Part Three: Punctuation

Punctuation provides clarity, aiding both interpretation and delivery. In old cultures, punctuation was more fluid than today, with pauses and divisions in text being as much about rhythm and to provide emphasis, as about syntactic structure.

In Classical Times

Greek and Latin texts were often written without spacing or punctuation as understood today. Early Greek script was scriptio continua, a continuous flow of letters without separation.

Cicero and Quintilian, concerned with oratorical rhythm, viewed punctuation as a means of forming thought and delivery rather than as strict grammatical demarcation.

In grammar, punctuation provides coherence and prevents ambiguity. In the bad case, a misplaced stop or comma shifts emphasis and can ruin a sentence’s function. It's particularly important in logic, especially in syllogisms where ambiguity distorts validity. In rhetoric punctuation aligns with cadence and emphasis, providing guidance to how an argument is delivered or received.

A shift in punctuation can modify meaning significantly. Texts, when punctuated differently, can yield alternative readings, affecting theological, philosophical, or legal interpretations.

Conclusion

By the medieval period punctuation had become prescriptive, especially with the influence of the printing press. Still, in rhetorical traditions like the Trivium, punctuation remains linked to breath and pacing in speech. Today while punctuation has become more standardized its rhetorical function persists especially in writing meant for spoken delivery.