Punctuations:
Punctuation is the use of standard marks and signs in writing to separate words into sentences, clauses, and phrases in order to clarify meaning.
A transcriber’s job is not just typing the words in the audio file, but doing so in such a way that it makes sense to the reader who uses it. Here punctuation comes into play.
Read the sentence below, notice any anomaly:
Don’t touch, check with other passengers, inform station staff, or dial 100.
A classic example of bad punctuation telling you to do the exact opposite of what anyone should do in case of unattended package. The use of comma after “Don’t touch” says that you shouldn’t touch it or ask passengers whether it belongs to them, and furthermore shouldn’t inform the station staff or dial the emergency services.
See how punctuations are important. A single misplaced comma can change the meaning of the sentence. Hence it is very important for a transcriber to learn punctuations.
The following are the main punctuations that we work with:
01) Full Stop or Period: [ . ]
02) Comma: [ , ]
03) Semicolon: [ ; ]
04) Colon
05) Question Mark: [ ? ]
06) Exclamation Mark: [ ! ]
07) Hyphen: [ - ]
08) Dash: [ -- ]
09) Quotation Commas: [ “” ]
10) Apostrophe: [ ’ ]
01) Full Stop or Period: This represents the greatest pause and separation of one sentence from the other.
There was this guy at a bar, just looking at his drink. He stays like that for half of an hour. Then, this big trouble-making truck driver steps next to him, takes the drink from the guy, and just drinks it all down. The poor man starts crying. The truck driver says, "Come on man, I was just joking. Here, I'll buy you another drink. I just can't stand to see a man cry."
"No, it's not that. This day is the worst of my life. First, I fall asleep, and I go late to my office. My boss, outrageous, fires me. When I leave the building, to my car, I found out it was stolen. The police said that they can do nothing. I get a cab to return home, and when I leave it, I remember I left my wallet and credit cards there. The cab driver just drives away."
"I go home, and when I get there, I find my wife in bed with the gardener. I leave home, and come to this bar. And just when I was thinking about putting an end to my life, you show up and drink my poison."
The Full Stop is also used in abbreviations, i.e., Ph.D. , U.S.A.
02) Comma: It represents the shortest pause, and is used in a variety of ways. Let’s see:
a) To separate a series of words:
Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Louis Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.
b) To mark off a Noun:
At a party, a woman walked up to Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States
Coolidge replied, "You lose."
c) To mark off words used in addressing people:
A long time ago in a far away place there was a little Indian boy, one day he wondered who named all the children in the tribe. So he went to his mother and asked, “Mother, who names all the people in the tribe?” And the mother replied, “The Great Chief.”
So the boy went to the Great Chief and asked, “Oh, Great Chief, how do you name everyone in our tribe?” The Chief replied in a mature and wise voice, “You asked a very good question, my Little Warrior, and I shall answer it.”
“When our tribe is blessed with a new baby, I walk out of my teepee and the first thing I see is what I name the new child. If I see wolves dancing, then I name the baby dancing wolves. If I see an eagle flying in the sky, then I name the child soaring eagle. But tell me, why are you so curious, Horse Shit?”
d) To separate short coordinated clauses:
I came, I saw, I conquered.
Ask a question and you're a fool for three minutes, but do not ask a question and you're a fool for the rest of your life.
e) To mark off a direct quotation from the rest of the sentence:
A young lawyer was pleading his first case. A train had killed 24 pings, and the young attorney was trying to impress the jury. He said, “Yes, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, 24 pigs. Imagine, 24 pigs. Twice the number, there are in the jury box.”
03) Semicolon: It represents a pause of greater importance than the comma, and is used in two ways.
a) When a clause of compound sentence contains a comma, semicolon is used to separate them:
A house is built of logs and stone, of piles and post and piers; but a home is built of loving deeds that stands a thousand years.
b) A semicolon is also used to separate a series of loosely related clauses:
An angry person is seldom reasonable; a reasonable person is seldom angry.
Be bold in what you stand for; and careful what you fall for.
04) Colon
a) To introduce a quotation;
Best friends don't ask you: "Is something wrong?" Best friends ask you: "What’s wrong?"
b) It is also used before examples, enumerations, etc.;
We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors. But they all have to learn to live in the same box.
c) It is used between sentences grammatically different but closely connected in sense;
Be who you are and say what you feel: those who mind, don't matter; and those who matter, don't mind.
05) Question Mark: This is used after a direct question instead of a Full Stop.
a) To use after a direct question;
You ask, “Why did this happen to me?” when a sorry comes your way, but do you ask the same question for every moment of happiness that knocks your door.
Nothing is as soft as water, yet who can withstand the raging flood?
b) Not used after an indirect question;
A boy, frustrated with all the rules he had to follow, asked his father, when will the time come when will he be old enough to do as he pleases. The father answered immediately, "I don't know. Nobody has lived that long yet."
06) Exclamation Mark: It is used after interjections and after phrases or sentences expressing sudden emotion or wishes;
A newsboy was standing on the corner with a stack of papers, yelling, "Read all about it. Fifty people swindled! Fifty people swindled!" Curious, a man walked over, bought a paper, and checked the front page. Finding nothing, the man said, "There's nothing in here about fifty people being swindled." The newsboy ignored him and went on, calling out, "Read all about it. Fifty-one people swindled!"
Drive carefully! Remember, it's not only a car that can be recalled by its maker.
07) Hyphen: It is a shorter line than a dash and is used to connect the parts of a compound word;
A customer in a bakery was observed carefully examining all the rich-looking pastries displayed on trays in the glass cases. When a clerk approached him and asked, "What would you like?" he answered, "I'd like that chocolate-covered, cream-filled doughnut, that jelly-filled doughnut and that cheese Danish." Then with a sigh he added, "But I'll take that piece of bread."
08) Dash: This is used to indicate an abrupt stop and change of thought or to resume scattered subject;
a) To indicate an abrupt stop or change of thought;
Don't be irreplaceable -- if you can't be replaced, you won't be promoted.
b) To resume scattered subject;
All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction -- down.
09) Quotation Commas: As the name suggests, it is used to enclose or quote the exact words of a speaker;
Joe was in court charged with parking his car in a restricted area. The judge asked him if he had anything to say in his defense. “They shouldn’t have put up such misleading sign out there,” said Joe. “It said, ‘Fine for Parking Here.’”
Please check this sentence: “It said, ‘Fine for Parking Here.’” If a quotation occurs with a quotation, it is marked by single inverted commas.
10) Apostrophe: This is used in three ways, namely:
a) To show omission of a letter of letters;
Don’t – Do not; Isn’t – is not; I’ve – I have; they’re – they are; et cetera.
b) To show possessive case of Nouns;
It is one's attitude at the beginning of a task which will, more than anything else, determine its outcome.
The liar's punishment is not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else.
c) To form plural of letters and figures;
Cross your t’s and dot your i’s.
Don’t add two 1’s to make one 2, place two 1’s besides one another to make 11.
Please Note: There are many other punctuation marks that are used. It’s just that these are the most often used ones. Doesn’t mean that the others are not useful, so do your own research, go to a good grammar site and learn a few more.
No comments:
Post a Comment