Phonological rules based on "stress-terminal pattern" (the principle that a phonological phrase has one primary stress and one terminal juncture requiring a mark of punctuation) can be used to improve punctuation in composition. These rules require that the writer be able to speak sentences at a normal pace with intonation appropriate to the…

To minimize inconsistencies in hyphenation practices, written English should accurately transcribe spoken English by indicating every open- or plus-juncture with a hyphen ("Plus-juncture" is the special transition the speaker makes between two compound nouns.). Even young native speakers of English can readily perceive semantic and phonological…