ELLIPSIS
When one, for the sake of brevity or otherwise, omits a word, a group of words, or one or more sentences from a quotation, such omission, or ellipsis, is indicated by either periods or stars. Periods are generally preferred on the ground that they look better on the printed page than stars. Unfortunately, the number of periods used for an ellipsis is not definitely fixed by convention. Some writers and printers use three, and others use four; we prefer three.
If words are omitted from the end of a sentence, the end-mark of the sentence, if an exclamation-point or an interrogation-point, is retained, and follows the three periods. If the end-mark of the sentence is a period, and one or more sentences following are omitted, there will be four periods at this point. There will be the same number if words are omitted from the beginning of a sentence following a sentence ending with a period.
If stars are used, the closing period is retained.
If one or more paragraphs, or if, in poetry, one or more lines, are omitted, a full line of periods or stars is used.
A dash or stars are used in the place of letters omitted from a word, and the dash in place of figures omitted from a number of figures. Stars were formerly much used for omitted letters.
Examples will illustrate the punctuation under consideration. Our first example is taken from the current issue of a well-known weekly periodical:
103. Who commissioned them, a minority, a less than minority ...?... Some of them are misguided, some of them are blind, most of them are ignorant. I would rather pray for them.... They do not tell me what they are attempting.
How shall we interpret the marks indicating the three ellipses in the above sentence?
The first three periods stand for words omitted from the end of an interrogative sentence, whose end-mark follows such periods.
The second group of three periods indicates an ellipsis of one or more entire sentences. If they indicated an ellipsis of only a part of the next sentence, “Some” would not begin with a capital.
The next group of four periods is composed of three periods for the ellipsis and one period for the end-mark of the sentence.
It should be noted that ellipses from quotations are of only such matter as can be omitted without affecting the sense of the language quoted.
Marks of quotation will include the marks of ellipsis that begin or end the quoted matter.
The use of stars in the first part of No. 103 will convey no more definite information than the periods give the reader; but their use in the second part of the sentence, accompanied by a period, will at once show that they stand for the ellipsis of one or more sentences:
103-1. I would rather pray for them. * * * They do not tell me what they are attempting.
CHAPTER XI
QUOTATION-MARKS
Quotation-marks are either single or double. The former consist of one inverted comma and one apostrophe; the latter, of two inverted commas and two apostrophes.
The double marks are very generally used in this country for a single quotation; but some writers and some printing-offices follow the English style of using the single marks.
Quotation-marks are used by a writer to identify as the exact language of another writer a word or group of words which the first writer uses within his own language.
They are sometimes used by a writer to enclose a quotation from his own printed or spoken language. The fact that such quoted matter is his own language is practically always shown by the text.
If the quoted language contains a quotation, such quotation is identified by the quotation-marks (single or double) not used for the main quotation.
If the subordinate quotation begins the main quotation, three marks (one double and one single) are used at the beginning; if the subordinate ends the main, three marks are also used at the close.
Illustrations of the three uses above defined are found in the following examples:
104. In appreciation of Mrs. George Ripley, Mr. Frothingham says, “Theodore Parker made the following entry in his journal: ‘Mrs. Ripley gave me a tacit rebuke for not shrieking at wrongs, and spoke of the danger of losing our humanity in abstractions.’”
If a quotation consists of two or more paragraphs appearing consecutively in the work quoted from, quotation-marks are used only at the beginning of each paragraph and at the end of the last one. If two or more paragraphs are printed consecutively in the quotation, but do not appear consecutively in the work quoted from, each paragraph is identified as a whole by marks at its beginning and end.
If only a part of a sentence or of a paragraph is quoted, and it is desirable to show this fact, the omitted part or parts are indicated by periods or stars. If such marks of omission come at the beginning or at the end of the quoted matter, the marks of quotation are so placed as to include them.
If the quoted matter is a letter or document with place-and date-lines preceding it, and with a complimentary closing-line and one or more signatures following it, each of such lines and names is treated as a paragraph, and takes its proper marks before or after it, or both.
It is much better practice in printing to put such matter in smaller type than the type of the main text; or, if in type-written manuscript, to identify it by less space between its lines than is used between the lines preceding and following it, or by indenting the lines of the quotation more than the regular paragraph indention. Quotations thus identified need no quotation-marks.
It was formerly the practice to put quotation marks at the beginning of every line of a quotation however long; and occasionally this style is now followed, especially in legal documents.
The practice in many newspaper offices furnishes, we think, a satisfactory solution of the problem. When quoted matter is given close grammatical relation to the text, the marks of quotation are used before the first word of the quotation and before each line, with the proper closing marks at the end of the quotation. Such a quotation should not exceed ten or twelve lines in length. Larger quotations should be put in smaller type, and without the marks. Even short ones may be so treated.
OTHER USES OF QUOTATION-MARKS
A word or group of words is sometimes enclosed in quotation-marks to give to such word or group of words a meaning somewhat different from its usual meaning. This use of the marks has a very wide range; and it is difficult to define the full scope of it. Its significance will appear in illustrative examples:
105. A drop-folio is generally used on a page on which a chapter begins or on a page containing an illustration extending to its top.
105-1. A “drop-folio” is a page-number that is put at the bottom of the page.
In No. 105-1 “drop-folio” is singled out as an uncommon word, as if quoted; and this fact is shown by the marks. In No. 105 it is used as is any other word in the sentence.
106. He received “big wages,” $1.00 a day.
In No. 106 we put “big wages” in quotation-marks to imply that some one has used this familiar expression in a boastful way without telling the whole truth, which is exposed in the small sum that follows.
107. She was very fond of “five-o’clocks.”
In No. 107 the writer implies that the afternoon teas of society are frivolous things. This is perhaps a purely conventional use of the marks, without an underlying reason for the meaning thus given.
In the next sentence the writer groups, by means of the marks, certain words into a title, which are identified by quotation-marks. Italics would answer the same purpose; but the former marks are preferred:
108. This fundamental work might be called, “An Introduction to the Study of Literature”; or, “The Elements of Literature.”
The above sentence is quoted from an educational magazine of high standing, printed by a Press that gives much attention to style. The use of the semicolon and comma in the sentence is the conventional style of punctuating compound book-titles, as illustrated in Sentence 96. But the quotation-marks show that this is not a compound title, but alternative titles. The real meaning would be more clearly expressed by the use of “either” after “called”; and this shows that the punctuation is wrong. Either the semicolon and the comma or the quotation-marks must be omitted. The meaning to be conveyed will determine which marks to omit.
If the semicolon and comma are not the proper marks here, how shall we determine what mark, if any, should precede “or”? Simply by the degree of liability to error in making a wrong combination of words at this point. The quotation-marks before “or” close the first quotation, making a complete group of words; and the quotation-marks following “or” open a new group of words. As there is here no liability on the part of the reader to make a wrong grouping out of some words that precede and some that follow “or,” a mark before “or” can serve no purpose. Each group is bound up in its own marks of quotation, and is a name; and the two names are alternatives. With this interpretation of the meaning of the language as determined by the quotation-marks alone, the sentence would be punctuated as follows:
108-1. This fundamental work might be called, “An Introduction to the Study of Literature” or “The Elements of Literature.”
The use of the comma after “called” in the above sentence is purely conventional. It is somewhat like the use of the comma before “that” following “is,” as treated elsewhere. Or, we may say, it is a purely rhetorical use, as the reading of the somewhat long title seems to require a pause after “called,” in order to identify the group to follow. The omission of the comma could not be called poor punctuation.
Quotation-marks are used in the report of a conversation or dialogue in which the names of the speakers are not printed at the beginning of their respective remarks, as is done in the printing of a drama. However, some writers do not use quotation-marks for this purpose, and none are used in the frequent conversations in the Bible.
If the language of a quotation is broken off by a writer for the purpose of inserting words not a part of the quotation, each of the two parts into which the quoted matter is thus broken, is enclosed in quotation-marks:
109. “We shall start,” he said, “at early dawn.”
Words to which special attention is called, otherwise than for emphasis, are put in quotation-marks:
110. The words “virile,” “psychological,” “strenuous,” etc., are useful words in their proper places, but weak words when out of place.
The titles of books, plays, songs, poems, and the like, when referred to in one’s text, are put in quotation-marks by some writers and in italics by others. The former seems to be the more common usage. Mr. De Vinne says “italic is preferred by bookish men.” Most writers make an exception to the above rule in the case of the titles of well-known books.
The same rule applies to periodicals, including transactions and proceedings issued, at least, quarterly. In most journal offices there is a well-established convention: the journal puts in italics the name of another periodical, and in caps and small caps its own name appearing in its own text.
When the closing marks of quotation follow a word or group of words that is also followed by another mark of punctuation, the positions of the two marks are determined by the relation such other mark of punctuation bears to the quoted matter. If it belongs to, and is therefore required by, the quoted matter, it goes within the quotation-marks. The comma and the period always precede the final quotation-marks, and do so simply because they appear better thus arranged on the printed page. The semicolon, the colon, the interrogation-point, and the exclamation-point follow or precede the closing marks of quotation according to their relation to the quoted matter. The comma and period also precede marks of reference (superior figures, stars, etc.) and the degree mark, while the semicolon, colon, the interrogation-point, and the exclamation-point follow them. On page 3, above, a superior figure follows a colon. It does so because it refers to the colon, not to what precedes the colon.
EXAMPLES
1. “Movies” showing war scenes that arouse the martial spirit are objectionable to all pacifists.
The above sentence contains two words treated as they are found today in practically all periodicals and books using them. The words movies and pacifists (also written pacificists) are newcomers in English, and are not found in any dictionary. Why is the former put in quotation-marks and the latter not? It is probably because all editors recognize “movies” as a word of doubtful propriety, and therefore give it the conventional marks. On the other hand, the word “pacifist,” whose meaning is so apparent and whose form is so regular, has not been regarded as of doubtful propriety, generally recognized as a stranger, and so has been accepted without the introduction of the conventional marks of quotation.
3. Portrait of Major-General Henry Dearborn. By Gilbert Stuart.
4. “Our Boatman.” By John La Farge.
The above legends (inscriptions) appear under two pictures in a well-edited current magazine. Why does the title in No. 4 take marks of quotation, while that in No. 3 does not?
Two reasons may be given for the use of the marks in No. 4, while one reason is sufficient for their absence in No. 3. “Our Boatman” is the title of the painting, and is treated as a quotation, and therefore requires the quotation-marks. Secondly, the words “Our Boatman” are not used in their literal sense as descriptive of a man who acts as our boatman,—that is, the picture is not a photograph of John Smith, our boatman, but is an idealization of a man of his class. To give the words other than a literal meaning, the marks are used.
In No. 3 the language is taken in its literal meaning, and even may be that of the editor of the magazine, thus requiring no marks. Probably no painter would put upon his canvas “A Portrait of John Smith.”
5. “Justice,” said Webster, “is the great interest of man on earth”; and Mr. Root laid it down as a rule, when Secretary of State, that we should not only observe justice in our relations, but that we should be just.
6. Professor John Finley, in “The French in the Heart of America,” insists, with pardonable enthusiasm, that we got our finest democratic ideals from the French settlers in the Mississippi Valley, and that here was nourished
a national democracy founded on the equalities, the freedoms, and the fraternities of the frontier so vital, so powerful, that it became the dominant nationalistic force in a continent-wide republic.
CHAPTER XII
BRACKETS AND PARENTHESES
The principal use of brackets is to show that a bracketed word or group of words in a quotation is inserted by the writer using the quoted language, and not by the author of such language. Parentheses, on the other hand, are used by a writer, as we have already seen, to enclose a parenthetical word or group of words in his own language.
Some examples that furnish apparent exceptions to these general statements considered as rules, may serve to emphasize the principle of this punctuation.
The following examples (Nos. 112-115) are taken from the “Style Book” of the Government Printing-Office.
Note.—We follow in the examples the capitalization and punctuation of the original. For this reason we do not use a hyphen in writing the quoted title (Style Book), above.
These examples are given in this style-book for the guidance of type-setters in their work in the Government Printing-Office. They appear to be extracts from the Congressional Record:
112. Mr. SPEAKER. Is there any objection to the consideration of this bill at this time? [After a pause.] There is no objection.
113. Mr. SPEAKER (after a pause). If no gentleman claims the floor, the Clerk will proceed with the reading of the bill.
114. Mr. HEALD. The gentleman from Kentucky [Mr. Sherley] stated that he would support the measure.
115. Mr. HEALD. The gentleman from Kentucky, Col. Sherley, stated that he would support the measure.
In these examples the names of the persons speaking are so manifestly inserted by the reporter that they need no identification marks.
In No. 112 three words are inserted within the text by the reporter, and take brackets for identification as matter inserted in the language of another.
In No. 113 the same three words, manifestly inserted by the reporter, take parentheses. They do so because they clearly belong to what precedes, which is not a part of the text, but is the reporter’s language. The use of brackets here would be bad punctuation. The parentheses are used because the words enclosed are purely parenthetical in their relation to the preceding word, which is the reporter’s language.
In No. 114 the words “Mr. Sherley” are inserted by the reporter, and therefore take brackets. In No. 115 the words “Col. Sherley” are the language of Mr. Heald, and therefore take the usual punctuation (commas).
Another apparent exception to the above rule is found in the various modes of printing stage directions in dramatic composition. As such directions have no reference to the meaning of the language of the text, it is desirable, in printing them, to show this fact by their form. In the main, such directions are either centered lines shorter than the text, or are indented more than the usual space of the paragraph. They may be enclosed in brackets or parentheses, and be printed in either italic or Roman type, or in italics without the brackets or parentheses.
If a direction precedes, as it does sometimes, the speech to which it belongs, and is in the opening line of such speech, it necessarily is enclosed in brackets. If it follows and ends the last line of the speech, it takes a single bracket at the beginning of the direction. If it follows, and is put below, the last line, it takes a single bracket, or is printed in the style of the direction preceding the speech.
Thus we see that the variety of style in printing stage directions grows out of the fact that they are sometimes identified as stage directions by their location and the style of type (italic), and therefore do not necessarily require brackets for further identification.
We shall not take space to illustrate the above varieties of punctuation. Examples can readily be found in almost any library.
We have dwelt perhaps more at length upon this varied punctuation than its importance may seem to justify; but, it seems to us, we may see in it a principle underlying even conventional punctuation.
Our next sentence illustrates a very common use of brackets. In this sentence we make the first enclosure (sic), the second being that of the writer who made the quotation:
116. In one of John Smith’s quaint letters to the Royal Council of Virginia, sitting in London, he says: “And I humbly entreat you hereafter, [sic] let us know what we [are to] receive, and not stand to the sailors’ courtesy to leave us what they please.”
When inserted in a quotation, the Latin word “sic,” meaning thus, signifies that what immediately precedes it is found in the original. By thus calling attention to it, the writer who makes the quotation implies that an error exists at this point. Our own insertion of “sic” is meant to say that the comma preceding it is in the original, and to question its correctness. The position of the comma makes “hereafter” qualify what precedes, as if it read, “I hereafter entreat you.” The evident meaning is, “hereafter let us know.”
The words “are to,” enclosed in the next brackets, were inserted by the writer who quoted from John Smith’s letter.
“Sic” is put in italics because this is the conventional way of writing most words from a foreign language. The words “are to,” being a suggested part of the text, are put in the text letter. Words thus supplied by the translators of the Bible are put in italics, simply to show their character, as is explained in the preface or elsewhere. Brackets are not used in the Bible text.
Sometimes a line of poetry is too long for the type-measure in which the poem is set. If one or more words of such line are carried forward to make a new and very short line, the space between the full line above and the full line below such short line may be as wide as the space between two verses, and thus present a bad effect to the eye. To avoid this the extra word or words may be put in the line above, if the space permits, and at its end, with a single bracket at the left to cut it off from the preceding words in the same line.
It is a common practice in legal and commercial work to enclose in parentheses Arabic figures corresponding to the preceding number expressed in words. This practice often gives rise to a mistake that, when pointed out, is plain enough to anyone:
117. Pay to John Smith or order twenty-five ($25.00) dollars.
The matter in the parentheses should be simply “25,” to correspond with what precedes; or the sentence should be written thus:
117-1. Pay to John Smith or order twenty-five dollars ($25.00).
When a woman signs her name to a letter, especially a letter to a stranger, and wishes to give other information than the name conveys, or to indicate how she should be addressed in a reply to her letter, parentheses are used for the purpose:
118. Mary Louise Brown.
118. (Mrs. George H. Brown.)
If she wishes simply to convey information as to whether she is a married or an unmarried woman, she uses the proper title, enclosed in parentheses, before her name:
119. (Miss) Mary Louise Brown.
119-1. (Mrs.) Mary Louise Brown.
In Sentences 99, 100, and 102 we saw a purely conventional use of parentheses and brackets for enclosing interrogation-and exclamation-points to express doubt and surprise, respectively.
PUNCTUATION WITHIN PARENTHESES OR BRACKETS
Matter within parentheses or brackets refers to what precedes these marks, which may be a mark of punctuation, a single word, a group of words forming part of a sentence, an entire sentence, or two or more sentences.
We cannot show by the punctuation how much of the preceding matter is referred to; but a conventional treatment of the punctuation for this purpose is helpful, even though such treatment is not uniform.
The enclosed matter either falls between the parts of a sentence or follows a sentence. When within a sentence the enclosed matter does not begin with a capital letter, even though a full sentence, unless the first word is a proper noun; nor does it take a period at its end. If, however, the language is either interrogative or exclamatory, it takes the proper mark to show this; and such mark is placed within the parentheses or brackets.
When the enclosed matter follows a sentence, it may refer to a word or to a small group of words within such sentence, to all of the sentence, or to two or more preceding sentences. It is at this point that a conventional treatment of the subject may be helpful, the object of such treatment being to show, at a glance, how far the reference extends. If the enclosed matter refers to the last word of the sentence, or to a short group of words near the end, it receives the same treatment given it when wholly within the sentence. If such enclosed matter refers to a larger part of the sentence than above described, to the entire sentence, or to two or more preceding sentences, it is regarded as an independent sentence. As such it is separated from the preceding sentence by the space usually put between sentences; it begins with a capital letter; and the proper end-mark is put within the parentheses, with no mark following outside.
We believe there is only one mark used within parentheses with reference to a mark outside. The English practice, which is followed by a number of high-class periodicals in this country, is as follows: if a comma is required where a parenthesis is to be inserted, a comma is placed before the first enclosing mark, and is repeated at the end of the language within the parentheses.
We prefer to use only one mark when required by the text without reference to the parenthesis, and to put it after the parentheses, thus more clearly confining the parenthesis to what precedes.
Our illustrative examples will show these points more clearly.
EXAMPLES
1. The Senator [Davis] may strongly condemn the measure, but I shall vote for it. [Applause.]
As the above example is quoted matter, the two interpolated words take brackets.
2. [a—b—(c—d)].
In the above algebraic expression brackets and parentheses are used conventionally to group the letters (algebraic symbols) which they respectively enclose.
3. Indeed an exceedingly giftPeer
[To himself]
Indeed an exceedingly gifted man;
Almost all he says is beyond comprehension.
[Looks around.]
4. Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification.—Romans xv, 2.
5. “Yours of the 14th has just arrived, and I hasten to reply to it.
“Here is a list of the six best novels in the English language:
“Tom Jones. (Fielding.)
“Tristam Shandy. (Sterne.)
“David Copperfield. (Dickens.)
“Henry Esmond. (Thackeray.)
“The Cloister and the Hearth. (Reade.)
“The Egoist. (Meredith.)
“I don’t know whether ‘Tristam Shandy’ can strictly be called a novel. If the rules of your game cut it out, then I would replace it by
“Kenilworth, (Scott,)
to my mind the most perfect of Scott’s novels.”
While we have not used quotation-marks with our illustrative sentences and examples, practically all of which are quoted, we do so with the above examples, in order to exhibit their use.
The punctuation of this example illustrates the following points:
1. The use of marks of quotation at the beginning of every paragraph, or group of words put in paragraph form, with like closing marks after the last line, informs the reader that the paragraphs quoted appear consecutively in the original.
2. The titles of the books named, with one exception, are not enclosed in marks of quotation in the original. If they were so enclosed, each title in our example would be enclosed in single marks of quotation, in addition to the double marks at the beginning.
3. The name of each novel (Tom Jones, etc.) is treated as a complete sentence, and so takes a period after it. The matter following each sentence (name of a novel) refers to the entire sentence, thus requiring a period within the marks of parenthesis enclosing the name of the author.
4. The treatment of the last-named title (Kenilworth) is somewhat unusual. It is put in paragraph form, probably to conform to the paragraph form above; but it lacks the usual introduction of particulars that calls for the paragraph form.
The commas before and within the parentheses follow the English style. As a comma is required between “Kenilworth” [193]and the explanatory group of words following the parenthesis, we should use only one, putting it after the marks of parenthesis.
Those who adopt the English style apparently always use the commas when the matter within parentheses or brackets falls within the sentence, even though the relation between what follows and what precedes the parentheses or brackets does not require a comma. We consider such punctuation bad, for it appears to treat the matter so enclosed as both slightly and wholly parenthetical. Our next example (No. 6), a quotation, illustrates this point.
5. We do not know why “Tristam Shandy” takes marks of quotation (single marks in the example), while the names of the other books take none.
6. I permitted myself, [he said,] the prophecy that their prejudices were destined to vanish.
While we use a comma, as in the paragraph (No. 5) preceding Example 6, after parentheses or brackets when required by the language outside of the parentheses or brackets, and use no comma unless so required, we think the English practice poor punctuation. This conventional use of two commas ignores the sense relation between the groups of words preceding and following the parentheses or brackets, which sense relation may be determined by the presence or the absence of a comma.
CHAPTER XIII
ABBREVIATIONS AND MISCELLANY
We shall not attempt to treat the subject of abbreviations exhaustively or even fully, for it goes beyond the subject of punctuation; but its importance seems to justify its consideration at some length.
In the best printing-offices, if their expert copy-readers prepare the manuscript, few abbreviations are permitted in book-work; and it is well to follow their rules in all formal, if not in all business, correspondence.