Punctuation is normally perceived as a system of handed-down norms that is complicated and difficult to manage. This study shows that it is actually a simple, transparent system that serves the reader more than the writer. This study orients itself on formal features of individual characters and the situations in which they appear. Through doing so, it provides a new and manageable classification of the entire system and its functions as well as offers a number of applications for punctuation instruction.

Ursula Bredel, Universität zu Köln.