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Subject:Re: Usage of a the word "BUT" From:Michael Lewis <lewism -at- BRANDLE -dot- COM -dot- AU> Date:Fri, 28 Nov 1997 09:37:36 +1100
E. Forrest Christian wrote:
> ... Our usage is not so much rule-based
> (such as "only when the clauses can stand by themselves"), but stems more from
> the general sense of needing a pause. Commas should aid understanding, and
> where they don't, leave off.
Here are two points which embody an essential inconsistency. Commas aid
understanding because they clarify syntactical relationships, not
because they "tell the reader when to pause". Punctuation in written
language does part of the same job as pauses etc in spoken language, but
-- because written and spoken language are different -- they don't
correspond in any reliable way.
--
Michael Lewis
Brandle Pty Limited, Sydney, Australia
PO Box 1249, Strawberry Hills, NSW 2012
Tel +61-2-9310-2224 ... Fax +61-2-9310-5056
