The Semicolon: From insider tip to the almost forgotten art of language!

The Semicolon: From insider tip to the almost forgotten art of language!

Cham, Deutschland - Have you ever wondered how the semicolon has conquered its place in the world of punctuation marks? A look at the current circumstances clearly shows that the small but sensitive sign is threatened by a creeping loss of meaning in written communication. A survey of the Babbel language learning platform showed that 67 % of British students and students use Semicolons rarely or never and only use 11 % of the respondents regularly. It is also worrying that more than half of the participants do not understand exactly how to correctly use semicolons. This raises questions: What happened to the understanding of these special punctuation marks?

The history of the semicolon goes back to 1494, when it was found for the first time in Pietro Bembo's "de aetna". According to the historian Cecelia Watson, who wrote a book on the Semicolon entitled "Semicolon - The Past, Present, and Future of a Misunderstood Mark", the draft of the semicolon was created by Aldus Manutius. The font designer Francesco Griffo contributed to the popularity of the semicolon with a new font. In the Renaissance there was a real boom of punctuation marks - and the semicolon found its place between the comma and point.

The decline of the semicolon

Although the semicolon has been used regularly in the past, the survey urgently shows that authors nowadays only provide every 390th word with a semicolon. With a clear connection of two main sentences with similar or opposite content, the semicolon can precisely structure thoughts. Lisa McLendon, author of the "The Perfect English Grammar Workbook", even shows that the understanding of this sign is in sinking. A look at the history of literature reveals that famous writers like Virginia Woolf skillfully used the Semicolon in their works, while authors like Kurt Vonnegut vehemently turned their back on the sign.

But what does the semicolon really represent? Watson describes it as an expression of human feelings and social class differences. The work of the semicolon represents a nuance in written communication, which is increasingly under the bikes of the simplified writing style. Linguists explain that the disappearance of the semicolon also reflects a social tendency: less is often more. In connection with this development, the different writing styles should also be considered and the question of how important punctuation is really.

The importance of the punctuation marks in the change of time

The history of the punctuation marks is anything but short and flush. It turns out that these small signs are decisive for the organization and structuring of texts. The loss of the clear expression that the semicolon offers could recently affect communication. Without punctuation, sentences could be ambiguous and misleading, a fact that can often be observed on social media and online communication.

For more information on this topic, we refer to the articles from vietnam.vn href = "https://www.docma.info/blog/die-es-semikolons"> Docma and tunenews International .