Book 6 Title -- Hyphen?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 112610

I (Carol) wrote:
> > I don't know what the British rules are regarding hyphen usage,
but in American English, a temporary compound (i.e., one that's not in
the dictionary) consisting of an adjective plus a noun or participle
is hyphenated if it precedes the noun it modifies.
> > Since "half" is an adjective and "blood" is a noun and they both
precede "prince," the compound adjective is hyphenated. (Source: "The
Chicago Manual of Style," 14th edition, p. 221)
> 
bamf responded: 
> I guess in my thinking it would have been more along the lines of a
name or an object, which would not be subjected to the same rules as
if it were a description of a person.  I don't have my AP Style Manual
unpacked, or I'd be able to give you a better example. The only thing
I'm coming up with for an example is I was thinking of the Half Blood
Prince along the lines of Independence Day Parade or Puerto Rican Day
Parade, where instead of modifiers, which require hyphens, it is part
of the title of an object or event.
> 
> It could also be argued, though, that Blood Prince could be a title,
which would also, then not require a hyphen. 

Carol:
For a moment I was thinking you meant the APA Publication Manual and I
was going to tell you that by coincidence, I just bought the fifth
edition. But I'm not going to tell you which edition of the AP
Stylebook I have--only that it dates back to my high school days and
has no doubt been superceded numerous times. All my AP Stylebook says
on the matter is, "In compounding, meaning should be the guide. "A
great grandfather means he is great; a great-grandfather is lineage."
No help at all, really, whereas CMS devotes a twelve-page table to the
treatment of compound words or words with prefixes and suffixes.

In any case, I would use CMS, not AP (or APA), to edit a work of
fiction, which differs markedly from journalistic writing (or articles
in psychological journals and similar publications).

I suppose that if "blood prince" were a title, as you suggest, CMS
might allow for an exception to its usual rules, but since we have no
evidence that it is a title, and if it were, half a "blood prince"
makes about as much sense as half a prince, I'll stick with CMS.
(British editors no doubt follow different rules.)

Carol