The Austronesian language family includes Tagalog, Malagasy, and some 1,200 other languages throughout the Pacific, making it one of the...

Let's begin by understanding the meaning of this sentence. We'll use our understanding of pause points and segment the sentence as shown - understanding and assimilating the meaning of each segment bit by bit!

Sentence Structure

• The Austronesian language family
  • includes Tagalog, Malagasy, and some 1,200 other languages
    • throughout the Pacific,
  • making it one of the largest language families in the world
    • and of keen interest to [linguist (?) Diane Massam]
      • of the University of Toronto.

• Where (??) represents what we need to decide about punctuation:
  • A: linguist, Diane Massam,
  • B: linguist, Diane Massam
  • C: linguist Diane Massam
  • D: linguist: Diane Massam

Understanding the Meaning

The sentence starts by telling us about the Austronesian language family:

• It includes Tagalog, Malagasy, and about 1,200 other languages throughout the Pacific

Then it explains what this fact means:

• This makes it one of the largest language families in the world
• This also makes it something "of keen interest to" someone

Now here's where we reach the blank - we need to identify who finds this interesting:

• Someone described as "linguist ____ Diane Massam of the University of Toronto"

Let's look at our choices:

• They all include the word "linguist" and the name "Diane Massam"
• What varies is the punctuation between and around these words
• So we're deciding: how should "linguist" and "Diane Massam" connect?

What do we notice about the relationship here?

• "Linguist" is a job title or professional role
• "Diane Massam" is a person's name
• The name tells us WHICH linguist we're talking about
• This is like saying "President Biden" or "Professor Smith"

When a name directly follows a title and identifies which specific person you mean:

• The name is essential information - it's not extra or optional
• We need to know the name to understand who we're discussing
• No comma should separate them

Think about it this way:

• "President Biden" - no comma (the name identifies which president)
• "linguist Diane Massam" - no comma (the name identifies which linguist)

So we need: linguist Diane Massam (no punctuation between them).

The correct answer is Choice C.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Commas with Titles and Identifying Names

When a person's name directly follows their title or role and serves to identify WHICH specific person you're referring to, no comma should separate them. The name is essential information (called restrictive or essential modification in grammar terms):

Pattern: [Title/Role] [Identifying Name] - No comma

Examples:

• Professor Martinez won the teaching award
  • "Martinez" identifies which professor
  • No comma needed
• The findings interested linguist Diane Massam of the University of Toronto
  • "Diane Massam" identifies which linguist
  • No comma needed
• President Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address
  • "Lincoln" identifies which president
  • No comma needed

Compare with non-essential information (where commas ARE used):

• My sister, Maria, lives in Boston
  • If you only have one sister, "Maria" is extra information (non-essential)
  • Commas set it off
• The president, who was elected last year, announced new policies
  • The clause "who was elected last year" adds extra detail but isn't needed to identify who "the president" is
  • Commas set it off

In this question: "Diane Massam" directly identifies which linguist is interested in the Austronesian language family, making it essential information that needs no comma separation from "linguist."