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Should a credential run after a comma keep its comma when the last word is an ambiguous acronym? John Smith, PhD MEng reads first PhD, last John Smith #544
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on Sep 26, 2026 - added a commit that references this issue
on Sep 29, 2026 Resolved by #552 (merged 2026-09-28,
003b4962). What shipped:-
A credential run after a comma is read whole. With two or more name words before the comma, a part made of suffix words and acronyms that are also names is the credential run, and the flip is reported once.
John Smith, PhD MEng,John Smith, Ed MaandJane Doe, MS LAcread their suffixes again, as 1.4.0 did. A run whose listed acronyms are all in capitals is left to the listing form, which already reads it whole (John Smith, PhD MA, silent as before). A one-letter roman numeral ends the rule (John Smith, V MA). -
An unambiguous credential in front speaks for the acronym behind it, in any case and at every trailing slot:
John Smith PhD MEng,Doe, Jane PhD MEng,abdul Smith Jr Ma(reversing Use letter case to disambiguate suffix vs. surname: "Jack MA" vs "Jack Ma" #289's accepted item (ii)), and at the given slot over the particle reading (doe, jane v phd do). Only a credential in front speaks (Wang Ma PhDkeeps familyMa). These anchor nothing:- a connective;
- a particle (
Smith vd Ma, John); - a one-letter numeral;
- a dual in the given part's leading title run (
Smith, Ms MD Makeeps titleMs MD); - the name's own leading word (
Om Ma,PhD Makeep familyMa).
The reading does not cross a maiden clause. Where the acronym's own writing had declined it, the pick is reported (
Smith, PhD Ma). -
M.Eng.passes the period gate, asM.A.does. -
Found along the way and fixed: since 2.0.0, a comma part read wholly as suffixes reported a particle inside it as chained onto a name (
John Smith, Jr., Freiherr von Richthofen). It no longer does.
Accepted costs:
John Smith, Ms Mareads suffixMs Ma, reported.Om Jr Maloses its family name. A capitalisedMAopening a one-word-family given part with a degree behind it reads wholly as credentials (Smith, MA PhD Ma, reported). Limits that keep the acronym a name word:John Smith Ph. D. MEng,John Smith PhD Prof. Ma,Smith, PhD Do Ma.The records are the #544 entry under S2 in decisions.md, and rules.md#C1, #C2, #S2, #P6 and #M2. Follow-ups: #553 (a 2.3.0 quadratic found during review), #554 (whether
vd/mccount in a comma run), #555 (a guard for the listing-form shortcut).-
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on Oct 8, 2026
A credential run written after a suffix comma is read as a suffix only while every word in it is suffix-shaped. Once its last word is a bare member of
suffix_acronyms_ambiguous, the run is no longer wholly suffix-shaped, so C1 reads the comma as a FAMILY comma: the whole pre-comma name becomes the family and the run's words fall into the post-comma name slots.Since when. The path is older than #540:
john smith, phd mareads givenphd, familyjohn smithon 2.0.0 through 2.3.0, andJane Doe, MS Mareads titleMSthere (1.4.0 read suffixMS Ma). #540 (PR #543) routedmengandlacinto it and recorded it as an accepted cost indecisions.md#suffix-acronym-collisions(2026-09-25), with case rowscomma_credential_run_ending_in_meng_re_reads_the_commaandcomma_lower_credential_run_ending_in_meng_re_reads_the_commapinning today's reading andfix(#540)ledger rules classifying it at every baseline. The silent case conflicts with two rules as written: C1 (the count decides first) and S2 ("either reading carries the ambiguity flag"). A related silence: an ambiguous member inside a multi-word post-comma credential run never reports (Jane Doe, MS MA,Jane Doe, PhD LAC).Proposed rule
Rationale: a comma followed by a run whose every word is credential vocabulary is the writer's suffix comma, and an ambiguous member at its END has an unambiguous credential in front of it to lean on, which is more evidence than a bare member standing alone ever has.
Statement: after a comma behind a full name, a run of two or more words in which every word is suffix vocabulary and the last is an ambiguous member reads as the suffix run, reported
SUFFIX_OR_NAMEat the ambiguous member. A run whose FIRST word is ambiguous (John Smith, MEng PhD) is out of scope here and stays as it is.Examples (target readings; today's readings are the ones above):
Accepted consequences:
John Smith, Ed Maand everyma/baspelling of the same shape move with it; the differential ledgers gain a rule and the #540 rows are re-recorded.Open questions:
Wang M.Eng.reads familyM.Eng.today because S2's period gate counts a member as unambiguous only written one period per letter (M.A.), and MEng and LAc are the first members whose conventional dotted spelling is chunked. Accepted and recorded in Shouldmengandlacbe ambiguous suffix acronyms?wang menghas had no family name since 2.0 and rendersWang MENGon master #540 (Derek, 2026-09-25) rather than widening_vocab._dotted; decide here whether a listed member's chunked dotted spelling should pass the gate (Wang M.Eng.→ suffix), withWang M.A.as the control that already does.Jane Doe, MS LAcwith no report) is worth anAmbiguityof its own if the rule above is declined.Exclusions: nothing leaves any vocabulary set.
Found by the #543 review (2026-09-25); measurements on the tree at that PR and on the 1.4.0 through 2.3.0 wheels.