VI. To separate Short Co-ordinate Sentences I slip, I slide, I gleam, I glance. I go, but I shall return. VII. To separate Interpolations from rest of sentence, especially in case of quotations, as— 'Nay, nay, said John with an angry frown, VIII. To separate a series of Co-ordinate Subjects or No internal misgiving, no friendly persuasion, no hostile pressure could coerce his conscience. (Subjects.) I will never forgive my enemies, molest my acquaintances, or leave my friends unrewarded. (Predicates.) The Semicolon. The Semicolon is used between two portions of a Sen tence, each complete in itself, when the pause is longer than that indicated by a Comma. It is chiefly used to separate Co-ordinate Sentences, except such as are short and closely connected in meaning. Coordinate Sentences are those which have a certain connection with each other as regards their sense and use, but which have no Grammatical link of connection between them The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Day and night are of nearly the same duration in Venus as on the Earth; the diurnal period of rotation of the planet is twenty-three hours, twentyone minutes, and seven seconds; it is consequently thirty-five minutes less than ours. The Colon. The Colon is placed between Sentences which are grammatically independent, but sufficiently connected in sense to make it undesirable that there should be a complete break between them, e.g.— Nothing else could have united her people: nothing else could have endangered or interrupted our commerce.-Landor. This is, perhaps, most generally the case where one portion of a Sentence is followed by another portion connected with it by way of example, consequence, cause, or (above all) antithesis 4.g.— Large cities are generally built near rivers: as London on the Thames. He is dead: we shall never see him more. No man should be too positive: the wisest often err. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. After all, however, that can be said on the distinction between the Semicolon and the Colon, it will be found that precisely similar sentences are differently punctuated by dif ferent writers. The Period or Full Stop. The Full Stop is used at the end of a complete and independent Sentence. It is also used after abbreviations, such as-e.g., i.e., viz., A.D., etc. Train. Coll. Carm. Trin. Coll. Dub. The Author of 'The Queen's English' on The late Dean Alford, in The Queen's English, has some humorous remarks on Punctuation that may be thought worthy of a passing notice. He says: "The great enemies to understanding anything printed in our language are the Commas. These are inserted by the compositors without the slightest compunction, on every possible occasion.' The writer also complains that the meaning of many passages is rendered obscure, and even altered entirely, by a wrong use or injudicious insertion of the Comma, as in 'All voted for him except the Jews, who live in Houndsditch.' He admits, however, that too few Commas are an inconvenience also. This is especially the case in sentences where, but for the assistance of the Comma, the meaning would be ambiguous, as, 'The Society for promoting the observance of the Lord's day which was founded in 1831.' In reply to the question, 'Is there any difference between the Semicolon and the Colon, and do we want both?' Dean Alford replies: "The Semicolon serves to separate clauses between which the sense is not immediately carried on, as after a Comma, nor disjunctively broken off, as after a Colon. It is useful after, perhaps, a series of Commas, to indicate a somewhat greater break in the sense, or at all events one differing in kind. A Colon, on the other hand, marks a considerable break, and is useful before a disjunctive Particle, or where, for the sake of the style, a connecting Particle is omitted.' In antithetical sentences, such as, 'He saved others: Himself He cannot save,' and 'A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel,' he thinks he sees 'a clear case for a Colon.' With the bulk of these observations we entirely concur. Of the other Signs. A Note of Interrogation (?) must be placed at the end of all direct questions, e.g. Have you been long at the College? Indirect questions do not take a Note of Interrogation after them, e.g. I asked him if he had been long at the College. A Note of Exclamation (!) is used (a) After Interjections and Exclamatory Sentences, eg. Alas! Poor Yorick !—Hamlet. The foe! They come ! They come !-Byron's 'Waterloo.' (b) After Invocations, e.g.– Italia! Oh Italia! thou who hast The fatal gift of beauty.-Byron. The Parenthesis () is used to enclose a clause, or part of a clause, which does not enter into the construction of the main sentence, but is merely 'introduced by the way.'* Words enclosed within a Parenthesis do not require to be separated from the rest of the sentence by any other Stop. Inverted Commas, or Guillemets (" ") are used to separate a quotation from the passage in which it occurs, e.g."Our army swore terribly in Flanders," cried my uncle Toby, "but nothing to this."-Sterne. Such is the meaning of the Greek word wapives. It is curious to notice that apiviors is also the Greek for an Interjection. A quotation within a quotation is usually marked off by single Inverted Commas (''), e.g. "I am sick," said that worthy, "of hearing Aristides called the just Aristides."" Note.-Single Inverted Commas appear to be taking the place of double in many modern works. Brackets are generally used to separate interpolated words from the passage in which they occur. The Dash (-) denotes hesitation, or difficulty of utteranceIs it ?—it is—my ain gudeman. — Old Ballad. Careless writers often use the Dash as a substitute for other Stops. Sterne's writings are full of Dashes. = The Hyphen (Greek hypounder, and hen one) has three uses 1. To form loosely connected compounds— (a) By dividing words into syllables, as, Con-stan-ti-nople. (b) By forming compound words, as That by-no-means-easily-to-be-obtained boon. = 2. As a contraction mark, e.g., 2nd, Comtee Committee. When the parts of compound words have completely coalesced, the hyphen is omitted, as, nevertheless, blackboard. Where two vowels are adjacent and prevent fusion, the Diæresis is sometimes substituted, as, coöperative, preördained. The Diæresis, Greek di-aípeois, a separation (), is placed over the second of two vowels, when it is intended that both should be sounded separately, e.g. cooperative, reinforce, aërated, etc. The Caret, Latin caret is wanting (^), is used to denote that an omitted word is inserted above. Definition.-Figures of Speech are uncommon forms of expression, serving either to ornament the style, or to place the matter of discourse in a clearer light. They consist of two classes-Figures of Arrangement and Tropes (or 'turns' of expression, from the Greek trepo, I turn). It is to the latter that the term figurative language is most usually applied. Chief Figures of Arrangement. 1. EXCLAMATION. 2. INTERROGATION. 3. ANTITHESIS. 1. SIMILE. 2. METAPHOR. 4. CLIMAX. 5. INVERSION. 6. PLEONASM. Chief Tropes. 3. ALLEGORY. 4. PERSONIFICATION. 5. HYPERBOLE. 6. IRONY. 7. APOSTROPHE. 9. SYNEDOCHE. Figures of Arrangement. 1. Exclamation. Exclamation gives life to style by expressing a fact in the form of a cry of wonder, as 'O Liberty! oh, sound once delightful to every Roman ear!' O happy, happy rustics! if they were but aware of their own blessings!' -Virgil. |