Editing Comma (section)

==History==
{{main|Punctuation#Western antiquity}}
The development of [[punctuation]] is much more recent than the alphabet.

In the 3rd century BC, [[Aristophanes of Byzantium]] invented a system of single [[Interpunct|dots]] ({{lang|grc-Latn|théseis}}) at varying levels, which separated verses and indicated the amount of breath needed to complete each fragment of the text when [[Reading (process)|reading]] aloud.<ref>{{cite book |title= Eats, Shoot & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation|last= Truss|first= Lynn|year= 2004|publisher= Gotham Books|location= New York|isbn= 1-59240-087-6|page=72}}</ref> The different lengths were signified by a dot at the bottom, middle, or top of the line. For a short passage, a {{lang|grc|komma}} in the form of a dot {{angbr|·}} was placed mid-level. This is the origin of the concept of a comma, although the name came to be used for the mark itself instead of the clause it separated.

The mark used today is descended from a {{char|/}}, a diagonal [[slash (punctuation)|slash]] known as {{lang|la|virgula suspensiva}}, used from the 13th to 17th centuries to represent a pause. The modern comma was first used by [[Aldus Manutius]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.haverford.edu/classics/courses/2006S/lat101/handouts/no_spaces_aeneid.pdf |title=Reading Before Punctuation – ''Introduction to Latin Literature'' pamphlet |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060902185038/http://www.haverford.edu/classics/courses/2006S/lat101/handouts/no_spaces_aeneid.pdf |archive-date=2 September 2006}}, [[Haverford College]]</ref><ref>[https://www.ualberta.ca/~sreimer/ms-course/course/punc.htm#mtop Manuscript Studies, Medieval and Early Modern] {{Webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304203023/http://www.ualberta.ca/~sreimer/ms-course/course/punc.htm#mtop |date=4 March 2016}} – [[Palaeography]]: Punctuation glossary</ref>