Hyphenation ofinformatiemaatschappij

Dutch Word Analysis: informatiemaatschappij

1. Examination & Pronunciation:

The word "informatiemaatschappij" (information society) is a compound noun in Dutch. Its pronunciation involves a series of vowel and consonant clusters, typical of Dutch morphology. The word is relatively long and presents challenges in syllabification due to the presence of multiple schwa sounds and consonant clusters.

2. Syllable Division:

Following Dutch syllabification rules, which prioritize vowel sounds and avoid splitting diphthongs or consonant clusters where possible, the word is divided as follows (see JSON output for the orthographic representation).

3. Morphemic Analysis:

• Prefix: in- (Latin origin, prefix meaning 'not' or 'within' - though its function here is more integrative, indicating belonging to)
• Root: formatie (Dutch, derived from Latin formatio meaning 'formation', 'shape') - relating to information.
• Suffix: -maatschappij (Dutch, from Middle Dutch maetschappie, ultimately from Old French meschappie meaning 'company', 'society') - denoting a societal structure.

4. Stress Identification:

The primary stress falls on the fifth syllable, tie. Dutch stress is generally on the penultimate syllable, but compound words often have stress on an earlier syllable, particularly the root of the first component.

5. Phonetic Transcription:

/ɪnfɔrmaːtiˈmaːtʃɑpɛi/

6. Edge Case Review:

Dutch allows for some flexibility in syllabification, particularly with consonant clusters. However, the division presented here adheres to the principle of maximizing onsets (consonant sounds at the beginning of a syllable).

7. Grammatical Role:

"Informatiemaatschappij" functions solely as a noun. Syllabification and stress remain consistent regardless of its grammatical context within a sentence.

8. Definition & Semantics:

• Definition: The societal structure or environment characterized by the creation, distribution, and manipulation of information.
• Translation: Information society
• Grammatical Category: Noun (de informatiemaatschappij)
• Synonyms: kennismaatschappij (knowledge society), digitale samenleving (digital society)
• Antonyms: (difficult to define a direct antonym, but perhaps 'agrarische maatschappij' - agrarian society)
• Examples:
  • "De informatiemaatschappij heeft onze manier van leven veranderd." (The information society has changed our way of life.)
  • "We leven in een steeds digitalere informatiemaatschappij." (We live in an increasingly digital information society.)

9. Phonological Comparison:

• computermaatschappij (computer society): com-pu-ter-maat-schap-pij. Similar structure, stress on the 'maat' syllable.
• telecommunicatiemaatschappij (telecommunications society): te-le-com-mu-ni-ca-tie-maat-schap-pij. Longer, but follows the same pattern of stress and syllabification.
• rechtsmaatschappij (legal society): rechts-maat-schap-pij. Shorter, but demonstrates the consistent application of the -maatschappij suffix and stress pattern.

10. Division Rules:

• Vowel-centric Syllabification: Each vowel sound generally forms the nucleus of a syllable.
• Onset Maximization: Consonant clusters are generally kept together as onsets (beginning of a syllable) rather than being split.
• Avoidance of Diphthong Splitting: Diphthongs (vowel combinations) are not broken across syllable boundaries.

11. Special Considerations:

The schwa sound /ə/ is common in Dutch and can sometimes lead to ambiguity in syllabification. However, in this word, the vowel sounds are relatively clear and distinct, making the division straightforward. Regional variations in pronunciation might affect the precise realization of vowel sounds, but not the core syllabification.