunciation. (See Compound Words.) ”

“ Above, ill, well, so, when they precede a participle and are used as qualifiers, may be connected to that participle by a hyphen, as in above-mentioned, ill-bred, well -formed, so-called. Adverbs ending in -ly are seldom compounded with the participle that may follow.
Nouns or adjectives preceded or followed by a present participle are frequently connected with a hyphen: composing-room, printing-house, diningtable, good-looking, cloud-compelling. In the earlier editions of Shakspere and of other English dramatists hyphened compounds of nouns with participles are noticeably frequent. ”

“ In the first sentence the use of the hyphen in twenty-one did not make much difference. In the second sentence the hyphen makes seventy-five dollars' worth of difference. Thus the instructor, in asking you to write, "He is twenty-one years old," is helping you to form a habit that will save you from serious error in other sentences. Whenever you cannot understand the reason for a rule, ask yourself whether the usage of many clear-thinking men for long years past may not be protecting you from difficulties which you do not foresee. ”

“ V Any pair of words used as one name of which the second is a noun but the first not really an adjective should be written as a compound; foster-brother, down-town, after-consideration.
As elsewhere the use of the hyphen depends largely in the familiarity of the phrase; spoilsport, pickpocket.
VI Any two words other than nouns should be treated as a compound, generally solid, when arbitrarily associated as a name; standpoint, outlook.
VII A name or an adjective made by adding a suffix to a proper name compounded of two words should be treated as a compound with a hyphen ”

“ There comes a time when compound words that have long had a hyphen should drop it; this is when they have become quite familiar. It seems absurd to keep any longer the division in to-day and to-morrow; there are no words in the language that are more definitely single and not double words; so much so that the ordinary man can give no explanation of the to. On the other hand, the word italicized in the next example may well puzzle a good many readers without its hyphen ”

“ Use a hyphen when a present participle is united (1) with a noun, forming a new noun with a meaning different from that conveyed by the two words, taken separately; (2) with a preposition used absolutely, to form a noun: boarding-house, dining-room, sleeping-car, dwelling-place, stumbling-block ”

“ Wouldn’t stay another day if it were not for family reasons. Queer sort of wheeze to say ‘hyphen’ in a chap’s name as if it were a word, when it wasn’t at all. The old girl, though—bellower she is—perfectly top-hole; familiar with cattle—all that sort of thing. Sent away the chap’s sherry and had ‘em bring whiskey and soda. The hyphen chap fidgeted a good bit—nervous sort, I take it. Looked through a score of magazines, I dare say, when he found we didn’t notice him much; turned the leaves too fast to see anything, though; made noises and coughed—that sort of thing. Fine old girl. ”

“ The I-believe-of-Eastern-derivation monosyllable "Bosh."
Additional restrictions were advocated in the cases of mothers-of-young-children employed in factories.
As this last sentence stands, the hyphen is really the only means of making it perfectly clear that those who are referred to as employed in factories are the mothers, not the children. Hyphens are sometimes used in cases like the following: "A never-to-be-forgotten event," "peace-at-any-rate principles." They are almost invariably used in "well-to-do," "alack-a-day."
LXXII. The prefix "a" before the gerund is followed by a hyphen. ”

“ It will be seen that, although all the lawgivers are agreed upon the general principle, they do not entirely settle the difficulty which has been raised above. [80] Probably it will be best for the cataloguer to settle each individual case on its own merits, and to be generous in the use of cross-references. It is dangerous to be guided by hyphens, because they have become absurdly common, and many persons seem to be ignorant of the true meaning of the hyphen. One sometimes even sees an ordinary Christian name joined to the surname by a hyphen, as John-Smith. ”

“ An adjective and a verb; broadcast.
5. Two nouns; piecemeal, half-mast.
6. A noun and an adjective; cost-free, pointblank.
7. A noun and a preposition; down-stairs, above-board, offhand.
RULES FOR THE USE OF THE HYPHEN
1. Hyphenate nouns formed by the combination of two nouns standing in objective relation to each other, that is, one of whose components is derived from a transitive verb:
When such compounds are in very common use, and especially when they have a specific or technical meaning, they are printed solid ”

“ Alexander Murray says, "To be a-seeking, is the relic of the Saxon to be on or an seeking. What are you a-seeking? is different from, What are you seeking? It means more fully the going on with the process."—Hist. Europ. Lang,, Vol. ii, p. 149. I disapprove of the hyphen in such terms as "à seeking," because it converts the preposition and participle into I know not what; and it may be observed, in passing, that the want of it, in such as "the going on," leaves us a loose and questionable word, which, by the conversion of the participle into a noun, becomes a nondescript in grammar. ”

“ It maybe remarked, that the quantity of a syllable is short when the accent is on a consonant; as, art ́, bon ́net, hun ́ger. The hyphen (-) , placed over a syllable, denotes that it is long: n=áture. The breve (~) over a syllable, denotes that it is short; as, d~etr=áct."—Chandler's Common School Gram., p. 189. This scheme of quantity is truly remarkable for its absurdity and confusion. What becomes of the elongating power of e, without accent or emphasis, as in jun ́cate, pal ́ate, prel ́ate? Who does not know that such syllables as "at, bat, and cur" are often long in poetry? ”

“ The word hyphen being Greek (ὑφ' ἕν) , and being made a substantive, we might join Greek suffixes to it, and speak of hyphenisms and hyphenic phrases. For example, the following I should call a hyphenic error. When the British Museum recently published A Short Guide to that Portion of the Library of printed Books now open to the Public, a review pronounced the title a misnomer; because the books are not open to the public, but are in locked glass cases. ”

“ On Page 184, remove comma after sha'n't, in the clause: but if he doesn’t, I sha’n’t, let on.
On Page 189, low-down is hyphenated and split between two lines for spacing. On Page 188, low-down is spelled with a hyphen, and on pages 241 and 243 low-downest is also hyphenated. There is no occurrence of lowdown. We transcribed low-down with a hyphen: like a ornery low-down hound! ”

“ Blair, from whom the text originally came, appears to have written it thus: "When we speak of ambition's being restless, or a disease being deceitful."--LECT. xvi, p. 155. This is inconsistent with itself; for one noun is possessive, and the other, objective. NOTE VI.--When a compound participle is converted into a noun, the hyphen seems to be necessary, to prevent ambiguity; but such compound nouns are never elegant, and it is in general better to avoid them, by some change in the expression. ”

“ Flexner simply inspects medical schools. As a matter of fact, Mr. Flexner investigated the adequacy of their methods and means of teaching.
Whether one uses a hyphen in “to-day” or “to-morrow,” or writes “cannot” as one word or as two words (can not) , is a matter of little importance; but no educated person should be ignorant of the meanings of words conveyed by the forms in which they are written.
The fundamental principles of compounding words, especially when the meaning of such words is involved, should be understood by pupils in our grade schools. This knowledge is easily acquired ”

“ Syllabic Division is indicated by a light hyphen.
Compound Words have their members joined by a heavy hyphen.
(Q. V.) is Latin for quod vide or quæ vide. In articles, after names, it means see this, that is, the subject named. ”

“ It is in meaning the same as the Latin -ne, and can be put after any word with which a question is to be asked. It is written separately, but joined to the word by a hyphen; thus: szép-e?
Affirmatives are: igen, yes. ”

“ Note.—In the foregoing Autobiography the original spelling is retained. In the following poems the spelling is modernized. The use of the acute accent ( ́) to indicate the former pronunciation of the final ed as a separate syllable will be obvious; in other exceptional cases the old apostrophe is retained. In a few instances the termination tion is divided by a hyphen, to indicate its pronunciation as two syllables (she-on) . The modern double commas are also used to mark quotations. ”

“ Do not use the hyphen:
1. When writing points of the compass: e.g., northeast, southwest; but north-northeast, etc.
2. In words ending in like, unless compounded with nouns containing more than one syllable (except when ending in l) : e.g., childlike, lifelike; but business-like, bell-like, etc.
3. In compounds ending with man or woman: e.g., workman, needlewoman, etc.
4. In phrases such as by and by, by the bye, good morning, attorney at law, coat of arms, etc. ”

“ Indeed, the number of possible variations is considerable, as Goldsmith may again teach us, if, instead of using a bar to denote the artificial pause, we use a dot to denote the natural and the actual one. Good examples occur in the following lines, all different in their effect. Observe that the hyphen is used to bring together words that are pronounced in a single speech-wave; for just as cónque.rór requires two jets of breath, it often happens that two words (one of them enclitic) can be uttered in one. ”

“ In phrases like in the meantime and forever and ever the words are printed separately.
Any one and some one are separate words.
40. In compounds of color the hyphen is not used except when a noun is used with an adjective to specify color ”