PUNCTUATION MARKS

Apostrophe  ( ’ )
       Possession.  Ex: horse’s tail.  All the horses’ saddles.
       Note:  English “o’clock” is Peoplese “oclock”.  The possessive of "it" is:  it's.  Ex:  The dog wag۔d it's tail.
       For contractions, Peoplese uses  mid-dots, not apostrophes.  Ex:  it·iz

Asterisk  ( * )
       An asterisk added to the end of a word alerts the reader to refer to the bottom of the page for an explanation.
       A single centerally located asterisk in a blank line between paragraphs, signifying a change of subject matter.
       Two centered asterisks side by side at the end of a paragraph indicate a bigger division.
       Three centered asterisks could indicate the end of the article or story, or an even bigger division.

Brackets  [  ]
       Brackets are an intrusion within a sentence.  Often they clarify somebody else's quotation.
              Ex:  The witness say۔d, 'I dint see he [the suspect] do anything wrong."
                         (The witness didn't say "the suspect"; the writer quoting the witness added those two words.)
              Ex:  In her testimoney she write۔d, "I never say۔d nothing [sic] about that."
                         "sic" in brackets indicates that the grammar mistake was a made by the originator of the quotation,
                                    not by the person quoting her.
       Outside of sentences, brackets can have various other uses.
                     Generally, they refer to something outside of the main topic. 

Colon  ( : )
       Divides distinct but related sentence components such as clauses in which the second elaborates on the first.
       Indicates that a list follows the colon.  Ex:  The flag have three colors:  red, green, and black.
       Used for emphasis:  Ex:  My teachor tell۔d me my test score:  an A.
       When designating time, a colon separates hours (two digits) from minutes (two digits)
                     Ex:  08:30 = 8 o’clock plus 30 minutes in morning.  17:00 = 5 p. m.  00:00:01 = 1 second past midnight.
       (Note:  A word after a colon is not generally capitalized unless it is a proper noun.  After colon, leave 2 spaces.)

Comma  ( , )
      Usage:
            For natural pauses.  Ex:  around parenthetic expressions, etc.
                   Three-word prepositional phrases at the beginning of a sentence aren’t normally followed by a comma.
                               Ex:. In the beginning I believed him.  (No comma after “beginning".)
            For clarity.
            After each item in a series.
                   Use “and” before the last item only if there are no other items in that series, i.e. only if series is complete.
                         Ex:  A, B, and C are the first three letters of the Roman alphabet.
                   If the series is not complete, omit “and”.
                         Ex:  A, B, C are letters of the Roman alphabet.  Because “and” is omitted, other letters exist.
                                   (English:  A, B, C, etc., are letters of the Roman alphabet.)
                         Ex:  He’s tired, hungry, thirsty.  Implied:  and that’s not all.  (He may also be irritable.)
             To introduce a quotation.  E.g.  He asked, “Which way?”
             Between two independent clauses, a comma is placed before the conjunction.
                         Ex:  The train wuz crowd۔d, and we had no place to put our luggage.
             After an introductory adverb.  Ex:  Financial۔ly, they iz okay.
             To separate adnouns to avoid confusion.
                          Generally, commas are not required between adnouns.
                                   Ex:  the busy noisy street.  Ex:  the cute blond baby
                          However, sometimes inserting a comma between adnouns avoids confusion.
                                   Ex:  Dur World War Two pogroms wuz common.
                                            (Without a comma, after “Two”, the reader’s first impression, or a careless reading,
                                                     could be that during a world war, two pogroms occurred.)
             Within numbers:  after each three figures of a number.  E.g. 2,026 apples, 1,400,000,000 population.
                         Year dates have no comma, which distinguishing them from numbers.  E.g. year 2046.
             Commas are not inserted when designating a day in a month in a year.
                                    Ex:  Iz 17 February 2029 a Friday?: 
             Generally, to maintain smooth reading experience, a comma can be inserted anywhere.
                        If the reader must stop and puzzle, the sentence needs improvement. 

Dash ( – )  A dash looks like a long hyphen.
            A dash separates a clause within a sentence more abruptly than a comma.
                        Ex:  Bob is at the door – not again!

Exclamation mark  ( ! )
            An exclamation-mark at the end of a word, phrase, or sentence Indicates an exclamation.
                        Ex:  Wow!  Peoplese is really quick and easy to learn!
            An exclamation and question mark may be combined.  Ex:  You quit your job?!  Or:  You quit your job!?
                   The most important of the two marks is put first.

Hyphen  ( - )
            Hypens are used within proper names. Both words are capitalized.   Ex:  Chukchi-Alaska Oceansea.
            Hyphens are used after a syllable of a word that is divided at the end of a line of text.
            Hyphens are used as minus signs before numbers.  Ex:  -12 (minus twelve).
            Hyphens separate long numbers (e.g. telephone and account numbers) to facilitate memorization.
            Hyphens separate two-digit numbers when they are spelled using two words.  Ex:  sixty-four.
            Hyphens are sometimes used when transliterating words from other languages.
            Hyphens can be used to separate two words that belong together.  Ex:  verb-object, blue-green.
            Hyphens are used in compound adjectives (adjective modifying adjective).  Ex:  cost-effective solution.
            (Note differences between hyphens, hyphnettes, and dashes.).

Hyphen-ette  (  ۔  )  A hyphen-ette is a half-length hyphen placed within a word.
            Peoplese is based on root-words, whose spelling never changes, and to which are added prefixes and
                   suffixes - both separated from the root word by a hyphnette.
                   Ex:  re۔do, un۔lawful, pleasure۔able, happy۔ness, truck۔ful, anger۔ly, explain۔d, tell۔ing, sell۔d,  kilo۔meter,
                              harm۔less, .giant۔size, Mars۔ward, health۔y, fool۔proof, farm۔or, pre۔pay, non۔combatant.
                   Each prefix and suffix has a unique meaning.  Any prefix or suffix can be added to any root-word.
                   At the top of Grammar page, links refer to complete lists of prefixes and suffixes and their explanations.

Italics
           Italics are used for words which are not Peoplese.
                   Ex:  Peoplese "dejavu" is adopt۔d from France۔ese déjà vu.
                   Ex:  Art!  Arf! bark۔d the dog.  The sack fall۔d with a loud thump.
           But foreign words that are proper nouns (and thus capitalized) are not italicized.
                   Ex:  Dao religion.  Shanghai.

Mid-dot  ( ∙ )    A mid-dot is a raised period, placed within a Peoplese autoknow word.
            An autoknow word is a word comprised of two (occasionally three) words separated by a mid-dot.
                   If you know the words within an autoword, you automatically know the meaning of the autoknow word.
            Ex:  wrist·clock, swim·pool,  then·there, spider·web, spigot·water, rear·yard, pig·farm, motion·photo,
                   ice·rain, sun·light, salt·water, school·yard, price·list, rain·cloud, north·west, lava·rock, ice·cube.
            Therefore, mid-dot words require  no explanation, and no or scant memorization.
                   No need to memorize, e.g. watch, cobweb, tap water, nor saltwater, salt-water, or salt water.
                   For new concepts, autoknow words are the obvious first choice..
            Peoplese has more than 2,000 mid-dot words, thus limiting memorization, a big time-saver for students.
            A list of mid-dot words is available from a link atop the Grammar page (orange button above).
            A mid-dot can be typed be pressing alt-m on a keyboard. For instructions, see FAQ (link on home page).
            Peoplese speakers are encouraged to create and use autoknow words to improve the language.

Parentheses  (  )
            Parentheses interrupt a sentence by providing a clarifying explanation.
                   Ex:  Jose Sanchez and Maria (his new wife) will be our new neighbors.

Period ( . )
            A period is  required after sentences to indicate a full stop.
                    After each sentence, we typically eave two blank spaces.
            A period is also required after an abbreviation, followed by a single blank space.

Question mark  ( ? )
            A question-mark at the end of a sentence indicates a question.

Quote Marks  (  "  )
      Double-quote∙marks  ( “...” )
            To frame dialog.
            For titles of articles, short stories, songs, poems – in which the main words are capitalized.
            To highlight words within a sentence.  E.g.  She pronounced the word “cake” correctly.
      Single∙quote∙marks (‘ ...’ )
            For quotes within quotes.  E.g. “I asked him, 'How much?’”
            For thoughts.  E.g., ‘I’ll never go,’ she decided.
      Note:   Placement of quote∙marks is logical.  E..g.  It’s hard to pronounce ‘rhythm’.

Semi-colon  ( ; )
            Two related sentences can be combined into a single sentence separated by a semicolon.
                        Ex:  Actual۔ly, we have four dogs; the one you see۔d yesterday iz the small۔est.
                                    The above could be separated into two sentences, but not as smoothly.
            Semi-colons are also used to separate long items in a series, when those items contain commas.
                        (Use of commas to separate items containing commas would be too confusing.)
                        Ex:  Awards wuz give۔t to Maria, in the photo wear۔ing a red dress; Lucia, wear۔ing blue;                                                                 and Rosa, wear۔ing a white gown.
                        When linking two related quotes.
                                    Ex:  “I dont like chocolate,” she say۔d, push۔ing the box away; “too sweet.”

Underline  __
          Underline is used to emphasize a word or words.  Ex:  Please stop?  Do you really want to go now?
                 (Unlike italics, underlining is handy for handwritten notes, letters, etc.)
          Book titles are also underlined.