Punctuation: difference between the Dash and Hyphen

 

Punctuation: difference between the Dash and Hyphen 

 

Punctuation is a very important part of written communication. Without it, expressions will be vague and communication will be disrupted. The punctuation marks are not randomly inserted in texts; they have to go by certain rules. These rules guide the use of punctuation to ensure universality in interpretation of texts. According to Nada, punctuation marks “enable the reader to receive the right message” (2). Abdul (1) comments that as a result of their importance, punctuation marks are given a special section in grammar books. Therefore, it is important to study intonation.

1.      Dash and Hyphen

The dash is one of the punctuation marks. It is as important as the comma, full-stop or the comma, but it is not so common. There are two types of dashes: the en dash ( – ) and the em dash (—). An en dash is slightly longer than a hyphen ( - ) it about the width of the capital letter N. on the other hand, the em dash is slightly longer than the en dash, is about the width of a capital M. it is on the basis of their length that they are referred to as en dash and em dash.

The en dash is mostly used to connect two numbers, dates, or times to indicate a range.  It is used to represent the words to or through. For example

Pages 10–20 should contain only pictures.

The seminar will be Monday–Friday.

February–April is oven very hot.

If the items in the range have multiple words, the en dash is inserted between the last word of the first element and the first word of the second element: for example:

I’ll be home 8:00 AM–4:00 PM tomorrow.

The en dash is also used to write the score of a competition, such as a sporting event or a vote.

The home team beat their rivals 14–10 in the homecoming game.”

“The board voted 5–4 to accept the proposal.

The en dash is also used to express a direct connection between two people, things, or places. Example:

The president is trying to process the Nigeria-China trade deal.

The PDP–APC conflict on the financial management has only widened in recent times.

The en dash has other technical applications that may not be universal; maybe according to some in-house punctuation styles. In such cases, some writers would choose to use the hyphen.

The New York State–led initiative is gaining traction across the country.

A multiple–award-winning novelist, Ms. Jones currently lives in Portland, Oregon.

The Em dash is also called em rule. It is primarily used to indicate parenthetical information. It acts as an alternative to commas and parentheses in indicating more emphasis.

The em dash can be used instead of a comma. Commas are often used to enclose parenthetical information, such as phrases, appositives, relative clauses, and interjections. However, to emphasize the information more by creating a stronger break to attract the reader’s attention to a particular portion, the em dash should be used.

Jennifer—her head turning for a last look at home—walked slowly and thoughtfully out the door.

I hope—God willing—to get into Harvard next year.

An em dash may be used for appositives at the end of a sentence to emphasize the added information. For example:

The senator—a vocal critic of the president’s policies—said she is planning a motion to defeat his latest tax-reform bill.

Last night we watched Funny Girl—my favorite comedy of all time.

The em dash may be used for non-restrictive relative clauses rather than the comma. For example:

The woman down the street—whose children are the same age as ours—invited us over for dinner next week.

Samantha—whom I’ve asked to be my bridesmaid—is getting married next year.

Funny Girl—which is my favorite comedy of all time—is on TV tomorrow night.

The principal scheduled the meeting for mid-July—when most members of staff will be on vacation.

Parentheses can also be replaced by em dashes in a sentence to draw more attention to the information within them. However, this would be in a less formal situation. For example

I know that my friend Stephen—the poor dear!—has found living on his own very difficult.

The em dash may signify when someone has been interrupted while talking or thinking. For Example

Speaker A: “As I was saying, I think we ne—”

Speaker B: “Sorry to interrupt again, sir, but I’m still not clear on your last point.”

Hyphen

A hyphen joins two or more words together while a dash separates words into parenthetical statements. The two are sometimes confused because they look so similar, but their usage is different. Hyphens are not separated by spaces while a dash sometimes has a space on either side.

Generally, hyphens are used to join two words or parts of words together while avoiding confusion or ambiguity. Example

            Run-down

            Up-to-date

There are some cases where hyphens preserve written clarity such as where there are letter collisions, where a prefix added or in family relations. Many words that have been hyphenated in the past have since dropped the hyphen and become a single word. Such words include email, cooperate, antinuclear and nowadays.

In some cases, a hyphen does change the meaning of a sentence. For example:

            I am thinking of re-covering my sofa (to put a new cover on it).

            I would like to recover my sofa.

In written fractions, place a hyphen between the number and denominator except there is already a hyphen in either the numerator or denominator.

            Two-fifths

            One-third

            Three-tenths

Use a hyphen when a number forms part of an adjectival compound.

            France has a 35-hour working week.

            He won the 100-meter sprint.

Summarily, the hyphen and dash are different in that the hyphen is used without spaces before and after while the dash may be used with space before and after it. However, the em dash is also used without space before or after it.

2. Round bracket ( ( ) )and square bracket ([ ])

The round bracket and square bracket have similar uses but as they differ in shape, so they differ in uses. The bracket is either of two tall for- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings.

The round brackets (also called parentheses) are used to add afterthoughts or explainers. Their use can be similar to the comma when it is to add further explanation such as an after thought or a comment that has to do with the main line of thought but is distinct in some way.

Square brackets are used to make quotations clearer or shorter. Usually, they square brackets are used for special purposes such as in technical manuals.

3. The Irony

The irony has three different types. They are verbal irony, situational irony and dramatic irony.

1.      Verbal irony: this is a type of irony that refers to a statement that means the opposite of what is said. It is used to express humour, frustration or anger. It could be use to achieve sarcasm. For example:

            “My day is great”. Whereas the speaker means to say “my day is bad”.

2.      Situational Irony: it is a type of irony where they opposite of what is expressed happens, resulting in humorous or tragic consequence. It is an event that mocks the circumstances. For example:

 

You buy your English teacher a mug that reads “You’re the best teacher ever”.

 

3.      Dramatic Irony: it is a type of irony where the reader or audience knows something that the characters do not know, resulting in increased tension. Dramatic irony occurs in everyday life when a situation is happening and yet the person within the situation is unaware of what is happening. For example, I person is mocking a friend for losing his wallet, but did not realize that he has also lost his own wallet. This is dramatic irony. It is a situation in a play, movie or story where the audience knows something that the characters do not know; thereby creating suspense or humour.

 

4.      Discuss exhaustively what allusion is about.

Allusion is one ofa the many literary devices in existence. It is used to refer to a person, character, place or event usually to increase the explanation of a particular work. Some allusions name their references while others do not. As such, it is important that when an allusion is used, it should be one that the reader has knowledge of or it will be redundant and lose its essence. Example:

To my dog, our neighbourhood park is the Garden of Eden. (This is an allusion to the biblical story of the Garden of Eden.)

I am Juliet to you Romio. (This is an allusion to a work of Shakespeare)

Why we use allusions

There are several reasons why allusions are used. It is used to give readers contextual link to what is happening in a piece of writing. One can make allusion to a biblical character or event to explain a character or an event. For instance, “the prodigal son” (a biblical character) may be used to refer to a character in other to summarise an idea that could have taken much time to explain; especially for a character of wastage.

Allusion can be used as a personification tool. For example:

Those mice knew the fastest way to destroy my shirt, as if they’d made clothing and knew every seam.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d get found out, even though I worked completely alone—just my laptop and me. But that screen sow right through me and I could hear exactly what it had to say: “Phony!”

Allusion can be used to show that one is an authority in his/her field. One can use statements related to his field to make allusion and that will show the level of expertise of the speaker.

Types of Allusion

 Allusions are of different types. They include

Religious allusion: this is done when an allusion is done referring to a religious text, story or character. Example:

            Reflecting on her cruel behaviour, Aku’s mother stood still like a pillar of salt.

Historical allusion: this is an allusion to a historical event or period. An example is “He was a Nero” suggesting that he has a cruel behaviour like that of Nero- the Roman Emperor.

Mythological allusion:  this is an allusion to a mythological figure or a mythical event.  An example is “she ran faster than Hermes”. Hermes is the messenger of the Greek gods.

Literary allusion: this is an allusion to a literary text. An example is “Reference

Abdul Najat Muttailib. “English Punctuation Marks”, International Journal of Science and Research, 2018.

Naib Nada. “The Importance of Punction for EFL Students in Academic Writing”, Faculty of Languages, University of Tripoli. 2023.

Farlex International. Complete English Punctuation Rules, Farlex International Limited, 2017.

No matter how Dorian adjusted the electric blanket, it was either too hot or too cold, never just right”.

Casual allusion: this is a single allusion that does not impact the reader’s understanding of the work significantly. For example, one may describe a character’s home as “the kind of place where Goodluck Jonathan would like to relax. If the reader knows who Goodluck Jonathan is, his/her understanding of the work will be enhanced; but if the reader does not know the figure alluded to, he still would not miss the storyline.

Self-reference allusion: this is also known as self-allusion. It is an allusion to another of the writer’s work

Corrective allusion single reference allusion: in this situation, the writer makes a reference for the purpose of opposing the original reference.

Single reference allusion: this is a straightforward allusion where the reader is supposed to recognize the reference and understand its meaning.

Apparent allusion: this is an allusion that makes a specific reference for the purpose of challenging that reference.

Multiple reference allusion: this refers to a kind of allusion made when there are multiple instances of allusion to various practices from one cultural tradition.

Reference

Abdul Najat Muttailib. “English Punctuation Marks”, International Journal of Science and Research, 2018.

Naib Nada. “The Importance of Punction for EFL Students in Academic Writing”, Faculty of Languages, University of Tripoli. 2023.

Farlex International. Complete English Punctuation Rules, Farlex International Limited, 2017.