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Subject: Kata Markon

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  • From: JFAlward AT aol.com
  • To: gmark AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Proper Punctuation
  • Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2002 15:47:36 EDT


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




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