Table Of ContentSECOND
EDITION
THE FIFTEEN THOUSAND MOST -USED
WORDS IN BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
SILVERTHORN
AND PERRY
M.
K48 SOUTH WESTERN PUBLISHING CO
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SECOIMD
EDITION
THE FIFTEEN THOUSAND MOST-USED
WORDS IN BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
J. E. SILVERTHORN
Formerly of Oklahoma State University
and
DEVERN PERRY
J.
Brigham Young University
K48 SOUTH-WESTERN PUBLISHING CO.
CinclnnaH, OH 45227 Chicago,IL 60644 Dallas,TX 75229
Burllngame, CA 9401 New Rochelle, NY 10802
Copyright © 1970
by
SOUTH-WESTERN PUBLISHING CO.
Cincinnati, Ohio
All Rights Reserved
The text of this publication, or any part thereof,
maynot be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, storage in an
informationretrieval system, or otherwise, without
the prior written permission ofthe publisher.
Library ofCongress Catalog Card Number: 77-106912
4567890K987654321
Printed in U.S.A.
FOREWORD
WORD DIVISION MANUAL, Second Edition, contains 15,659
words, arranged alphabetically, illustrating acceptable and preferred
points at which these words may be divided. The words selected for
inclusion in this Manual come from two extensive tabulations ofwords
used in approximately 4,100 pieces of business communications, as
identified by two doctoral studies: "The Basic Vocabulary of Written
Business Communications," by James Edwin Silverthorn, completed
in 1956 at Indiana University; and "An Analytical Comparison of the
Relative Word-Combination Frequencies of Business Correspondence
with Phrase Frequencies ofSelected Shorthand Textbooks," by Devern
J. Perry, completed in 1968 at the University of North Dakota.
All words appearing in the 4,100 business letters, regardless of fre-
quency, were tabulated in the studies. From this extensive tabulation,
words representing individual, company, and brand names were ex-
cluded as were capitalized words and abbreviations. Thus this Manual
contains the pure basic vocabulary of the business communications
sampled for these studies.
In order to increase the usefulness ofthis book as a source ofrefer-
ence for spelling and word division, some words in addition to those
encountered in the Silverthorn-Perry tabulation have been included.
Only those words that might cause spelling and/or division difficulties
and that might occur in business writing were added. All these words
appeared in the general vocabulary tabulation of Kucera-Francis
(Henry Kucera and W. Nelson Francis, Computational Analysis of
Present-Day American English), For ease of identification, these words
havebeenpreceded by asterisks.
The user ofthis Manual will note that word division is indicated by
both a hyphen and a period. Recommended points atwhich words may
be divided at the ends of lines are shown by a hyphen; for example,
bril'liant. Acceptable, but not preferred, division points according to
the rules for division contained within this Manual are indicated by a
period; for example, effort.
Although some words may be acceptably divided at any one of
several points, readability suggests one or two points ofdivision that are
preferable. Examplesshowing preferreddivisionpointsareiU'gre-dUents
and poS'Si'bil-ity.
A boldface hyphen is used to indicate that acompound word written
in hyphenated form may be acceptably divided only at the point of the
existing hyphen; for example, above-mentioned.
Webster's ThirdNew International Dictionary, unabridged, was used
as the authority for spelling and syllabication in this Manual.
WORD
GUIDELINES FOR DIVISION
An extensive examination of word division rules revealed that the
guidelines presented below are widely accepted. These guidelines, there-
WORD
fore, were followed in the preparation of this edition of the
DIVISION MANUAL.
1. Although the most desirable point at which to divide a word is some-
times amatter ofopinion, itis preferable to have enough ofthe word on
the first line to give the reader the concept of the entire word, and to
carry enough of the word to the next line to have two significantly
sized parts. Pronunciation of the word is also an important factor to
consider in determining the best division point.
2. Words shouldbe divided onlybetween syllables. One-syllablewords,
such as shipped, course, and league, must not be divided.
3. There must be more than one letter with the first part of the word
(im-port, but not i-deals); and more than two letters with the last part
ofthe word (hur-ried, but not speak-er).
Even though such divisions are acceptable, it is desirable to avoid
setting offtwo letters at the beginning ofa word. These are acceptable
but not preferred divisions and are indicated by a period rather than a
hyphen; for example, in*creas-ing,
4. Even thoughtheymayhavetwo ormore syllables, neverdividewords
offive orfewerletters, suchasotherand idea. Ifpossible, avoid dividing
words ofsix letters; for example: letter is better than let-ter.
5. Whenafinalconsonant, precededbyasinglevowel, is doubledbefore
addingasuffix, dividebetween thetwoconsonants; forexample, let'ting,
not lett-ing. However, when a root word ends in a double consonant
before a suffix is added, divide between the root word and the suffix; for
example, bill-ing, not bil-ling.
6. Compound words written without the hyphen are preferably divided
between the elements ofthe compound, such as business-men, not busi-
nessmen. Compound words written with the hyphen should be divided
only at the point ofthe existing hyphen, such as self-addressed.
7. A single-letter syllable within a word should be written with the first
part of the word, such as tabu-late, not tab-ulate.
Exceptions:
When a word ends in a two-letter syllable preceded by a single-vowel
syllable, the two ending syllables may bejoined and carried over to the
next line Qiast-ily),
When the single-letter syllable a, /, or u is followed by the ending
syllable ble, biy, cle, or cal, the two ending syllables should be joined
when carried over to the next line {cur-able, favor-ably, mir-acle,
cler-ical).
When two one-letter syllables occur together within a word, divide
between the one-letter syllables (evalu-ation).
8. When it is necessary to divide parts ofa date, a proper name, or an
address, divide at the logical point for readability.
Divide between the day ofthe month and the year {March 13,-1969),
not between the month and the day (March-13, 1969).
Divide between parts ofthe name asillustrated Mr,Jack-Jones, not
:
Mr.-Jack Jones; Thomas-Brown, M.D., not Thomas Brown-M.D.
Divide the address between the city and the state {Cincinnati,-
Ohio 45227), not between the state and the zip code (Cincinnati,
Ohio-45227).
9. Avoid dividing figures, abbreviations, and signs representing words
or abbreviations. {$10,000, not $10,-000 nor $-10,000; A.T.&T., not
A.T.-&T.; #57, not #-57; and 30ft,, not 30-ft.)
10. Avoid dividing the last word of more than two consecutive lines.
Also avoid dividing the last word of a paragraph or the last word of a
page.
11. When determining the points at which to end a line, it should be
remembered that how the line ends has considerable influence on the
degree of ease with which the reader can follow the thought of the
written expression. Therefore, the division of words should be mini-
mized; and when the separation of related items is necessary,the break
should be a logical one.
ill
