ハイフン語の使用について : 歴史的考察と今後の動向その2

概要

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The study in "Widespread Use of Hyphenated Compounds (Part 1) was mostly concerned modern usage and discussed (1) a short history of hyphens, (2) varieties of hyphenated compounds, (3) two-word compounds & one-word compounds, (4) some rules about hyphenated compounds and (5) future tendency of hyphenated, two-word compounds and one-word compounds. The main focus of Part 2 is a historical discussion of hyphenated compounds. It is generally believed that hyphenated compounds (high-reared, welldressed, for example) inherently come from two-word ones (high reared, welldressed in Shakespeare's age). An opposite movement, from one-word compounds to hyphenated ones, however, can also be found : "today" was derived from hyphenated "to-day", while hyphenated "a-month", common in 19th century, has not become one-word but is completely separated as "a month". We have also collected many examples of one-word compounds that coexist with hyphenated ones : businesslike and business-like, lamplike and lamplike, snakelike and snake-like, and so on. This study also refers to some differences between American English and British English usage regarding compounds. Finally, this paper discusses why using hyphens is preferred by many writers.
2008-03-03