Apposition with Commas
Dear teachers,
In the following sentences, do we need commas after the appositive, "Dan Jurafsky" ?
1. As linguist, Dan Jurafsky, shows, evidence of a 'fermented paste made of fish entrails' is found in an ancient Chinese agricultural text from 544 CE.
Would it make a difference if a definite article precedes "linguist"?
2. As the linguist, Dan Jurafsky, shows, evidence of a 'fermented paste made of fish entrails' is found in an ancient Chinese agricultural text from 544 CE.
Top answer
[1] As linguist, Dan Jurafsky, shows , evidence of a 'fermented paste made of fish entrails' is found in an ancient Chinese agricultural text from 544 CE. [2] As the linguist, Dan Jurafsky, shows , evidence of a 'fermented paste made of fish entrails' is found in an ancient Chinese agricultural text from 544 CE. In both your examples the appositive NP "Dan Jurafsky" is semantically restrictive, so the commas surrounding it are not required.
- [1] As linguist, Dan Jurafsky, shows , evidence of a 'fermented paste made of fish entrails' is found in an ancient Chinese agricultural text from 544 CE.
- [2] As the linguist, Dan Jurafsky, shows , evidence of a 'fermented paste made of fish entrails' is found in an ancient Chinese agricultural text from 544 CE.
- In both your examples the appositive NP "Dan Jurafsky" is semantically restrictive, so the commas surrounding it are not required.
- But the comma after "shows" is required to mark off the underlined initial phrase as a supplement.
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[1] As linguist, Dan Jurafsky, shows, evidence of a 'fermented paste made of fish entrails' is found in an ancient Chinese agricultural text from 544 CE.
[2] As the linguist, Dan Jurafsky, shows, evidence of a 'fermented paste made of fish entrails' is found in an ancient Chinese agricultural text from 544 CE.
In both your examples the appositive NP
0SelvakumarWould it make a difference if a definite article precedes "linguist"?
No.
0
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