On the Mark. By Florence Hazrat. Basic Books; 352 pages; $32. Profile Books; £22
《论标点》。弗洛伦斯·哈兹拉特著。基础书局；352页；32美元。Profile书局；22英镑。
“In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.” Yet in the beginning there was no punctuation. In early Latin manuscripts, the Bible was written in scriptura continua(连续书写（无空格）), without spaces or marks between words. This was a problem: pause at the wrong point, and you could sever God from “the word”, throwing Christ’s divinity into doubt.(这是个问题：在错误的地方停顿，就可能把上帝与“道”割裂，使基督的神性受到质疑。) So in the Middle Ages, Christian scholars set about(着手，开始做) punctuating the holy book, using symbols and sub-clauses as “lanterns to words(文字的明灯（比喻）)” to guide preachers.
“太初有道，道与上帝同在，道就是上帝。”然而太初并没有标点。在早期的拉丁文手稿中，《圣经》以“连续书写”的形式写成，词与词之间没有空格或符号。这带来了一个问题：如果在错误的地方停顿，就可能把上帝与“道”割裂开来，使基督的神性受到质疑。因此在中世纪，基督教士们着手为这部圣书添加标点，用符号和从句作为“文字的明灯”，为传道者指引方向。
“The history of punctuation is the history of humanity,” argues Florence Hazrat, a researcher, in a rollicking(喧闹欢乐的，热闹的) new book. Often dismissed(被轻视，被摒弃) as “the invisible ushers of the sentence(句子中看不见的引座员)”, dots and dashes have shaped religious texts, legal documents, and literature. “On the Mark”, like punctuation itself, makes readers pause for thought, showing how full stops have displeased and commas caused controversy.(《论标点》就像标点本身一样，让读者停下来思考，展示句号如何令人不快，逗号如何引发争议。)
“标点的历史就是人类的历史，”研究员弗洛伦斯·哈兹拉特在一本热闹的新书中如是说。句点和破折号常被贬为“句子中看不见的引座员”，但它们塑造了宗教文本、法律文件和文学作品。《论标点》就像标点本身一样，让读者停下来思考，展示句号如何令人不快，逗号如何引发争议。