The reverse virgule

Diacriticals are interesting. I have written about the forward slash - or solidus - before (here), but I have not talked about the reverse virgule, or backslash.

The reverse virgule should not apparently be called a reverse solidus, because the solidus is solely for dividing currency or numerical elements. When not referring to currency, the solidus has an alternate name - for when used to divide lines poetry for example - the virgule.

Who knew that the solidus, peculiar and fringe enough, had yet another name for another function? Well, not me, obviously. Anyway, I digress. 

The virgule arose in medieval manuscripts, so is quite deep rooted in English. It is a "thin sloping or upright [forward-sloping] line", to "mark for the cæsura" (Simpson & Weiner, 1989b, p. 670). A caesura is the end of a line of poetry, or a "metrical pause" (Simpson & Weiner, 1989a, p. 764; so cute). However, with the formalisation of rules which arrived along with the printing press, the diacritical more commonly used to indicate the caesura tends to be the bar: "|". 

And just to add another complication, the bar is also "used in the syntax of some computing languages and scripts, and is sometimes referred to as a pipe" (Waddingham, 2014, p. 92).

But the virgule is still has common uses, often in messaging apps where we write in shorthand; "w/e" for weekend, for example. The use in providing equal alternatives, such as "she/him", even though we are now being encouraged to use the Oxford gender neutral, "they" (OED, 2024).

So now we have dealt with the virgule, we FINALLY get to explore the reverse virgule, or backslash. It mostly used in computer coding, to show a file path or folder hierarchy within a computer system; or to indicate escape - or special characters (Love English, 2024). 

Fascinating.

Sam

References:

Love English. (2023, August 10). Forward Slash vs. Backslash: Differences and When to Use Each. https://loveenglish.org/forward-slash-vs-backslash/

OED. (2024). A brief history of singular ‘they’. Oxford English Dictionary. https://www.oed.com/discover/a-brief-history-of-singular-they/?tl=true

Root, R. L. (1991). The Virgule Variations: Learning/Language/Literature. English Journal, 80(6), 18-27. https://doi.org/10.58680/ej19918250

Simpson, J. A., & Weiner, E. S. C. (Eds.) (1989). Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., Vol II BBC-Chalypsography). Clarendon Press.

Simpson, J. A., & Weiner, E. S. C. (Eds.) (1989b). Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., Vol XIX Unemancipated-Wau-wau). Clarendon Press.

Waddingham, A. (Ed.) (2014). New Hart's Rules: The Oxford style guide (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.

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The comma

Who knew? There are SEVEN use categories for the comma. They are: the listing comma (twice); the joining comma; the gapping comma; the numeric comma; introductory clause comma; and the bracketing comma.

A superficial and highly simplified definition and example of each follows:

Non-restrictive comma (aka bracketing comma): This is where we use a pair of commas to "mark off a non-restrictive word, phrase, or clause which comments on the main clause or supplies additional information about it" (Waddington, 2014, p. 74; Brabazon, 2020). For example: 'I walked my dog, Finn, down the road.'

Comma splice (aka joining comma): this is where we run two unrelated phrases together, using a comma. Instead, we should use a semicolon or write two separate sentences (Waddington, 2014). For example, 'I walked my dog, I went to the local shop' becomes 'I walked my dog, and I went to the local shop.'

Introductory clause comma: Where a "sentence is introduced by an adverb, adverbial phrase, or subordinate clause, this is often separated from the main clause with a comma" (Waddington, 2014, p. 75). For example: 'However, I walked my dog to the shop every day.'

Adjective separating comma (aka qualitative or listing comma): this is where we SOMETIMES separate descriptive words in a list of descriptive terms. We do comma qualitative adjectives (Waddington, 2014). We don't comma words from different classification systems. For example: 'I walk my tall, rangy dog' versus 'I walk my red Boxer dog'.

Serial comma (also aka listing comma): This is where we add a comma to a list to separate each item for the reader (Waddington, 2014; Brabazon, 2020). For example: 'I walk my dog, cat, sheep, and horse' (however, I prefer to rework my sentences to use semicolons where possible as I feel they make the separations in a list much clearer).

Numeric comma: This is the comma we use as a 1000s separator in large numbers (Waddington, 2014). For example: 1,000,000.

Gapping comma: this is where we don't repeat words, but assume the reader will impute them. For example: "the PhD is the highest qualification and the associate certificate, the lowest" (Brabazon, 2020).

What I also find interesting is that in New Zealand we have adopted the US method of placing a comma after an "i.e." and an "e.g.". In the UK they don't (Waddington, 2014).


Sam

References:

• Brabazon, T. (10 April 2020). Vlog 212 - Comma. https://youtu.be/xDcBHILQbR4
• Waddingham, A. (Ed.) (2014). New Hart's Rules: The Oxford style guide (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.

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Using the forward slash or solidus

Using the Solidus (Waddingham, 2014, p. 90)

We should try to avoid forward slashes (solidi) in the normal run of academic writing. It is better for us to use a conjunction instead - such as ‘or’ - as this interrupts the flow of the writing less for reader.

However, a solidus shouldn’t be used as an ‘and’ conjunction: it was created for use with currency: for example, 10/6, showing ten shillings and six pennies in pre-decimal currency (i.e. pounds shillings and pence). 

Today it is more commonly used to present alternatives - options - to the reader, not present concepts as 'both'. While common usage in texting and digital media is moving solidi towards being an ‘and’ as well as an 'or' conjunction, academic writing has not yet embraced this.

While this may be another case to 'watch this space' for writing style evolution, if we do make the transition to a solidus meaning 'and', we will end up needing another way to punctuate for 'or'. Otherwise our writing will lose clarity.

My source for most of my information on these matters is that most revered guide to style, New Hart's Rules, from the Oxford University Press team (Waddingham, 2014).

The book has a fabulous chapter on diacriticals (punctuation), and another wonderful one on spelling. There are sections on capitalisation, names, abbreviations, bibliographies and indexing. It also contains a glossary of printer's terms.

Get yourself a copy pf Waddington (2014) if you haven't already. It's gold.

Sam

• Reference: Waddingham, A. (Ed.) (2014). New Hart's Rules: The Oxford style guide (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.

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To colon or to semi-colon...

This is a tiny stylistic thing, but it was my understanding that we start a list with a full colon, then separate each item within that list using a semi-colon. Additionally, a semi-colon can be a pause in the run of a sentence (more significant than a comma), or the joining of two equal parts of a sentence together, while a colon signifies the start of a list… though sometimes that list might only be one item.

I thought that this was just one of those crazy English grammar rules, but there is a hierarchy in how we use punctuation:

• A comma is a soft pause, or an aside;
• A semi-colon is a stronger pause, or a phrase connector, and brackets are a stronger aside;
• A colon is the start of a list, or flagging stronger related idea emphasis, and the em dash is a much stronger aside; and
• A full stop ends the lot of them.

How this can look in practice is:

Original: Nine key roles are identified that make up Supers Life-Career Rainbow 1) Child (not just by age but by being a Son or Daughter) , 2) Student, 3) Leisurite (someone who pursues leisure activities), 4) Citizen, 5) Worker, 6) Spouse, 7) Homemaker, 8) Parent and 9) Pensioner.

Repunctuated: Nine key roles are identified that make up Super's Life-Career Rainbow are: Child, not just by age but by being a Son or Daughter; Student; Leisurite, someone who pursues leisure activities; Citizen; Worker; Spouse; Homemaker; Parent; and Pensioner.

Interesting, isn't it!


Sam

• Reference: University of Leicester (n.d.). Using the semi-colon and colon. Retrieved 28 August 2017 from http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ld/resources/writing/grammar/grammar-guides/semicolon

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