CHAPTER X

CONVENTIONAL USES OF MARKS

Many uses of marks seem to be based solely upon convention, or arbitrary custom. Back of this convention there may be, in many cases, reason for the punctuation; but, more frequently, there seems to be no reason.

It is not always worth while carefully to attempt to distinguish between reason and convention; but it is quite important to know what is the best, or, at least, what is good, conventional usage, and to follow it in one’s writing. We think it reasonable to call _good_ only such conventional punctuation as is found in the work of writers, and of expert editors of copy, who use marks with a fair degree of consistency, and do not often violate the fundamental principles of punctuation already discussed herein. The punctuation found in most weekly and monthly periodicals is very poor, and is often inferior to that of daily newspapers. In a very few magazines (it would be difficult to name a half dozen, either American or European), and in a considerable number of daily newspapers, the use of marks is discriminating and helpful; in most of our periodical literature the use of marks is so distractive as to make the presence of any mark other than the end-marks of doubtful value, at least to readers not familiar with the meanings of most of the marks of punctuation.

THE PERIOD

1. A period or any other mark, except an interrogation-point, is not often used after a display line in the title-page of a book. This practice is well-nigh universal in book-work, and almost equally so in magazines.

2. A period is generally placed after the letter or the number indicating a division in enumerations. Periods are so used after the figures 1 and 2 numbering this and the preceding paragraph.

If the divisions have subdivisions, and the subdivisions are further subdivided, it is helpful to the reader if a good conventional style is followed. In case of four divisions and subdivisions, a good conventional style is as follows:

The capital letters (A, B, C, etc.) mark the main divisions of the subject.

The Roman capital numerals (I, II, III, IV, etc.) mark the subdivision of A, B, C, etc.

The Arabic figures (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) mark the subdivision of I, II, III, etc.

The small or lower-case letters (a, b, c, etc.) mark the subdivision of 1, 2, 3, etc. The italic letters are generally used.

If there is only a single enumeration, the Arabic figures (1, 2, 3, etc.) are used.

If there are one enumeration and one subdivision, the Arabic figures and the lower-case letters are used.

If one or more of the first divisions are subdivided, and one or more of such subdivisions are subdivided, the Roman numerals, the Arabic figures, and the lower-case letters are used.

The enumerating letters (A, B, etc.) of the first, or main, divisions are indented the space of the usual paragraph; the subdivisions of the first divisions are so far indented that their enumerating letters or figures are in alignment with the first letter of the first word under the division above. This mode of indention is continued with the next subdivisions, thus putting the enumerating letters or figures of the respective divisions or subdivisions in perpendicular alignment. This mode of enumeration and indention can be illustrated diagrammatically:

89.

A. The capital letters (A, B, C, etc.) will mark the main divisions of the subject.

I. The Roman numerals (I, II, III, etc.) will mark the subdivisions of A, B, C, etc.

1. The Arabic figures (1, 2, 3, etc.) will mark the subdivisions of I, II, III, etc.

_a._ The italic lower-case letters (_a_, _b_, _c_, etc.) will mark the subdivisions of 1, 2, 3, etc.

B. Here follows the second main division, its enumerating letter (B) being in perpendicular alignment with “A,” above.

This mode of indention and alignment is not observed unless the divisions and subdivisions are somewhat close together; for, otherwise, the alignment of the enumerating letters or figures would not be apparent to the eye. It is particularly useful in the preparation of a syllabus.

An extra indention of the second and following lines of each subdivision helps to make clear the alignment of the enumerating letters and figures. This is particularly desirable in type-written manuscript. In book-work the lines are often too short to permit so great indention, and therefore the letters and figures are indented the usual paragraph space.

A half-parenthesis is sometimes used with _a_, _b_, _c_, etc., as the half-bracket is used in dramatic composition. This is the German style. We do not know what is gained by it, unless it is used for an additional subdivision.

Some punctuators enclose in parentheses figures and lower-case letters when used before paragraph-enumerations. Generally, such usage is condemned by the meanings of the marks, and serves no useful purpose. Marks of parenthesis are properly used to enclose figures and letters enumerating particulars within the limits of a sentence or a paragraph. If one or more of the particulars are composed of two or more sentences, each of the particulars should be put in paragraph form, in order clearly to group the parts of each particular.

NOTE.—It is hardly proper to designate as a paragraph that which is a part of a sentence; and we therefore use the term “paragraph form” to designate a group of words that is a part of a sentence, and is yet put in the form of a paragraph, and is numbered as a particular.

As a rule, each enumerating group in paragraph form is composed of one or more sentences; and thus each enumerating figure or letter becomes a part of a paragraph group, and therefore loses its parenthetical nature. If each paragraph group is composed of a single group of words constituting only a phrase or a sentence, it may be followed conventionally by a semicolon, and thus give apparent justification for the use of parentheses enclosing the enumerating figures or letters. The following example will illustrate the point:

90. There are three objections to buying very cheap editions of standard uncopyrighted books:

(1) The text is almost always inaccurate;

(2) The punctuation is so poor that, often, the meaning of the language is entirely changed;

(3) The printing is generally so poor as to injure the eyes of the reader.

To divide paragraph groups by semicolons is so obviously inconsistent that little justification can be found for this form of writing. If it is desirable, for the sake of the ease of reading thereby gained, to paragraph the particulars, as in the above sentence, the parentheses and semicolons should not be used:

90-1. There are three objections to buying very cheap editions of standard uncopyrighted books:

1. The text is almost always inaccurate.

2. The punctuation is so poor that, often, the meaning of the language is entirely changed.

3. The printing is generally so poor as to injure the eyes of the reader.

The De Vinne Press does not use a period after the letters and figures noting paragraph enumerations. This is not very common usage; but it is followed in the Bible and in practically all hymn-books, no period following the verse-numbers. As it makes a better-looking page, the style should be adopted. It is not adopted herein, except on pages xi and xii, for we prefer not to follow a limited conventional usage.

3. A period and a dash are generally used after a side-head. The dash sets the group of words off from what follows, and thus shows at a glance that the words are a heading, and not a part of the sentence following. This style is very common, and is helpful to the reader. Side-heads are generally put in italics, but often in small capitals or bold-face type.

The same marks are put after the word “Note” (the word is generally printed with a capital and small capitals) when used to introduce remarks (a note) in the text.

4. The period and dash are used before the name of the author or the title of the work following a quotation when the name of the author or the work begins on the last line. If such name is dropped below the last line of type, the dash alone is used before the name.

5. The period is used to indicate abbreviations. (See Chapter XIII.)

6. The period is used by some printing-offices, notably The Riverside Press, between the figures expressing the time of day:

91. The train arrives at 6.20 P. M.

As this makes the “20” look like a decimal, the style is not to be commended.

7. The period is used to indicate decimals.

NOTE.—Quite contrary to the statement made in not a few school text-books, a cipher standing alone frequently precedes the decimal point, and is useful when it will prevent an error that is especially to be guarded against,—for example, in a physician’s prescription. It is easy to read “.1 gm.” as _one_ gram; but “0.1 gm.” is quite unmistakable, even with a faint mark for the decimal sign (period), because the spacing between the figures serves to show that a period belongs there.

THE COLON

The conventional uses of the colon are not numerous. The following are the principal ones:

1. Between figures expressing the time of day in hours and minutes; but, as stated above, the period is used by some good printing-houses:

92. The train arrives at 6:20 P. M.

2. Between the name of a publisher and the place of publication, especially in title-pages and in book titles:

93. New York: The Macmillan Company.

3. After the salutatory phrase at the beginning of a letter, if not on the first line of the letter:

94. Dear Sir:

Your letter of the 21st ultimo is at hand.

When the salutatory phrase is put on the first line of the text of the letter, a comma and a dash is the usual punctuation:

94-1. Dear Mr. Smith,—Your letter of the 25th ultimo is at hand.

4. After the salutatory phrase used by a speaker in addressing the chairman or the audience.

5. Many good punctuators use a dash with a colon when the colon is at the end of a paragraph. As the salutatory phrase in No. 94 is a paragraph, a dash would follow the colon. This is the style of The Riverside Press. We followed it in the first edition of this work. The combination is not pleasing to the eye, and therefore we do not now use the two marks together.

6. It cannot be denied that the use of the colon after different forms of the verb “to be,” and preceding details, is good _conventional_ punctuation. We think it exceedingly bad punctuation; for it separates words (the verb and its predicate) that are in the closest grammatical relation, and, generally, the mark is without apparent purpose.

Our illustrative sentence is from the work of Mr. Teall, who explains that the colon is used because of the modifiers following the name of the persons:

95. Among those present were: John Brown, who made a speech; Adam Smith, with his wife and daughter; Charles Jones, etc.

We think no mark is needed after “were.” As indicated elsewhere, if the particulars are put into paragraph form, thus leaving “were” at the end of an incomplete line, a dash may be used, simply to act as a sort of leader for the eye, or as a partial filler of the blank space in the line:

95-1. Among those present were—John Brown, who made a speech....

Some good punctuators would use no mark after “were” in No. 95-1.

In No. 95 we give Mr. Teall’s punctuation, which shows a comma before “etc.” This makes “etc.” stand for a modifier of “Jones”; and this, in turn, puts three words, with their modifiers, in a series without a conjunction before the last one. Such grouping is not in the usual form of grouping, except in language where, as we believe, the proper relations are overlooked, as they seem to be here.

This apparently doubtful meaning of the comma,— that is, whether it indicates that “etc.” stands for a modifier, like the preceding ones, or for additional persons,—may be avoided by using “and” after the second semicolon, thus making “etc.” stand for a modifier of Jones, or by the use of a semicolon after “Jones,” thus making “etc.” stand for an additional group or groups.

In such sentences as No. 95, Mr. Wilson and other writers on punctuation suggest the use of a comma before the beginning of the semicolon-divided group. This punctuation might be based upon the use of a comma at the end of a long subject. The use of the colon is based, of course, on the ground that some introductory word like _namely_ is understood.

THE SEMICOLON

We believe there are only two purely conventional uses of the semicolon:

1. As stated on a preceding page, a book title with a subtitle introduced by “or,” takes a semicolon before “or” and a comma after it:

96. Why We Punctuate; or, Reason versus Rule in the Use of Marks.

2. Before an example or the specifications of particulars. We will give Mr. Wilson’s rule for their use. He says:

97. A semicolon is put before _as_, _viz._, _to wit_, _namely_, _i. e._, or _that is_, when they precede an example or a specification of particulars....

NOTE.—The punctuation in the above sentence has a striking peculiarity, which may readily deceive even a very careful reader. The use of “or” apparently makes _one_ of the particulars enumerated the antecedent of “they,” thus requiring the singular pronoun “it,” instead of “they,” in the clause that follows. As Mr. Wilson would neither make nor overlook such a simple error in grammatical construction, we must look more closely for a meaning of the language that will justify the use of “they.” Such meaning is found in the relation between “_i. e._” and “_that is_.” As “_i. e._” (_id est_) is the Latin abbreviation for “_that is_,” the _or_ relation exists between only these particulars in the list. The comma before “or” follows the punctuation exemplified in Sentence 17. This meaning of the language ends the series with “_i. e._”; and the relation between the items of the series is the _and_ relation, which requires the plural pronoun “they.”

The use of the conjunction “and” after “namely” would correct the fault; but the meaning of the sentence might not be easily apprehended by all readers.

These relations can best be revealed by recasting the language. It may be done thus:

97-1. A semicolon is put before _as_, _viz._, _to wit_, _namely_, and _i. e._, or its English unabbreviated equivalent, _that is_, when they....

If we attempt to remedy the fault by putting “_that is_” in parentheses after “_i. e._,” we take “_that is_” out of the list of words enumerated, making it simply an explanation of “_i. e._”

A confusion in grouping, and consequently in meaning, due to the absence of the proper conjunction or the proper mark of punctuation at the end of a series, is very common.

This use of the semicolon and a comma is without reason, so far as we can determine; but it is very firmly fixed conventionally. The objection to it is, that it makes the semicolon a mark of apposition, along with the colon, the comma, and the comma and dash; and its use for such purpose detracts from its more common use of grouping when the _and_ or _or_ relation exists, whether expressed or understood, as exemplified in Sentences 7 and 20-1.

Mr. De Vinne uses a comma before such an introductory particle, and a colon after it; but he makes no reference to the established usage, nor does he give any reason for such punctuation. The reason is simple: the particle is slightly parenthetical, thus requiring to be set off by commas; but the relation between what precedes and what follows is clearly the _colon_ relation. When particulars are formally enumerated, this relation requires a colon on one side of the particle; and the colon will supersede one of the commas. On which side of the particle does the colon belong?

Although Mr. De Vinne, in his own work, puts the colon _after_ the particle, the Century Dictionary, which is issued from the De Vinne Press, puts it _before_ the particle when introducing illustrative examples. The position of the colon in either place is easily explained: if after the particle, the particle is more closely connected with the general term than with the particulars, which follow the colon; if before the particle, the particle is more closely connected with the particulars.

These relations will appear more clearly in examples:

98. The student failed in three studies, namely: spelling, grammar, and history.

98-1. The student failed in three studies: namely, spelling, grammar, and history.

If we substitute “by name” for “namely,” the sense relation between “namely” and “studies,” in one sentence, and between “namely” and the items following in the other sentence, is unmistakable. We can therefore put any such particle where it seems best to reveal the meaning.

We think “by name” is closely associated with “studies,” just as the word “named” or “called” would be, if used in the place of “by name.” This relation therefore requires the colon after the particle.

THE INTERROGATION-POINT

The mark of interrogation has three uses:

1. It is used after a word or group of words asking a question, whether or not such word or words indicate by their form that a question is asked. This usage has already been illustrated. (Page 2.)

2. Enclosed in the proper marks (parentheses, if in the writer’s own language; brackets, if in quoted language), it is placed at a point in a sentence to indicate that the writer questions the accuracy of what immediately precedes it.

This use of the mark of interrogation is not in good taste unless it is for a serious, and not a frivolous, purpose. A foot-note is, in most cases, a better means of expression:

99. He said he was born in 1840(?).

100. He was asked for an exact statement of his age. He replied: “I was born in 1840[?].”

3. It is used by an editor in the margin of a manuscript, or by a proof-reader in the margin of a proof, to question the accuracy of a statement or the correctness of the form of language at the point indicated by the editor or proof-reader. When thus used it is not necessarily enclosed in other marks.

THE EXCLAMATION-POINT

This point is used in two ways:

1. It is used after a word or group of words to express command, surprise, or emotion.

2. Enclosed in brackets, it is used in a quotation to express surprise, irony, or contempt.

101. Wake up! Something is going wrong!

102. Oh, how hard my lot[!]

The practice of using two or three exclamation-points together is not now followed.

ELLIPSIS

When one, for the sake of brevity or otherwise, omits a word, a group of words, or one or more sentences from a quotation, such omission, or _ellipsis_, is indicated by either periods or stars. Periods are generally preferred on the ground that they look better on the printed page than stars. Unfortunately, the number of periods used for an ellipsis is not definitely fixed by convention. Some writers and printers use three, and others use four; we prefer three.

If words are omitted from the end of a sentence, the end-mark of the sentence, if an exclamation-point or an interrogation-point, is retained, and follows the three periods. If the end-mark of the sentence is a period, and one or more sentences following are omitted, there will be four periods at this point. There will be the same number if words are omitted from the beginning of a sentence following a sentence ending with a period.

If stars are used, the closing period is retained.

If one or more paragraphs, or if, in poetry, one or more lines, are omitted, a full line of periods or stars is used.

A dash or stars are used in the place of letters omitted from a word, and the dash in place of figures omitted from a number of figures. Stars were formerly much used for omitted letters.

Examples will illustrate the punctuation under consideration. Our first example is taken from the current issue of a well-known weekly periodical:

103. Who commissioned them, a minority, a less than minority ...?... Some of them are misguided, some of them are blind, most of them are ignorant. I would rather pray for them.... They do not tell me what they are attempting.

How shall we interpret the marks indicating the three ellipses in the above sentence?

The first three periods stand for words omitted from the end of an interrogative sentence, whose end-mark follows such periods.

The second group of three periods indicates an ellipsis of one or more entire sentences. If they indicated an ellipsis of only a part of the next sentence, “Some” would not begin with a capital.

The next group of four periods is composed of three periods for the ellipsis and one period for the end-mark of the sentence.

It should be noted that ellipses from quotations are of only such matter as can be omitted without affecting the sense of the language quoted.

Marks of quotation will include the marks of ellipsis that begin or end the quoted matter.

The use of stars in the first part of No. 103 will convey no more definite information than the periods give the reader; but their use in the second part of the sentence, accompanied by a period, will at once show that they stand for the ellipsis of one or more sentences:

103-1. I would rather pray for them. * * * They do not tell me what they are attempting.