Hyphens: Numbers, Names and Compass Points
Hyphens are used in formal English prose when compound numbers are written out as words, as in ‘thirty-six’ and ‘seventy-four.’ Although they are often used between the numerals in number ranges, especially for page numbers (pp.34-37) and numerical references (1-4,7,9-11), this is, strictly speaking, less correct, and an en rule or en dash (meaning ‘to’) is a better choice (‘pp.34–37’ and ‘1–4,7,9–11’). However, both style guides and journal guidelines tend to indicate via instructions and examples that page ranges (and sometimes other number ranges) should use hyphens instead of dashes. If this is the case in guidelines you are following, then hyphens should be used, and used consistently. Hyphens should always be used instead of en rules to separate noninclusive numbers such as telephone numbers (1-888-755-3691).
Hyphens are also used to separate letters when words are spelled out (for example, ‘the last name is Fergusson – that’s F-e-r-g-u-s-s-o-n’). They can similarly be used to indicate stammering or a pause in speech, as in ‘I’m so f-f-frightened.’
A hyphen is used in the double-barrelled name of a single individual (the scholar’s last name is Parker-Smith), but for compound nouns and adjectives derived from two names, an en rule is appropriate (the Mann–Whitney test). In adjectives of this sort, a hyphen can be (and often is) used instead of the en rule (Marxist-Leninist), and a hyphen should always be used when the first element cannot stand alone, as in ‘Sino-Japanese.’ When a compound is formed using one or more names that are already double, however, it is essential that the distinct uses of the hyphen and the en rule be maintained: for example, ‘Jackson–Parker-Smith’ refers to two people, with the first named Jackson and the second named Parker-Smith, but if a hyphen were used instead of the en rule, as in ‘Jackson-Parker-Smith,’ or an en rule instead of the hyphen, as in ‘Jackson–Parker–Smith,’ confusion would be the result.
Hyphens are also used for compass points in British English (‘north-west’ and ‘south-east’), but the same terms are closed in American English (‘northwest’ and ‘southeast’), though when an additional element is added it is followed by a hyphen in both forms of the language: ‘north-north-west’ in British English and ‘south-southeast’ in American. Hyphens are not used in the names of winds based on compass points, which generally appear as closed single words (a northwesterly), and they are also not used in capitalised compounds based on compass points, so ‘South East Asia,’ with the compound adjective open, is the form most often used in British English, and ‘Southeast Asia’ the dominant form in American English.
Hyphens often appear in universal resource locators (URLs) and in this context it is essential that they not be confused with underlining (_) or the tilde grapheme (~).
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