PART V

PUNCTUATION AND CAPITALIZATION

CCXLV. DEFINITION

Punctuation is the art of dividing written discourse into sentences and parts of sentences, by means of points or marks.

Points are principally used for the purpose of rendering the sense more intelligible. They do not mark all the pauses made in reading, though a pause is generally made where a point is used.

A change in the punctuation of a sentence generally produces a change in the meaning.

"John Keys, the lawyer says he is guilty."

"John Keys the lawyer,' says he, 'is guilty.""

The Comma denotes the slightest degree of separation between the elements of a sentence.

Adjective, participial, appositive, and absolute phrases should be separated from the context by commas.

Ex.-"Faithful to his promise, he assisted me in obtaining employment." "Having once lost the good opinion of our friends, it is difficult for us to reclaim it." "The maxim, 'Enough is as good as a feast,' has silenced many a vain wish."

Transposed words, phrases, and clauses are usually set off by commas.

Ex.-"Whom ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you."

Parenthetical words, phrases, and clauses should be separated from the rest of the sentence by commas.

A parenthetical word or expression is one that is not essential to the grammatical construction of a sentence, but is required to express its full meaning.

Ex. "He invented, it is said, the theory of moral science." "That excitement, too, was of the most dangerous kind."

Antithetical words, phrases, and clauses should be separated by commas.

Ex. .—“Talent has many a compliment from the bench, but tact touches fees." "Strong proofs, not a loud voice, produce conviction." "Though deep, yet clear; though gentle, yet not dull."

When words are arranged in pairs, each couplet should be set off by commas.

Ex. -"Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and my heart to this vote."

A quoted sentence, a long infinitive phrase, or an indirect quotation, introduced by that should usually be set off by a comma.

Ex.

"He asked, 'Why are you so melancholy?'" "I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it." "To

correct such gross vices as lead us to commit a real injury to others, is the part of morals, and the object of the most ordinary education.”HUME.

Words repeated for emphasis should be set off by

commas.

Ex.-"Verily, verily, I say unto you."

When a verb is omitted to avoid repetition, its place is usually supplied by a comma.

Ex. -"War is the law of violence; peace, the law of love."

Whenever ambiguity would arise from its omission, a comma should be inserted.

Ex. — “I have a house with nine rooms, and outbuildings."

Insert commas wherever required in these sentences:

1. A man who does so care has a garment embroidered with hooks which catches at everything that passes by. 2. Come Rollo - let us take a walk. 3. We often commend as well as censure imprudently. 4. The deaf and the blind and the lame were there. 5. The rich and the poor- the high and the low-the learned and the unlearned have access alike to this fountain of peace. 6. I see then in revelation a purpose corresponding with that for which human teaching was instituted. 7. The oranges lemons and figs which grow in the northern range of the southern States are of an inferior quality. 8. "Think you Abel" said Paul at last "that the storm drove them thither?" 9. Yes I am sure it is so. Io. As it was then so it is now. II. He that seeketh findeth. 12. I lisped in numbers for the numbers came. idle want steadiness of purpose; the indolent power of exertion.

CCXLVII. THE SEMICOLON

(See page 54.)

13. The

The semicolon denotes a degree of separation greater

than that denoted by the comma.

The semicolon should be used before as, namely, to wit, viz., introducing an example or an illustration.

Ex.

"One part only of an antithesis is sometimes expressed; as, 'A friendly eye would never see such faults.'" "Some men distinguish the period of the world into four ages; viz., the golden age, the silver age, the bronze age, and the iron age."

Successive clauses having a common dependence, should be separated by semicolons.

Ex.

"My imagination would conjure up all that I had heard or read of the watery world beneath me; of the finny tribes that roam in the fathomless valleys; of shapeless monsters that lurk among the very foundations of the earth; and those wild phantasms that swell the tales of fishermen and sailors." — IRVING.

This rule applies, also, to a series of phrases, some one of which is composed of parts separated by commas.

Ex. "To be delivered from trouble; to be relieved from power; to see oppression humbled; to lie down as in a bed of security, in a long oblivion of our woes; to sleep in peace without the fear of interruption; — how pleasing the prospect !”

A clause, introduced by for, but, and, or an equivalent connective, is often set off by a semicolon.

Ex. -"Rejoice the soul of thy servant; for unto thee, O Lord, I lift up my soul." "The person he chanced to see, was, to appearance, an old, sordid, blind man; but upon his following him from place to place, he at last found, by his own confession, that he was Plutus, the god of riches, and that he was just come out of the house a miser."

When the clauses are short, the semicolon is frequently replaced by the comma.

Ex. "I go, but I return."

Insert semicolons wherever required in these sentences:

I. A Scotch mist becomes a shower, and a shower, a flood, and a flood, a storm, and a storm, a tempest, and a tempest, thunder and

lightning, and thunder and lightning, heaven-quake and earth-quake. 2. Wit is abrupt, darting, scornful, and tosses its analogies in your face, Humor is slow and shy, insinuating its fun into your heart. 3. An enigma is a dark saying, an obscure question, a riddle.

CCXLVIII. THE COLON

(See page 54.)

The colon denotes a degree of separation greater than that indicated by the semicolon.

The colon should be used after the formal introduction to a speech, a course of reasoning, a lengthy quotation, or an enumeration of particulars.

Ex. "Then closing the book, he proceeded in a lower tone: The philosophers of whom you have read in the dictionary, possessed this wisdom only in part, because they were heathens.'” "Be our plain answer this: the throne we honor is the people's choice; the laws we reverence are our brave father's legacy; the faith we follow teaches us to live in bonds of charity with all mankind, and die with hope of bliss beyond the grave."

The colon should be used before an explanatory remark, or one which presents the meaning of the preceding sentence in another form.

Ex. "All reasoning is retrospective: it consists in the application of facts and principles previously known." "By degrees he infuses into it the poison of his own ambition: he breathes into it the fire of his own courage."

Insert colons wherever required in these sentences:

1. There are five senses, sight, hearing, feeling, taste, and smell. 2. The discourse consisted of two parts, in the first was shown the necessity of exercise; in the second, the advantages that would result from it. 3. Men's evil manners live in brass; their virtues we write in water.