Punctuation Part 7

3. The apostrophe indicates the omission of letters in dialect, in familiar dialogue, and in poetry.

That's 'ow 'tis.

'Twas ever thus.

When two words are practically made into one syllable, a thin s.p.a.ce may be put before the apostrophe, except that _don't_, _can't_, _won't_, and _shan't_ are consolidated. This use of a s.p.a.ce serves to distinguish between the possessive in _s_ and the contraction of _is_.

Where death 's abroad and sorrow 's close behind.

4. Figures expressing dates are often abbreviated, but it is not good general practice.

The boys of '61.

It happened in '14.

5. The apostrophe is used to form the plural of letters and figures.

Cross your t's and dot your i's.

Make 3's and 5's more plain.

Except in these cases the apostrophe is not a plural sign and should be so used only when it is intended to reproduce a dialect or colloquialism.

Wrong: All the Collins's were there.

Right: All the Collinses were there.

The final _ed_ of past tenses and past participles was formerly p.r.o.nounced as a distinct syllable, thus: _clos-ed_, _belov-ed_, and this p.r.o.nunciation continued in common use in poetry long after it was discontinued in prose. During this period of transition the modern p.r.o.nunciation was indicated by dropping the _e_ and using an apostrophe, thus: _clos'd_, _belov'd_. It is now understood that while the full spelling is to be used, the old p.r.o.nunciation is not to be used unless specially indicated by placing a grave accent over the _e_ of the last syllable, thus: _beloved_.

At the same period poets, especially, used an apostrophe to indicate a silent _e_ as in _ev'ry_, but the usage is now obsolete.

Such abbreviations as _Dep't_, _Gov't_, _Sec'y_, and the like, are objectionable in print. If such abbreviations are necessary it is better to use the forms _Dept._, _Govt._, _Secy._

THE HYPHEN

The hyphen is used to join compound words; to mark the division of a word too long to go entirely into one line; to separate the syllables of words in order to show p.r.o.nunciation; as a leader in tabular work. For this last purpose the period is to be preferred to any other mark in use. Tabular work without leaders is obscure and therefore objectionable.

QUOTATION MARKS

Quotation marks are signs used to indicate that the writer is giving exactly the words of another. A French printer named Morel used a comma in the outer margin to indicate a quoted line about 1550. About a century later another Frenchman, Menage, introduced a mark () resembling a double parenthesis but shorter. These marks were cast on the middle of the type body so that they could be reversed for use at either the beginning or the end of a quotation. The French have retained these signs as their quotation marks ever since.

When the English adopted the use of quotation marks, they did not take over the French marks, but subst.i.tuted two inverted commas at the beginning and two apostrophes at the end of the quoted paragraph. These marks are typographically unsatisfactory. They are weak and therefore hardly adequate to their purpose in aiding the understanding through the eye. Being cast on the upper part of the type body, they leave a blank s.p.a.ce below and thus impair the beauty of the line and interfere with good s.p.a.cing. Certain rules for the position of quotation marks when used with other marks are based upon these typographical considerations rather than upon logical considerations.

_Rules for the Use of Quotation Marks_

1. Every direct quotation should be enclosed in double quotation marks.

"I will go," said he, "if I can."

Reports of what another person has said when given in words other than his own are called indirect quotations and take no marks.

He said he would go if he could.

2. A quotation of several paragraphs requires quotation marks at the beginning of each paragraph, but at the end of the last one only. In legal doc.u.ments, and sometimes elsewhere, quotations are defined and emphasized by putting double commas at the beginning of every line of the quotation.

The same result may be better obtained by using smaller type, or indenting the quotation, or both.

3. A quotation included within another quotation should be enclosed by single quotation marks.

He said: "I heard him cry 'Put down that gun,' and then I heard a shot."

4. t.i.tles of books, essays, art works, etc., are usually enclosed in quotation marks. When the books are supposedly familiar to all readers, the marks are not used. You would not print "The Bible," "Paradise Lost," "The Iliad."

The t.i.tles of books, etc., are sometimes printed in italics instead of being enclosed in quotation marks. This is a matter of office style rather than of good or bad practice.

5. In writing about plays or books, the name of the work may be quoted and the name of a character italicized. This is done to avoid confusion between the play, the character, and the real person portrayed. "William Tell" is a play. _William Tell_ is a character in fiction. William Tell is a national hero of Switzerland.

This usage is by no means uniform; here again, we are on the ground of office style.

6. Names of vessels are sometimes quoted, sometimes italicized, and sometimes printed without distinguishing marks. Here we are once more on the ground of office style.

7. Sentences from a foreign language are usually enclosed in quotation marks. Single words or phrases are usually printed in italics. Both italics and quotation marks should not be used except under certain unusual conditions or when positively ordered by the author.

8. Quotation marks may be used with a word to which the writer desires to attract particular attention or to which he desires to give an unusual, technical, or ironical meaning.

This "gentleman" needs a shave.

9. When a quotation is long or when it is introduced in a formal manner, it is usually preceded by a colon. Isolated words or phrases call for no point after the introductory clause. This is true when the phrases so quoted run to considerable length, provided there is no break in the flow of thought and expression.

10. When a quotation ends a sentence the quotation marks are placed after the period.

The comma is always placed inside the quotation marks.

The position of the other marks (semicolon, colon, exclamation, and interrogation) is determined by the sense. If they form a part of the matter quoted, they go inside the quote marks; if not, they go outside them.

11. When quotation marks occur at the beginning of a line of poetry, they should go back into the indention s.p.a.ce.

"Breathes there a man with soul so dead Who never to himself hath said, 'This is my own, my native land'?"

This ill.u.s.tration is also a good example of the use of marks in combinations. We have first the single quotation marking the end of the included quotation, then the interrogation which ends the sentence, then the double quotation marks in their proper position.

Quotation marks should not be used needlessly. Very familiar expressions from the best known authors, such as _to the manor born_, _a conscience void of offence_, _with malice toward none and charity for all_, have become part of the current coin of speech and need not be quoted. Lists of words considered as words merely, lists of books or plays, and other such copy should be printed without quotation marks. Sprinkling a page thickly with quotation marks not only spoils its appearance but makes it hard to read, without adding to its clearness of meaning.