Clearing the Haze of Hyphenation Rules

Hyphenation is a spelling issue and it can be frustrating. Should a word be spelled open (two separate words), solid (two words spelled as one word, no hyphen), or hyphenated?

There’s guidance, but it may be inconsistent for a few words whose spelling is in flux. Nevertheless, proper hyphenation is not trifling: When wrong, it creates confusion. And confusion is an enemy of communication.

Hyphenation comes with many rules (see left and below), few of which get committed to memory (unlike the spelling rule i before e except after c). Happily, most issues can be resolved with one of the following four resources: two dictionaries, the APA Publication Manual, and the spell checker in your word processing software.

1.  Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (or, if needed, Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, published in 2002). Try Merriam-Webster’s first; it’s APA’s primary source. Hardbound versions are updated regularly; the 11^th edition is the current one. But you can find many words in the online version: http://www.merriam-webster.com/  Not only is it the easiest to access, it’s also the most up-to-date.                                                              

2.  APA Publication Manual (6^th edition). The manual’s three tables offer comprehensive guidance in the form of rules (pp. 97–100):

• Guide to hyphenating terms
• Prefixes and suffixes that do not require hyphens
• Prefixed words that require hyphens (In this case, be sure to use the hyphen (-) rather than the longer en dash (–).

3.  APA Dictionary of Psychology, published in 2007. If there’s any doubt about a term in psychology, use this dictionary. After all, APA stands for American Psychological Association.

4.  Your word processing software’s spell checker. It can be helpful in pointing out words with prefixes and suffixes that don't need hyphens (e.g., subquestion v. sub-question).

While hyphenation can seem complicated and frustrating, getting it right makes a difference. For more discussion of this punctuation mark, see the Writing Center’s web page. 

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Tim McIndoo, who has been a dissertation editor since 2007, has more than 30 years of editorial experience in the fields of medicine, science and technology, fiction, and education. When it comes to APA style, he says, "I don't write the rules; I just help users follow them."