Punctuation Review, Part 1 by Glynnis Whiter What is Punctuation? The marks, such as period, comma, and parentheses, used in writing to separate sentences and their elements and to clarify meaning. Punctuation is a Part of Grammar Grammar is the set of language rules that you use, most of the time unconsciously, to create phrases and sentences that convey meaning. Development of Written Language & Punctuation 1. First written language was Sumerian or Egyptian (both start appearing about 3200 BC)* Chinese is the oldest surviving language (first written 1500 BC)* *Indiana University, Department of Linguistics 2. scriptio continua When we started putting spoken words into written words, at first there were no marks. This was called scriptio continua 3. First punctuation 4 th Century BC, Greece (Encyclopedia Britannica) Paragraphos, a simple horizontal stroke in the margin was used to complete a paragraph. It conveyed the end of one topic, and introduced another. 4. In the Third Century BC, we start to see the use of dots to the text, indicating a short, medium or long pause. 5. Punctuation developed quickly after the development of the printing press in 1452.
Why Different Rules? 1. MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities. 2. Chicago Manual of Style, developed in 1891 by the University of Chicago Press. 3. AP Stylebook, developed in 1953, by new organization, Associated Press. Common Punctuation Marks 1. Apostrophe 2. Braces 3. Brackets 4. Colon 5. Comma 6. Dash 7. Ellipsis 8. Exclamation point 9. Hyphen 10. Parenthesis 11. Periods 12. Question mark 13. Quotation marks 14. Semicolon Used to Complete a Thought Period Always put inside quote marks. The teacher said, Take out your pencils.
Question Mark Put inside quote marks, when it pertains to the quotes material. Put question mark outside the quotes when it applies to the sentence. Did you hear Janette say, I m happy today? Janette said, Are you happy today? Exclamation Point Put inside quote marks, when it pertains to the quotes material. Put question mark outside the quotes when it applies to the sentence. John said, What a great game! I can t believe she asked, What time does it start?! Used to Clarify Meaning Comma 1. Comma always go inside quote marks. 2. In a series. AP Style does not include a comma in a series. (We had coffee, tea and cookies.) Chicago does include a comma (called Oxford comma) We had coffee, tea, and cookies 1. For joining two complete sentences using a conjunction: and, or, but, while, yet EX: The boys wanted to stay up till midnight, but they fell asleep at 10:00.
2. In an introductory clause or phrase: EX: When she finished breakfast, she sat down to write. Comma can be omitted after short introductory clause if no ambiguity would arise: Every morning she writes. 3. In a non-essential phrase (one that can be pulled out without changing the meaning of the sentence.) Writers, who do not know correct punctuation, should not criticize their editors. Writers who do not know correct punctuation should not criticize their editors. Semicolon 1. Use a semicolon between two related sentences (independent clauses) where you don t use a conjunction. EX: The package was due last week; it arrived today. 2. Use to separate items in a series that have commas in them. EX: The women attending the conference were Mary, from North Carolina; Ginger, from Alabama; and Glynnis, from Arizona. (Note that the semicolon is put before the and ) Quotation Marks Periods and commas always go inside the quotation marks, with the exception of some uses of a single quote mark. Use quote marks with a scare quote: Alerts readers that a term is used in a nonstandard, ironic or other sense. Irony is the presence of a second, contradictory meaning within a situation or expression. The girls had a discussion after school. She put on her running shoes.
Single Quote Marks 1) Use with a quote within a quote And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son,with whom I am well pleased. Matthew 3:16-17 NIV 2) Academic studies In linguistic and phonetic studies a definition is often enclosed in single quotation marks with no intervening punctuation; any following punctuation is placed after the closing quotation marks. Chicago Manual of Style The gap is narrow between mead a beverage and mead a meadow.