I'm getting into an argument with my editor, or insists on putting a right-single quote mark in beginning contractions (elisions).
So if I use "'Twas a dream ..." would that 'Twas (left-single quote) or 'Twas (right-single quote)?
Does anyone know? I couldn't find squat about it after a fairly extensive internet search (10 min. only).
Damn: The Forum won't demonstrate smart quotes.
Well, it took a while, but I finally located a reference under YourDictionary's definition of t-was, where they spell 'Twas with a right-single quotation, rather than a left-single quotation. Though, YourDictionary is hardly the definitive word for either literary, punctuation or publishing questions. But it appears to be 'Twas.
While in school back during the Jurasic Period I was taught that it was frequently got contracted to 'twas and the contraction rarely got used outside of poetry so you ended up with things like:
'Twas the night before Christmas ...
But I'd never seen or heard of it's usage outside of poetry from a long, long time ago. However, if I wished to use it in dialogue I wouldn't start the dialogue off with it because I absolutely hate having multiple apostrophes together as it's too easy for people to misread them.
Technically, the novel you're quoting doesn't use an elision (I know, as I looked up the original looking for the symbol he was using). He instead used "Twas", which is almost as bad as "T-was"!
But, the line my editor was questioning was:
I'm ''centric'," she declared.
Where the left-single quote immediately followed by a right-single quote almost makes a circle. Luckily, the character I copied was NOT a simple right-single quote, as it's higher in the line than the other punctuation marks, making it look semi-natural. Now I just have to figure out WTF character it is!
The apostrophe is used to replace the missing part. So ne'er would be for never. So I guess it would be 'twas for it was.
An elision is not a contraction. A contraction is the combination of two words to form a shorter word. An elision is the omission of sounds, syllables, or phrases, replacing them with an apostrophe. But not necessarily with an apostrophe. The elision "gonna" is from "going to."
An elision is not a contraction. A contraction is the combination of two words to form a shorter word.
Alas, it took me a while to once more dig through the scant documentations on this field to uncover what I was looking for.
Like many terms, there are multiple definitions of an elision, and a linguistic elision, of which you're referring to, is the first of three, but essentially, any elimination of information is an elision.
However, my definition of an elision as an initial contraction was incorrect, as I'd misread the passage and reversed the terms in my own mind. An initial elision (at the beginning of a word) is an aphaeresis, an apocope is a contraction at the end of word, while a normal contraction is referred to as a syncope. Thus what I was referring to is actually an Aphaeresis.
The apostrophe is used regardless of the position and its like the right single quote typographically.
Because the forum doesn't show smart quotes I'll try showing the html codes in the parenthesis:
So it's 'n' (& rsquo;n& rsquo;)
and fo'c's'le (3 right single quotes)
HM.
ETA: the forum converts the html codes into normal apostrophes so in this second try I inserted a space after the ampersand.
The first apostrophe denotes elision of a space and an 'a', the second apostrophe denotes elision of a 'd' and a space.
It's common in informal British English.
AJ
Yes, like in fish'n'chips.
In American English I've seen 'n' with spaces before and after it or without the trailing apostrophe, e.g. in James H. Schmitz collection T'nT: Telzey & Trigger by Baen Books.
HM.
Single apostrophe is required - you are denoting the place of a missing letter, as in isn't.
Referring to left and right quotation marks, whether single or double, is a somewhat antiquated and pedantic affectation.
Single apostrophe is required - you are denoting the place of a missing letter, as in isn't.
Referring to left and right quotation marks, whether single or double, is a somewhat antiquated and pedantic affectation.
Sorry, but in published books, punctuation marks like the curly quotes is derigor. In online parlance and email exchanges, it's overkill.
My problem, is that the apostrophe used in leading contractions were always too small for me to figure out that they weren't left-facing single quotes, so I'd been using the wrong punctuation for years!
I presume you mean "de rigueur"
Isn't dat da guy who rides on da steel beam when da crane lifts it up da side of da high building unda construction.
Isn't dat da guy who rides on da steel beam when da crane lifts it up da side of da high building unda construction.
No, it's one of da guys on da tall ships who handle da sails.
An elision is like email, something that happens on line. Now the question is what is a lesion?
Online:
"An abnormal area of tissue inside or outside the body that may get bigger or change appearance, and may or may not be cancerous.
Common causes of this symptom
Lesions can have causes that aren't due to underlying disease. Examples include birthmarks, insect bites, or scars."
So how can that happen online?
An elision is like email, something that happens on line. Now the question is what is a lesion?
You and jonew seem to be on a role. Have neither of you ever read a published book before? Ellisons, like ellipses and m-dashes, are routinely used in virtually all published books. Using basic apostrophes is more typical online, where no one takes the time to properly format the correct publishing marks, but the mark authors using them as naive newbies (though, to be fair, authors don't typically insert those characters, as they're usually inserted by the publisher).
