Word division manual the fifteen thousand most used words in business communication PDF
Preview Word division manual the fifteen thousand most used words in business communication
SECOND EDITION THE FIFTEEN THOUSAND MOST -USED WORDS IN BUSINESS COMMUNICATION SILVERTHORN AND PERRY M. K48 SOUTH WESTERN PUBLISHING CO - ^-^^z f' SECOIMD EDITION THE FIFTEEN THOUSAND MOST-USED WORDS IN BUSINESS COMMUNICATION J. E. SILVERTHORN Formerly of Oklahoma State University and DEVERN PERRY J. Brigham Young University K48 SOUTH-WESTERN PUBLISHING CO. CinclnnaH, OH 45227 Chicago,IL 60644 Dallas,TX 75229 Burllngame, CA 9401 New Rochelle, NY 10802 Copyright © 1970 by SOUTH-WESTERN PUBLISHING CO. Cincinnati, Ohio All Rights Reserved The text of this publication, or any part thereof, maynot be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an informationretrieval system, or otherwise, without the prior written permission ofthe publisher. Library ofCongress Catalog Card Number: 77-106912 4567890K987654321 Printed in U.S.A. FOREWORD WORD DIVISION MANUAL, Second Edition, contains 15,659 words, arranged alphabetically, illustrating acceptable and preferred points at which these words may be divided. The words selected for inclusion in this Manual come from two extensive tabulations ofwords used in approximately 4,100 pieces of business communications, as identified by two doctoral studies: "The Basic Vocabulary of Written Business Communications," by James Edwin Silverthorn, completed in 1956 at Indiana University; and "An Analytical Comparison of the Relative Word-Combination Frequencies of Business Correspondence with Phrase Frequencies ofSelected Shorthand Textbooks," by Devern J. Perry, completed in 1968 at the University of North Dakota. All words appearing in the 4,100 business letters, regardless of fre- quency, were tabulated in the studies. From this extensive tabulation, words representing individual, company, and brand names were ex- cluded as were capitalized words and abbreviations. Thus this Manual contains the pure basic vocabulary of the business communications sampled for these studies. In order to increase the usefulness ofthis book as a source ofrefer- ence for spelling and word division, some words in addition to those encountered in the Silverthorn-Perry tabulation have been included. Only those words that might cause spelling and/or division difficulties and that might occur in business writing were added. All these words appeared in the general vocabulary tabulation of Kucera-Francis (Henry Kucera and W. Nelson Francis, Computational Analysis of Present-Day American English), For ease of identification, these words havebeenpreceded by asterisks. The user ofthis Manual will note that word division is indicated by both a hyphen and a period. Recommended points atwhich words may be divided at the ends of lines are shown by a hyphen; for example, bril'liant. Acceptable, but not preferred, division points according to the rules for division contained within this Manual are indicated by a period; for example, effort. Although some words may be acceptably divided at any one of several points, readability suggests one or two points ofdivision that are preferable. Examplesshowing preferreddivisionpointsareiU'gre-dUents and poS'Si'bil-ity. A boldface hyphen is used to indicate that acompound word written in hyphenated form may be acceptably divided only at the point of the existing hyphen; for example, above-mentioned. Webster's ThirdNew International Dictionary, unabridged, was used as the authority for spelling and syllabication in this Manual. WORD GUIDELINES FOR DIVISION An extensive examination of word division rules revealed that the guidelines presented below are widely accepted. These guidelines, there- WORD fore, were followed in the preparation of this edition of the DIVISION MANUAL. 1. Although the most desirable point at which to divide a word is some- times amatter ofopinion, itis preferable to have enough ofthe word on the first line to give the reader the concept of the entire word, and to carry enough of the word to the next line to have two significantly sized parts. Pronunciation of the word is also an important factor to consider in determining the best division point. 2. Words shouldbe divided onlybetween syllables. One-syllablewords, such as shipped, course, and league, must not be divided. 3. There must be more than one letter with the first part of the word (im-port, but not i-deals); and more than two letters with the last part ofthe word (hur-ried, but not speak-er). Even though such divisions are acceptable, it is desirable to avoid setting offtwo letters at the beginning ofa word. These are acceptable but not preferred divisions and are indicated by a period rather than a hyphen; for example, in*creas-ing, 4. Even thoughtheymayhavetwo ormore syllables, neverdividewords offive orfewerletters, suchasotherand idea. Ifpossible, avoid dividing words ofsix letters; for example: letter is better than let-ter. 5. Whenafinalconsonant, precededbyasinglevowel, is doubledbefore addingasuffix, dividebetween thetwoconsonants; forexample, let'ting, not lett-ing. However, when a root word ends in a double consonant before a suffix is added, divide between the root word and the suffix; for example, bill-ing, not bil-ling. 6. Compound words written without the hyphen are preferably divided between the elements ofthe compound, such as business-men, not busi- nessmen. Compound words written with the hyphen should be divided only at the point ofthe existing hyphen, such as self-addressed. 7. A single-letter syllable within a word should be written with the first part of the word, such as tabu-late, not tab-ulate. Exceptions: When a word ends in a two-letter syllable preceded by a single-vowel syllable, the two ending syllables may bejoined and carried over to the next line Qiast-ily), When the single-letter syllable a, /, or u is followed by the ending syllable ble, biy, cle, or cal, the two ending syllables should be joined when carried over to the next line {cur-able, favor-ably, mir-acle, cler-ical). When two one-letter syllables occur together within a word, divide between the one-letter syllables (evalu-ation). 8. When it is necessary to divide parts ofa date, a proper name, or an address, divide at the logical point for readability. Divide between the day ofthe month and the year {March 13,-1969), not between the month and the day (March-13, 1969). Divide between parts ofthe name asillustrated Mr,Jack-Jones, not : Mr.-Jack Jones; Thomas-Brown, M.D., not Thomas Brown-M.D. Divide the address between the city and the state {Cincinnati,- Ohio 45227), not between the state and the zip code (Cincinnati, Ohio-45227). 9. Avoid dividing figures, abbreviations, and signs representing words or abbreviations. {$10,000, not $10,-000 nor $-10,000; A.T.&T., not A.T.-&T.; #57, not #-57; and 30ft,, not 30-ft.) 10. Avoid dividing the last word of more than two consecutive lines. Also avoid dividing the last word of a paragraph or the last word of a page. 11. When determining the points at which to end a line, it should be remembered that how the line ends has considerable influence on the degree of ease with which the reader can follow the thought of the written expression. Therefore, the division of words should be mini- mized; and when the separation of related items is necessary,the break should be a logical one. ill
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