Coordination

Where does the word for “and” sit when a language lists three things?

English puts and once, before the last item: bread, milk and eggs. Japanese can use 及び the same way in formal writing, but speech more often follows each item with と — パンと牛乳と卵 — or leaves the particles out altogether: パン、牛乳、卵. The particle や marks the items as examples and leaves the list open. Arabic puts wa- before every item after the first, Latin attaches -que to the last item, and Korean and Mandarin often use nothing at all. In Japanese, Korean and Swahili the coordinator also means “with”. Languages differ in where the marker sits and in whether a list has one at all.