Part 6 — 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

XIV Never separate q from u, qu is a single sound.

XV Do not divide nothing.

XVI Do not divide words of four letters.

XVII Do not divide words of five or six letters if it can be avoided. Good spacing, however, must be considered of first importance.

XVIII In wide measures (20 ems or more) do not divide so as to end or begin a line with a syllable of two letters. Here again, however, good spacing is the first consideration.

XIX Do not divide words of two syllables pronounced as one, including past participles of short words.

heaven power prayer beamed often

XX Avoid additional hyphens in hyphenated words if possible.

object-lesson fellow-being poverty-stricken

XXI Do not separate a divisional mark (a), (1) from the matter to which it pertains.

XXII Do not divide an amount stated in figures.

XXIII Do not divide proper names, especially those of persons, if it can be avoided.

XXIV Do not divide initials or such combinations as a.m., B.C.

XXV Do not divide the last word on a page so as to carry a part of it to the next page.

XXVI Do not divide the last word of the last full line of a paragraph.

XXVII More than two divisions in successive lines should be avoided.

XXVIII Never divide at all if you can help it.