Punctuation

Abstract

So far in this part of the book we have concentrated on the lexical and syntactic options which English has available to help the writer formulate sentences in a subtle and sophisticated manner. But this subtlety and complexity of expression would not be possible without punctuation, which plays an often underestimated role in the construction process. On the one hand, punctuation breaks up the component messages of the complex sentence and thereby aids the reading process. At the same time, appropriate use of punctuation invites the reader to pay special attention to individual pieces of information within the sentence. What is more, the diversity of options in the punctuation system allows the writer to express different relationships between the parts of a sentence; in this sense punctuation is not only a separating device but also a linking device (see also Chapter 7).