NAME

       Lingua::EN::Hyphenate - Perl extension for syllable-based hyphenation

SYNOPSIS

         use Lingua::EN::Hyphenate qw( hyphenate syllables def_syl def_hyph );

         my $word = 'intromission';

         my $syllables = syllables($word);     # 'in~tro~mis~sion'
         my @syllables = syllables($word);     # ('in','tro','mis','sion')

         ($end_of_line_1, $start_of_line_2)    # ('intro-','mission')
               = hyphenate($word, 6);          # Break word at or before 6th char

         ($end_of_line_1, $start_of_line_2)    # ('intromis-','sion')
               = hyphenate($word, 8);          # Break word at or before 8th char

         my $hyphen = '...';
         ($end_of_line_1, $start_of_line_2)    # ('intro...','mission')
               = hyphenate($word, 8, $hyphen); # Use specified hyphen (not '-')

         def_syl('here~say');                  # Where the syllables are
         def_syl('he~re~sy');                  # Where the syllables are

         def_hyph('here~say');                 # Where the word may be broken
         def_hyph('her~esy');                  # Where the word may be broken

DESCRIPTION

       The exportable subroutines of Lingua::EN::Hyphenate provide a mechanism to break words
       into syllables, to hyphenate words at syllable boundaries, and to redefine the syllables
       or hyphenation of specific words.

   syllables
       This subroutine takes a single string argument and breaks it into syllables.  In a scalar
       context it returns a string with the syllables separated by '~' characters. In a list
       context it returns a list of the syllables.

   hyphenate
       This subroutine takes a word to be broken, and an integer indicating the maximum number of
       characters allowed before the break. An optional third argument specifies the hyphenation
       marker ('-' by default).

       The subroutine returns a list of two elements: the characters before the break (including
       the hyphenation marker), and the rest of the word. The first element is guaranteed to be
       no longer than the length specified by the second argument.

   def_syl and def_hyph
       These subroutines specify a specific syllablic decomposition or hyphenation pattern
       (respectively) to be used for the specified word. The syllables or hyphenation fragments
       are separated by '~' characters. See the examples above.

AUTHOR

       Damian Conway (damian@conway.org)

BUGS AND IRRITATIONS

       The syllable extraction is algorithmic, not table-driven. That means the module is very
       short, but also that it can be *very* inaccurate. It's okay for haiku, but shouldn't be
       used for serious work. Consider Lingua::EN::Syllable or TeX::Hyphen instead.

       There are undoubtedly serious bugs lurking somewhere in this code, if only because it
       gives the impression of understanding a great deal more about English than it actually
       does.

       Bug reports and other feedback are most welcome.

COPYRIGHT

        Copyright (c) 1997-2000, Damian Conway. All Rights Reserved.
        This module is free software. It may be used, redistributed
       and/or modified under the terms of the Perl Artistic License
            (see http://www.perl.com/perl/misc/Artistic.html)