Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexBell
And then of course there is the discussion about style rules for ellipses.
I've never heard or seen the the rule three periods within a sentence and four at the end of a sentence. . . . And then the next question is how to prevent and ellipsis at the end of a sentence and end of a line being orphaned on to the next line. I think that looks ugly.
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1. So far as I ken, the rule also applies in Australia, but I'd be very interested to know whether any credible reference books from there suggest otherwise. Since you, too, are in the field, I expect you've had a look.
Here's a sampling of the many, many reference sources that confirm the three- and four-point rule.
A look at
Chicago Manual of Style (for publishing) will show that the rule for ellipses is always three points within a sentence (or to indicate an incomplete one) and four at the end of complete sentence. The idea becomes more logical if you read the additional point as the period which ends the sentence added to the three ellipsis points. If you add spaces between the points (which I prefer), then the initial period is squeezed and the three that follow are floating: "Ably . . . I saw Elba. . . ."
From Subsection 13.51 of the Chicago Style Manual (which doesn't allow me to link unless the reader is a subscriber):
Quote:
13.51: Ellipses with periods. A period is added before an ellipsis to indicate the omission of the end of a sentence,
unless the sentence is deliberately incomplete. . . .
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The Modern Language Association's (MLA) cite style also makes the same distinction:
Quote:
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When the ellipsis coincides with the end of your sentence, use three periods with a space before each following a sentence period–that is, four periods, with no space before the first or after the last.
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Sample complications: (i) an ellipsis after a comma when the comma is retained for sense or (b) between a quote-within-a-quote and the rest of the quote when both are ending at once but contain different omissions.
Likewise the
Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, which is de rigeur for writing legal articles. The site requires a subscription, but the Bluebook itself is available everywhere, including Amazon.
This back-door search via Google Books shows an additional unique usage for four-point ellipses (note the excerpt from p. 47).
If you're burning with the need for a definitive rule from the Bluebook about four points, I'll supply one for you on Monday or Tuesday. Unfortunately, I'm not home at the moment and have never found a way to travel with my entire reference library.
2. The way to stop the last or first point from being orphaned is to use hard (i.e., nonbreaking) spaces.