Читать книгу Why We Punctuate; or, Reason Versus Rule in the Use of Marks - William Livingston Klein - Страница 9

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We still recognize, at least in large measure, the values given the marks by the Greek grammarians; and the principle is important in our study. Thus we say, of the four principal marks the comma indicates the slightest degree of separation between groups of words within a sentence; the semicolon indicates the next larger division; and the colon indicates the largest division. The period separates a full sentence from the sentence standing next to it; and it is also used when a sentence stands alone.

We have seen the need of marks in the above illustrative sentences, and have also seen where the marks were needed; but we had to assume that the comma was the proper mark to use. We now know the relative values given the marks by the Greek grammarians. If our knowledge of language, even though it is not based upon technical grammar, teaches us that the degree of separation between the groups of words where we found the need of a mark, was the least degree requiring a mark, then the comma was the proper mark to use. With this relative degree of separation in language and the relative value of the comma intelligently settled, we can assert that we punctuated our illustrative sentences in Chapter I by reason, and not by rule. An apparent exception to the exact truth of this statement is presented in the punctuation of Sentence 1–1, because the degree of separation between its parts cannot be exactly fixed. We discuss this point in Chapters IV and VII.

A sentence exhibiting the relations calling for the use of the four principal marks will serve to show their relative values, and the relative degrees of separation between groups of words which the marks indicate:

6. Athens’ freedom and her power have, for more than twenty centuries, been annihilated; her people have degenerated into timid slaves; her language, into a barbarous jargon; her temples have been given up to the successive depredations of Romans, Turks, and Scotchmen: but her intellectual empire is imperishable.

Reading this sentence with the knowledge of the comma already gained, we reach the end of the first fairly complete group of words, where we meet a semicolon. Let us challenge this mark, or sign-board, for its meaning. In answer, it says that what is to follow is not to be tied in the comma relation to what has preceded, as would be the case if the sentence continued in the following way:

6–1. Athens’ freedom and her power have, for more than twenty centuries, been annihilated, her people having degenerated through luxury.

The semicolon, on the contrary, says that the group of words to follow is of equal rank with the whole group which has preceded the mark; and it thus shows how the sentence is to develop. The next semicolon in No. 6 says to the reader that a series of semicolon-divided groups is under way. This makes easy reading up to the colon, which, being followed by “but,” is to mark the extent of the but relation between what is to follow and what has preceded. The meaning of the colon, as learned from its original use, tells the reader that the sentence is divided into members, or “limbs”; and therefore the but relation here is between all that precedes and all that is to follow, for these groups constitute the limbs of the sentence. If what follows the colon was to be tied to less than all that precedes, the but relation could extend only to the last semicolon, thus completing this particular group. It is very evident that the but relation could not terminate in the midst of language tied together as are the groups preceding “but” in this sentence; and yet many good writers use the semicolon, instead of the colon, in sentences like this, probably, however, without considering what grouping is thus made.

The entire sentence is divided into two groups by the colon, as the sense relation manifestly requires. If we change the order of the two larger groups in No. 6, the colon will be the first mark reached by the reader; and it will give him notice of what is to follow:

6–2. Athens’ intellectual empire is imperishable: but her freedom and her powers have, for more than twenty centuries, been annihilated …

Here the colon, if challenged for its meaning, would say that all that follows it in the sentence is to form one group in the but relation to all that precedes, with the further information that what follows is to be divided into groups by semicolons, thus requiring the colon to divide the sentence into two main parts. A semicolon at this point would have given another reply, and would not have been followed by other semicolons.

Probably the beginner in the study of punctuation will not fully comprehend this discussion of Sentence 6 and its modifications; but the discussion may throw some additional light on the disjunctive and grouping office of the four marks, including the period at the end of the sentence.

We will now consider a sentence in which the grouping, with its consequent punctuation, is at once very simple and very subtle. It is subtle because it is based upon the subtle meanings of the language; and yet it becomes very simple when the language is understood:

7. The following are the names of the Deity and of Jesus Christ:

1. Jehovah, Lord, God Almighty; Creator, Father, Preserver, Governor; the Supreme Being; the Holy Spirit.

2. The Messiah, the Anointed; the Son, the Savior, the Redeemer; the Holy One; Prophet, Teacher, Master; Judge of the World.

Commas would be sufficient here to indicate what word or group of words constitutes a name; but there is additional information in the grouping of names which the writer desires to convey, and which, perhaps, would not appear to many readers if attention were not directed to it by proper grouping, which is done here by semicolons. It will be seen that the number of names in a group in the above example varies from one to four.

What information does this grouping convey, and upon what is the grouping based? The words in the first group are the primary terms for the Deity (Exodus vi, 2, 3); in the second group, the names of the Deity which express His relation to man; etc.

The next sentence shows a similar grouping, but a grouping based upon more familiar and more marked characteristics of the things grouped:

7–1. Among the chief products of Minnesota are the following: wheat, corn, and oats; potatoes, beets, beans, etc.; butter and cheese; lumber; iron; etc.

The semicolon grouping here needs no explanation, although the use of a mark at one point in the sentence may seem at variance with the punctuation at another point. In the second group a comma is used before “etc.”; and at the end of the sentence a semicolon precedes “etc.” The punctuation is consistent with the uses of the two marks in other parts of the sentence. In the second group the comma says the group is not complete; and therefore “etc.” stands for unexpressed items of the group, such, for instance, as peas. The last semicolon indicates to the reader that there are other groups; for instance, cattle, sheep, and hogs might constitute a group.

Many readers pass over punctuation of this kind; and they do not understand, or seek to understand, the meaning of such grouping as that in No. 7, while, because of its simplicity, that in No. 7–1 scarcely attracts their attention.

In the next sentence the grouping is informing and somewhat striking. The sentence, with a slight modification, is taken from a U. S. Census Report:

7–2. I have the honor to transmit herewith statistical tables of mortality; the insane, feeble-minded, deaf and dumb, and blind; crime, pauperism, and benevolence; education; churches; foreign-born population; and manufactures.

The third group in this sentence is particularly striking, for it suggests the relationship between crime and pauperism, and the consequent private effort, in the form of benevolence, to deal with a social condition with which every government must deal.

Thus in Sentence 7–2 the grouping by semicolons imparts information which might be readily overlooked.