7: Spelling, Distinctive Treatment of Words, and Compounds
- Overview
- 7.1Recommended dictionaries
- 7.2Variant spellings
- 7.3Non-US spelling
- 7.4Supplementing the dictionary
- Plurals
- 7.5Standard plural forms
- 7.6Alternative plural forms
- 7.7Plurals of compound nouns
- 7.8Plurals for centuries
- 7.9Plurals of proper nouns
- 7.10Plural form for names of Indigenous groups
- 7.11Singular form used for the plural
- 7.12Plural form of italicized words
- 7.13Plural form for words in quotation marks
- 7.14Plurals of noun coinages
- 7.15Plurals for letters, abbreviations, and numerals
- Possessives
- The General Rule
- 7.16Possessive form of most nouns
- 7.17Possessive of proper nouns, abbreviations, and numbers
- 7.18Possessive of words and names ending in unpronounced “s”
- 7.19Possessive of names like “Euripides”
- Exceptions to the General Rule
- 7.20Possessive of nouns plural in form, singular in meaning
- 7.21“For . . . sake” expressions
- 7.22An alternative practice for words ending in “s”
- Particularities of the Possessive
- 7.23Joint versus separate possession
- 7.24Compound possessives
- 7.25Possessive to mean “of”
- 7.26Double possessive
- 7.27Possessive versus attributive forms for groups
- 7.28Possessive with gerund
- 7.29Possessive with italicized or quoted terms
- Contractions and Interjections
- 7.30Contractions
- 7.31Interjections
- “A” and “An”
- 7.32“A” and “an” before “h”
- 7.33“A” and “an” before abbreviations, symbols, and numerals
- Ligatures
- 7.34When not to use ligatures
- 7.35When ligatures should be used
- Word Division
- 7.36Dictionary word division
- 7.37Word divisions that should be avoided
- 7.38Dividing according to pronunciation
- 7.39Dividing after a vowel
- 7.40Dividing compounds, prefixes, and suffixes
- 7.41Dividing words ending in “ing”
- 7.42Dividing proper nouns and personal names
- 7.43Dividing numerals
- 7.44Dividing numerals with abbreviated units of measure
- 7.45Dividing mathematical expressions
- 7.46Division in run-in lists
- 7.47Dividing URLs at the end of a line
- 7.48Hyphenation and appearance
- Italics, Capitals, and Quotation Marks
- 7.49Setting off proper names and titles of works
- 7.50Italics and markup
- Emphasis
- 7.51Italics for emphasis
- 7.52Boldface or underlining for emphasis
- 7.53Asterisks for emphasis
- 7.54Capitals for emphasis
- Words from Other Languages
- 7.55Unfamiliar words and phrases from other languages
- 7.56Roman for familiar words from other languages
- 7.57Roman for Latin words and abbreviations
- Highlighting Key Terms and Expressions
- 7.58Italics or boldface for key terms
- 7.59Linked text
- 7.60“Scare quotes”
- 7.61Mixing single and double quotation marks
- 7.62“So-called”
- 7.63Common expressions and figures of speech
- 7.64Signs and notices
- 7.65Mottoes
- Words as Words and Letters as Letters
- 7.66Words and phrases used as words
- 7.67Letters as letters
- 7.68Scholastic grades
- 7.69Letters standing for names
- 7.70Letters as shapes
- 7.71Names of letters
- 7.72Rhyme schemes
- 7.73Mathematical variables
- 7.74Communication code words
- Music: Some Typographic Conventions
- 7.75Suggested references for music publishing
- 7.76Musical pitches
- 7.77Octaves
- 7.78Chords
- 7.79“Major” and “minor”
- 7.80Dynamics
- Computer Terms
- 7.81Application-specific versus generic usage
- 7.82Capitalization for keys, menu items, and file formats
- 7.83Keyboard combinations and shortcuts
- 7.84Setting off file names and words to be typed or selected
- 7.85Terms like “web” and “internet”
- 7.86Hashtags
- Compounds and Hyphenation
- 7.87To hyphenate or not to hyphenate
- 7.88Compounds defined
- 7.89The trend toward closed compounds
- 7.90Hyphens and readability
- 7.91Compound modifiers before or after a noun
- 7.92Compound modifiers that are always hyphenated
- 7.93Adverbs ending in “‑ly”
- 7.94Multiple hyphens
- 7.95Suspended hyphens
- 7.96Hyphenation guide