Whatever the flexibility in contemporary English punctuation (and, of
course, there is flexibility) it remains true that punctuation marks can
occur only at the syntactic junctures of a sentence. On that perspective
`punctuation' certainly is `grammar'.

Bob's two sentences illustrate that a syntactic juncture between them can be
marked either with a splicing comma of with a semi-colon. That is perfectly
true of his particular sequential sentences. But it is not true of all
sequential sentences.

`Flexibility' in the choice of punctuation marks is delimited by semantic
issues, here: Bob's simply happen to be two sentences in a semantic
relationship that enables a splicing comma or the semi-colon. Neither marker
would be enabled if the two sentences were not, syntactically, sentences. So
grammar is still with us, even in the `flexibility' domain.
Sophie

----- Original Message -----
From: Bob Yates <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, July 01, 2001 3:28 AM
Subject: Re: comma splice and punctuation


> I think we have to be very careful about claims like the following:
>
>
> > If we accept that punctuation is a made-up thing, standardized by
printers
> > and varying somewhat from nation to nation, can't its conventions be
both
> > flexible and fallible? And, to get back to one of the original
questions, is
> > seventh grade really too early for writer's to understand that
everything in
> > writing is not always black and white, correct or incorrect?
>
> At some level of analysis this is right.  There is an arbitrariness to
using a . as
> opposed to a ; or @ to indicate a "complete" sentence.  On the other hand,
there
> are aspects of punctuation which are nearly impossible to duplicate in the
spoken
> language.  Nunberg, in  The Linguistics of Punctuation , notes that the
following
> two sentences have different meanings because of their punctuation.
>
>   1.  Order your furniture on Monday, take it home on Tuesday.
>   2.  Order your furniture on Monday; take it home on Tuesday.
>
> (1) suggests ordering furniture is a condition for taking it home.  (2)
shows that
> ordering and taking it home are two separate commands.
>
> Bob Yates, Central Missouri  State University
>
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