Is it possible to make the Russian punctuation rules more explicit?
Alexei D. Shmelev · Computational Linguistics and Intellectual Technologies · 2023
This paper deals with some issues related to the Russian punctuation rules and their account in computer checkers and correctors (both “analytic” and “synthetic”). It also discusses variation of punctuation. The paper offers a critical assessment of reference books devoted to punctuation and makes special reference to certain verbs of propositional attitude and their parenthetical use (in particular, dumat’ ‘to think,’ videt’ ‘to see,’ and slyshat’ ‘to hear). It claims that the inherent characteristics of the verbs under consideration influence the punctuation, and therefore every verb deserves a detailed description (lexicographic portrait). In particular, videt’ and slyshat’ behave quite differently when used as parenthetical verbs. A step towards making the punctuation rules more explicit may consist in providing an index of words mentioned in the rules together with a subject index.