punctuations Ptolemy DCLVIII Sometimes I desire a more elaborate punctuation system than allotted. Punctuation always has seemed like a separate language in a symbiotic relationship with, say, English*, but it is not permitted the nuances afforded by contiguity. Proper application of Punctuationese within English permits almost no adjacent symbols. A comma never neighbors an exclamation point, for instance. Occasionally there is a succession of periods such as is called an ellipse, though some argue even the ellipse to be an individual punctuation, since the removal or addition of a dot radically changes the English attached phrases adjoining it. Consider that confusion (or even incredulity) is readily conveyed with "?!?", but this constitutes a break with orthodoxy. A small rebellion, perhaps, but currently there are few codifications of syntax available which might temporarily unite us in our ever-wandering associations. Certainly there is a vast array of internettery employing renegade punctuation, but I seek something more Classical in aesthetic. Some romance languages place question marks to both the fore and the aft of clauses: a sparse elaboration, but better than nothing. Excessive arrays of dots could become cumbersome or overwhelming, but what about ".:." which has always seemed like a great way to indicate an especially charged quality to the ellipse, perhaps that "lines are crying out to be read between." Perhaps "~" could be incorporated to indicate subclauses of specific types, thereby clarifying intermittent ambiguities of hyphenation. I'm not holding out for that day, of course. Besides, like many others I erratically cycle between fastidious adherence to the rules and then sudden apathy to standardized syntax. I just think it would be neat if the punctuatory vocabulary was more complex. *I was going to use Tocharian_B for my examples but unfortunately no one has deciphered it yet, including me. 061020 what's it to you? who go blather from