The History of Punctuation in the English Language
Abstract
This project examined the history of punctuation in the English language to better understand both the history and future of English. My study traces the role of punctuation in writing from antiquity to Modern English. Writing appears to have originated as a way of keeping administrative records and was later used to represent speech, allowing the written word to be more easily understood and re-presented later. Generally, grammarians recognize two types of punctuation: rhetorical and grammatical. Punctuation was scarce and haphazard in Latin and Greek, and remained sparse through Old and Middle English until the 14th century when punctuation became more common due to the rise of silent reading. The rise of printing houses with the advent of the printing press led to house styles and a gradual systemization of punctuation. A key aspect of the Protestant Reformation was individual interpretation of the Bible, and literacy rates, although still low, were increasing. The mechanization of the Industrial Revolution led to a rapid rise in literacy, and faster and cheaper book production. It was around this time that the first rules for punctuation arose, although it was still often chaotic, grammarians wrote usage guides to assist the writer. With the rise of mass media in the 20th century, writing became less formal and trended towards lighter punctuation. The internet caused rapid changes in the way people use punctuation, with punctuation assisting in mimicking nonverbal cues in speech. For example, many people interpret a sentence ending with a period as implying a vastly different tone than ending a sentence with no punctuation. While punctuation is amid a revolution and is rapidly changing, we will probably see more of a split between formal and informal punctuation as well as overall simplification.
College
College of Liberal Arts
Department
English
Campus
Winona
First Advisor/Mentor
Andrew Higl
Start Date
4-19-2023 10:00 AM
End Date
4-19-2023 11:00 AM
Presentation Type
Poster Session
Format of Presentation or Performance
In-Person
Session
1b=10am-11am
Poster Number
29
The History of Punctuation in the English Language
This project examined the history of punctuation in the English language to better understand both the history and future of English. My study traces the role of punctuation in writing from antiquity to Modern English. Writing appears to have originated as a way of keeping administrative records and was later used to represent speech, allowing the written word to be more easily understood and re-presented later. Generally, grammarians recognize two types of punctuation: rhetorical and grammatical. Punctuation was scarce and haphazard in Latin and Greek, and remained sparse through Old and Middle English until the 14th century when punctuation became more common due to the rise of silent reading. The rise of printing houses with the advent of the printing press led to house styles and a gradual systemization of punctuation. A key aspect of the Protestant Reformation was individual interpretation of the Bible, and literacy rates, although still low, were increasing. The mechanization of the Industrial Revolution led to a rapid rise in literacy, and faster and cheaper book production. It was around this time that the first rules for punctuation arose, although it was still often chaotic, grammarians wrote usage guides to assist the writer. With the rise of mass media in the 20th century, writing became less formal and trended towards lighter punctuation. The internet caused rapid changes in the way people use punctuation, with punctuation assisting in mimicking nonverbal cues in speech. For example, many people interpret a sentence ending with a period as implying a vastly different tone than ending a sentence with no punctuation. While punctuation is amid a revolution and is rapidly changing, we will probably see more of a split between formal and informal punctuation as well as overall simplification.
