Typographical syllabification

Question

Dear all,I have some questions about how words are divided in dictionary entries. It seems to be an arbitrary business. For example, the word hyphenation is shown in most dictionaries as hy.phen.ation, whereas its actual syllabic division would be hy.phe.na.tion.Now, I would like to know if there is any guideline to follow when we are to divide words in writing, and if the divisions in the dictionaries are inflexible, i.e. invariable.I would appreciate your replies.Ray

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Dear all, I have some questions about how words are divided in dictionary entries. It seems to be an arbitrary ... divide words in writing, and if the divisions in the dictionaries are inflexible, i.e. invariable. I would appreciate your replies.[/nq]
When a dictionary shows hyphenation in the headword, it is using typographical conventions about how such a word might be divided in print. That is the reason that many dictionaries avoid separating very small syllables at the beginning or end of a word. The typographical conventions often do not match the phonetic division.

In the case of "hyphenation," you are probably wrong. The pronunciation is /,haI fn- 'eI Sn-/. The second syllable is closed, and your claim that the "actual syllabic division would be hy.phe.na.tion" is true only for those who separate the from the root 'hyphen' and transfer it to the affix '~~ation', saying /,haI f@ 'neI Sn~~/. The fact that you have a different way of saying the word shows why pronunciation-based hyphenation is troublesome.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]When a dictionary shows hyphenation in the headword, it is using typographical conventions about how such a word might be ... match the phonetic division. In the case of "hyphenation," you are probably wrong. The pronunciation is /,haI fn- 'eI Sn-/.[/nq]
I did not say the pronunciation is that way. I just said it is the way how the word is divided in most dictionaries.
[nq:1]... The second syllable is closed, and your claim that the "actual syllabic division would be hy.phe.na.tion" is true only for those who separate the from the root 'hyphen' and transfer it to the affix '~~ation', saying /,haI f@ 'neI Sn~~/.[/nq]
I think most, if not all, native speakers pronounce /neI/ as a syllable separate from /f@/. In fact, phoneticians divide syllables by first isolating the nucleus, then looking for the maximal number of preceding consonants permitted in a certain language as onset, and finally assiging the remaining consonants, if any, to the end of nucleus as coda.
Therefore, the syllabified pronunciation I have given should be true for most cases, i.e. capturing the way native speakers pronounce the word.
[nq:1]The fact that you have a different way of saying the word shows whypronunciation-based hyphenation is troublesome.[/nq]
It is not that troublesome, since most speakers possess roughly the same intuition about their language. Specifically, they know how to divide words into syllables in more or less the same way. However, mastering the arbitrary typographical conventions, I believe, is far more troublesome.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I think most, if not all, native speakers pronounce /neI/ as a syllable separate from /f@/.[/nq]
If I try to pronounce hyphenation your way, it comes out as Haifa Nation. Since Jone15 & K&K, which deal only with pronunciation, disagree with you, as do the Oxford, Chambers, MW, and American Heritage dictionaries, my guess is that you are wrong.
[nq:1]It is not that troublesome, since most speakers possess roughly the same intuition about their language.[/nq]
Obviously it is one that you do not share, since you seem to be in disagreement with everyone about this word. Here's a clue: Raymond does not define the language.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]If I try to pronounce hyphenation your way, it comes out as Haifa Nation. Since Jone15 & K&K, which deal ... you seem to be in disagreement with everyone about this word. Here's a clue: Raymond does not define the language.[/nq]
It seems that you have made am unsupported claim and know very litlle about English phonotactics. I have checked Oxford, Longman, and Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, which all syllabify hyphenation as hy.phe.na.tion.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Obviously it is one that you do not share, since you seem to be in disagreement with everyone about this word. Here's a clue: Raymond does not define the language.[/nq]
Obviously, you are too ready to criticize me for even the most trivial detail.
Though I did not define 'languahe', that does not say I don't know the distinctions between dialects, idiolects, etc. Here, What I refer to by 'language' is the standard dialect(though this label is somehow controversial, as pointed by Victoria Fromkin et al. in Introduction to Language).

Usenet · Answer

berlin.de:
[nq:2]I think most, if not all, native speakers pronounce /neI/ as a syllable separate from /f@/.[/nq]
[nq:1]If I try to pronounce hyphenation your way, it comes out as Haifa Nation.[/nq]
Instead of what? "Hai fenna shun" ??

Kill-filers:
My screen name changes,
My email address doesn't.

Usenet · Answer

Raymond told Martin:
[nq:1]It seems that you have made am unsupported claim and know very litlle about English phonotactics. I have checked Oxford, Longman, and Merriam- Webster Online Dictionary, which all syllabify hyphenation as hy.phe.na.tion.[/nq]
Curiously in view of this statement, the print version of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate, ninth edition, breaks it in three places: hy.phen.ation.

Which, for the second syllable, is about as close as standard spelling can get, since native speakers of AmE in colloquial situations usually pronounce it more like (fn) than like (fE) and (f@). However, the dictionary isn't syllabifying the words: it's showing you where to break words at the ends of lines: "The centered dots within entry words indicate division points at which a hyphen may be put at the end of a line of print or writing" (MWCD9, p. 11).

How does the print version of MWCD11 break the word?

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Curiously in view of this statement, the print version of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate, ninth edition, breaks it in three places: hy.phen.ation.[/nq]
The Oxford Minidictionary of Spelling gives the division points as "hy=phena-tion", where "=" means a "less recommended division (mainly for work in narrow measures)". But British hyphenation rules are different from American.
(The erratum "for il=lit=ter-ate read il=lit=er-ate" may not inspire confidence in this dictionary.)
David

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Raymond told Martin:[/nq]
[nq:2]It seems that you have made am unsupported claim and ... Merriam- Webster Online Dictionary, which all syllabify hyphenation as hy.phe.na.tion.[/nq]
[nq:1]Curiously in view of this statement, the print version of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate, ninth edition, breaks it in three places: ... at which a hyphen may be put at the end of a line of print or writing" (MWCD9, p. 11).[/nq]
But Mr. Ambuhl is arguing that it is a standard practice to pronounce 'hyphenation' with such syllabic divisions as hy.phen.a.tion.

We are now discussing syllabic stuff, but typogrpahical stuff.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Dear all, I have some questions about how words are divided in dictionary entries. It seems to be an arbitrary business.[/nq]
Not entirely arbitrary, but certainly complicated. The Chicago Style Manual is an American source for rules, if I remember correctly. The TeXbook has a discussion from the algorithmic point of view, but the author admits that his algorithm isn't perfect.
[nq:1]For example, the word hyphenation is shown in most dictionaries as hy.phen.ation, whereas its actual syllabic division would be hy.phe.na.tion. ... follow when we are to divide words in writing, and if the divisions in the dictionaries are inflexible, i.e. invariable.[/nq]
There's a strong tendency to divide at morpheme boundaries, mostly for purposes of clarity. That's a major reason for "hy.phen.ation". (For what it's worth, I think I say ('hVI fn-) or ('hVI f@n) but (,hVIf @ 'neI Sn-). The (VI) is my "height" vowel as distinct from my "hide" vowel.)

Jerry Friedman

Typographical syllabification

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions