PUNCTUATION MARKS Syntactic& Semantic FUNCTIONS in English and Arabic

1. PUNCTUATION MARKS Syntactic& SemanticFUNCTIONS in English and Arabic

2. Contents :1- Introduction . 2- Syntactic vs. semantic . 3- Functions of P. M. in English 4- Functions of P. M. in Arabic .5- Strategies of teaching P. M. 6- References

3. Introduction When we communicate with others, we use spoken and / or written codes to convey intended messages.So, it is essential to know that punctuation marks help readers to more easily read and understand those messages.Thus , it is a must to establish a coherent text , especially in writing, in order to deliver your ideas , thoughts , orders , instructions and the like unambiguously .Through this presentation , syntactic and semantic functions of some common punctuation marks as well as pedagogical implications will be highlighted .

5. Syntax Vs. Semantics • Syntactic implication means pure grammar • Semantic implication means pure meaning • They work side by side.

6. What are the punctuation marks in English? • The Free Dictionary as cited in Fatima (2017) divides punctuation marks in to categories according to their function. First, terminal points include periods, exclamation points, and question marks. Second, pauses and breaks include commas, semicolons, and colons. Third, parenthetical information marks include parentheses and brackets. Fourth, Connectors and dividers hyphens, dashes, slashes, and apostrophes. Finally, Quoted material marks like the quotation mark.

7. 1- commaIt is a short pause occurred with in statements . • Why use the comma? To separate between the items and show that they are a list of something. (Syntax) • To clarify the intended meaning of the list (One entity of ideas or a series of ideas)

8. 1- comma • Like all punctuation marks, commas ensure the clarity of writing by organizing similar elements and representing intonation present in spoken language. Commas perform ten basic functions.

9. Functions of P. M. in English Syntactic functions of the comma ( , )1- It separates the main elements of a sentence from each other . e.g.Her apartment was tiny,butthe rent was astronomical .2- It sets off a parenthetical element from the rest of the sentence . e.g. The rest, as they say, is history . 3- It separates elements in a series .e.g. She thought the green, pink, cream and lilac curtains went perfectly with the navy, maroon and burnt-orange of the carpet. 4- It indicates omitted words or abbreviations,such as: She isn't quite as tall as I .

10. Functions of P. M. in English Syntactic functions of the comma ( , )5- It is used to separate the day from the year , such as: June 12, 1996 6- In numbers greater than three digits, it is used as a thousand separator. such as: 694,775,107,326,960 7- In text, it is used to separate two numbers that lie next to each other , such as: In 1994, 3 candidates ran for the position of school trustee. 8- It separates repeated words . Such as: Whatever he does, he does well. 9- It separates names of places: Such as: Miami, Florida (Stilman, 1997) .

11. Syntactic functions of the comma ( , ) AND OR NOR BUT Yet FOR FANBOYS SO

12. Syntactic functions of the comma ( , ) • Two independent sentences cannot be separated by a FANBOY without acomma. • Two independent sentences cannot be separated by a comma only. E.G. • She is selfish but I forgive her. • She is selfish, I forgive her. • She is selfish, but I forgive her.

13. Semantic functions of the comma ( , ) 1- Each FANBOY serves a particular meaning; therefore, each comma preceding them gives the same meaning. For? And? Nor? But? Or? Yet? 2- It refers to illustrative information added to the sentences. Such As: Find me something to dig with, such as a shovel or spade, so I can plant these flowers. 3- It sets off dialogue or quotations Such as: He exclaimed, "Of course I didn't!" (Stilman, 1997)

14. Setting off nonrestrictive or nonessential information I will give the document to my brother, Tom. I will give the document to my brother Tom.   (The writer has only one brother. The brother's name is nonessential and therefore set off with a comma.) (The writer has more than one brother. In this case, the specific brother-Tom-is essential information and should not be set off with a comma.)

15. setting off nonessential information Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter has been made into several movies.   Nathaniel Hawthorne’s first novel, Fanshawe, was published anonymously in 1828.

16. Setting off nonrestrictive or nonessential information Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter has been made into several movies.   Nathaniel Hawthorne’s first novel, Fanshawe, was published anonymously in 1828. (Hawthorne wrote more than one novel.) (Hawthorne had only one first novel.)

17. 2- Period (.) • Syntactic functions: 1 –The period is used to indicate the end of a sentence . Eg. My father needs some water . 2-It indicates abbreviations like in Route-Rte. and building-bldg . 3- It is used with initials of people’s names e.g. C.S. Lewis. 4- It indicates time (optionally ) e.g. A.M. and P.M. 5- It is used with Latin abbreviations like e.g.

18. 2- Period (.) • Syntactic functions: 6- In subheadings period may be used to separate this text from the text that follows e.g. The period. The period has the following functions ... (Stilman, 1997) • Semantic functions: it is stated in the Free Dictionary that a period shows where the speech or the idea ends in a sentence rather than a question or an exclamation mark. It also shows that something is shortened without losing its meaning.

19. 3- Colon (:) • Syntactic functions: 1- It introduces the text that follows when the first part of a sentence functions as an introduction . e.g. The situation was becoming desperate: Supplies were running low, and winter would soon be setting in .2- It is used to separate numbers in a ratio e.g. 4:1 3:2 or separate numbers about the time e.g. 1:30. 3- It is used to separate the main title from the subtitle e.g. The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia's Founding. 4- it may be used instead of a comma to introduce a quotation .e.g. He suddenly turned to her and said: "Why me?" (Stilman, 1997) .

20. 3- Colon (:) • Semantic functions : 1- The colon acts as a signal of anticipation, drawing the reader's attention to what comes after it . 2- The colon alerts the reader to the fact that whatever was just said has some special significance, so particular attention should be paid to what follows. 3- It is used to strengthen connections or add emphasis. When one unit of information expands on or derives from another, you can make their relationship more obvious by linking them with a ( : ) 4- e.g. He had not forgotten his wife birthday: The one time he had, she had temporarily cut him out of her will. (Stilman, 1997)

21. 4- Semicolon (;) • Syntactic functions : 1- to join to related independent clauses of equal emphasis. Clauses contain both a subject and a predicate. Independent clauses function as complete sentences. For example: Winter storm conditions have made travel impossible; the roads are completely covered in snow and ice 2- to join two independent clauses in which the second clause begins with an adverb or short parenthetical that is not essential to the meaning of the sentence.  For example: I am afraid of flying on an airplane; thus, I have never traveled anywhere that I could not get to by car or train. 3- to separate items that contain commas in a series . For example: The United States include Chicago, Illinois; New York City, New York; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Los Angeles, California.

22. 4- Semicolon (;) • Semantic functions : It is mentioned in the Free Dictionary that a semicolon functions like more powerful commas that create a stronger break in the sentence’s interpretation e.g. I hope the traffic isn’t too bad; I don’t want to be late for the movie.”

23. 5- Ellipsis • Syntactically, it shows something has been deleted (in a formal context). • Semantically, it is used to show a longer pause with certain effects (fear, happiness, sorrow and others). • I need to go. / I need to go…

24. 6- Apostrophe (') Syntactic Function :1-itindicates omissions in contracted words . e.g. She couldn't make it . 2-It Indicates possessives with singular nouns like in Mr Smith's apartment, or with plural nouns like in those students' books and children's books . 3-. It indicates plurals like in To put the program in "Insert" mode, type two i's and His best work was done in the 1980's . 4-It is used to pluralize non-noun words like in I'm not taking any more "sorry's." (Stilman, 1997). Semantic function: An apostrophe reflects the meaning of possessiveness and ownership. Besides it shortens speech especially in everyday conversations.

25. 7- Hyphen (-) • Syntactic function: Hyphens are used to link words and parts of words. They are not as common today as they used to be, but there are three main cases where you should use them:-in compound words -to join prefixes to other words -to show word breaks

26. 7- Hyphen (-) • Syntactic function:

27. 7- Hyphen (-) In compound verbs :

28. 7- Hyphen (-) In phrasal verbs : If a phrasal verb is made into a noun, though, you SHOULD use a hyphen:

29. 7- Hyphen (-) In compound nouns : A compound noun is one consisting of two component nouns. In principle, such nouns can be written in one of three different ways:

30. 7- Hyphen (-) • Semantic Function: the main function of a hyphen is to join two or more separated words together in order to keep its meaning or to create a new meaning.

31. 8- Quotation Marks (" ") Syntacticfunctions :1- it set off dialogue like in "Now just a minute,“ 2- It set off words that are meant in a special way. 3- If you are introducing a word or phrase that is not unusual in itself, but for specific or nonstandard sense, enclose it in quotation marks to alert the reader to this fact . e.g. The outcome was considered to be "poor" if the patient was unable to function for one or more days in the preceding month . 4- they are usedaround a term to make it clear that your use of it isironical or satirical e.g. Four soldiers were killed by "friendly fire." 5- They are also used to set off references to short stories,poems, magazine or journal articles, book chapters and songs e.g. The entire kindergarten class rose to recite "The Owl and the Pussycat." 6- we use a quotation that already has a quotation within it, we alternate between double and single marks e.g. The president said, “I’ve been assured by the prime minister that she is ‘taking all appropriate steps in response to the crisis.’”

32. 8- Quotation Marks (" ") Semantic Functions : Quotation marks are used to add emphasis to a certain written words, or to highlight others’ spoken words.

33. 9- Question Mark ( ? ) Syntactic Functions : 1- It is a terminal punctuation mark that turns a sentence into a query e.g. Were there any messages for me? 2- It is used optionally to indicate rhetorical questions. A rhetorical question is one which no answer is expected for or the answer itself is an evident may end in either a question markor an exclamation point.e.g. Isn't her singing amazing?3- It is used optionally to indicate requests that is really a politely phrased order or instruction, decide what tone is intended. e.g. Would you take the garbage out when you leave? Semantic Functions: 1- A question mark is used to turn a declarative sentence into an interrogative sentence that asks question. 2- It has two functions to get an answer or for emphasis .

34. 10- Exclamation Mark ( ! ) Syntactic functions : 1- It Indicates importance or emotion e.g. That’s great! 2- It indicates rhetorical questions e.g. How do you expect me to finish all these chores by noon!3- It is sometimes appropriate to end a rhetorical question which no answer is expected for in an exclamation point instead of a question mark. 4- It is used to draw attention to unlikely points.

35. 10- Exclamation Mark ( ! ) Please Note ! When a question mark or exclamation point appears at the end of a sentence, do not follow it with a period, even if it applies only to the last words.Semantic Functions: It is a terminal punctuation mark that is used in place of the period to add emphasis or emotion.

36. PART II Punctuation Marks in Arabic

37. 1- Comma ( , ) The comma is used in Arabic to separate two independent sentences. It can be used also to separate two sentences one is independent and the other is dependent. In other cases, there are no need to use a comma to join two sentences (Mogahed, 2012). Here are some examples: 1-If you had finished work early, I would have visited you . .لو أنهيت العمل باكرا لزرتك2- Teaching staff members conducted several research activities. They published papers and books and attended scientific conferences.أجرى أعضاء هيئة التدريس العديد من الأنشطة البحثية، و كذلك نشروا أبحاث و كتب، و .حضروا مؤتمرات علمية

38. 2- Period ( . ) A period is placed at the end of a complete meaning or a paragraph. In Arabic, a sentence is a stream of ideas with or without a full stop at the end. A comma can signal a new sentence and also certain words can signal a new sentence: for example, أجرى أعضاء هيئة التدريس العديد من الأنشطة البحثية، و.كذلك نشروا أبحاث و كتب، و حضروا مؤتمرات علميةNot only the period is used to indicate the end of the first sentence, but also words like (و) (كذلك و ) and the beginning of the later one. The sentence is translated as following : Teaching staff members conducted several research activities. They published papers and books and attended scientific conferences(Mogahed, 2012). Translating the sentence without using full stops will cause a grammatical error which is called run-on sentence.

39. 3- colon ( : ) • It is a mark for illustration in English , but it reflects different uses in Arabic. It is used in dialogue, after the verb “قال”, or after words like “عما يلي “ .e.g.قال أحد الحكماء : العلم أكثر من أن يؤتى به, فتخبر من كل شيء أحسنه. • سألته: من أين لك هذا؟ فأجاب: من أبي. • أجب عما يلي: من أنت؟ و كيف جئت إلى هنا؟ و ماذا تريد؟

40. 4- Semicolon (;) The semi colon is used in Arabic for several reasons: 1-It is used to connect two sentences. The first one is the cause, while the other is the result e.g. انا مسرور جدا ؛من اولادي لانهم يؤدون واجباتهم . 2- It is used with long sentences which gives a complete meaning e.g. ارحم الحيوان , ولا تحمله ما لا يطيق ؛ فانه يحس ويتألم مثل الانسان . 3- It is used with before words like (إذ) to give more details after the first part of the sentence e.g. الاسلام سريع الانتشار ؛ اذ انه يعد من أكثر الأديان استقطاباً .

41. 4- Semicolon (;) The semi colon is used in Arabic for several reasons: 1-It is used to connect two sentences. The first one is the cause, while the other is the result e.g. انا مسرور جدا ؛من اولادي لانهم يؤدون واجباتهم . 2- It is used with long sentences which gives a complete meaning e.g. ارحم الحيوان , ولا تحمله ما لا يطيق ؛ فانه يحس ويتألم مثل الانسان . 3- It is used with before words like (إذ) to give more details after the first part of the sentence e.g. الاسلام سريع الانتشار ؛ اذ انه يعد من أكثر الأديان استقطاباً .

42. 5- Ellipsis (…) It is used to indicate an omission , extra information or unimportant text , either in the middle of the statement or at the end of it. This mark is of 3 dots ( periods ) . حيث ان الباحث استشهد بأدلة علمية مقتبسة من امهات الكتب ... وقام بصياغة كتابة بحثية فيما يخص ذلك الموضوع ليتم تعميمه على باقي الباحثين . 6- Hyphen It is used like the appositive in English. (Khader, 2012) mention that it is used to refer to a kind of speech if it is deleted, the meaning of the sentence will not change as in كما سبق الاشارة _ الالتزام بقوانين الكلية فيما يتعلق بالكتابة البحثية والمراجع أمر في بالغ الأهمية . 7- Apostrophe Unlike in English , there is No use of apostrophe in Arabic .

43. 8- Quotation Marks ( “ “ ) The quotation mark has several uses in Arabic as mentioned by (Salem, 2009). 1- It is used to identify others speech such as : ,, علامات الترقيم ,, من المواضيع الضرورية عند الطلاب . 9- Question Mark ( ? ) According to (Salem, 2009) it is used with Explanatory sentence whether it includes a question word at the beginning or not e.g أيكما الفائز بالجائزة ؟ تخرج من سجنك ولا تذهب لأقربائك ؟لماذا تشعر بالسعادة ؟هل أدلك على شيء يسرك ؟

44. 10- Exclamation Mark ( ! ) It is used to express a high degree of emotions like happiness, sadness, surprise, or grumble as stated by (Salem, 2009) e.g. وأسفاه ! وحاسرتاه ! ما أجمل الربيع !طفح الكيل !

45. For more Information visit https://www.brighthubeducation.com/english-homework-help/22944-the-use-of-commas-in-written-english/

46. STRATEGIES OF TEACHING P.M. • A lot of educators struggle with teaching kids punctuation because they are a sort of “orphan” when it comes to reading instruction. Because so much emphasis is placed on phonics, teaching kids punctuation sometimes gets lost. As a result, for many children, the only punctuation you’ll see them use is a capital letter for the first word and a period placed after the last word. After that, it’s up for grabs. • So , here some useful strategies that can be used to facilitate teaching punctuation marks .

47. STRATEGIES OF TEACHING P.M. 1- Start with single sentences—but make sure that there is some variety in the punctuation (so that every sentence does not end in a period). Make a copy of the sentence—but have it empty of capitals and punctuation (e.g., the man was walking in the snow) 2- After telling your child that there is going to be a punctuation activity, ask him or her to read aloud the sentence in the book. Then close the book, show the “unpunctuated” copy and have your child enter the necessary information.

48. STRATEGIES OF TEACHING P.M. - Recognize and debunk punctuation “rules” students might already “know.”e.g. a period goes at the end of a thought. A comma marks a “breath.” A colon is stronger than a comma but not quite as strong as a period…and so on.- Teach related grammar and sentence variety. It’s not possible to teach punctuation without teaching independent and dependent clauses and coordinating and subordinating conjunctions, as it is these grammatical elements that punctuation actually marks—a period demonstrates the end of an independent clause, or simple sentence

49. STRATEGIES OF TEACHING P.M. - Use punctuation cards for young learners .

50. STRATEGIES OF TEACHING P.M. - Use worksheet including short texts without punctuation marks , then ask them to punctuate using colorful pencils .