The History and Evolution of Punctuation

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This chapter explores the origins and development of punctuation in written language, from its absence in ancient texts to its introduction to assist public speakers. It discusses how punctuation has transformed with the arrival of Christianity and the printing press, and continues to evolve with the rise of new marks and punctuations in modern communication.

On this episode we learn about the history of the exclamation point, the question mark, and the semicolon (among many other aspects of language) with Florence Hazrat, a scholar of punctuation, who, to my great surprise, informed me that while a lot of language is the result of a slow evolution, a gradual ever-changing process, punctuation in the English language is often an exception to this – for instance, a single person invented the semicolon; they woke up and the semicolon didn’t exist, and then went to bed that night, and it did!

Florence Hazrat's Website

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