Didn't read the article, but I think of them -- in English prose -- as being used to separate clauses that can stand (grammatically) as independent sentences, b

Didn't read the article, but I think of them -- in English prose -- as being used to separate clauses that can stand (grammatically) as independent sentences, but which you choose to bind somewhat more closely together (by use of the semicolon) to identify a closer association within the broader hierarchy of its context. Often, and perhaps preferentially, the one clause leads -- logically, chronologically, etc. -- to the next. A separate use is to separate list members when those individual members include sublists, subclauses, or other items that in turm use/include commas. Once you move beyond prose -- poetry, code, etc. -- the "rules" loosen or change, requiring separate consideration of those contexts. And of course, these latter uses can bleed back into prose; language is always transforming -- some would say, evolving.