Sometimes the emphatic words must be distinguished by a
particular tone of voice, as well as by a greater stress.
Emphasis will be more fully explained under the head of Elocution.
_Pauses_. Pauses or rests, in speaking and reading, are a total
cessation of the voice during a perceptible, and, in many cases, a
measurable space of time.
_Tones_. Tones are different both from emphasis and pauses; consisting
in the modulation of the voice, or the notes or variations of sound
which we employ in the expression of our sentiments.
Emphasis affects particular words and phrases; but tones affect
sentences, paragraphs, and sometimes a whole discourse.
PUNCTUATION.
PUNCTUATION is the art of dividing written composition into sentences or
parts of sentences, by points or stops, in order to mark the different
pauses which the sense and an accurate pronunciation require.
The _Comma_ represents the shortest pause; the _Semicolon_, a pause
double that of the comma; the _Colon_, double that of the semicolon; and
the _Period_, double that of the colon.
Punctuation is a modern art. The ancients were entirely unacquainted
with the use of points; and wrote, not only without any distinction of
members and periods, but also without any distinction of words.
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