I think this can be done with a series of search/replaces. For instance, using wildcard searches
Find: ([a-zA-Z]{1})-([a-z]{3})>
Replace: \1-zzI\2zzI

Find: zzI([a-z]{3})zzI
Replace: \1 - with Italics formatting

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Andrew Lockton
Chrysalis Design, Melbourne Australia