What is punctuation?

Punctuation helps make written text more understandable in terms of meaning and the connection between words in sentences. In addition, it facilitates the oral reproduction of written text.

Instruction manual

one

Punctuation (from lat. Punctum - "dot") - a system of punctuation in the written language of any language. Each character is an auxiliary element of the sentence, designed to separate the semantic parts of the text, logical and grammatical connections between words and other functions. Punctuation marks are located in the sentence according to certain rules, the observance of which facilitates the oral reading of the written text (arrangement of semantic stresses, pauses, intonations), simplifies its visual perception and understanding.

2

We can distinguish the following main functions of the elements of the punctuation system in the writing of modern languages:

- an indication of the completeness of the semantic part of the text (sentence): dot, exclamation and question marks, ellipsis;

- allocation of individual parts of the sentence: comma, semicolon, dash, colon;

- direct speech: dashes, quotation marks;

- use of quotes in the text: quotation marks;

- an indication that a given word or phrase is an abbreviation from another: a hyphen in the middle, a dot at the end, a slash;

- clarification of the term or definition in the text without listing in a separate sentence: brackets;

- indication of the omission of part of the sentence: ellipsis.

3

In the theory of punctuation in Russia, three directions can be distinguished: logical (semantic), syntactic and intonational. Adherents of the logical direction of punctuation believe that its main purpose is to convey the meaning of the written, indicating semantic shades that are important for understanding the entire text.

4

The syntactic direction of the text structure becomes more visual.

5

The followers of the intonation direction consider the declamational property of punctuation to be the most important. According to this theory, punctuation marks are used to indicate the melody of phrases during oral reading, construction of intonation. Thus, the characters are a kind of notes on which the written text is “played”.

6

Despite a different approach, the followers of all three directions converge in identifying the main purpose of punctuation - its communicative function (conveying meaning).