Making a Point
eBook - ePub

Making a Point

The Persnickety Story of English Punctuation

  1. 392 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Only available on web
eBook - ePub

Making a Point

The Persnickety Story of English Punctuation

Book details
Table of contents
Citations

About This Book

The triumphant concluding volume in David Crystal's classic trilogy on the English language combines the first history of English punctuation with a complete guide on how to use it. Behind every punctuation mark lies a thousand stories. The punctuation of English, marked with occasional rationality, is founded on arbitrariness and littered with oddities. For a system of a few dozen marks it generates a disproportionate degree of uncertainty and passion, inspiring organizations like the Apostrophe Protection Society and sending enthusiasts, correction-pens in hand, in a crusade against error across the United States. Professor Crystal leads us through this minefield with characteristic wit, clarity, and commonsense. In David Crystal's Making a Point, he gives a fascinating account of the origin and progress of every kind of punctuation mark over one and a half millennia and offers sound advice on how punctuation may be used to meet the needs of every occasion and context.

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Information

Publisher
St. Martin's Press
Year
2015
ISBN
9781466865648
Topic
Languages & Linguistics
Subtopic
Syntax in Linguistics
Index
Languages & Linguistics

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Notice
  4. A preliminary dialogue
  5. A traveller’s introduction
  6. 1. In the beginning …
  7. 2. … was diversity
  8. 3. To point, or not to point?
  9. 4. No question: we need it
  10. 5. The first printer
  11. 6. A messy situation
  12. 7. Breath, blood, and spirits
  13. 8. Grammar rules
  14. 9. The printer’s dilemma
  15. 10. Passing the buck
  16. 11. The way forward: meanings and effects
  17. 12. Interfering with Jane Austen
  18. 13. Is there a punctuation system?
  19. 14. Starting at the top
  20. 15. Paragraph preferences
  21. 16. Periods, period.
  22. 17. Devilish dashes –
  23. 18. Ellipsis dots or …
  24. 19. The value of nothing
  25. 20. Exclamation marks!!
  26. 21. Next, question marks?
  27. 22. Semicolons; or not
  28. 23. Colons: the chapter
  29. 24. Commas, the big picture
  30. 25. Commas, the small picture
  31. 26. Commas, the serial killer
  32. 27. Hy-phens
  33. 28. Apostrophes: the past
  34. 29. Apostrophes: the present (and future)
  35. 30. Marks of inclusion (or exclusion): round brackets
  36. 31. Marks of inclusion: ‘quotation marks’
  37. 32. Graphics and italics
  38. 33. Punctuating the Internet
  39. 34. Pragmatic tolerance
  40. Appendix: Teaching punctuation
  41. References and further reading
  42. Illustration credits
  43. Index
  44. About the Author
  45. Also by David Crystal
  46. Newsletter Sign-up
  47. Contents
  48. Copyright