parse("Smith, MD PhD").suffix returns "MD, PhD" — a comma the input never had

A space-separated run of post-nominals after a comma renders with a comma inserted between them, but only when the pre-comma part is a single word:

parse("John Smith, MD PhD").suffix   # -> 'MD PhD'    correct
parse("Smith, MD PhD").suffix        # -> 'MD, PhD'   a comma the writer never typed

Same for every run on that path:

input	`.suffix` today	wanted
`Smith, MD PhD`	`'MD, PhD'`	`'MD PhD'`
`Smith, CBE MC`	`'CBE, MC'`	`'CBE MC'`
`Smith, BSc MBA`	`'BSc, MBA'`	`'BSc MBA'`
`Smith, PSM II`	`'PSM, II'`	`'PSM II'`

The roles are right in all of these — only the rendered string is wrong.

The suffix view comma-joins its tokens unless a continuation token carries the stable "joined" tag, which only grouping applies (_group.py's joined_tags, consumed in _facade.py:357). The full-name path gets the tag; the one-word-family path does not. The same mechanism is recorded in docs/design/decisions.md's comma-suffix-arc as the reason phrase matching belongs in group rather than assign.

Reaches back to the one-word-family comma path added in #428 (#296 / #325).

Round-tripping is the visible cost: parse(str(parse(x))) is not stable, because the rendered comma re-segments on re-parse.

Measured on the 1.4.0 wheel, to head off a misclassification: this is an incomplete fix, not a regression. 1.4.0 never produced the comma-joined string because it never got the roles right in the first place:

1.4.0:  HumanName("Smith, MD PhD")   -> title='MD', first='PhD', last='Smith', suffix=''
1.4.0:  HumanName("Smith, CBE MC")   -> first='CBE', last='Smith', suffix='MC'
1.4.0:  HumanName("Smith, PSM II")   -> first='PSM', last='Smith', suffix='II'

#428 fixed the roles on this path; the render is the remaining half.

docs(agents): a tenth review axis, and three conventions #291 earned

fix(group): only a piece that renders into the run may continue an entry

refactor(group,docs): the cleanup round, and the pin the guard was mi…

Merge pull request #435 from derek73/fix/429-comma-suffix-render

test(pieces): a unit-test home, and the branch no parse can reach

refactor(group,assign): move _segment_holds_no_name down beside its p…

fix(group): a wholly-credential family-comma segment renders as one e…

docs(design): name the pattern five PRs rediscovered (derek73#438)

fix(pieces,assign): a comma-segment numeral is read by what precedes it

perf(vocab): a head-word fast path for the marker lookahead

fix(parser): suffix entries follow the commas the writer typed

docs(design): suffix entries follow the written commas

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parse("Smith, MD PhD").suffix returns "MD, PhD" — a comma the input never had #429

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parse("Smith, MD PhD").suffix returns "MD, PhD" — a comma the input never had #429

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derek73 commented on Aug 24, 2026

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