National Punctuation Day

National Punctuation Day is dedicated to the huge number of punctuation marks that exist in the world. Without punctuation marks, texts would be incomprehensible, illegible, meaningless. We use punctuation throughout our lives, but some of us didn’t pay enough attention to this topic in school. Every year on September 24, you can take part in punctuation quizzes.

History

It is noteworthy that ancient cultures magically dispensed with dots, commas and colons. Of course, this was not necessary, because many ancient languages were exclusively verbal. The earliest document in which punctuation was used is the Mesha stele, dating from 900 BC, the Greeks mention punctuation, but preferred clean ones. lines of text. The first punctuation system was proposed by Aristophanes of Byzantium, he used a single sign, which, depending on the location, indicated pauses in the text. The widespread use of punctuation marks began when the Bible began to be printed.

Interesting Facts

• A unified punctuation system appeared in 1400, when the printing press was invented, since then the system has not changed much.
• The only major change came with the advent of computers, when additional characters were introduced – “#” and “@”.
• The question in Latin was not depicted with a sign, but was written with the word – “questio”.
• Do you know what the “#” sign is called – octotorp.

How to celebrate

Pay attention to punctuation rules, believe me, a considerable number of rules elude even linguists and publishers. Read, paying attention to punctuation marks, try to find mistakes. Take part in a punctuation contest. Tell about the holiday on social networks. Being educated and writing well is cool.

When is National Punctuation Day in 2022?

National Punctuation Day is observed on September 24 each year.

Observations