Hyphen(-) both connect and separate words.

as a word separator, it marks the division of an uncompleted word at the end of a line when there is no room for all of it,

so that the part of the word must be carriedd over the next line.

as a connector, it joins compound words.

Such division of words is known as syllabication because such division should only occur between syllables.

Do not use a hyphen to separate parts of microsyllabic word such as church.

Other, minor uses of  the hyphen.hen