Treatment of Words That Include Self

Treatment of Words That Include Self Treatment of Words That Include â€Å"Self† Treatment of Words That Include â€Å"Self† By Mark Nichol Appropriately enough, the self-centered word self, when combined with others, sometimes gets special treatment. Self, as a prefix, is attached by a hyphen to other words in several parts of speech. The combination can be a noun (self-control), an adjective (self-absorbed), a verb (self-medicate), or an adverb (self-importantly). It can also refer literally to a person (self-regard) or can figuratively apply to an inanimate object (self-contained). However it is used, though, it is always, with one aberrant exception I’ll refer to below, hyphenated. In adjectival usage, although most phrasal adjectives are hyphenated before a noun but left open after (â€Å"The well-known artist drew a big crowd,† but â€Å"That artist is well known†), compounds that include the prefix self are hyphenated in both positions: â€Å"The self-possessed girl was confident but not conceited,† and â€Å"That girl is remarkably self-possessed.† This rule applies also to all, another prefix used in phrasal adjectives: â€Å"The all-inclusive policy was more successful†; â€Å"The policy is all-inclusive.† Ex, although not employed in phrasal adjectives, is another prefix always hyphenated to the word that follows: â€Å"That’s her ex-boyfriend.† The exception for the prefix self I referred to above is this: Though self-conscious and self-consciously are so constructed, the antonym presents a problem: Words are often strung together into phrases with hyphens (â€Å"She had an annoying devil-may-care attitude†), but this strategy is considered inappropriate when prefixes are concerned. Un-self-consciously looks awkward. Unfortunately, the preferred alternative, unselfconsciously, is equally repugnant. The solution? Instead of writing â€Å"His unselfconsciousness was refreshing,† write â€Å"His lack of self-consciousness was refreshing.† As an alternative to the adverbial form in, for example, â€Å"They played together unselfconsciously,† try â€Å"They played together with no self-conscious behavior.† In all other usage, though, words in which self or its plural form appears when self is followed by a suffix (selfish, selfless) or when it is combined with a pronoun (yourself, myself, itself, ourselves, themselves, and so on) are not hyphenated. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Grammar Test 1Hang, Hung, Hanged75 Synonyms for â€Å"Hard†