This 'engaging history of punctuation' (Wall Street Journal) is not only the first history of its kind, but a complete guide on how to use English punctuation.
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 organisations like the Apostrophe Protection Society and sending enthusiasts, correction-pens in hand, in a crusade against error.
Professor Crystal leads us through this minefield with characteristic wit, clarity and commonsense. He gives a fascinating account of the origin and progress of every kind of punctuation mark over one and a half millennia, and he offers sound advice on how punctuation may be used to meet the needs of every occasion and context.
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
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Table of contents
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- A preliminary dialogue
- A traveller’s introduction
- 1. In the beginning …
- 2. … was diversity
- 3. To point, or not to point?
- 4. No question: we need it
- 5. The first printer
- 6. A messy situation
- 7. Breath, blood, and spirits
- 8. Grammar rules
- 9. The printer’s dilemma
- 10. Passing the buck
- 11. The way forward: meanings and effects
- 12. Interfering with Jane Austen
- 13. Is there a punctuation system?
- 14. Starting at the top
- 15. Paragraph preferences
- 16. Periods, period.
- 17. Devilish dashes –
- 18. Ellipsis dots or …
- 19. The value of nothing
- 20. Exclamation marks!!
- 21. Next, question marks?
- 22. Semicolons; or not
- 23. Colons: the chapter
- 24. Commas, the big picture
- 25. Commas, the small picture
- 26. Commas, the serial killer
- 27. Hy-phens
- 28. Apostrophes: the past
- 29. Apostrophes: the present (and future)
- 30. Marks of inclusion (or exclusion): round brackets
- 31. Marks of inclusion: ‘quotation marks’
- 32. Graphics and italics
- 33. Punctuating the Internet
- 34. Pragmatic tolerance
- Appendix: Teaching punctuation
- References and further reading
- Illustration credits
- Index
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Yes, you can access Making a Point by David Crystal in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Languages & Linguistics & Grammar & Punctuation. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.