In the delicious French language it is alive and thriving. En vivant comme les connoisseurs d'un bon gout. The exquisite micro-pause, the exact hiatus as a gear change in sentence construction; fraught, simply fraught with meaning. The comma is a wisp on the wind, the colon a Stop sign urging mobile circumspection before proceeding. But the semi-colon is both, and neither. It is the athlete's gasp, the gap in a baby's cries, a little whisper in the barrage of noise.
In Spanish, it thrives. In German it is revered (ah! the blessed umlaut!). In Polish it is feted in the literary canon. Even in Turkish it has its diehard enthusiasts. But in one major world language, the one that (ironically) gave birth to the semi-colon, it is in near terminal decline.
As the English language degenerates into brutish syntax, textspeak, twitter and the grunts of the farmyard, a deep appreciation of correct punctuation is no longer the prized asset it was. Indeed, the aficionado of a delicate expression may invite open ridicule and even scorn. I myself, upon making essential corrections to the glaring punctuational inaccuracies of colleagues, have endured levels of opprobium not witnessed since the extinction of the Neanderthals. And in language of similar sophistication as that hypothesised for our vanished cousins.
I urge a review and re-examination, if not a nascent campaign to roll back the creeping erosion of our language. Let us take as our banner the semi-colon and march towards its full and comprehensive restoration in everyday speech and writing. The fightback starts here, let the faint-hearted scoff and the ignorant sneer; this day shall be remembered as the point where the tide turned.
I shall be encouraged by the "poll" (ghastly word!) that I have published below this post. Please vote and declare your allegiance to the sanctity of proper and accurate punctuation.
I am forced to confess to a certain technical ineptitude. Notwithstanding this, it is fitting that I test the comments myself.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you're a pain in the semi-colon
ReplyDeleteWhile I am broadly sympathetic with your aims a serious correction is required. I do not believe that you confuse the semi-colon with the umlaut but that impression may be given, however inadvertently. While you poetically describe the semi-colon, the umlaut is in fact a vowel change brought about by a vowel or semi-vowel in the following syllable, as any German speaker will be happy to inform you
ReplyDeleteThe previous commentator is in no small way correct. However, if corrections are required then we may look no further than the singularly oblique reference to the use of the semi-colon in Turkish. Here I have particularly grave reservations with the original poster.
ReplyDeleteIt will not have escaped your notice that Turkey has in recent years held what could be termed 'show trials' against several of its most distinguished literati. I refer in particular to the case against Ozhmuzd Gompoz and his seminal work 'The Railway'. Private complaints (not doubt military-instigated) claimed that his innovative use of the semi-colon was (a) anti-islamic, and (b) anti-Ataturk. While the first charge was (correctly in my view) thrown out after the critical intervention of the Imam of Skuzduzh, the second led to severe internal debate and introspection. While it is a clear offence under the Turkish constitution to defame the memory and legacy of the founding father of the state, it is by no means established that a punctuational novelty could in any small way be seen as doing so.
In the face of an increasingly blatantly fabricated backlash against the author, a loose umbrella constellation of various Green, radical and even feminist groups briefly united to mount the argument that in a language so profligate with punctuational paradigms a novel use of one particular form could not be seen as unconstitutional in any way. Indeed, the use of the circumflex and cedilla in the demotic vernacular were emergently seen as particularly liberating if not nurturing.
I am sure that we are all aware that the outcome was triumphal. The charges against Gompoz were abruptly dropped and it was only his untimely death by apparent suicide (having shot himself 17 times) that caused the regretable fragmentation and dispersal of the broad coalition of support that could have formed a nascent Green party in Turkey, with the potential enhancement of both viable eco-policies with a stricly reformist stance on punctuational procedure. What is urgently needed is a further instance to permit renewed coalescence and progress.
I am grateful to the salutory corrections and amendments to my terse post. I sacrificed accuracy in the interests of brevity in making my first proclamation, a serious error. If truth be told, I lack due confidence in my abilities to manifest the technical intricacies of these pages. Normally, I have some technical underling to engage in these duties on my behalf but the nature of this experiment necessarily leaves me solitary and bereft of menial assistance. I shall nonetheless persevere.
ReplyDeleteHerr Klempf is of course correct on the umlaut and is discerning enough to see that I did not intend to two punctuational imperatives. Trackfinder adds crucial context if not expansion on my fleeting reference to the Turkish situation. I am grateful to both correspondents and hereby vow that from now on I shall be adding much ponderous volume to my posts to avoid such elisions and malapercus.
Jeez. U wanna get out some, get a life
ReplyDeleteSo, we have a haven. A couple of predictable snipes from barbarians should only show we have them on the run. The quality of enlightened debate is outstanding and informatively nuanced. While the 'poll' may be a novelty I may not repeat, I am sufficiently encouraged to persevere in the quest for like-minded and highly educated people. This shall become their forum and I, their leader.
ReplyDeleteLast sentence: comma misplaced. Is that "informatively nuanced" enough for you, Hegs baby?
ReplyDeleteBaa baa baa, Barbarian
Can it really br that our host doesn't know his umlaut from his semi-colon, and can't find the best place for his commas? And does he really think that his stilted & formulaic sentences with a few subsidiary clauses thrown in indicate some kind of intellectual prowess? Or is it all a big wind-up? Is he ignorant & massively pretentious, or really quite a handy wind-up merchant?
ReplyDeleteWhat does everyone think?
And another thing.
ReplyDeleteIn what sense is "poll" a "ghastly word"?
Hmm?