Word Division

Much focus in research on alphabetic writing systems has been on correspondences between graphemes and phonemes. The present study sets out to complement these by examining the linguistic denotation of markers of word division in several ancient Northwest Semitic (NWS) writing systems, namely, Ugaritic, Phoenician, Moabite, and Hebrew, as well as alphabetic Greek. While in Modern European languages words on the page are separated on the basis of morphosyntax, I argue that in most NWS writing systems words are divided on the basis of prosody: ‘words’ are units which must be pronounced together with a single primary accent or stress, or as a single phrase. After an introduction providing the necessary theoretical groundwork, Part I considers word division in Phoenician inscriptions. I show that word division at the levels of both the prosodic word and of the prosodic phrase may be found in Phoenician, and that the distributions match those of prosodic words and prosodic phrases in Tiberian Hebrew. The latter is a source where, unlike the rest of the material considered, the prosody is well represented. In Part II, word division in Ugaritic alphabetic cuneiform is analyzed. Here two-word division strategies are identified, corresponding broadly to two genres of text: viz, literary, and administrative documents. Word division in the orthography of literary and of some other texts separates prosodic words. By contrast, in many administrative (and some other) documents, words are separated on the basis of morphosyntax, anticipating later word division strategies in Europe by several centuries. Part III considers word division in the consonantal text of the Masoretic tradition of Biblical Hebrew. Here word division is found to mark out ‘minimal prosodic words’. I show that this word division orthography is also found in early Moabite and Hebrew inscriptions. Word division in alphabetic Greek inscriptions is the topic of Part IV. Whilst it is agreed that word division marks out prosodic words, the precise relationship of these units to the pitch accent and the rhythm of the language is not so clear, and consequently this issue is addressed in detail. Finally, the Epilogue considers the societal context of word division in each of the writing systems examined, to attempt to discern the rationales for the prosodic word division strategies adopted. Contexts of and Relations between Early Writing Systems (CREWS) is a project funded by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 677758), and based in the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge.

The first volume of this pair, The Classification of Bantu Languages, originally published in 1948, investigates the questions arising out of the use of the term Bantu. It establishes and illustrates the criteria used in identifying languages as members of the Bantu family. The technique used in classification is described and its results shown in the form of a series of descriptive classifications of each of the principal areas. As well as the map (not included in the volume due to modern methods of reproduction, but available to view on routledge.com), there is a complete list of languages classified in their groups. The second volume, Bantu Word Division published in the same year, discusses a question which for many years was the subject of protracted controversy, namely the dispute between the conjunctivist and the disjunctivist, with regard to word division. This pamphlet discusses word division from a different angle, and solves the problem in a more conclusive way.

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Division of Words" (Rules for the Division of Words at the Ends of Lines, with Remarks on Spelling, Syllabication and Pronunciation) by Frederick W. Hamilton. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

This handy desktop reference is your ideal guide to spelling and dividing all the most common business terms. Features include: 25,000 words correctly spelled, divided, and accented; complete coverage of spelling rules; and guidelines for word division.