CANYOUIMAGINEHOWHARDITWOULDBETOREADSENTENCESLIKETHIS?TheancientGreekswrotethisway.Thelackofpunctuationmarks(标点符号)probablydidn’tbothergoodreaders,though.Astheyread,theyjustputpauseswheretheyfitbest.Alsoatthistime,sentencesswitcheddirections.Asentencereadfromlefttoright.Thenextonereadrighttoleft,andthenlefttorightagain,etc.
TheancientRomanssometimespunctuatedlikethis:They·put·a·point·between·each·word·in·a·sentence.ThewordpunctuationactuallycomesfromthisideaandtheLatinwordpunctum,whichmeansaprick(刺).
Whenthe5thcenturyarrived,therewerejusttwopunctuationmarks:spacesandpoints.Thespaceseparatedwordsandwhilethepointsshowedpausesinreading.Theninthe13thcentury,aprinternamedAldusManutiustriedtostandardizepunctuation.Healwaysusedaperiodforacompletestopattheendofasentence.Heusedaslash(/)toindicateashortpause.Overtime,thatslashwasshortenedandcurled,anditbecamethemoderncomma.
Sincethattime,othermarkshaveenlargedthepunctuationfamily.TheexclamationmarkcomesformtheLatinwordxt.Itwasoriginallyformedbyputtinganupper-case(大写字母)Ionthelower-casext.TheLatinwordxtmeans“exclamationofjoy.”ThequestionmarkoriginallystartedoutastheLatinwordquestion,meaningquestion.Eventually,scholarsputitattheendofasentencetoshowaquestion.Overtime,itbecameasymbolformedbyputtingalower-caseqonano.
Punctuationisstillchangingtoday.Newmarksarecomingintoexistence,andoldpunctuationmarksareusedinnewways.Takeforexample,the“interrobang.”This1962inventioncombinesthequestionmarkandexclamationmarkfortimeswhenwriterswantboth.Forexample,“Shedidwhat‽”or“Howmuchdidyoupayforthatdress‽”Obviously,theinterrobangisnotwidelyusedorrecognized–yet.ButitsinventionshowsthatEnglishisnotyetfinishedwithitspunctuation.
小题1:Whichofthefollowingisacomma? |
