An ellipsis consists of three points with a space in between points, and a space before and after the ellipsis. Because of typographical reason, a thin space is used in between the ellipsis points to prevent "point separation," but a regular space should be used before and after ellipsis.
More ellipsis
http://www.apstylebook.com/ask_editor.php search for ellipsis and the editor says "There should be a space on both side of the ellipsis."
The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law, Norm Goldstein, pages 327, 328. Do an online search on Amazon.
Okay, LCL, you want a debate on the ellipsis, I'd take you up on your challenge.
ReplyDeleteI think there is a definite transatlantic difference in the formatting of ellipsis. For example, the Chicago Manual Style Guide says that the ellipsis is "three spaced periods", whilst the Guardian newspaper style guide says that ellipses consists of "three dots (with no spaces between them), eg "She didn't want to go there ... "
As for the space before the ellipsis, the American Psychological Association Style Guide (APA Style Guide) does NOT put a space before (see for example, the item 304 in this sheet: http://www.apastyle.org/pubman-reprint.pdf). Whereas the Chicago Manual Style and the Guardian are adamant that there should be one before and after (whilst I think a space must be added after, but NOT before).
In fact, if you read the Chicago Manual Guide, it's sheer batshittery because it goes on and on about whether it should be three or four dots:
"The three-or-four-dot method is appropriate for poetry and most scholarly works other than legal writings or textual commentary (see 11.62). Three dots indicate an omission within a quoted sentence. Four mark the omission of one or more sentences (but see 11.58). When three are used, space occurs both before the first dot and after the final dot. When four are used, the first dot is a true period—that is, there is no space between it and the preceding word. What precedes and, normally, what follows the four dots should be grammatically complete sentences as quoted, even if part of either sentence has been omitted. A complete passage from Emerson’s essay “Politics” reads:
The spirit of our American radicalism is destructive and aimless: it is not loving, it has no ulterior and divine ends; but is destructive only out of hatred and selfishness. On the other side, the conservative party, composed of the most moderate, able, and cultivated part of the population, is timid, and merely defensive of property. It vindicates no right, it aspires to no real good, it brands no crime, it proposes no generous policy, it does not build, nor write, nor cherish the arts, nor foster religion, nor establish schools, nor encourage science, nor emancipate the slave, nor befriend the poor, or the Indian, or the immigrant. From neither party, when in power, has the world any benefit to expect in science, art, or humanity, at all commensurate with the resources of the nation.
The passage might be shortened as follows:
The spirit of our American radicalism is destructive and aimless. . . . On the other side, the conservative party . . . is timid, and merely defensive of property. . . . It does not build, nor write, nor cherish the arts, nor foster religion, nor establish schools.
Note that the first word after an ellipsis is capitalized if it begins a new grammatical sentence."
However, to me and many other British English users, including the BBC, the four dots are absolutely beyond the pale.
So the moral of the story is, there is no absolute right or wrong answers about the formatting of the ellipsis.
My personal style guide would adhere to the "no space before but a space after" (APA style edict) and "no space in-between" (Guardian style edict) conventions.
And I think the last word should go to Oscar Wilde:
"We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language."
I just want to have a better understanding of this subject. I was a bit taken aback by your comment reply on your blog; you were swift in dismissing the space before the ellipsis so I decided to dig up some references to find out the truth.
ReplyDeleteI think with modern typesetting (and email and instant messaging too), it kind of muddles up the spacing. But sometimes when I actually read a real older book in print, I do find that there are spacing in between the ellipsis points and before and after the ellipsis.
I tend to "believe"--like I believe in yeti and such, that there is no 4-point ellipsis. The extra point is just a period or full-stop that belongs to the end of a sentence. Of course, I could be wrong.
I was trying to look up more authoritative sources in addition to you of course, but too bad they need to be paid. I guess you should have some free access to those more reliable sources. And you do.
I also notice that WordPress actually self correct the ellipsis, that's if you put four dots, the last dot actually appears different from the preceding four, at least when I put a space before that. My comment at R&E just illustrates that, even I type the period the same way I typed the rest but it appears different, the opening double quotes too. So WordPress cares punctuations rather deeply.
The whole spacing thing drives me a bit crazy as I want to be exact. I guess given the nature of word processing I think it makes it even crazier.
I rest my case ....
Was I really sounding very dismissive earlier? I guess I must have done, and very sorry about that if my tone offended you before. But I'm so used to *my* kind of ellipsis that I really don't pay any heed to other styles unless I'm forced to.
ReplyDeleteTo me, adding a space before the ellipsis makes it looks like it's being orphaned, and left stranded in the middle of a sentence with nothing to do. I also don't agree with having spaces in between, but that's more because it makes the rest in tone represented by the ellipsis looks exaggerated and contrived. Not to mention making the punctuation extra labour-intensive at precisely the moment when you're meant to save your breath...
I think also there is a major difference in usage as well that determines if people should consider inserting the space before. Chicago Manual considers the ellipsis as mainly used for the purpose of omitting words, and in that case, it would make sense to put a space before. But I consider ellipsis to denote unfinished sentences rather than conscious omission of words that were there, and in that case, I don't see why it should be preceded by a space at all.
Anyway, the Chicago Manual Guide is a mass of contradictions when you read it, because in one section it says that the ellipsis are "a series of periods", and then in another instance it says that the "ellipsis points" are placeholders for text substitution. Thus its statement that a 4 point ellipsis is justified as apparently it means you're skipping more than one line. But to me that is just utter bull.
But overall, I don't think this kind of formatting needs to attain the level of a belief system. Or perhaps I just couldn't care less? Basically as an author I'm obliged to adhere to whatever style guides that a particular publication demands their contributors to adhere to. And if they demand 4-point ellipsis with space in-between and before and after then so be it. But for my own self-expression, I would prefer to adhere to my own sense of style.
As for WordPress, I actually think it's the complete OPPOSITE of caring about punctuation. I mean, look at the way the apostrophes turn out there - they actually PUT A SPACE AFTER the apostrophe, making "it's" look like "it' s"!! That's just wrong.
Okay, perhaps we should really let this topic rest...
You are just being confident and assertive and I don't take it personally, no apology needed.
ReplyDeleteI just hate it when I could not find a definitive guide to it, hate it
hate it hate it.