Page images
PDF
EPUB

PUNCTUATION.

240. Definitions and Distinctions.

1. Punctuation is the art of dividing written composition by means of points.

2. Points are used to separate either entire sentences, or the elements of sentences.

NOTE. Let it be understood, that an element may be either a word, a phrase, or clause.

3. A point should not be used,—

(a.) To separate the parts of a simple element.

(b.) To separate two united elements when arranged grammatically, and closely joined.

(c.) To separate two united elements simply because, in the utterance, a pause should be made.

NOTE. Points are used to mark the sense, rather than the pauses. It is true, that a pause should generally be made where there is a point, but it is not equally true that a point should be placed wherever there is a pause.

4. A point is required,—

(1.) Always at the end of a full sentence.

(2.) Always between the members of a loose sentence.
(3.) Generally between two elements of a sentence,-
(a.) When several similar elements come together.

(b.) When an element is loosely connected.

(c.) When more closely connected, but transposed.

(d.) When closely connected, but greatly extended in length.

(e.) When some important word is omitted.

(f.) When, in any case, the meaning would be obscure or ambiguous without a point.

5. As an example of the effect of pointing, see the change of meaning in the following words:

James Johnson says he has written beautifully. James, Johnson says he has written beautifully. "James Johnson," says he, "has written beautifully." James Johnson says he has written "beautifully.” 6. The principal punctuation marks are, the comma (,), the semicolon (;), the colon (:), the dash (—), the parenthesis ( ), the period (·), the interrogation point (?), and the exclamation point (!).

Punctuation. Entire sentences and elements of sentences. When no points are used. Cases where points are required. Effect of pointing. The principal points.

(244)

POINTS USED WITHIN A SENTENCE.

241. General Uses of the Comma.

1. The comma is used principally in separating the elements of simple or complex sentences.

2. As the comma interrupts, in some measure, the union of two elements (160), it should never be employed to break the connection when one necessarily restricts the meaning of the other.

[ocr errors]

3. When an element to be pointed off stands at the beginning or end of a sentence, one comma only is used; but when it stands within the sentence, two commas are usually employed; as, In fact, the people are the dupes of demagogues." "The people, in fact, are the dupes of demagogues."

4. The comma is often used to mark the omission of a word, especially that of the verb in closely connected clauses; as, 66 Semiramis built Babylon; Dido, Carthage; and Romulus, Rome."

5. The comma may be used to separate,

(a) Coördinate elements.

(b) A principal from a subordinate element.

(c) Two principal elements.

(d) An independent, or a parenthetic element from the rest of the sentence.

242. Coördinate Elements.

1. All coördinate elements may be divided into,

(a.) Coördinate pairs, or couplets, consisting of two coördinate terms. (b.) Coördinate series, consisting of three or more coördinate terms. Thus, "Nouns and pronouns" is a couplet; "Nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and participles" is a coördinate series. In the following example we have a series of couplets or compound terms:-"But, whether ingenious or dull, learned or ignorant, clownish or polite, every innocent man, without exception, has as good a right to liberty as to life."-Beattie.

66

2. The pointing of couplets depends, in some measure, upon the closeness of the connection. As a general rule, two elements are most closely connected when correlatives are used, except when used for contrast or emphasis, less closely connected when a single conjunction is employed, and least of all when none is used; as, He was both virtuous and wise;" "He was virtuous and wise;" "He was virtuous, wise." 3. The terms of a coördinate couplet, as a general rule, should not be separated.

The comma separates elements. Not to break an intimate relation. comma, two commas. Omission of a word.

series. Rules for couplets.

One

Coördinate pairs. Coördinate

EXAMPLES.—“ Hope and fear, pleasure and pain, diversify our lives;" "Virtue or vice predominates in every man and woman.”

4. The terms of a coördinate couplet should be separated,—

(a.) When the conjunction is omitted.

(b.) When the terms are identical or equivalent.

(c.) When the terms are contrasted or emphatically distinguished.

(d.) When either term is limited by an element not applicable to the other, or is more extended than the other.

(e.) When both are limited, and thus considerably extended.

EXAMPLES.-(a.) "The sweetest, wildest land on earth." (b.) “ Rise, rise, ` ye wild tempests;" "Verily, verily, I say unto you;" "We sailed into an inlet, or bay." (c.) ""Tis certain he could write, and cipher too.” "The fellow was wicked, not weak." (See 244, 4, d.). (d.) “Undue susceptibility, and the preponderance of mere feeling over thoughtfulness, may mislead us.' (e.) Integrity of understanding, and nicety of discernment, were not allotted in a less proportion to Dryden than to Pope."

[ocr errors]

NOTE. Contrasted words, having a common dependence, and not emphatically distinguished, should not be separated; as, "He led an easy but useless life." Not so with contrasted phrases; as, "It was not the result of a hasty, but of a deliberate, judgment."

5. The terms of a coördinate series, whether simple, complex, or compound, should be separated by the comma.

EXAMPLES.—“In pronouncing the words lilies, roses, tulips, pinks, jonquils, we see the things themselves, and seem to taste their beauty and sweetness ;" "The good man is alive to all the sympathies, the sanctions, and the loves of social existence;" "Sink or swim, live or die, I give my hand and my heart to this vote."

"Castles and villas, titles, vassals, land,

Coaches and curricles, and fours-in-hand.”

6. The final term of a couplet or series is generally not separated from the term grammatically dependent upon it, except,—

(a.) When the conjunction is omitted.

(6.) When the terms are considerably complex.

(c.) When the meaning is made clearer by the point. (See 244, 2, b.).

EXAMPLES." Capture, demolish, and burn their cities." (a.) “Capture, demolish, burn, their cities." (b.) "Ingratitude for favors, undue regard for self, and forgetfulness of others, are marks of a weak and sordid mind."

66

NOTE.-By some, yet erroneously, the last noun of a compound subject, is separated from the verb, even when the conjunction is used; as, Homer, Virgil, and Horace, were the most renowned of the ancient poets."

7. When the terms of a couplet or a series consist of coördinate clauses, whether the propositions themselves are principal or subordinate, a

Rule for series. Exceptions. Coördinate clauses.

comma should separate them, except as in (249, 1, a., b.); as, “That their poetry is almost uniformly mournful, and that their views of nature were dark and dreary, will be allowed by all who admit the authenticity of Ossian;" "I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat."

243. Exercise.

1. Explain by (242, 3) why the following couplets are not separated:Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer. His bitter and scoffing speech had inflicted keener wounds than his ambition. The powers of their mind seem to be parched up and withered by the public gaze. In his letters and conversation he alluded to the greatest potentates. He acted neither wisely nor prudently. Either you or I must go.

2. Explain the punctuation of the following by (242, 3, a. b. c., &c.). Liberal, not lavish, is nature's hand. We often commend, as well as censure, imprudently. He can eat, and sleep too. None, but thou, can aid us. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Public charities, and benevolent associations, for the gratuitous relief of every species of distress, are peculiar to Christianity. Powerful friends, and first-rate connections, often assist a man's rise, and contribute to his promotion. Illustrious men have often lived unrewarded, and died unlamented. Blow, blow, thou winter wind. Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky. A comma is a point, or mark. Dear, gentle, patient, noble Nell was dead. The deaf, the blind, the lame, and the palsied were there. Decrepid age, and vigorous life, and blooming youth, and helpless infancy poured forth to gather round her tomb. She plans,

provides, expatiates, triumphs there. The rich and the poor, the high and the low, the learned and the unlearned, have access alike to this fountain of peace. The air, the earth, the water, teem with delighted existence. Children climb the green mound of the rampart, and ivy holds together the half-demolished buttress.

When riseth Lacedæmon's hardihood,
When Thebes Epaminondas rears again,
When Athens' children are with arts endued,
When Grecian mothers shall give birth to men,
Then thou may'st be restored:-but not till then.

"Blessing, honor, glory, might,

Are the Conqueror's native right;
Thrones and powers before him fall-
Lamb of God, and Lord of all!"

Exercises.

244. Principal and Subordinate Elements.

66

1. A subordinate element generally, whether a word, a phrase, or a clause, is not separated from the principal element to which it belongs when used restrictively, or when the connection is close; as, 'He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down," "The kings of the earth set themselves;" "The precise period when (202, 21) the discovery was made, is not known."

2. The adjective element should be pointed off in the following cases,

(a.) When an adjective clause, either full, or in its equivalent abridged form, is explanatory (202, 13); as, “We venerate the name of Washington, who was styled the father of his country;" "Passion is like a whirlwind, prostrating indiscriminately whatever comes in its way." In this case, two commas (241, 3) are used when the clause comes within the sentence before the predi

cate.

(b.) When the antecedent is a coördinate series (242, 1), even a restrictive clause is pointed off, to show that the relative belongs equally to each of its terms; as, "The oxygen, nitrogen, and carbonic acid, which unite to form the atmosphere, arce mingled in unequal proportions."

(c.) The noun in apposition may be considered as derived from an adjective clause containing a predicate noun, and is always to be pointed off when it is explanatory (203, 3); as, “Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab ;" "I have killed the king, my husband."

(d.) A noun in apposition, when used restrictively, or when with a personal pronoun, or another noun, it forms a close combination, is not pointed off; as, "King John;""General Gates;" "Ye winds;" "Gladding brothers ;” yet, when two closely combined names are inverted, the comma is used; as, "Lincoln, Levi," "Harrison, William Henry.”

(e.) A noun in apposition, if modified by phrases or clauses, is usually pointed off; as, "Theodore, the hermit of Teneriffe."

(f.) A noun in apposition, or an adjective or participial phrase equivalent to a subordinate clause, when employed to introduce a sentence, is pointed off; as, "A professed Catholic, he imprisoned the Pope;" "Cradled in the camp, Napoleon was the darling of his army."

3. The objective element, whether a word, phrase, or clause, is closely connected to the verb on which it depends, and, unless transposed, should not be pointed off; as, "The ox knoweth his owner;""They long to see that day," "I know not what we can do," "The impending storm which threatened us, we all escaped."

(a.) Though, as a general rule, inverted and loosely connected phrases or clauses should not intervene between the object and its governing verb, when such cases do occur, commas should separate them from the verb and its object; as, "He wishes, in fine, to join his companions ;""He has bought, as I am told, a large tract of uncultivated land."

Subordinate elements not pointed off. The adjective element, when pointed off, when not. The objective element, when pointed off, when not.

« PreviousContinue »