Preliminary communication
Differences in the usage of punctuation between Croatian and English
Jakob Patekar
orcid.org/0000-0001-7371-0087
; Osnovna škola Pećine, Rijeka
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to explore differences in the usage of punctuation between Croatian and English, especially regarding the influence of English as a foreign language on native speakers of Croatian. In recent decades, English has been such a large presence in the media in Croatia that it has begun influencing the Croatian language. Therefore, the first part of the paper uses English and Croatian guidebooks on punctuation to describe differences in the usage of punctuation, while the second part of the paper presents the results of research carried out among students in the first and second year of an English language and literature graduate study programme who are expected to be familiar with the norms of both languages. This research was carried using a sample of 48 students who were asked to translate a short paragraph containing selected punctuation marks. The last part of the paper discusses the possible causes of mistakes (the influence of the English language or a lack of knowledge of punctuation rules in Croatian) and highlights the importance of Croatian language core courses for future teachers, translators, and members of the academic community.
Keywords
punctuation marks; differences in punctuation rules; crosslinguistic influence
Hrčak ID:
158892
URI
Publication date:
2.6.2016.
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