O TRAVESSO

O uso do travesso (dash) em ingls um pouco diferente do que acontece em portugus. Segue uma breve explicao adaptada do Randon House College Dictionary! "sa#se o travesso! $) %ara introdu&ir um quebra abrupta no pensamento ou na construo gramatical no meio de uma frase. 'x.! (e )on the game # but *+m getting ahead of the stor,. -) %ara indicar uma interrupo na frase. 'x.! .(arve, don+t climb up that # .. *t )as too late. /) %ara dar nfase 0 uma ideia ou para introdu&ir algo que poderia ser um parntese. 'x.! a) (is influence # he )as a po)erful figura in the communit, # )as a dererrent to effective opposition. b) 1he car he )as driving # a gleaming red convertible # )as the most impressive thing about him. 2) %ara introdu&ir um apositivo quando o uso de v3rgulas seria insuficiente para dar nfase ou seria confuso. 'x.! 1he president+s promise of changes # land reform higher )ages reorgani&ation of industr, # )as not easil, fulfilled. 'm portugus usa#se o travesso para introdu&ir a fala de personagens ou um di4logo mas em ingls usa#se aspas.

ON LANGUAGE BY WILLIAM SAFIRE

One punctuation mark -- the dash -- has come to symbo i!e -- "hat# he state y co on$ the con%idin& parenthesis and the &ent y pausin& comma demand to kno"' "hat(s behind today(s bi& dash to the dash# Why has this lingua interruptus -- e)pressin& uncertainty$ *erkin& the reader around$ settin& up start in& conc usions$ imitatin& patterns o% speech -- come to dominate our prose# In the precedin& para&raph$ I used a pair o% dashes to interrupt a sentence and insert supp ementary materia that &a+e the ,uestion meanin& or -- to "riters$ at east -- ur&ency- I cou d as easi y ha+e used a pair o% parentheses$ speci%ica y desi&ned %or the purpose o% &race%u inter*ection o% use%u e)p ication- In the sentence be&innin& this para&raph$ I cou d a&ain ha+e used parentheses ./parens/ to %riends0 or e+en commas to separate the mi d inter*ection o% /to "riters$ at east$/ but I didn(t- Why not# Because I ha+e %a en into the habit o% tryin& too o%ten to make "ritin& read ike speakin&1he spoken sentence is %i ed "ith uttered second thou&hts$ chan&es o% direction$ urches o%% on tan&ents and simi ar t"ists- 1hat(s because "e say "hat "e think as "e think it$ and thou&hts ha+e a "ay o% tumb in& o+er one another$ and "e stick them in our % o" o% "ords as each notion comes to us- In this a&e o% ra" transcription$ art strains to imitate i%e$ and art%u "riters %ee the pressure to mirror the speech patterns o% yammerin& peop e by imitatin& their hi&& edy-pi&& edy outpourin& o% unedited thou&hts1hat transcribed-speech techni,ue is %ine %or "riters o% %iction and is especia y apt %or p ay"ri&hts and screen"riters "ho re+ea their characters( characters rea istica y throu&h their speech- Some characters b urt their thou&hts$ sho"in& honesty2 others "ease their "ords$ sho"in& dup icity2 yet others e)postu ate &rammatica y but end ess y$ sho"in& o%%- Writers o% drama must "rite speech$ not "ritin&$

because rea peop e do not speak "ritin&- 3ence "e ha+e pauses$ de ays -- you &et my dri%t# -- ha %-stops$ restarts$ stammerin& and e)c amatory &runts .u&h40 and dri%tin& o%% into pre-dot-com e ipses- - - - 1o put this speech in "ritten %orm -- that is$ to transcribe it -- "e ha+e seen the po"er%u punch -- po"4 ri&ht in the kisser -- o% i ustrati+e punctuation5ood dramatic "riters are in %a+or o% "hate+er turns the reader on- In an 6789 poem$ the poet Emi y :ickinson$ "ritin& in the ha tin& +oice o% a "oman dyin&$ used the dash to si&ni%y &aspin& %or breath' /I am a i+e -- I &uess -;1he Branches on my 3and;Are %u o% Mornin& 5 ory -- And at my %in&er(s end -;1he <armine -- tin& es "arm -;And i% I ho d a 5 ass;Across my Mouth -- it b urs it -; =hysician(s -- proo% o% Breath -;I am a i+e-/ In our time$ the "ritin& o% 1om Wo %e has made sty ish use o% the dash2 he combines it "ith ita ics and the midsentence e)c amation point to indicate herky-*erkiness or panic in thinkin&- In an artic e in the current 3arper(s deridin& the critics o% American /triumpha ism$/ the iconoc astic Wo %e steps into their shoes to "rite$ /A%ter the So+iet archi+es "ere opened up -- I mean$ damn4 -- it ooks ike 3iss and the Rosenber&s actua y were So+iet a&ents -- and e+en the Witch 3unt$ "hich "as one o% the bedrocks o% our be ie%s -- damn a&ain4 --/ 1hat(s the use o% %ictiona interna mono o&ue in a non%iction artic e$ and the dash does its *ob o% choppin& up the speechBut "riters o% narrati+e and e)position$ as "e as those "ho present %iction in the third person$ choose to use the an&ua&e in the +oice o% the "riter and not o% a character- 1he "ritten sentence$ "hich is not to be con%used "ith the spoken sentence that has been transcribed$ &i+es its creator a chance to rethink the ideas that ha+e come o%% the top o% the head$ to reassemb e them in an order y series$ to snip o%% the stupidities and shoot the strays$ thereby to marsha a co&ent ar&ument or paint a strikin& ima&eOn =unctuation 3i&h"ay$ the "riter-as-speaker is a dasher$ on y ha %-brakin& at e+ery stop si&n2 the "riter-as-"riter measures e+ery pause$ uses a comma %or the speed bump and a semico on to proceed "ith caution at the ba ancin& o% c ose y re ated comp ete thou&hts$ as in this sentence- 1he co on$ a strict setterup o% thin&s to %o o"$ is ike an arro" that says />o" "atch this/ to the reader$ but it is too o%ten rep aced by the do-anythin& dash=ro%- Richard ?eit o% the @ni+ersity o% >orth <aro ina at Wi min&ton disa&rees "ith me about the dan&er o% the em "hich is the typo&rapher(s term %or the en&th o% the dash' it(s as on& as the etter M in the same %ont- /1echnica y$ no %unction o% the em cou dn(t be hand ed by other punctuation -- comma$ co on$ semico on$ period or parentheses$/ he notes- /1he impact o% the em is not syntactic but +isua - Its shape and en&th demand a pause and impart drama- It sets up a punch ine in a "ay a co on cannot- Arthur Wa ace <a houn put a code o% the O d South into "ords in 6A67' (A "oman(s name shou d appear in print but t"ice -- "hen she marries and "hen she dies-/( 1hat "as then2 no"$ *ust as "omen appear in print a ot$ the dash appears too o%ten- I ackno" ed&e that dashes can be use%u -- say$ to add an e)amp e -- and are sure y more emphatic than parentheses ."ithout the s y sharin& o% con%idence "ith the reader0And the dash is indispensib e %or surroundin& a ist that a ready contains commas -- "eak y be&innin& a sentence "ith a con*unction$ misspe in& indispensable, and incorrect y usin& a comma be%ore the and precedin& the %ina item in a series -- but undi uted dashiness has become the mark o% the s apdash "riter "ho %ai s to take the troub e to di%%erentiate amon& the pauses o% punctuationWritin& is di%%erent %rom speakin&- Or&ani!e your "ritten thou&hts so that you don(t ha+e to stud your sentences "ith asides$ sudden additions$ curses or ast-minute entries- Limit your use o% the dash to its indisp -- to those %unctions "here it beats the other punctuation pauses -- or e se-

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