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Should John Smith (Msc.Ed) read suffix Msc.Ed, as John Smith Msc.Ed does? #1104
Description
A credential written with interior periods (rules/S3's period half: Msc.Ed, its chunks read by the vocabulary one at a time) reads as a suffix bare, but as a nickname inside brackets. Since #1088, a credential joined by a slash or a hyphen (MD/PhD) is set apart in brackets the way its split spelling is. The interior-period spelling is the one S3 form still left out.
Measured 2026-11-05 on master 9a7a761:
| Input | Reads |
|---|---|
John Smith Msc.Ed |
suffix Msc.Ed |
John Smith (Msc.Ed) |
nickname Msc.Ed |
John Smith (Msc.Ed.) |
suffix Msc.Ed. (the period escape: read bare) |
John (Msc.Ed) Smith |
nickname Msc.Ed |
Smith (Msc.Ed), John |
nickname Msc.Ed |
John Smith (PhD, Msc.Ed) |
nickname PhD, Msc.Ed |
John Smith (Bob.Ed) |
nickname Bob.Ed (boundary: Bob is no credential) |
Why it is separate from #1088: S1's set-apart word asks suffix_as_written, which covers the joined spelling. The interior-period reading comes from a different predicate (period_joined_vocab), which answers title-or-suffix and whose "any chunk" test is looser than the joiner's "every chunk". Bringing it in means choosing which of the two tests a bracketed clause asks, which is a design question in its own right.
Proposed rule shape (an amendment to S1's first bullet):
- When: a bracketed or quoted clause holds a word S3 reads as a suffix by its interior periods.
- Then: it is a credential of the clause, set apart as
(MSc, Ed)would be. - Because: the periods are how the credential's parts are written, not how a nickname is.
- Open: S3 reads an interior-period word as a suffix when ANY chunk is listed, so
(Bob.PhD)would be set apart where(Bob, PhD)is not (Bobis a name). Bare,John Smith Bob.PhDalready reads suffixBob.PhD. Should the clause ask S3's any-chunk test, or every chunk, as the slash and hyphen do? - Open: a title read by interior periods (
Lt.Gov.) reads as the family name bare after the name (John Smith Lt.Gov.gives familyLt.Gov.). Does the bracketed title follow S1's title reading or the bare one?
#1103 is the other S3 chunk gap #1088 left: a slash-joined word holding a credential listed whole with its hyphen (PhD/NP-C).
Activity
decisions/S1: point the interior-period follow-up at #1104
AGENTS.md: keep a credential listed whole with its joiner in a chunk …
derek73 commentedon Nov 7, 2026
Update after #1116 (merged in #1125): the second open point is settled, and the first is now shared with the end of a name.
The second open point is settled. It asked whether a bracketed title read by its interior periods follows S1's title reading or the bare one, the bare one being family (
John Smith Lt.Gov.→ family 'Lt.Gov.'). Since #1116, rules/H5's trailing title chain takes a word written with a period or hyphen inside it, so the bare reading is now the title. The bare and bracketed spellings agree wherever the word ends in a period:John Smith Lt.Gov.Lt.Gov.(was familyLt.Gov.)John Smith (Lt.Gov.)Lt.Gov.(the period escape: read bare)The first open point is now the same question in two slots. It asks whether a bracketed clause should use S3's any-chunk test (so
(Bob.PhD)is set apart) or the every-chunk test the slash and hyphen use. The same question decides what H5's chain may take at the end of a name when the word has no final period:John Smith Msc.EdMsc.EdMaria Rossi Dott.ssaDott.ssadott.ssais listed wholeJohn Smith Lt.GovLt.GovLt.Govbeing a title by itsltchunkJohn Smith (Dott.ssa)Dott.ssaJohn Smith (Lt.Gov)Lt.GovH5 requires the final period because a bare title word at the end is often a surname (
Mary Jane Pope→ family 'Pope'). A word with a period inside it is no surname, so the requirement could be dropped for such words. Doing that for titles listed whole (Dott.ssa,Sig.ra,Prof.ssa) settles nothing new. Doing it for titles by one chunk (Dr.PhD,St.John,Bob.Prof) is the any-chunk reach this issue asks about for brackets. One answer serves both slots: whether a word read as a title or suffix by one chunk alone counts where the slot has nothing else to go on.Measured 2026-11-06 on master
34812254.derek73 commentedon Nov 7, 2026
Correction to the comment above: its table row "
John Smith (Dott.ssa)→ title, S1 reads a title listed whole" is true for only 5 of the 16 titles listed whole with a period inside.John Smith (Dott.ssa),(Prof.ssa),(Univ.Prof),(Dipl.-Ing),(Priv.-Doz)Maria Rossi (Sig.ra),(Sig.na),(Gent.mo),(Ill.ma),(Ch.mo),(Preg.mo)and their pairs(Mrs)doesSo for the salutations and styles, the bare and bracketed spellings disagree. Since #1126, bare
Maria Rossi Sig.rareads title 'Sig.ra' while(Sig.ra)reads a nickname. That's a second bracket question beside this issue's any-chunk one: whether S1 should set apart a bracketed salutation or style it lists whole, as it does the academic titles.Measured 2026-11-06 on the #1126 branch (
05b15ec1), matching master for the bracketed spellings.Bring the trailing chain's docstrings and comments in line with the j…
Read a listed title with a period inside it at the end of a name with…
derek73 commentedon Nov 7, 2026
Closing: its narrow half shipped in #1126 (a title listed whole with a period inside it reads as the title at the end of a name). The second open point was settled by #1116. What's left moves to new issues:
(Msc.Ed),John Smith Lt.Gov? #1131(Sig.ra)): ShouldMaria Rossi (Sig.ra)read the salutation as a title, asMaria Rossi Sig.raand(Dott.ssa)do? #1132