Division of Words | Page 7

words that the legibility and intelligibility of the text will be maintained,
the line justified to register, and the beauty of the page enhanced?
These ends--legibility, intelligibility, and beauty--are the aims of all the
rules which have been devised for the division of words. These are the
things the reader will see and by them he will judge the results. He will
probably know nothing about the rules by which the compositor gains
his results. The compositor needs to know the rules, but to remember
always that they are only means by which to secure results.
There have been several attempts to devise systems of division, but no
one of them is thoroughly consistent or universally adopted.
One system requires the division of a word when the pronunciation will
permit on the vowel at the end of the syllable. It has the defect of
making no provision for syllables that end in consonants. Moreover, if
rigorously applied it would give us such divisions as _ca-pa-ci-ty_,
_cata-stro-phe_, _lexi-co-gra-pher_, _pre-fe-rence_, _pro-gno-sti-cate_,
and _re-co-gnize_.
Another system requires the division of consolidated words at the
junction of their elements, for example:
_magn-animous_ _cata-clysm_ _found-ation_ _oceano-graphy_
_theo-logy_ _know-ledge_ _lexi-co-grapher_ _in-fer-ence_
_pre-judice_ _pro-gnos-ticate_ _pro-position_ _typo-graphy_
In some cases this rule would lead to queer looking divisions. More
serious objections are that the system does not provide for words that
are long enough to be divided but are yet not consolidated words, and,
most of all, that the average compositor is not an accomplished
etymologist and knows very little about the derivation, make up, and
compounding of the words he has to set up. He may be familiar, for
example with the word rheostat, but it would puzzle him to tell from
what language it is derived, while the word enclave would probably
send him to the dictionary for meaning as well as derivation, unless he
happened to be used to one particular kind of writing.

Another system, and probably on the whole the best one, requires the
division of the word on the accented syllable.
_theol-ogy_ _catas-trophe_ _geog-raphy_ _lexi-cog-rapher_
_pref-erence_ _prog-nos-ticate_
It will be noted that some of these examples show division in more than
one place, that is on the syllables which bear either the primary or the
secondary accent. This rule does not provide for the cases when the
division must come on an unaccented syllable. The cases, however,
when the division cannot be made to come on either the syllable
bearing the primary accent or one bearing a secondary accent will be
comparatively few.

RULES FOR DIVISION OF WORDS
I The general rule, then, is to divide according to pronunciation, not
according to etymology or any hard and fast rule.
As far as possible, consistently with pronunciation and good spacing,
divide according to meaning and derivation, where known.
_un-even_, not _une-ven_, _auto-mobile_, not _automo-bile_,
_en-abled_, not _ena-bled_.
II Divide on a vowel wherever practicable. In case a vowel alone forms
a syllable in the middle of a word it should be run into the first line.
_busi-ness_ _sepa-rate_ _criti-cism_ _particu-lar_ _colo-nies_
_dou-ble_ _pro-gress_ _pro-duct_ _noi-sy_ _wo-man_ _pa-tron_
_me-moir_
III When two consonants meet between vowels, and the syllable ends
on one consonant, the division may properly be made between the
consonants, the pronunciation determining the place of division.
_advan-tage_ _plain-tiff_ _Wil-liam_ _exces-sive_ _scur-rilous_

_mas-ter_ _gram-mar_ _profes-sor_ _moun-tain_
IV When three consonants come together between two vowels the first
of which is short, the division comes after the first consonant.
_han-dle_ _chil-dren_ _frus-trate_
V A single consonant between two vowels should be joined to the first
vowel, if it is short; if the first vowel is long the consonant goes with
the second.
_riv-er_ _ri-val_
VI Diphthongs should not be divided.
_peo-ple_ _Cae-sar_
VII Words compounded with a prefix should preferably be divided on
the prefix.
_dis-avow_ _in-herit_ _un-concern_
VIII The terminations _-able_, _-ible_, _-tion_, _-cial_, _-tive_, and
_-ive_ should go over to the next line.
_read-able_ _convert-ible_ _inten-tion_ _discuss-ion_
The termination _-sion_ ordinarily goes over as in
_occa-sion_ _apprehen-sion_ _cis-sion_ _declen-sion_
Occasionally, however, the strong emphasis needed for the s will call
for a different arrangement, as in _divis-ion_.
IX The terminations _-ing_, _-en_, _-ed_, _-er_, _-est_, and the plural
_-es_ go over to the next line except when the preceding consonant is
doubled, or when they follow c or g soft.
_lead-ing_ _beat-en_ _larg-er_, but _lat-ter_ _for-cing_ _ran-ging_

X Do not end a line with j or with c or g soft.
_pro-cess_ _ne-cessary_ _pre-judice_ _prog-eny_
XI Adjectives in ical divide on the i.
_physi-cal_ _inimi-cal_
XII In derivatives of words ending in _-t_, the division follows the
accent.
_objec-tion_, not _object-ion_, _defec-tion_, not _defect-ion_, but
_respec-tively_, not _respect-ively_ and _distinc-tion_, not
_distinct-ion_.
XIII Never separate c and g from the vowels e, i, and y upon which
their soft sound depends.
_re-li-gion_ _ca-pa-ci-ty_