Punctuation Development
How did punctuation affect reading?
The Latin language, although foreign to the Celtic and Germanic peoples in the West, continued to remain the language of the Bible (Parkes,1992) and it was the only means for anyone to achieve the spiritual experience of the Christian faith so creating a way to simplify reading it became important. One of the advantages of Latin, however, was the existence of some pre-defined linguistic symbols that made word separation and text marking easier. A case in point described by Parkes (1992) is the phrase “scriptum est”, which is used to introduce a quotation.
According to Parkes (1992), the origin of punctuation can be traced back to the 6th century – a period marked by the tendency to view writing as an activity that transmits information “directly to the mind, through the eye” (Parkes, 1992, p.11). Parkes’ review of the history of punctuation shows that during the barbarian occupations of the sixth century and the decline of the Roman Empire which impacted economical, grammatical and cultural heritage areas, a strong movement to preserve “citizenry” and “cultural heritage” became prevalent (Parkes, 1992). Some of the most notable events of that era that influenced the development of punctuation are connected with the threat to the disappearance of the intellectual traditions established by previous generations and the threat of Christianity to the pagan cultures (Parkes, 1992). Moreover, a growing concern about the quality of the texts expressed by both professional scholars and individual readers prompted them to make corrections and annotations on their own copies of the old Latin texts. Those efforts led to subsequent subscriptions that focused on “the insertion of punctuation marks as a guide to the interpretation of a text to ensure that it was properly understood and thus it would preserve its integrity” (Parkes,1992, p.13).
Punctuation Marks |
|
In Ancient Latin |
Modern |
. and · Punctus Originally placed in the middle of a sentence, the punctus is the foundation of our modern “period.” |
. Period Used at the end of a complete statement or sentence |
Punctus elevatus (looks like an inverted semicolon). Used to indicate a pause at the end or the middle of a sentence (between twelfth to the fifteenth century) | ; Semi-colon Used instead of “and” |
Colon (:) Initially used during fourteenth century to indicate a full or central pause | : Colon Used to start a list or a statement |
Punctus interrogativus Looks like a just a wavy above a period. First appeared in the eighth century to indicate the end of a question (through rising intonation). |
? Question Mark Used at the end of a question. |
Virgula suspensiva (/): Used during the seventeenth century to indicate short pauses. | , Comma Used to separate groups of words or indicate a pause within a sentence. |
)Parenthesis or brackets( Used to indicate an additional comment. Originally presented in the fifteenth century, with curved parantheses in opposite directions and accompanied by the underlining word(s) between those parenthesis |
( ) Parenthesis Used to make a comment within a sentence. |
Exclamation Mark was first introduced during the seventeenth century | ! Exclamation Mark Used to indicate strong feelings |
Quotation Mark In medieval manuscripts, underlining was sometimes used to indicate direct speech or quotation |
“ ” Quotation Mark Used for direct speech |
As Professor Greg Turko explains, a generally accepted punctuation system contributed to making reading more accessible and portable. Parkes (1992) noted that previously, readers in ancient Rome were “mostly a social elite” (Parkes, 1992, p.9) with a “reserved role” to interpret the text to the masses as they read since the marking of the pauses required their “literary judgment” (Parkes, 1992, p.9). The need to reflect the changes related to historical, social and cultural conditions and changing demands of the readers to have more access and control over the written word ultimately led to a “generally accepted repertory of punctuation” (Parkes, 1992, p. 10).
Punctuation contributed to the development of silent reading by clarifying meaning. Different readers, “authors” through different times could add or clarify their intended meaning to reflect the individual understanding and the social and cultural context. Punctuation also helped to preserve and transmit information and knowledge to future generations.
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