separate, but now consolidated, while house-boat and ferry-boat are sometimes hyphened and some-times set as distinct words.
Many good writers do not favor the increase of compounds: words once hyphened are now separated, as
- common law
- grand jury
- interest tables
- law merchant
- master printer
- minute hand
- palm leaf
- peasant woman
- sister city
- slave trade
- Sunday school
- supper table
The compounding of very long phrases, as never-enough-to-be-remembered, long-looked-for, counsellor-at-law, after the German method of uniting all qualifying words, is not practised by careful writers. Bigelow judiciously says that the hyphening of these words adds nothing toward clearness of expression. Two words should not be connected with the hyphen when separated words will convey the meaning with suficient distinctness.
THE DIERESIS
The dieresis, always on the second vowel, may be required in some words like coöperative and preeminent. When a word carrying this dieresis, like coöperation and preëmption, has to be divided on the first syllable at the end of a line, the dieresis should be suppressed.
