How much would be lost in the absence of such grouping may be seen by breaking up the simple groups in No. 9:
9-1. There are no better cosmetics than temperance, purity, modesty, humility, a gracious temper, and calmness of spirit.
The punctuation of No. 9-1 is just as correct as that of No. 9; but it is purely mechanical and not "elegant." Forceful grouping, with or without grouping words, requires proper punctuation.
Another quite simple form of this grouping, based upon the sense relation, is sometimes overlooked by distinguished writers, and even by authors of text-books on language. The following sentence exhibits both a correct grouping and a correct sense relation:
10. He is in doubt about the best course for him to pursue; but I am sure about the best course for me to pursue.
Here the but relation is between his doubt and my certainty, as if written, He is in doubt; but I am sure.
A similarly formed sentence may convey a meaning that is clearly not the meaning the writer wishes to convey:
10-1. He is in doubt about the best course for him to pursue; but I am sure his doubt will soon disappear.
The but relation in No. 10-1 is not between his doubt and my certainty, as in No. 10. The meaning of No. 10-1 may be expressed thus: He is in doubt; but his doubt will soon disappear. But the assertion made in the latter part of this statement is too strong, and requires a modifier. "Probably" would nearly express the meaning intended to be expressed by the modifier in No. 10-1. If "I am sure" is preferred as the modifier, its relation to the verb (will disappear) must be made unmistakable. It is not so made in No. 10-1, for it appears to be connected by "but" with what precedes it, just as it is connected with what precedes it in No. 10. To disconnect it, a comma precedes it; and one follows it to disconnect it from what follows.
The new relations are shown by the following punctuation:
10-2. He is in doubt about the best course for him to pursue; but, I am sure, his doubt will soon disappear.
Suppose the sentence read as follows, how would it be punctuated?
10-3. He is in doubt about the best course for him to pursue; but I am sure that his doubt will soon disappear.
This sentence cannot be punctuated. The but relation is here between incongruous thoughts; and therefore the sentence must be mended, which can be done by making it like No. 10-2, omitting "that."
No amount of usage, even among good writers, can justify the absence of commas in No. 10-1, or the construction of No. 10-3.
The discussion of these sentences emphasizes the necessity for observing the meaning of language as expressed by its grouping and by the relation of one group to another.
Additional light will be thrown upon some of the relations already discussed if we consider them from another viewpoint, as we shall do in the next chapter.
EXAMPLES
Note.-As the principles set forth in Chapters I and II will be discussed more in detail in succeeding chapters, the following examples are given as general illustrations:
1. They think as I do.
2. They think, as I do, that you are wrong.
3. Far below, the mill was heard singing merrily.
4. Far below the mill the stream dashed over the precipice.
5. As all will recognize, the methods adopted were wise methods.
6. John is, like his father, a great hunter.
7. Genius finds its own road, and carries its own lamp.
8. He who pursues pleasure only, defeats the object of his creation.
9. Father and son, prince and subject, stranger and citizen, are correlative terms.
10. While principles may abide, the phenomena in which they appear may change.
11. He has the equipment to play saint or sinner, devil or angel.
12. To the wise and good, old age presents a scene of tranquil enjoyment.
13. The people of Miletus are not stupid, but they do the sort of things that stupid people do.
14. In his successes and his failures, in his greatness and his littleness, Burns is ever clear, simple, true, and glitters with no luster but his own.
15. The high-school course includes arithmetic, algebra, and geometry; grammar and composition; ancient and modern history; geography, natural history, and astronomy.
16. If Bacon could find time to write Shakespeare, Marlow, and Greene, I see no reason why he should not have written Ben Johnson, Beaumont and Fletcher, and the whole Elizabethan drama.
17. Aristophanes, Boccacio, Moliére and Cervantes, Dickens and Mark Twain, and our weekly comic papers make us laugh anew over the same old story, told in different accents and in different syntax.
18. With one of his two boys or a friend, and a dog, Tennyson would walk afield for miles.
19. With one of his two boys, or a friend and a dog, Tennyson would walk afield for miles.
In No. 18 the comma before "and" cuts "dog" off from "friend," and makes a group of "dog" and "one of his two boys or a friend." It makes this group simply because the sense permits no other grouping. Thus the meaning of No. 18 is, that Tennyson was accompanied by a dog and a person (one of his boys or a friend).
In No. 19 another grouping is made, which says Tennyson was accompanied by one of his boys or by a friend and a dog.
CHAPTER III
MODIFIED PARENTHESIS, EXPLANATORY AND RESTRICTIVE TERMS, AFTER-THOUGHT, AND APPOSITIVES
Table of Contents EXPLANATORY AND RESTRICTIVE MODIFIERS
The Greek grammarians gave the name parenthesis to a group of words "thrust into" language, either spoken or written, when such words have no grammatical connection with the language. We retain the word "parenthesis" to describe such a group, and also as the name of the curved lines with which the group is enclosed and thus identified. These lines are called parenthesis, marks of parenthesis, or parentheses.
Such matter is inserted for explanation or qualification; but it is not essential to the meaning of the language into which it is thrust, for matter essential to the meaning would not be so named or so marked.
The parenthesis did the ancient writers a larger service in the involved style of their composition than it does modern writers; however, in a modified form, it does the modern writer a very useful and, at times, an indispensable service.
What we may call a modified parenthesis (modified parenthetical matter) is found, one or more times, in almost every paragraph.
In order to clarify or explain our adopted term, "modified parenthesis," a parenthesis, enclosed in parentheses, was used in the sentence preceding this one; and, in the same sentence, in order to qualify, in a somewhat peculiar manner, the expression "is found in every paragraph," the modified parenthetical group of words "one or more times" was inserted. We characterize this parenthesis as somewhat peculiar. In its literal meaning, "one or more times" adds nothing to the statement in which it appears, for whatever occurs must occur "one or more times." It does, however, add a new and perhaps subtle thought as to the frequency of the occurrence of the parenthesis.
The meanings of these terms, together with the reasons for their punctuation, will appear as we discuss illustrative examples:
11. The author says (page 5) that he did not go to London.
The words "page 5" were inserted in the above sentence by the writer himself simply as a matter of direction to the place in the book where the assertion was made. It has no grammatical connection with any part of the sentence: it is simply "thrust in"-it is "parenthetical." We may modify its strictly parenthetical nature by putting it in another form:
11-1. The author says, on page 5, that he did not go to London.
Here the expression "on page 5" has still the parenthetical nature; but it is given grammatical connection, by means of the preposition "on," to what precedes it. Thus we call it a "modified parenthesis"; or we may call it "slightly parenthetical" matter. It is obvious that the expression can be omitted in either No. 11 or No. 11-1 without the slightest effect upon the meaning of the sentence.
If we omit the commas in No. 11-1, we give the sentence practically a new meaning; and to complete the meaning a new clause must be added:
11-2. The author says on page 5 that he did not go to London; but he says on page 6 that he did go to London.
In No. 11-2 the language is used in its natural order; and no mark is required in either clause, for each group of words has its natural or logical relation to the group or groups standing next to it. The meaning is unmistakable. But why was the comma used in No. 11-1 and not in No. 11-2? Let us note carefully that we are still dealing with the proper grouping of words and with the relations of group to group, such relations giving rise to real and apparent meanings. With the real meaning of such groups as we are now considering fully understood, we know that a mark is used to change that meaning. Thus, in the consideration of these sentences, we come back to the principle exemplified in Sentences 1 and 2. We use the commas in No. 11-1 because the real meaning of the sentence is not the same as the meaning of the same language in No. 11-2.
One or...
