Re. Reasons for odd hyphenation

[geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA]

 David Ibbetson asked for the origin of strange hyphenation
 such as "Nation-sbank" and "1,-222" (among others). The
 origin is in the method chosen by the software to automate
 hyphenation. Basically, you've got three options:

 1. Algorithmic, which usually means "break at a logical
 syllable". If this happens to be the wrong syllable, or a
 syllable that forms a word (e.g., rape-seed) you get
 strange results. Algorithms may also break numbers that
 include commas, since a comma more commonly (in text,
 leastwise) introduces a clause that should be separated by
 a comma and a space; in trying to follow this rule, the
 software outsmarts itself.

 2. Dictionary, variant #1, which means that the words break
 at some root word that exists in the spellchecker's
 dictionary (e.g., base-ball, rape-seed). Since plural forms
 often aren't listed, "Nation-sbank" would break at the
 singular of "nations", even though the plural would be a
 more logical breakpoint.

 3. Dictionary, variant #2, which means that the software
 uses the hyphenation breaks proposed by a published
 dictionary (e.g., Webster's) or a well-designed spell
 checker's dictionary.

 The latter is most likely to give good hyphenation, but
 I've no idea how common it is; the first two methods are
 likely to give you occasional or even frequent problems,
 and based on the examples David gave, I'd guess that this
 is the origin. Just goes to show you... a computer is no
 match for a good human typesetter.

 --Geoff Hart    @8^{)}
 geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca

 Disclaimer: If I didn't commit it in print in one of our
 reports, it don't represent FERIC's opinion.