AmE Punctuation Question

Question

In AmE punctuation, is it common to omit the commas between the questions below?

The questions "Who?" "What?" "When?" "Where?" "How?" and "Why?" still remain unanswered.

As an alternative:

The questions Who? What? When? Where? How? and Why? still remain unanswered?

Do both versions work? If so, which one do you personally prefer, the quoted questions or the italicized ones?

Thank you.

RandomGuy · Accepted Answer

victoIn AmE punctuation, is it common to omit the commas between the questions below?

I don’t see lists like that very often, so I don’t know. All I know is that I’d certainly use the commas.

victoThe questions Who? What? When? Where? How? and Why? still remain unanswered.

This would be one of the shortcomings of italics. Both the presence and the absence of the commas would be an eyesore there, at least to me. In cases like this, I’d use quotation marks instead. If I were forced to use italics, I wouldn’t use the commas.

Canadian45 · Answer

I would write the following.

The questions 'who', 'what', 'when', 'where', and 'how' still remain unanswered.

I see no need for capitalization or for the question marks. On the other hand, it is a classic situation for the use of commas.

RandomGuy · Answer

canadian45I see no need for capitalization or for the question marks.

They’re pro-sentences, so it’s perfectly reasonable to capitalize and punctuate them as normal sentences, as opposed to cited words: The words "who", "what", "when", "where", and "how" are used to form questions.

Canadian45 · Answer

Aspara Guscanadian45I see no need for capitalization or for the question marks.They’re pro-sentences, so it’s perfectly reasonable to capitalize and punctuate them as normal sentences, as opposed to cited words: The words "who", "what", "when", "where", and "how" are used to form questions. but not necessarily asking direct questions

But that's not the only possibility.
'We need to find out who did what, how, when, where and why?'

add: Can one have sentences within sentences to that extent?

RandomGuy · Answer

canadian45We need to find out who did what, how, when, where and why.

This intent would be very unlikely, and the interpretation even more so.

Canadian45 · Answer

But if they are actually meant to be Pro-sentences, why is "The questions" necessary  at the beginning of that sentence?

RandomGuy · Answer

It’s necessary to introduce the cited questions.

The questions "Who?", "What?", "When?", "Where?", "How?", and "Why?" still remain unanswered.

The questions "Who did it?", "What was the intent?", "When did it happen?", "Where did it happen?", "How did it happen?", and "Why did he do it?" still remain unanswered.

EDIT: In my first post, I meant …I’d certainly use the commas in the first sentence…

Dave_anon · Answer

Hi

In UK English, I'd be happy with:

- The questions: who, what, when, where, how and why? still remain unanswered.

Dave

Canadian45 · Answer

My meaning is that the presence of ''The questions (of)", in my mind, call for lower case 'w', etc becsuse they are not actually Pro-sentences. Pro-sentences should not need the preamble "The questions". So that is why I responed as I did. But you may disagree.

add: Upon rereading this thread, I see that this post is somewhat of a repeat of what I said before.

RandomGuy · Answer

canadian45Pro-sentences should not need the preamble "The questions".

I’m not sure I follow. They are mentioned pro-sentences and should be capitalized and punctuated just as normal mentioned sentences would be. If they should not be capitalized and punctuated, then neither should the following, according to your line of reasoning:

*The questions "who did it", "what was the intent", "when did it happen", "where did it happen", "how did it happen", and "why did he do it" still remain unanswered.

That was the point I intended to illustrate in my previous post.

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