Punctuation is important because it allows us to take breaths between sentences, for one. Punctuation marks also aid us in distinguishing items in lists; this is done with commas, and sometimes it is done with semicolons. See what I did there?
Below is an article written by Garima Nabh — beta reader, editor, and blogger — who has recently moved forward as a writer of full-length novels.
I am excited to announce that Garima has agreed to be a contributor to my blog. Come back next Thursday to read a blog post entirely written by Garima Nabh.
Now, without further ado, please see Garima’s article below (without punctuation)!
Punctuations are described as the use of spacing and symbols in order to understand and properly read texts whether they are read silently or aloud It is derived from the Latin word punctus meaning point
Use of punctuations can be traced to the 15th century in Hebrew texts In this case vowel points were used by placing them near consonants to indicate following vowels In early civilisations of Greece and Rome punctuations werent used Speeches were given more importance than written text and the readers and listeners were expected to understand on their own which proved to be difficult
Aristophanes of Byzantium is considered the inventor of many punctuation marks such as marks of critical signs accents breathings and many more in 200BC which were employed in Greek texts He used the comma colon and periodos in Greek texts
Due to the spread of Christianity Aristophanes punctuations became more widely used This is because the Christians preferred written texts to spread the word of God In the 7th century Isidore of Seville introduced his own version of Aristophanes punctuations
However it wasnt until the 16th century when the Italians and French introduced the modern system of punctuation in Greek texts The Venetian editor and printer Aldus Manutius made improvements in the use of punctuation which his grandson of the same name continued to clarify in his book Orthographiae ratio System of Orthography in 1566 Aldus junior emphasized the use of punctuation was for easier formation of words and sentences It was at the end of the 17th century when many of the punctuations were given their modern names
Many of the punctuations are used especially when reading texts aloud They can also be used to express emotions in writing For instance a question mark would indicate someone asking a question while an exclamation mark indicates surprise
In other parts of the world punctuations were used differently In Sanskrit the ancient language of India used only vertical lines to distinguish sentences One vertical line indicated the end of a sentence while two vertical lines indicated the end of a couplet In early Arabic texts clauses were so distinguishable that there was no need of punctuations However many languages have incorporated the use of punctuation marks used in English
The modern digital use of punctuations has come in the form of emoticons and emoji These are commonly used in text messages and posts of social media They are used to show different types of emotions and mini pictures of many things which are always increasing in number Let us also not forget the showing of three little dots we see when someone is writing a text or comment on posts
Punctuation isnt dead and who knows how much more it will evolve in the future
Now if you want to read this without getting a headache, here is a link to the original article, written by Garima Nabh. And, just in case you’re wondering, she approved this blog post.
Punctuation is very important. Don’t forget those commas, periods, semicolons, and all the rest when you're writing. They make a big difference!
Happy National Grammar Day!
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