More serious
objections are that the system does not provide for words that are long
enough to be divided but are yet not consolidated words, and, most of all,
that the average compositor is not an accomplished etymologist and knows
very little about the derivation, make up, and compounding of the words he
has to set up. He may be familiar, for example with the word _rheostat_,
but it would puzzle him to tell from what language it is derived, while the
word _enclave_ would probably send him to the dictionary for meaning as
well as derivation, unless he happened to be used to one particular kind of
writing.
Another system, and probably on the whole the best one, requires the
division of the word on the accented syllable.
_theol-ogy_
_catas-trophe_
_geog-raphy_
_lexi-cog-rapher_
_pref-erence_
_prog-nos-ticate_
It will be noted that some of these examples show division in more than one
place, that is on the syllables which bear either the primary or the
secondary accent. This rule does not provide for the cases when the
division must come on an unaccented syllable. The cases, however, when the
division cannot be made to come on either the syllable bearing the primary
accent or one bearing a secondary accent will be comparatively few.
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.
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