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Rules / punctuation

PUN-007 Context default layer: sentence

Serial comma follows declared style

IF a series contains three or more coordinated items, THEN apply the selected serial-comma policy consistently AND add a comma when omission causes ambiguity ELSE retain.

Why the rule exists

Consistency lowers friction, while clarity overrides optional house-style omission.

Condition

The rule fires when this evaluates true. Paths marked below must be present in the fact base; the engine reports the rest rather than guessing them.

  • series.item_count gte 3

Facts this rule reads

PathSource
series.item_count Derived from text

Then

  1. apply_policy — target series.final_separator
  2. insert — target series.final_separator, value ","

Else

  1. retain — target current_text, No triggering condition is present.

LAKA

Smallest sufficient intervention
Yes
Primary axes

Sources

  • Garner's Modern English Usage — Bryan A. Garner
    Modern American usage and editorial judgment.
  • Dreyer's English — Benjamin Dreyer
    Practical modern editorial advice and stylistic judgment.
  • The Copyeditor's Handbook — Amy Einsohn; Marilyn Schwartz
    Professional copyediting practice, grammar, and editorial process.
  • The Chicago Manual of Style — The University of Chicago Press Editorial Staff
    Comprehensive editorial style, grammar, documentation, and publishing.
The raw rule record

Verbatim from 08-punctuation-rules.json. Also available at /v1/rules/PUN-007.

{
  "id": "PUN-007",
  "name": "Serial comma follows declared style",
  "domain": "punctuation",
  "layer": "sentence",
  "strength": "context_default",
  "human_logic": "IF a series contains three or more coordinated items, THEN apply the selected serial-comma policy consistently AND add a comma when omission causes ambiguity ELSE retain.",
  "when": {
    "path": "series.item_count",
    "operator": "gte",
    "value": 3
  },
  "then": [
    {
      "action": "apply_policy",
      "target": "series.final_separator",
      "policy_from": "document.style.serial_comma"
    },
    {
      "action": "insert",
      "target": "series.final_separator",
      "when": "ambiguity_without_comma",
      "value": ","
    }
  ],
  "else": [
    {
      "action": "retain",
      "target": "current_text",
      "reason": "No triggering condition is present."
    }
  ],
  "unless": [],
  "because": "Consistency lowers friction, while clarity overrides optional house-style omission.",
  "diagnostics": [],
  "examples": {},
  "source_ids": [
    "BK-003",
    "BK-005",
    "BK-007",
    "BK-039"
  ],
  "laka": {
    "smallest_sufficient_intervention": true,
    "primary_axes": [
      "scope",
      "depth",
      "magnitude",
      "reversibility"
    ]
  }
}

Other punctuation rules

  1. PUN-001 Terminate complete sentences IF a prose sentence is complete, THEN end it with a mark matching statement, direct question, or strong exclamation ELSE keep it joined to its governing structure. Hard constraint
  2. PUN-002 No comma splice IF two independent clauses are joined only by a comma, THEN add a coordinator, use a semicolon, or make two sentences ELSE retain. Hard constraint
  3. PUN-003 Comma before coordinating conjunction IF a coordinating conjunction joins two independent clauses, THEN place a comma before it unless the clauses are very short and unambiguous ELSE retain. Context default
  4. PUN-004 Comma after introductory material IF introductory material is long, clausal, or potentially misread, THEN add a comma before the main clause ELSE use the lightest mark that preserves clarity. Context default
  5. PUN-005 Set off nonrestrictive material IF a modifier adds nonessential information rather than identifying the referent, THEN set it off with paired punctuation ELSE do not set it off. Hard constraint
  6. PUN-006 Do not isolate restrictive material IF a modifier identifies which person or thing is meant, THEN remove punctuation that falsely marks it as optional ELSE evaluate as nonrestrictive. Hard constraint
  7. PUN-008 Semicolon joins related independent clauses IF two independent clauses are closely related AND no coordinator is used, THEN a semicolon is available ELSE choose another boundary. Context default
  8. PUN-009 Semicolons clarify complex series IF list items contain internal commas, THEN separate top-level items with semicolons ELSE use commas. Context default