|
Want to know something crazy? In Greek, the question mark looks like a semicolon ;
;
Of course, all punctuation is an invention of comparatively modern typography.In the Greek New Testament, many sentences and paragraphs begin with "Kai" which means "And". In English, discouraged just as much as "But". I tend to type breathlessly, as if speaking; I've done a lot of time in chat rooms. These days, when I'm composing a message, I'll rewind to proofread it, insert commas and semicolons, and break up sentences and paragraphs. I believe what really drove home the importance of punctuation was singing from sheet music and watching the director. Now there's a job where timing is everything, and it was eventually revealed that a comma (or semicolon) in the lyric text implied a pause in the sung phrase as well. You could take a breath at a comma. In fact, there's a sheet music breath mark that's like a comma above the staff line. What's more, when a poem or lyrics are presented line-by-line, at the end of a line where there is no punctuation, this does not necessarily mean you can pause or take a breath, because poetry is divided by meter, not by sentence structure. So, when singing with your favorite band, or reciting your favorite poetry slam, try not to insert semicolons where they don't belong! |