The Coma, The Portkey, and The Language

[Steve]

A recent thread has heightened my awareness of how critical
punctuation can be, and how vital it is to the accuracy of our
communication.

A recent thread debated the use of an apostrophe, and whether the
"Marauder's" in the 'Marauder's Map' referred to Prongs, Padfoot,
Moony, and Wormtail collectively, or whether it referred to any
general marauder who might be using the map at the moment.

The assumption by most people is that based on "The Marauder's Map",
it is OK to refer to the authors of the map collectively as 'The
Marauders'. The counter argument was that "Marauder's" is singular,
and for a collective reference to be valid, it would have to be "The
Marauders' Map". The simple placement of an apostrophe completely
changes the meaning, and produces fuel for endless, although fun, debates.

Now to the subject at hand. We have debated the nature of the
Tri-Wizard's Cup Portkey to the extreme, incorporating theories
ranging from the mundane to the insane. Part of the debate hinges on
whether the Cup was already a portkey to which fake!Moody added a stop
(originally from inside the maze to outside the maze, to which he
inserted inside the maze to the graveyard to outside the maze), or
whether, he created the original portkey effect (maze to graveyard),
and the return trip (graveyard back to maze) portkey was appended by
some unknow magical entity. Perhaps, somehow, Harry's father James,
since he informed Harry that the Cup would take him back, was able to
enchant the Cup for the return trip.

As I was rereading GoF, I stumble across a passage related to this
debate, however it is not my intention to restart the debate, but to
re-enforce to all the proper punctuation doubters out there, just how
critical these things are to effective and accurate communication.

Having said that, I will add that I still think the English language
is an insane incomprehensible jumble of rules and acceptions that even
the best of us are not full proficient at.

Goblet of Fire; Am HB, Chapter "Veritaserum"; pg 688. Barty Crouch
Junior is speaking.

" ... Ensure he (Harry) reached the Triwizard Cup. Turned the cup into
a Portkey, which would take the first person to touch it to my master...."

Bear in mind that while far above average, I consider myself only
marginally proficient in the structure and application of the English
language. So my interpretation may be wrong, but I think it will still
serve to illustrate my point.

Interpretation 1:
" ...Turned the cup into a Portkey, which would take the first person
to touch it to my master...."

With the comma separating 'Portkey' and 'which', it separates those
entities into two separate events-

A.) create a Portkey out of the Triwizard Cup.
B.) Program that Portkey to take the first person to touch it to the
graveyard.

Interpretation 2:
" ...Turned the cup into a Portkey which would take the first person
to touch it to my master...."

Now with OUT the comma between 'Portkey' and 'which', the emphasis
shifts from 'Turned... into... a Portkey' to 'take ... to my master'.

The implication here is that the Cup may have already been a Portkey,
and all fake!Moody did was make it 'take.. (Harry)... to my master'.


Again, I am not trying to re-open the Portkey debate, it's just that,
in light of the many recent discussions of proper use of the English
language, and the proper use of punctuation in applying that language,
 I was struck by how dramatically the meaning of this simple sentence
changed with the addition or subtraction of that comma.

I suspect that legal cases have been won or lost based on the
placement of a comma. I vaguely remember aspect of the Microsoft
anti-trust trials that came down to interpreting intent based on
punctuation. 

In contrast, we see people posting on the internet who don't believe
in punctuation at all, no capital letters, no periods, no comma, & no
semicolons. So oppressive are the rules that they become grammar and
punctuation anarchists. 

I assume their logic is that speech doesn't have punctuation; it just
flows out, and people seem to understand it. Although, we all know
that isn't true. Speech is filled with pauses, shifts in tone,
demeanor, inflection, facial expressions and other body language that
all serve as punctuation. 

Again, I go back to the courtroom where statements without the context
carried by the speakers actions and demeanor, completely change in
meaning. 'I'll kill you' could just as easily be a joke or a tease
spoken to a friend as it could be a threat. The words alone without
their 'punctuation' lose true meaning.

The world of Fan Fiction has it's own writing anarchist, many of whom
write in script format (that's script as in sceenplay, not cursive) on
the assumption that life has no narrative. James Earl Jones' voice
does not overlay our lives, speaking the things that go unspoke. 

Many people are dead set against and refuse to read stories in script
format, because no written story can be told in spoken words alone. I
confess that I write some of my stories in a script-like format, but
my stories contain long narratives, as well as descriptions of how
words are being spoken; with anger, saddness, humor, curiousity, etc.

Final point; as much as even the best of us resists the oppressive and
nearly impossible to understand rules and regulations of grammar and
style; they are vitally important to effective communication.

I now pray for mercy from those who will surely proofread this post
and point out it's many errors.

Just some thoughts.

bboy_mn

PS: Regardless of punctuation, my interpretation is that the Cup was
always a portkey, and fake!Moody merely added an additional stop.