原文
For most of history, writing had two pauses. A comma for a quick breath. A full stop to end.
Then in 1496, a printer in Venice made a third one: the semicolon. It joins two full thoughts without ending either.
The others changed shape slowly, over centuries, drifting into the marks we know. The semicolon showed up in 1496, fully formed, from one printer's hand.
When each mark showed up
·the point · ~200 BC
?the question · ~800s
!the shout · ~1360s
;the semicolon · 1496
—the dash · ~1750s