[sword-devel] Hyphens in book names

[Jonathan Marsden]

On 9/29/2010 5:46 PM, Weston Ruter wrote:

> In English, a hyphen is a orthographic convention required when
> spelling various compound words:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_compound#Hyphenated_compound_adjectives

Therefore, in English, it is not a letter.  Q.E.D. (since someone on
this list had recently said that it *was* a letter in English).

> I imagine the Philippine language Robert is working with has a book
> name like "Apostle-Works" (i.e. Acts)

OK, that is indeed possible.  So, the question remains: in that
language, in that imagined/hypothetical context, is "-" a letter, or is
it something else?

My strong suspicion is that it is something else.  That suspicion is
based not just on my knowledge of English, but also on my knowledge of
several POSIX locales and (to very varying degrees!) of Filipino
languages, one of which I have preached in :)

It has been stated here on the list, I think repeatedly, that in this
language, "-" is a letter.  Is that really correct?  I think it is
highly unlikely, as does Chris Little.  Can we get this clarified one
way or the other before proceeding any further, please?  Do we need to
define "letter" to reach agreement on this?

Jonathan