Hyphenating surnames correctly

S

Stasha7

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

I need full justification, and so I need automatic hyphenation to avoid excess space between words.

Problem: Word does not correctly hyphenate some surnames and I can't figure out how to correct the hyphenation. I tried using the customized dictionary, but it doesn't seem to let you specify the syllabification. Manual hyphenation seems to let you chose not to hyphenate but doesn't let you enter hyphens at the correct place.

Thanks for any help.
 
C

Clive Huggan

Hello again Stasha,

I don't use Word 2008 and don't use either full justification or automatic
hyphenation, so I'm not answering your main question. ;-)

But if you end up needing to resort to manual hyphenation, Command-hyphen
inserts an optional hyphen, i.e. one that will show when a word would
otherwise flow to the next line but won't show if the word isn't about to be
pulled to the next line. That's hugely useful if you subsequently need to
insert text that will change pagination, because if the "optionally"
hyphenated word is pushed to the next line, the hyphen disappears.

I'd have to observe that hyphenating surnames is not usual practice, though.
Oops, I said I wouldn't answer the main question. ;-)

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
============
 
S

Stasha7

Thank you, thank you! Command-hyphen works and has solved my problem! (Actually, using a Mac laptop, I need to do it Fn-Cmd-hyphen).

re: Not hyphenating surnames, I'm not seeing where this is a Word option, but it doesn't matter, because with 4" line width (for a book), I really do need to hyphenate some of those long surnames.
 
C

Clive Huggan

Thank you, thank you! Command-hyphen works and has solved my problem!
(Actually, using a Mac laptop, I need to do it Fn-Cmd-hyphen).

re: Not hyphenating surnames, I'm not seeing where this is a Word option, but
it doesn't matter, because with 4" line width (for a book), I really do need
to hyphenate some of those long surnames.
Click to expand...

Yes, Featherstonehaugh can be bothersome... ;-)

Clive
=====
 
C

Clive Huggan

John makes this stinging, hurtful remark about my noble, Huguenot-via-Scots
name, which you can imagine attracted schoolyard taunts that formed my
deeply sensitive character, from the near-unique security -- possessed only
by Koreans named Ma, or Chinese named Ho -- of having a name that is
practically indivisible. Yes, I know one could *hyphenate* it as Mc-Ghie,
but I'm talking of shortening it. I found, years ago, that referring to John
in abbreviated form resulted in feeling a need to put more than "John Mc".
So one adds to it: "McG". But given that in this newsgroup there is one John
McGimpsey, I always experience a feeling after "McG" of "Bother -- why don't
I just add 3 more characters and finish it off?" I did that, once, but to
save myself the awful indecision in future I turned his name into an
AutoCorrect item.

Gee, it's good to wander off topic now and again; it's so therapeutic while
I am trying to wake up this morning...

Clive Huggan
(well, actually I type clv hgn)
======
 
S

Stasha7

Back to the grindstone, gentlemen! Perhaps this should be a separate question, but it is so related that I'm adding it here:
Now I see that Word is inserting a hyphen in a foreign word that has no possibility of hyphenating (oeuvres) and I'm unable to remove the hyphen. Your thoughts please? Many thanks!
 
C

Clive Huggan

Well, Stasha, I do have a thought -- but I suspect you may not like it:
minimal hyphenation inserted manually (arrowkey-down with one hand,
occasionally "End" key; Command-hyphen with the other). Done at great speed,
of course. :)

If Word 2008 is like its predecessors, you can't nominate a word "not to be
hyphenated, unlike page layout applications, including Apple's Pages.

Thank you for your calming remonstration. :)

Clive
======
 
J

John McGhie

Select the word and mark it with the "French" language. This will call in
the French Hyphenation Dictionary, which should know better than to
hyphenate it.

The "Language" in Microsoft Office controls ALL of the proofing tools, not
just the spelling.

Cheers


Back to the grindstone, gentlemen! Perhaps this should be a separate question,
but it is so related that I'm adding it here:
Now I see that Word is inserting a hyphen in a foreign word that has no
possibility of hyphenating (oeuvres) and I'm unable to remove the hyphen. Your
thoughts please? Many thanks!
Click to expand...

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Sydney, Australia. mailto:[email protected]
 
S

Stasha7

Marvelous! I've taken John's solution. I must study up on using the Language tools.
Many thanks!
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Similar Threads

Custom Dictionary not available 4
Page numbers will NOT start on page 3 2
POWERPOINT--Breaking words 2
Word 2008 Spellcheck problem 4
Urgent: emailing images in a pdf file 6
Using Reference Tools 9
Is there a way to use a keyboard shortcut for format painter? 4
Add to Dictionary 1

Top