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Why would the hyphen be used in the attributive position, but not be used in the predicative position?

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Why would the hyphen be used in the attributive position, but not be usedin the predicative position?[/nq]
In some parts of Barnsley people think of little else. Alan

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Why would the hyphen be used in the attributive position, but not be used in the predicative position?[/nq]
An attributive adjective can precede or follow its noun: what I believe you mean is an "adherent" compound adjective:

He was a well-liked man. (attributive adherent)
He was a man well liked. (attributive appositive) He was well liked. (predicative)
An adherent compound adjective in which the first term is not obviously an adverb is often open to ambiguity:
They travelled on a fast sailing ship.
Without the hyphenation convention, that could mean that their craft was a sailing ship that was generally considered speedy for its kind, or it could mean that they voyaged on a ship that travelled rapidly ("sail" being used for the motion of even motorized sea craft)). The hyphen distinguishes:
They travelled on a fast sailing ship.
They travelled on a fast-sailing ship.
There, as so often in English, the absence of something tells us much.
The hyphen is universally used for adherent compounds, even when there might seem little real possibility for ambiguity

She was the last of the red-hot mamas.
just because "the possibility" is such a subjective term: what is clear to one is ambiguous to another. So we rigorously require that the writer use a hyphen whenever the senses of the individual components are to be combined for the true meaning, however "obvious" that need to combine may seem, so that when we *do* note the absence of a hyphen, we can be confident that the terms are meant to be taken individually and separately.

(That's why we don't hyphenate adherent compounds when the first term is obviously an adverb: there is no possibility at all of mistaking the sense; and we do hyphenate when the adverbial and adjectival forms are the same, as with "well".)

When the compound follows the noun, the possibility of error is far less, and we do not normally hyphenate. Nonetheless, the careful writer will mind the possibilities of ambiguity with even appositive attributive or predicative compound adjectives, and insert a precautionary hyphen when any possibility of ambiguity seems to be rearing its head.
Her reply was thought-provoking. (it provoked thought)

Her reply was thought provoking. (people found it offensive)

Cordially,
Eric Walker
My opinions on English are available at
http://owlcroft.com/english/

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