Pro rata is a term used to describe a proportionate allocation. It's a method of assigning an amount to a fraction according to its share of the whole. In that context, which is more correct or more frequently used: non-optional or non optional?
Searching for the more frequently used form in google is difficult, because a non-optional search shows non optional results as well. This is for writing software documentation that explains the usage of an optional property which some objects have. 25 Does "non-" prefixed to a two word phrase permit another hyphen before the second word? If I want to refer to an entity which is defined as the negation of another entity by attaching "non-" it seems strange to attach the "non-" only to the first word when the second one is really the word naming the entity.
non pro rata, For example, non-control freak Using "non-" to prefix a two-word phrase - English Language & Usage ... The bound morpheme non is the negator for life-threatening here, so 'life-threatening' is more coherent. This does not come across with nonlife-threatening, which would seem to imply a threat to non-life. Leaving non stranded doesn't work either as it is a bound morpheme, a prefix not a word (in English). I'd use the two hyphens.
non pro rata, 2 Illegitimi non carborundum, mock-Latin for "don't let the bastards grind you down", dates to early WWII, and later in the war was adopted by Gen."Vinegar" Joe Stillwell as his motto. For more, including variants, see Wikipedia. Do users have any other well-known examples of this type: an English phrase translated into mock-Latin? At the linguistics conference, there were no / not / non- native speakers of Esperanto. They're all grammatically "valid", but they all mean different things - and pragmatically / idiomatically, only the no version is likely to be used. Except "non" is not an English word, it is a prefix of Latin origin.
Which is why American style manuals will always ask you to merge it with the subsequent word, without a hyphen. British rules differ, and the "non-" construction is frequently found in the literature.
