Page:The practice of typography; correct composition; a treatise on spelling, abbreviations, the compounding and division of words, the proper use of figures and nummerals by De Vinne, Theodore Low, 1828-1914.djvu/158

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Divisions in foreign languages

often must be, arranged in ways that compel the violation of their rules. Yet rules cannot be entirely abrogated. The good compositor should understand the theory as well as the practice of making syllables; but his acquired knowledge of the elementary principles of etymology and his memorizing of fixed rules will not prove so serviceable in every-day work as a knowledge of correct pronunciation. Much as the writer dislikes clippings and abbreviations in a text, he would not hesitate to render though as tho' at the end of a line in which it would be impossible to crowd the three following letters of the word.

The occasional reprinting in a foreign language of sentences, sometimes in the form of entire paragraphs, calls for the division of words by a compositor who knows nothing of the structure or the true pronunciation of the words. The remarks in Appendices B, C, and D, prepared by an author who has had the technical education of a printer and long experience as an editor, will be found of material service in the composition of French, Italian, and German.

The rules for the division of words in Spanish have been copied, in Appendix E, from Knapp's Spanish Grammar, by permission of the publishers, Messrs. Ginn & Co.