Punctuation Review, Part 1

By Glynnis Whitwer!Compel Training

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 part of grammar

Mini History of Language

❖ First written language was Sumerian or Egyptian (both start appearing about 3200 BC)*!

❖ Chinese is the oldest surviving language (first written 1500 BC)*

26th century BC Sumerian document

* Indiana University, Department of Linguistics

Scriptio Continua

Paragraphos - first punctuation

Developing punctuation

Middle and high points in John 5 from Codex Sinaitucus, circa 4th century.!Image from: Image from www.Shadycharacters.co.uk.!

Printing Press - 1452

Style Guides

G. V. Carey observed decades ago, that punctuation is governed !"two-thirds by rule and one-third by personal taste."!

14 Common Punctuation Marks1.! Apostrophe!

2.! Braces!

3.! Brackets!

4.! Colon!

5.! Comma!

6.! Dash!

7.! Ellipsis!

8.! Exclamation point!

9.! Hyphen!

10.! Parenthesis!

11.! Period!

12.! Question mark!

13.! Quotation mark (including single)!

14.! Semicolon

Complete a Thought

Period!!!

Question Mark!!!

Exclamation Point

Period

❖ Always put inside quote marks.!

!

❖ The teacher said, “Take out your pencils.”

Question Mark

❖ Put inside quote marks, when it pertains to the quoted 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 Mark

❖ Same rules apply as question mark for location in a sentence. Put inside quote marks when it pertains to the quoted material. Put 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

❖ Comma always go inside quote marks.!

❖ 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.

Semi-colon❖ 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.!

!❖ 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: AP Style includes the semicolon before the “and.”)

Quotation MarksIn American English, periods and commas always go inside the quotation

marks, with the exception of some uses of a single quote mark.!!

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 Quotation Marks!

1)! A quote within a quote!

!

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’.

“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

Why Bother?

Your reader needs to hear and understand your message.