Frage zur Silbentrennung - leider eilig...

English translation: en-gi-neer-ing & en-gin-eer-ing

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:Silbentrennung engineering
English translation:en-gi-neer-ing & en-gin-eer-ing
Entered by: Jutta Deichselberger

08:48 Oct 15, 2008
German to English translations [PRO]
Linguistics
German term or phrase: Frage zur Silbentrennung - leider eilig...
Hallo allerseits,

ich lese gerade den Korrekturabzug eines frz. Prospektes Korrektur. Dummerweise ist genau ein englischer Begriff drin, und noch blöder (für mich) ist, dass ich mir genau da bei der Trennung nicht sicher bin (Englisch gehört nicht zu meinen Arbeitssprachen).

German Enginee-ring
Ist die Trennung so nach dem "ee" okay??

Vielen Dank für eine schnelle Antwort!
Jutta
Jutta Deichselberger
Local time: 13:53
en-gi-neer-ing & en-gin-eer-ing
Explanation:
The first is cited in Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (AmE) and the second in the Oxford Learners Dictionary (BrE) - take your pick
Selected response from:

Ed Beese
Germany
Local time: 13:53
Grading comment
Au Backe, da habe ich ja eine schöne Debatte losgetreten... Ich entscheide mich für diese Antwort, da ich ja wissen muss, wie ich das Wort richtig trennen kann, sonst kann ich ja die falsche Trennweise nicht korrigieren. Und engineer-ing ist vom Platz her in diesem Fall leider nicht machbar...
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +11no
Ken Cox
5 +2en-gi-neer-ing
Dr. Andrew Frankland
4 +3en-gi-neer-ing & en-gin-eer-ing
Ed Beese


Discussion entries: 6





  

Answers


2 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +2
frage zur silbentrennung - leider eilig...
en-gi-neer-ing


Explanation:
Merriam Websters 11th edition. I assume that was your question anyway.

Dr. Andrew Frankland
Spain
Local time: 13:53
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Stephen Sadie: sorry, this is incorrect//I request all here to remain polite and my disagree is based on what is actually needed//has ANY Emglish native speaker given an "agree" to this answer ?
26 mins
  -> Best write to Websters then and tell them that!!

agree  Ulrike Kraemer: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/engineering
26 mins
  -> Thanks

agree  BdiL: Providing a more general answer should get a reward! not being absurdly obliterated, as Mr. Sadie is doing. Incorrect based on what??!! Syllabication is not that easy in English, but there are general rules and, beyond that, dictionaries... Maurizio
35 mins
  -> Thanks

neutral  Tony M: I agree with the general idea of your answer, but to my UK ears, M-W has got it wrong in one place: I would split it en-gin-eer-ing
1 hr

neutral  Ken Cox: With Tony M. Hypenation in dictionaries is usually intended as a guide to pronunciation rather than for word division at line breaks. The Oxford style guide advises against leaving a syllable with a weak central vowel, so '-gin-eer' is preferable.
3 hrs

agree  Cilian O'Tuama: I'd hold up "M-W says so" in my defence, if a client were to question it
14 hrs
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5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +11
frage zur silbentrennung - leider eilig...
no


Explanation:
the correct break is engineer-ing.

Word splitting rules in English (as presumably in other languages) follow a mixture of semantic and etymological rules. In this case, the root word is 'engineer', and this must remain intact (otherwise the reader first thinks the text is talking about some sort of ring).

Ken Cox
Local time: 13:53
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Gunilla Zedigh
12 mins

agree  Tony M: Of course other internal splits are possible, but this one is preferable, and the closest to Asker's proposal
12 mins

agree  Armorel Young
13 mins

agree  Nandini Vivek
16 mins

agree  Carol Gullidge: this is where the split would come
21 mins

agree  Stephen Sadie: absolutely
21 mins

agree  Ulrike Kraemer: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/engineering
22 mins

disagree  BdiL: No such rule that engineer shouldn't be split! True that "-neer-" cannot be split thus: "-ne-er-". M.
24 mins
  -> naturally, 'engineer' can be split internally, but that's not the issue here.

agree  Jack Doughty
34 mins

agree  Rachel Ward: Yes - for hyphenation over a line break, which is the point at issue!
1 hr

agree  Alison Schwitzgebel
2 hrs

agree  Rebecca Garber
4 hrs

agree  Textklick: Is this a forum or a simple answer to a question? IMO Ken has answered it, as has Rachel.
1 day 13 hrs
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4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
en-gi-neer-ing & en-gin-eer-ing


Explanation:
The first is cited in Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (AmE) and the second in the Oxford Learners Dictionary (BrE) - take your pick

Ed Beese
Germany
Local time: 13:53
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Au Backe, da habe ich ja eine schöne Debatte losgetreten... Ich entscheide mich für diese Antwort, da ich ja wissen muss, wie ich das Wort richtig trennen kann, sonst kann ich ja die falsche Trennweise nicht korrigieren. Und engineer-ing ist vom Platz her in diesem Fall leider nicht machbar...

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M: Oh, i'm glad to see that my UK instinct is supported by good old Oxford!
20 mins
  -> Merci Tony, Ed

agree  Rebecca Garber: Oy, I'd best never have to split engineer(ing), because I also agree with the UK, which is apparently incorrect in the US.
40 mins

agree  Cilian O'Tuama: damn all is written in stone
9 hrs
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