Kata Markon

[JFAlward AT aol.com]

JEFFREY GIBSON
If I may beg the List's indulgence: I'd be grateful if you'd have a look at 
the latest draft of a paper of mine on Mk 14:38 which will be discussed 
within the Mark Group at this year's SBL It is available online at

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crosstalk2/files/MK1438F.htm

Comments and criticisms are welcome.


JOE ALWARD
I note that you place the period and comma *outside* the quotation mark. I 
believe that it is standard practice to put them inside the quotation mark. 
Perhaps SBL has a different practice?


LARRY SWAIN
"The difference, Joe, is between British practice and American." 

JOSEPH ALWARD
I must respectfully disagree. There are differences in spelling of certain 
words, of course, and certain words are considered by the British to be 
plural, while we consider them to be singular, and a few other minor 
differences, but none of the British grammar resources I've seen make any 
mention of putting the comma or period outside the quotation mark.

The comma and the period always go before the quotation mark, even if they 
are not actually part of the quote, and this is true for American grammar as 
well as British.  This is not to say that even very literate British writers 
always observe this practice, but they should.  After all, nowhere in the 
King James Bible is to be found a single instance of a comma or a period 
occurring outside the quotation mark.  

There is no doubt a great deal of perhaps subconscious insecurity and 
uncertainty regarding this rule, for many writers seem schizophrenically 
apply their own rules about commas, periods, and quotation marks--which is to 
say, no rule at all.  

We see this error in Jeffery Gibson's article; now consider Mark Goodacre's, 
"Fallacy at the Heart of Q," at http://www.ntgateway.com/Q/fallacy.htm.  
Goodacre put the comma or period before the quotation mark seven times, and 
outside the quotation mark five times.  There is evidently no rhyme nor 
reason behind his choice in each instance.  

This inconsistency in punctuation is distracting, and gives the reader reason 
to wonder whether a person who is apparently inattentive to matters of 
punctuation in his native language could have keen insights into the meaning 
of ancient texts written in another language.  


Note:  I am not guiltless in this matter.  Several of my articles on the web 
site below have incorrectly-placed commas and period, all due to my 
carelessness, but then, I'm not publishing these articles in professional 
journals.

Joseph F. Alward
"A Skeptical View of Christianity and the Bible"
http://members.aol.com/jalw/joseph_alward