Syllable Division - Chapter 12 PDF

Syllable Division  Electronic dictionaries may not always agree with the authority for word divisions. Some of the electronic word divisions may break the “unbreakable” rules for word division. Always review all electronic word-division decisions and adjust them as necessary. Whenever...

Syllable Division  Electronic dictionaries may not always agree with the authority for word divisions. Some of the electronic word divisions may break the “unbreakable” rules for word division. Always review all electronic word-division decisions and adjust them as necessary. Whenever possible, avoid dividing a word at the end of a line. When word division is unavoidable, try to divide at the point that is least likely to disrupt the reader’s grasp of the word. We will see some of the syllable division rules.  Basic Rules Divide words only between syllables. When in doubt, consult a dictionary. Do NOT divide one-syllable words. Even when –ed is added to some words, they still remain one-syllable words. – Examples: stress ☞ stressed ; through ; spring ; rhythm ; plan ☞ planned A) Do not set off a one-letter syllable at the beginning or the end of a word. – Examples: amaze, not a-maze ; media, not medi-a ; idea, not i-dea – Note: to discourage word division at the beginning or end of a word, some dictionaries no longer mark one-letter syllables at these points. B) When typing a word like e-mail, use a hard (or nonbreaking) hyphen so that the word will not be divided after the e-.  Do not divide a word unless you can leave a syllable of at least three characters (the last of which is the hyphen) on the upper line and you can carry a syllable of at least three characters (the last may be a punctuation mark) to the next line. – Examples: ad-mit ; de-ter ; un-der ; in-ert ;; do-ing ; re-new ; set-up ; happi-ly – Note: Whenever possible, avoid dividing any word with fewer than six letters. Do not divide abbreviations. – Examples: ACTION ; UNICEF ; AMVETS ; NASDAQ ;; irreg. ; approx. ; assoc. ; introd. – Note: An abbreviation like AFL-CIO may be divided after the hyphen. Do not divide contractions. – Examples: haven’t ; shouldn’t ; mustn’t ; o’clock (of the clock) Preferred Practices While it is acceptable to divide a word at almost any syllable break shown in the dictionary, it is often better to divide at some points other than the designated ones in order to obtain a more intelligible grouping of syllables. The following rules indicate preferred practices whenever you have sufficient space left in the line to permit a choice.  Divide a solid compound word between the elements of the compound. – Examples: eye-witness ; time-saving ; photo-copy ; base-ball Divide a hyphenated compound word at the point of the hyphen. – Examples: self-confidence ; father-in-law ; fire-fighter ; senator-elect A) Divide a word after a prefix (rather than within the prefix). Preferred Acceptable intro- in- duce inter- troduce in- national super- ternational su- sonic circum- personic cir- stances ambi- cumstances am- dextrous bidextrous B) However, avoid divisions like the following, which can easily confuse a reader. Confusing Better inter- in- rogate super- terrogate su- lative circum- perlative cir- ference ambi- cumference am- tious hyper- bitious hy- bole extra- perbole ex- neous coin- traneous co- cide incide  Divide a word before a suffix (rather than within the suffix). – Examples: ✓ appli-cable ✓ comprehend-sible ✗ applica-ble ✗ comprehensi-ble A) When a word has both a prefix and a suffix, choose the division point that groups the syllables more intelligibly. – Examples: ✓ replace-ment ✓encourage-ment ✗ re-placement ✗ en-couragement B) The same principle applies when a word contains a suffix added on to a suffix. Choose the division point that produces the better grouping. – Examples: ✓ helpless-ness ✓ cheerful-ness ✗ help-lessness ✗ cheer-fulness  Whenever you have a choice, divide after a prefix or before a suffix (rather than within the root word). – Examples: ✓ over-active ✓success-ful ✗ overac-tive ✗ suc-cessful ✓ re-address ✗ read-dress ; ✓ re-invest ✗ rein-vest Note: Avoid divisions that could confuse a reader. ✓ co-operate ✗ coop-erate ; ✓ re-allocate ✗ real-locate ✓ co-insure ✗ coin-sure ; ✓ re-arrange ✗ rear-range When a one-letter syllable occurs within the root of a word, divide after it (rather than before it). – Examples: impera-tive ; pene-trate ; simi-lar ; congratu-late nega-tive ; reme-dies ; apolo-gize ; salu-tary  A) When two separately sounded vowels come together in a word, divide between them. – Examples: recre-ation ; medi-ation ; pro-active ; situ-ated pre-eminent ; experi-ence ; po-etic ; influ-entail ; spontane-ity anti-intellectual ; auto-immune ; ingenu-ity ; courte-ous ; patri- otic co-opting ; continu-ous B) Do not divide between two vowels when they are used together to represent one sound. – Examples: main-tained ; trea-surer ; en-croaching ; ac-quaint extraor-dinary ; es-teemed ; ap-point ; guess-ing ; pa-tience sur-geon ; ty-coon ; acquit-al ; por-tion ; neu-tral ; pro-nounce mis-quoted  When necessary, an extremely long number can be divided after a comma. For example: 24,358, -692,000 ; 354, 688,-992,020. Try to leave at least four digits on the line above and at least six digits on the line below, but always divide after a comma. Try not to end more than two consecutive lines in hyphens. Try not to divide at the end of the first line or at the end of the last full line in a paragraph. Do not divide the last word on a page. Breaks Within Word Groups Try to keep together certain kinds of word groups that need to be read together—for example: page and number, month and day, month and year, title and surname, surname and abbreviation (or number), number and abbreviation, or number and unit of measure. Examples: – page 335 ; Mrs. Connolly ; 10:30 a.m. – April 29 ; Paula Schein, J.D. ; 489 miles – September 2017 ; Adam Hagerty Jr. ; 85 percent – Note: If you are using word processing software, insert a hard space (also known as a nonbreaking space) between the elements of a word group that should not be broken at the end of a line. The complete word group will remain on the same line.  When necessary, longer word groups may be broken as follows: – A. ✓ ………… November 24, ✗ ………….… November 1988, …………………… 24, 1988, ………………. B. Street addresses may be broken between the name of the street and Street, Avenue, or the like. If the street name consists of two or more words, the break may come between words in the street name. ✓ ………… 1024 Westervelt ✗ ……………….….… 1024 Boulevard ……………….. Westervelt Boulevard.… ✓ ……………..… 222 North ✗ …………………….… 222 10th Street ……………….. North 10th Street……….. C. Names of places may be broken between the city and the state or between the state and the ZIP Code. If the city or state name consists of – two or more words, the break may come between these words. ………………… Caldwell, or: …………Caldwell, Idaho Idaho 83607 ……….…….. 83607, ……….………...… …………...………..… Fort or: ….…Grand Forks, North Worth, TX 76017 ….…….. Dakota ………………….. – D. Names of persons may be broken between the given name (including middle initial if given) and surname. ✓ ……………..… Jennifer R. ✗ …………….… Jennifer Foster …………………….. R. Foster ……………… – Note: If it is absolutely necessary, a person’s name may be divided. Follow the same principles given for dividing ordinary words. Examples: Eisen - hower ; Brack - man ; Wil - liams ; Back - shall – E. Names preceded by long titles my be broken between the title and the name (preferably) between words in the title. … Assistant Commissioner or: …………......…...…… Assistant Roy N. Frawley …….…….. Commissioner Roy N. Frawley – F. Names of departments may be broken between words. ………………….… Human or: …………….……..… Bureau of Resources Department ….. Public Safety.……….……...… – G. A numbered or lettered enumeration may be broken before (but not directly after) any number or letter. ✓ ……………..… these points: ✗ …………….… these points: (1) (1) All cards should ……….. All cards should ……………… – H. A sentence with a dash in it may be broken after the dash. ✓ ……………..… Early next year– ✗ …………….… Early next year say, in March—let’s ……...…….. —say, in March—let’s..……… – I. A sentence with ellipsis marks in it may be broken after the ellipsis marks (a punctuation mark consisting of three dots…). ✓ Tennis... health spa... golf... ✗ Tennis... health spa... golf and more.... and more. Guides to Correct Syllabification Syllabication is generally based on pronunciation rather than on roots and derivations. – Examples: ✓ knowl-edge ✗ know-ledge ✓ chil-dren ✗ child-ren ✓ prod-uct ✗ pro-duct Note how syllabication changes as pronunciation changes. Verbs Nouns Pre-sent (to make a gift) Pres-ent (a gift) Re-cord (to make an official copy) Rec-ord (an official copy) Pro-duce (to make or yield a product) Prod-uce (farm products) Pro-ject (to throw forward) Proj-ect (an undertaking)  A. If a word ends in double consonants before a suffix is added, you can safely divide after the double consonants (so long as the suffix creates and extra syllable). – sell-ers ; staff-ing ; bless-ing ; buzz-ers ➔ But: filled, distressed B. If a final consonant of the base word is doubled because a suffix is added, you can safely divide between the double consonants if the suffix creates an extra syllable. – begin-ner ; omit-ted ; ship-ping ; refer-ral ➔ But: shipped, referred C. When double consonants appear elsewhere within the base word (but not as the final consonants), you can safely divide between them. – Bub-bling ; sup-pose ; col-lect ; bit-ter ; bet-ter ; dif-ficult ; hap- pen – Traf-fic ; chan-nel ; mid-dle ; an-noy ; strug-gle ; neces-sary Basic Rules When there are two consonants between two pronounced vowels, divide the word between the consonants. – Examples: pic-ture ; sen-tence ; in-vent ; ac-tive ; pic-nic ; ad-vent If a single consonant comes between two vowels, and if the first vowel is long and accented, then the consonant goes with the second vowel. – Examples: si-lent ; fo-cus ; ro-dent ; hu-mor ; Da-vid ; Ja-son ; pi-lot If a single consonant comes between two vowels, and if the first vowel is short and accented, then the consonant stays with the first vowel. – Examples: piv-ot ; met-al ; mag-ic ; traj-ic ; frol-ic Basic Rules (cont.) If a word ends in –le, the consonant preceding it usually goes with the –le to form a syllable. – Examples: hum-ble ; sta-ble ; un-cle ; an-gle ; si-dle ; am-ple