When archaeologist Leila Haddad cataloged a set of clay vessels, she provisionally described the incisions on their rims as decorative flourishes, an interpretation that later catalogs repeated. The incisions are not _____ recurring clusters correspond to quantities of grain recorded on nearby accounting tablets.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For boundary questions involving a transitional adverb, first determine which idea the adverb logically modifies. Then identify whether the text on each side of the proposed boundary is an independent clause. Finally, apply both rules: use a semicolon between closely related independent clauses and commas to set off a parenthetical transitional adverb within a clause.
Hints
Locate the contrast
Decide whether “however” contrasts the evidence about recurring clusters with the claim immediately before it or contrasts the new interpretation with the earlier catalogs.
Check both sides of the boundary
Determine whether the words before and after the blank form two independent clauses.
Punctuate an interrupting adverb
When a transitional adverb appears parenthetically at the end of a clause, it needs to be separated from that clause with a comma.
Step-by-step Explanation
Determine what “however” modifies
The earlier catalogs classified the incisions as decorative, but the next sentence rejects that interpretation. Therefore, “however” belongs with the statement that the incisions are not ornamental.
Identify the sentence boundaries
“The incisions are not ornamental, however” and “recurring clusters correspond to quantities of grain recorded on nearby accounting tablets” can each stand alone as a sentence. A semicolon can join these closely related independent clauses.
Punctuate the transitional adverb
Because “however” appears as a parenthetical adverb at the end of the first clause, a comma separates it from that clause. The completed text is therefore “ornamental, however;”.