A reader who works with legal
transcription has the following question:
There seems to be a trend towards
having the prefixes and suffixes separate from the modified noun instead of
being attached or hyphenated. What is proper? Some examples are non negotiable, post surgery, post doctorate, age wise.
The examples given present a variety
of forms, not all of which represent a prefix+noun combination.
The prefix non- is added to nouns of
action, condition, or quality with the sense of “absence, lack of,” or simply
“not.” for example, non-Catholic.
Non- is affixed to adjectives to make them negative. Whether to add a
hyphen depends upon whether American or British usage is being observed. The
OED hyphenates many words that M-W shows written as one word. For example, M-W
gives nonnegotiable,
but OED has non-negotiable.
When it comes to another word in the
reader’s list, however, both the OED and M-W agree with postdoctorate, although both
prefer postdoctoral.
The prefix post- means, “after” or
“behind.” It is added to adjectives without a hyphen: postcolonial, postsurgical. Post can be used on its own
as a preposition meaning, “after”: “Your mouth will be extremely dry post
surgery.” In this context post
is a separate word. Added to a noun to create a descriptor, however, post would require a hyphen:
“Post-surgery care is vitally important.”
The suffix -wise means, “in the manner
of” or “as regards,” as in clockwise,
lengthwise, foodwise, etc. This combining
form is never separated from the word it’s added to, either by a hyphen or by a
space. It can have other meanings, of course. For example, a person is said to
be “pound wise, but penny foolish.” In this context wise is a word that means “possessing wisdom”;
it is not a suffix.
Hyphenation is not an exact science.
Authorities differ regarding the necessity of a hyphen, but I’m reasonably sure
that all agree that suffixes aren’t free agents that can stand apart from the
words they belong to.
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