Q. On the galley proofs of my book, the computer divided the name Josephine Bellver as “Josephine Bel-lver”
at the end of a line. It seems to me it should be “Josephine Bell-ver”, if it
must be divided at all. What is your opinion?
A. Chicago favors a system of word division based on pronunciation and more or less demonstrated by the recommendations in Webster’s tenth. We also discourage breaking names. But if “Bellver” must be broken, certainly
it should be Bell-ver (assuming that it would be rather difficult to pronounce the name in question as “Bel-lver”).
For more on this issue, see CMOS 7.38.
Q. Is it acceptable to divide the name of a state or city at the end of a line, as in a column of a three-column page, when
not dividing the name would leave a lot of white on the line?
A. We do it. Most publishers have typesetting guidelines that tell whether such breaks are permissible. Almost anything that’s
set in three columns will benefit from generous hyphenation, which helps avoid the ugliness you describe, especially if the
columns are fully justified. If the right margin is ragged, you can get away with fewer hyphens.
Q. If I cannot avoid splitting the word biology at the end of a line, do I really split it between syllables as all the online dictionaries suggest, biol-ogy, and not according to its etymology, bio-logy?
A. That’s right. Words are divided by pronunciation, not etymology. To learn about word division, please see CMOS 7.31–43.
Q. I have read through sections 7.31–7.43 on word division, but still have a lingering question. Is it acceptable to split a word between pages? I always thought that it was not.
A. Yes, it’s acceptable to split a word at the bottom of a page—but watch out for a hyphen at the end of a recto page that might prompt the reader to mentally supply the wrong ending while turning the page: Her hideous scene at the thrift shop, which had gotten the clerk fired, had left her with many re- [turn the page] painted leg lamps around the house.
Chicago Style Q&A: New Questions and Answers
