With quasm:
‘Can I help you¿’
In these versions it is unclear whether the first is an earnest question yet the second is clearly a question to no end.
Defence of the Casm
To defend this punctuation mark, I have drawn up what I believe to be the chief arguments against the casm to which I will rebut.
English has been fine without this for so long, why is it necessary?
In several Ethiopic languages in common usage, the temherte slaqî fulfils a role similar in some respects to the casm which is in common usage today. Surely this mark must make a difference to their literature for the better or it would have been discarded long ago. As the world has further and further globalized, there has been a need for other cultures to learn English. English has many nuances which do not occur in other languages; therefore it will ease language learning by simplification of themes and implied concepts. The reduction of potential confusion in language will also help children learn to analyse books and learn about the rich literary principles of insincerity, sarcasm and humour. As with all languages, English has evolved and the casm helps to do so. Some comedy has become more subtle than in previous periods. This change has also increased the prominence of such humour as sarcasm to the point where it warrants its own punctuation. The casm fulfils this role. With the advent of the digital age many activities have become faster. The average child is reading less and less. The casm speeds up literature by removing some of the extraneous description around dialogue and by so doing should improve accessibility to reading. The casm will allow authors to be more descriptive in characterization and be able to convey more of their story through dialogue. The casm will not make authors lazy but open up a new type of literature and literary conversation which is more focused around parallels to actual speech. Removing the heavy description currently necessary will allow authors to balance the pace of their books. This means they would be able to put more effort into the parts of the story where description is better directed. This would enhance the overall quality of books. Authors would not be forced to use the casm. This means that if they wished to pursue a theme or genre that required obscurity or inscrutability in dialogue or prose, for example; a murder mystery, the style would stay the same as current writing. However, the casm will result in authors formulating new genres and literature evolving from where it is today. The casm will make authors lazy
Would a person accustomed to reading with the casm be shut out of classic literature?
No, a person used to using the casm would still be able to appreciate pre-casm literature as exposure to post-casm literature would encourage them to try out a new genre of literature that they may have been wary of before. The casm would help them see patterns in literary humour which they could apply to classics.
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