Thoughts of a Middot
Thoughts of a “Mid-Dot : (•)”
A couple of centuries back, I was recognized,
marked as mid-dot ; all were mesmerized.
I was most required for all. I was utilized
in literature extensively. But they improvised;
Resulting efforts made me redundant
The authors were reluctant
To use me; I was a burden.
Over years my positions worsen.
My places were occupied by Semi-colon,
Where I used to reign for years. My place stolen.
Each avoided me. I was ignored.
Same mid-Dot whom everyone adored.
Few decades from now, none will ever believe my supremacy.
I, the Mid-dot, the useful punctuation mark of past decades, reined as celebrity.
Waiting for my inevitable death. It is a matter of time only. I have no scope.
Probably, history will remember me for my contribution. I only hope.
~x~x
Note:: In the punctuation system devised by Aristophanes of Byzantium in the 3rd century BC, the end of such a clause was thought to occasion a medium-length breath and was marked by a middot ?•?.
This was only intermittently used, but eventually revived as the ano teleia, the modern Greek-semicolon.
Aristophanes of Byzantium ::He was a Hellenistic Greek scholar, critic and grammarian, particularly renowned for his work in Homeric scholarship.
He also invented one of the first forms of punctuation in c.?200 BC; single dots that separated verses and indicated the amount of breath needed to complete each fragment of text when reading aloud (not to comply with rules of grammar, which were not applied to punctuation marks until centuries later). For a short passage (a komma), a stigm? mése dot was placed mid-level (·). This is the origin of the modern comma punctuation mark, and its name. For a longer passage (a kolon), a hypostigm? dot was placed level with the bottom of the text (.), similar to a modern colon or semicolon, and for very long pauses (periodos), a stigm? teleía point near the top of the line of text
Copyright © Pratap Roy | Year Posted 2020
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