Lo statuto e la codificazione della norma interpuntiva in Italia e in Polonia

This article presents the results of an analysis regarding the processes of developing and standardizing punctuation rules in Italy and in Poland. The paper summarises and comments the contrastive-oriented research conducted at the University of Warsaw: O sztuce przestankowania w Polsce i we Włoszech. Rozwój normy interpunkcyjnej od XVI wieku do współczesności 'Art of punctuation in Poland and in Italy. Historical variation of punctuation systems from the XVIth century to contemporaneity'. The confrontation of the first Polish norms with the Italian standards – the latter elaborated much earlier – helps to understand the origins of European punctuation systems and to discover the influences of Italian rules on Polish regulations. <br> The paper comments the following issues: <br> (a) the mechanism of elaborating and codifying the punctuation rules in Italy and in Poland; <br> (b) the reception of Aldus Manutius' treatise Interpungendi Ratio in Poland; <br> (c) the typology of written sources of both punctuation systems. <br> A comparative approach helps to identify major tendencies in the evolution of the punctuation standards and to understand the dynamics of change.