ABSTRACT
THE HYPHEN (-) has two main and entirely distinct functions: dividing and compounding. The former kind of hyphenation, concerning single words strictly indivisible, takes place only for typographical or other conventional reasons; the latter concerns the junction of two or more single words into a discernibly collective union. The etymology is revealing: the Late Latin hyphen derives from the Greek huphen, earlier huph’hen, literally ‘under one’, hence ‘into one’ or ‘together’: from hupo, under, and hen, neuter of heis, one.
