Ben Pfaff <b...@cs.stanford.edu> writes:
> Is a hyphen desirable there?
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyphen#Compound_modifiers says:
> In the 19th century, it was common to hyphenate
> adverb–adjective modifiers with the adverb ending in -ly.
> However, this has become rare. For example, wholly owned
> subsidiary and quickly moving vehicle are unambiguous,
> because the adverbs clearly modify the adjectives: "quickly"
> cannot modify "vehicle". However, if an adverb can also
> function as an adjective, then a hyphen may be or should be
> used for clarity, depending on the style guide.[3] For
> example, the phrase more-important reasons ("reasons that are
> more important") is distinguished from more important reasons
> ("additional important reasons"), where more is an adjective.
> Similarly, more-beautiful scenery (with a mass-noun) is
> distinct from more beautiful scenery. (In contrast, the
> hyphen in "a more-important reason/a more important reason"
> is not necessary.) The hyphen in little-celebrated paintings
> clarifies that one is not speaking of little paintings.
> By that logic, I would think that no hyphen is needed, because
> "publicly" cannot modify "repository".
Oh, good call. You're right; Jonathan's original is better. I didn't
think through the adverb vs. adjective distinction. There's no ambiguity
without the hyphen since publicly is an adverb.
--
Russ Allbery (r...@debian.org) <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>
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