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“My attitude[态度] toward punctuation[标点符号] is that it ought to be as conventional[常规的] as possible…You ought to be able to show that you can do it a good deal better than[比……好得多] anyone else with the regular tools before you have a license[许可证] to bring in your own improvements[增加的部分].” （Ernest Hemingway， letter to Horace Liveright， May 22nd， 1925）
Hemingway’s attitude toward punctuation sounds eminently[突出地] sensible[明智的]： make sure that you know the rules before you break them. Sensible， maybe， but not entirely satisfactory[令人满意的]. After all， just who made up these rules （or conventions[惯例]） in the first place？
Join us as we look for answers in this brief history of punctuation.
Breathing Room
The beginnings of punctuation lie in classical rhetoric[修辞学]—the art of oratory[雄辩，演讲术]. Back in ancient Greece and Rome， when a speech was prepared in writing， marks were used to indicate[指出] where—and for how long—a speaker should pause[暂停].
“我对标点符号的态度是它应该尽可能地常规化……在有资格自由增加标点符号之前，你应当展示出你可以比其他人运用（标点）常规工具要好得多的能力。”（欧内斯特·海明威，给霍勒斯·利夫莱特的信，1925年5月22日）
海明威对标点符号的态度听起来非常明智：在打破规则之前确信你了解它们。明智，也许吧，但并不完全令人满意。归根结底，谁才是第一个编造这些规则（或惯例）的人呢？
让我们一起在追溯标点简史中寻找答案吧！
呼吸空间
标点符号起源于古典修辞学——演讲的艺术。回溯到古希腊和古罗马时代，当一个演讲者在写稿的准备阶段，人们会用记号来标示演讲者该在哪里停顿、该停顿多久。
These pauses were named after the sections they divided. The longest section was called a period， defined[定义] by Aristotle as “a portion[部分] of a speech that has in itself a beginning and an end.”The shortest pause was a comma （literally[字面上地]，“that which is cut off[切断]”）， and midway between the two was the colon[冒号]—a “limb[分枝]，” “strophe[诗节]，” or“clause.”
Marking the Beat[节拍]
The three marked pauses were sometimes graded in a geometric progression[等比级数]， with one “beat” for a comma， two for a colon， and four for a period. As W. F. Bolton observes in A Living Language （1988）， “such marks in oratorical[演说家的]‘scripts[手稿]’ began as physical necessities but needed to coincide with[与……一致] the ‘phrasing[措辞]’ of the piece， the demands of emphasis[重音]， and other nuances[细微差别] of elocution[演说术].”
Almost Pointless[无意义的]
Until the introduction of printing in the late 15th century， punctuation in English was decidedly[毫无疑问地] unsystematic[无系统的] and at times virtually[几乎] absent[缺少的]. Many of Chaucer’s注1 manuscripts[手稿]， for instance， were punctuated with nothing more than periods at the end of verse[诗节] lines， without regard for syntax[语法] or sense. Slash[斜线] and Double Slash
The favorite mark of England’s first printer， William Caxton （1420-1491）， was the forward slash—forerunner[先驱] of the modern comma. Some writers of that era[时代] also relied on a double slash （as found today in http：// ） to signal a longer pause or the start of a new section of text.
这些停顿以它们切分的部分（的长短）命名。（停顿）最长的部分被称为句号，亚里士多德将之定义为“演讲的一个有头有尾的部分。”最短的停顿为逗号（字面意义上表示“被切断的部分”），而在句号和逗号中间的是冒号——一个“分枝”、“诗节”或“子句”。
标记节拍
以上三个停顿标记有时以一个等比级数分级。逗号是一个“节拍”；冒号是两个；句号是四个。根据W·F·博尔顿在《现行语言》（1988年）中所说的，“在演说家的‘手稿’中，这样的标记开始成为必需品，但需要与文章的‘措辞’、重音的要求和演说术的其他细微差别相一致。”
几无意义
在十五世纪后期印刷术引进之前，英语的标点符号毫无疑问是没有系统性的，有时候几乎不存在。举例来说，乔叟的许多手稿都只不过是在诗行的最后标上句号，完全不考虑语法或语义。
斜线与双斜线
英国第一名印刷商威廉·卡克斯顿（1420—1491）最喜欢的标记就是早期的斜线——现代逗号的先驱。那个时代的一些作家也会用一个双斜线（今天的http：// 依然保留此用法）来表示较长的停顿或正文一个新章节的开始。
Ben （“Two Pricks[刺点]”） Jonson
One of the first to codify[编纂] the rules of punctuation in English was the playwright[剧作家] Ben Jonson—or rather， Ben：Jonson， who included the colon （he called it the “pause” or “two pricks”） in his signature[签名]. In the final chapter of The English Grammar （1640）， Jonson briefly discusses the primary[主要的] functions of the comma， parenthesis[括号]， period， colon， question mark， and exclamation point[感叹号].
Writing Points
By the end of the industrious[勤勉的] 19th century， grammarians[文法家] had come to de-emphasize[不再强调] the elocutionary[演说术的] role of punctuation：
“Punctuation is the art of dividing written discourse[书面语篇] into sections by means of points， for the purpose of showing the grammatical connection and dependence， and of making the sense more obvious…
It is sometimes stated in works on Rhetoric and Grammar， that the points are for the purpose of elocution， and directions are given to pupils to pause a certain time at each of the stops. It is true that a pause required for elocutionary purposes does sometimes coincide with a grammatical point， and so the one aids[帮助] the other. Yet it should not be forgotten that the first and main ends[目的] of the points is to mark grammatical divisions[分割]. Good elocution often requires a pause where there is no break whatever注2 in the grammatical continuity[连贯性]， and where the insertion[插入] of a point would make nonsense[使……成为废话].” （John Seely Hart， A Manual of Composition and Rhetoric， 1892）
Final Points In our own time， the declamatory[演说的] basis for punctuation has pretty much given way to[给……让路] the syntactic approach[语法分析法]. Also， in keeping with a century-long trend[趋势] toward shorter sentences， punctuation is now more lightly[容易地] applied[应用] than it was in the days of Dickens注3 and Emerson注4.
Countless style guides spell out[清楚地解释] the conventions for using the various marks. Yet when it comes to the finer points[微妙难解之处] （regarding serial commas[连续逗号]， for instance）， sometimes even the experts disagree.
Meanwhile， fashions continue to change. In modern prose[散文]， dashes[破折号] are in； semicolons[分号] are out. Apostrophes[省略号] are either sadly neglected or tossed[扔] around like confetti[五彩纸屑]， while quotation marks[引号] are seemingly[看来似乎] dropped at random[随意地] on unsuspecting[不怀疑的] words.
And so it remains true， as G. V. Carey observed decades ago， that punctuation is governed “two-thirds by rule and one-third by personal taste.”
本（“两个刺点”）琼森
第一批编纂英语标点符号规则的人当中有一位是剧作家本·琼森——或者，应该叫本：琼森，他在签名中使用了冒号（他称之为“停顿”或“两个刺点”）。在《英语语法》（1640年）最后一章中，琼森简要地论述了逗号、括号、句号、冒号、问号和感叹号的主要作用。
写作要点
到了勤勉的19世纪末，语法家们已经不再强调演讲规则下的标点符号了：
“标点符号是一门借助要点把书面语篇切分成节段的艺术，其目的是展示语法的联系性与依存性，并使（文章）意义更加清晰……
在语法修辞学著作中时有陈述，标点的设立是为了演讲的需要并给予学生指引，指明在每一个停顿点需要停留的具体时间。诚然，由于演讲需要而产生的停顿有时确实与语法点一致，因此两者得到相互促进。然而，不应忘记的是，标点的首要和主要目的是标示语法的分割。好的演讲经常需要在不打断语法连贯性的地方停顿，而在这里插入标点只会使文段成为废话。”（约翰·西利·哈特，《写作与修辞手册》，1892年）
最终要点
在我们这个时代，以演讲为基础的标示法已经几乎完全让位于语法分析法。同时，在长达百年的朝着短句发展的趋势中，现在标点符号也比狄更斯和爱默生时代更容易应用。
无数风格的（语法）指导书清楚地解释了各种标点的用法。但当遇到微妙难解之处（比如连续逗号），有时候连专家也无法给出一致的解释。
与此同时，时尚也在不断变化。现代散文流行使用破折号；分号则过时。省略号要么可怜地被忽略，要么就像纸屑一样被四处乱扔。而引号看起来似乎被随意地扔在没什么疑点的词语身上。
所以G·V·凯里在几十年前所说的话现在看来依旧正确。他说标点符号由“三分之二的规则和三分之一的个人取向”所支配。
Hemingway’s attitude toward punctuation sounds eminently[突出地] sensible[明智的]： make sure that you know the rules before you break them. Sensible， maybe， but not entirely satisfactory[令人满意的]. After all， just who made up these rules （or conventions[惯例]） in the first place？
Join us as we look for answers in this brief history of punctuation.
Breathing Room
The beginnings of punctuation lie in classical rhetoric[修辞学]—the art of oratory[雄辩，演讲术]. Back in ancient Greece and Rome， when a speech was prepared in writing， marks were used to indicate[指出] where—and for how long—a speaker should pause[暂停].
“我对标点符号的态度是它应该尽可能地常规化……在有资格自由增加标点符号之前，你应当展示出你可以比其他人运用（标点）常规工具要好得多的能力。”（欧内斯特·海明威，给霍勒斯·利夫莱特的信，1925年5月22日）
海明威对标点符号的态度听起来非常明智：在打破规则之前确信你了解它们。明智，也许吧，但并不完全令人满意。归根结底，谁才是第一个编造这些规则（或惯例）的人呢？
让我们一起在追溯标点简史中寻找答案吧！
呼吸空间
标点符号起源于古典修辞学——演讲的艺术。回溯到古希腊和古罗马时代，当一个演讲者在写稿的准备阶段，人们会用记号来标示演讲者该在哪里停顿、该停顿多久。
These pauses were named after the sections they divided. The longest section was called a period， defined[定义] by Aristotle as “a portion[部分] of a speech that has in itself a beginning and an end.”The shortest pause was a comma （literally[字面上地]，“that which is cut off[切断]”）， and midway between the two was the colon[冒号]—a “limb[分枝]，” “strophe[诗节]，” or“clause.”
Marking the Beat[节拍]
The three marked pauses were sometimes graded in a geometric progression[等比级数]， with one “beat” for a comma， two for a colon， and four for a period. As W. F. Bolton observes in A Living Language （1988）， “such marks in oratorical[演说家的]‘scripts[手稿]’ began as physical necessities but needed to coincide with[与……一致] the ‘phrasing[措辞]’ of the piece， the demands of emphasis[重音]， and other nuances[细微差别] of elocution[演说术].”
Almost Pointless[无意义的]
Until the introduction of printing in the late 15th century， punctuation in English was decidedly[毫无疑问地] unsystematic[无系统的] and at times virtually[几乎] absent[缺少的]. Many of Chaucer’s注1 manuscripts[手稿]， for instance， were punctuated with nothing more than periods at the end of verse[诗节] lines， without regard for syntax[语法] or sense. Slash[斜线] and Double Slash
The favorite mark of England’s first printer， William Caxton （1420-1491）， was the forward slash—forerunner[先驱] of the modern comma. Some writers of that era[时代] also relied on a double slash （as found today in http：// ） to signal a longer pause or the start of a new section of text.
这些停顿以它们切分的部分（的长短）命名。（停顿）最长的部分被称为句号，亚里士多德将之定义为“演讲的一个有头有尾的部分。”最短的停顿为逗号（字面意义上表示“被切断的部分”），而在句号和逗号中间的是冒号——一个“分枝”、“诗节”或“子句”。
标记节拍
以上三个停顿标记有时以一个等比级数分级。逗号是一个“节拍”；冒号是两个；句号是四个。根据W·F·博尔顿在《现行语言》（1988年）中所说的，“在演说家的‘手稿’中，这样的标记开始成为必需品，但需要与文章的‘措辞’、重音的要求和演说术的其他细微差别相一致。”
几无意义
在十五世纪后期印刷术引进之前，英语的标点符号毫无疑问是没有系统性的，有时候几乎不存在。举例来说，乔叟的许多手稿都只不过是在诗行的最后标上句号，完全不考虑语法或语义。
斜线与双斜线
英国第一名印刷商威廉·卡克斯顿（1420—1491）最喜欢的标记就是早期的斜线——现代逗号的先驱。那个时代的一些作家也会用一个双斜线（今天的http：// 依然保留此用法）来表示较长的停顿或正文一个新章节的开始。
Ben （“Two Pricks[刺点]”） Jonson
One of the first to codify[编纂] the rules of punctuation in English was the playwright[剧作家] Ben Jonson—or rather， Ben：Jonson， who included the colon （he called it the “pause” or “two pricks”） in his signature[签名]. In the final chapter of The English Grammar （1640）， Jonson briefly discusses the primary[主要的] functions of the comma， parenthesis[括号]， period， colon， question mark， and exclamation point[感叹号].
Writing Points
By the end of the industrious[勤勉的] 19th century， grammarians[文法家] had come to de-emphasize[不再强调] the elocutionary[演说术的] role of punctuation：
“Punctuation is the art of dividing written discourse[书面语篇] into sections by means of points， for the purpose of showing the grammatical connection and dependence， and of making the sense more obvious…
It is sometimes stated in works on Rhetoric and Grammar， that the points are for the purpose of elocution， and directions are given to pupils to pause a certain time at each of the stops. It is true that a pause required for elocutionary purposes does sometimes coincide with a grammatical point， and so the one aids[帮助] the other. Yet it should not be forgotten that the first and main ends[目的] of the points is to mark grammatical divisions[分割]. Good elocution often requires a pause where there is no break whatever注2 in the grammatical continuity[连贯性]， and where the insertion[插入] of a point would make nonsense[使……成为废话].” （John Seely Hart， A Manual of Composition and Rhetoric， 1892）
Final Points In our own time， the declamatory[演说的] basis for punctuation has pretty much given way to[给……让路] the syntactic approach[语法分析法]. Also， in keeping with a century-long trend[趋势] toward shorter sentences， punctuation is now more lightly[容易地] applied[应用] than it was in the days of Dickens注3 and Emerson注4.
Countless style guides spell out[清楚地解释] the conventions for using the various marks. Yet when it comes to the finer points[微妙难解之处] （regarding serial commas[连续逗号]， for instance）， sometimes even the experts disagree.
Meanwhile， fashions continue to change. In modern prose[散文]， dashes[破折号] are in； semicolons[分号] are out. Apostrophes[省略号] are either sadly neglected or tossed[扔] around like confetti[五彩纸屑]， while quotation marks[引号] are seemingly[看来似乎] dropped at random[随意地] on unsuspecting[不怀疑的] words.
And so it remains true， as G. V. Carey observed decades ago， that punctuation is governed “two-thirds by rule and one-third by personal taste.”
本（“两个刺点”）琼森
第一批编纂英语标点符号规则的人当中有一位是剧作家本·琼森——或者，应该叫本：琼森，他在签名中使用了冒号（他称之为“停顿”或“两个刺点”）。在《英语语法》（1640年）最后一章中，琼森简要地论述了逗号、括号、句号、冒号、问号和感叹号的主要作用。
写作要点
到了勤勉的19世纪末，语法家们已经不再强调演讲规则下的标点符号了：
“标点符号是一门借助要点把书面语篇切分成节段的艺术，其目的是展示语法的联系性与依存性，并使（文章）意义更加清晰……
在语法修辞学著作中时有陈述，标点的设立是为了演讲的需要并给予学生指引，指明在每一个停顿点需要停留的具体时间。诚然，由于演讲需要而产生的停顿有时确实与语法点一致，因此两者得到相互促进。然而，不应忘记的是，标点的首要和主要目的是标示语法的分割。好的演讲经常需要在不打断语法连贯性的地方停顿，而在这里插入标点只会使文段成为废话。”（约翰·西利·哈特，《写作与修辞手册》，1892年）
最终要点
在我们这个时代，以演讲为基础的标示法已经几乎完全让位于语法分析法。同时，在长达百年的朝着短句发展的趋势中，现在标点符号也比狄更斯和爱默生时代更容易应用。
无数风格的（语法）指导书清楚地解释了各种标点的用法。但当遇到微妙难解之处（比如连续逗号），有时候连专家也无法给出一致的解释。
与此同时，时尚也在不断变化。现代散文流行使用破折号；分号则过时。省略号要么可怜地被忽略，要么就像纸屑一样被四处乱扔。而引号看起来似乎被随意地扔在没什么疑点的词语身上。
所以G·V·凯里在几十年前所说的话现在看来依旧正确。他说标点符号由“三分之二的规则和三分之一的个人取向”所支配。