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Interpunct

The interpunct (·), also known as the middle dot or interpoint, is a punctuation mark consisting of a small, vertically centered dot that originated as a means of word separation in ancient Latin script and continues to serve various functions in modern typography and notation.^[1]^[2] The name "interpunct" stems from the Latin interpunctus, a past participle derived from inter- ("between") and pungere ("to prick" or "to point"), literally meaning "pointed between," which describes its role in inserting points amid continuous text.^[3] In classical Latin writing, particularly in inscriptions on monuments and public works from the Roman Republic and Empire (circa 500 BCE to 500 CE), the interpunct was the principal visual aid for denoting word boundaries in scriptio continua—a style of unspaced text that lacked modern inter-word gaps.^[2] It typically appeared as a single mid-height dot but could take the form of double or triple dots for emphasis, marking pauses or divisions, and represented one of the earliest systematic approaches to punctuation in Western writing systems.^[2] With the adoption of word spacing by Irish monks in the early Middle Ages (around the 7th–8th centuries CE), the interpunct largely faded from general use in Latin and vernacular scripts, though it persisted in some epigraphic traditions.^[4] In contemporary contexts, the interpunct functions as a multiplication operator in mathematical and scientific expressions, such as $2 \cdot 3 = 6, to avoid confusion with the variable x or the letter x.^[5]^[6] It also denotes syllable breaks in dictionaries (e.g., "in·ter·punct").^[7] It served historically as the preferred decimal separator in British typography until the mid-20th century.^[4] In Catalan, the middle dot (known as the punt volat) is used between two 'l's (e.g., col·lecció) to indicate gemination and separate syllables.^[8]

Overview and History

Definition and Etymology

The interpunct (·) is a punctuation mark consisting of a small, vertically centered dot employed for purposes such as separating words, denoting multiplication, or providing emphasis within text. It differs from the baseline-positioned period (.) at the bottom of a line and from bullet points (•), which are larger and typically used to introduce list items.^[7]^[9]^[10] In the Unicode standard, the interpunct is encoded as U+00B7 MIDDLE DOT and classified under the category "Punctuation, Other" (Po), indicating its role as a non-letter, non-number separator in text processing.^[11]^[12] The term "interpunct" originates from the Latin "interpunctus," the past participle of "interpungere," meaning "to interpoint" or "to punctuate between," literally denoting an "interspaced point." This nomenclature first appears in references to ancient Roman texts, where it described the dot's function in dividing words, a practice with roots in earlier Greek scripts.^[13]^[14] Visually, the interpunct is positioned at the midline of the text, aligned with the x-height—the height of lowercase letters such as "x"—to ensure optical centering within the body of a typeface. In historical typefaces, including old-style serifs like those derived from Claude Garamond's 16th-century designs, the glyph appears as a compact, refined dot that harmonizes with surrounding characters without disrupting readability.^[9]^[15]

Historical Origins and Evolution

The interpunct, a vertically centered dot used for word separation, appeared in Latin inscriptions from the 3rd century BCE onward, particularly in the Roman Republic period. This practice helped distinguish word boundaries in scriptio continua, the continuous writing style common in early epigraphy, though its use was primarily confined to formal public texts such as decrees and dedications. By the 1st century CE, the interpunct had become established in Latin writing, serving both word separation and syllabic division, especially in poetry where rhythmic structure was paramount. Roman rhetoricians described punctuation marks including points for intermediate pauses, which aided scansion in verse by highlighting syllable breaks without disrupting the flow— for instance, in dactylic hexameter lines where elision or enclisis could obscure boundaries. This usage reflected a broader Roman adaptation of epigraphic conventions, as evidenced in inscriptions like those from Pompeii and early manuscripts, where the dot appeared between words to prevent ambiguity in legal and literary texts. Interpuncts thus supported the quantitative meter of Latin poetry, ensuring accurate pronunciation during public performance.^[16] During the medieval period, the interpunct persisted in manuscripts as a versatile mark for pauses or divisions, transitioning from stone to parchment amid the rise of scriptoria in monasteries. Its evolution accelerated in the Renaissance with the advent of printing, notably through Aldus Manutius's Aldine Press in Venice, which produced the first major Greek editions using movable type. In his 1495–1498 edition of Aristotle's works, Manutius incorporated accents and breathings to replicate classical orthography, enhancing readability for humanist scholars studying original texts. This innovation bridged ancient epigraphic practices with early modern typography, standardizing symbols in printed classics and influencing subsequent editions across Europe.^[17] In the 19th and 20th centuries, the interpunct underwent further standardization in typography, driven by mechanical typesetting innovations like the Linotype machine, invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler in 1884, which cast lines of type including punctuation matrices for symbols such as the middle dot. This facilitated its inclusion in newspapers and books, though its primary role shifted from word separation to mathematical notation or lists. International efforts culminated in ISO standards, with the interpunct codified as U+00B7 (MIDDLE DOT) in Unicode (ISO/IEC 10646), ensuring consistent digital representation across global typography systems. Key events included its decline in English printing after the 18th century, as word spacing became universal and the symbol was relegated to specialized uses, supplanted by evolving punctuation norms in grammars like those of Robert Lowth. Conversely, it persisted in Catalan orthography due to 19th-century Renaixença reforms, where the punt volat was formalized to distinguish geminate ll (e.g., cel·la), a convention ratified at the 1906 International Congress of the Catalan Language to unify regional variants.^[18]^[19]

Uses in Written Languages

In Classical and Ancient Scripts

In ancient Greek inscriptions, word division was occasionally marked by a high-placed dot or multiple dots positioned at mid-height or above the line of text, serving as an early form of punctuation to clarify boundaries in scriptio continua. This practice, evident from the Archaic period onward, helped distinguish words in monumental and epigraphic contexts where continuous writing predominated. By the Hellenistic era, particularly in papyri from the 3rd century BCE, the symbol evolved toward a low-point mark resembling a comma, known as the hypodiastole, which functioned specifically to separate words and prevent misreading of compound forms or contractions.^[20]^[21] In Latin epigraphy, the interpunct—a medial dot or occasionally a small triangle—appeared prominently from the Republican period to mark syllable breaks and word divisions, enhancing readability on stone monuments and metal tablets. This convention persisted into the Imperial era, as seen in the dedicatory inscription on the base of Trajan's Column (completed 113 CE), where the text reads "SENATVS·POPVLVSQVE·ROMANVS" and similar phrases, using the dot to separate key terms like "SENATVS" and "POPVLVSQVE." Early manuscripts of classical authors such as Virgil's Aeneid and Georgics (late 1st century BCE) generally employed scriptio continua without interpuncts, though later copies and inscribed quotations from his works occasionally incorporated dots for clarity in public displays.^[22]^[23] The Ogham script, used for Old Irish from the 4th to 6th centuries CE, primarily separated words with physical spaces or short vertical lines along the edge of stones, reflecting its linear, notch-based design rather than dotted punctuation. However, in some Scottish adaptations of Ogham during the early medieval period, word spacing drew from runic influences, employing double or triple colons (-:- or ·:·) as dividers, as observed on 6th-century inscribed stones like those in the Pictish tradition.^[24]^[25] In Elder Futhark runic inscriptions (2nd–8th centuries CE), word separation was inconsistent but often achieved through single or multiple dots, including double or triple variants like ·:·, positioned at mid-height to delineate phrases on artifacts such as bracteates and memorial stones. This practice, though not standardized, appears in longer texts like the 5th-century CE Vadstena bracteate, where dots clarify syntactic breaks in the continuous rune sequence.^[26]^[27] Specific artifacts illustrate these conventions: the Greek section of the Rosetta Stone (196 BCE) exemplifies the absence of interpuncts in Ptolemaic inscriptions, relying on scriptio continua without dots or spaces for its 54 lines of decree text. In contrast, Pompeian graffiti from the 1st century CE, such as electoral notices in the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL IV), frequently employed interpuncts to separate words in informal scrawls, as in phrases like "A·POMPILIVS·HIRCVS·ROGO" advertising a candidate, aiding quick legibility on public walls.^[28]^[29]

In Romance Languages

In Catalan, the interpunct, known as the punt volat, serves as a mandatory orthographic marker for separating hiatus or syllable boundaries, particularly in cases where vowels or consonants might otherwise form a diphthong or palatal sound, as in "a·punt" (meaning "ready" or "to the point"). This convention was standardized during the 19th century amid the Renaixença cultural revival and formalized by the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (IEC) in its orthographic norms, ensuring clarity in pronunciation and syllable division.^[30]^[31] The IEC's Ortografia catalana specifies its use to modify digraphs like ll into l·l (ela geminada), preventing misreading as the palatal [ʎ] sound, and it appears prominently in official documents such as the 1978 Catalan Constitution (Estatut d'Autonomia), where words like "col·lectivitat" and "intel·lectuals" employ it for precise separation. In French, the interpunct has an archaic role in lexicography for denoting syllable breaks, as evidenced in 19th-century dictionaries like Émile Littré's Dictionnaire de la langue française (1863–1877), where it divides words such as "in·ter·punc·tion" to guide pronunciation. Modern usage is rare in standard French, deemed obsolete by the Académie Française's orthographic guidelines, which prioritize hyphens or spaces for division without referencing the interpunct as current practice. However, it persists in Franco-Provençal (Arpitan) dialects for vowel separation in hiatus, distinguishing sounds in regional orthographies to avoid assimilation, such as clarifying adjacent vowels in words from Savoyard or Valdôtain varieties.^[32] Occitan employs the interpunct, termed punt interior or ponch interior, akin to Catalan, to separate elements in compound words and mark hiatus for syllabic clarity, exemplified by "un·òme" (a man), where it prevents fusion between the article and noun. This practice traces historical roots to the orthography of medieval troubadour poetry (12th–13th centuries), where it facilitated rhythmic scansion and elision avoidance in Provençal and Gascon dialects, and it remains codified in contemporary norms by bodies like the Institut d'Estudis Occitans.^[32] In modern liturgical Latin, the interpunct endures in select editions of the Vulgate Bible, such as those prepared for Gregorian chant, to delineate word boundaries and enhance readability during recitation, preserving ancient scriptural clarity without altering the text itself.

In Asian Languages

In Chinese, the interpunct, known as the jiàngé hào (间隔号), functions primarily as a separator for components of foreign names or transliterations of non-Han ethnic names. For example, the politician Nur Bekri's name is rendered as 努尔·白克力 to distinguish surname from given name.^[33] This mark appears in horizontal text centered between characters and rotates 90 degrees clockwise in vertical writing modes, maintaining its utility across formats.^[34] The interpunct's inclusion in the GB 2312-1980 national standard for simplified Chinese characters formalized its role as a separator dot, ensuring compatibility in computing and printing. In classical Chinese texts such as the Analects, original manuscripts lacked punctuation, but modern editions in vertical format often employ dots—including the interpunct—for enumerating list items to clarify structure, reflecting adaptations from traditional annotation practices.^[35] In Japanese, the katakana middle dot (・, U+30FB katakana chūten) separates foreign loanwords or compound terms written in katakana, compensating for the script's lack of spaces. This prevents ambiguity in phrases like ビューティフル・サンデー ("Beautiful Sunday"), where it denotes word breaks.^[36] Its usage gained prominence post-World War II through orthographic reforms that standardized katakana for gairaigo (foreign borrowings), promoting clarity in an increasingly globalized lexicon.^[37] In Korean, the middle dot (중점, jungjeom, ·) mirrors Japanese conventions for abbreviating foreign terms or separating parts of international names in Hangul, such as USA· for "United States of America." This practice emerged under Japanese colonial influence (1910–1945), when modern punctuation systems were introduced, and was later integrated into standardized Korean orthography during 20th-century language reforms.^[38] In Tibetan Uchen script, a dot-like mark called the tsheg (་, U+0F0B) serves as a syllable separator between words, a function akin to the interpunct's delineative role elsewhere. Evidence from 7th–10th-century Dunhuang manuscripts shows early forms of this separator evolving to aid readability in continuous scripts without spaces.^[39]

In Other Language Scripts

In the Ethiopic script, derived from ancient Ge'ez, the wordspace character (U+1361 ፡), a double vertical dot resembling an evolved interpunct, functions as the primary word separator in Amharic and Tigrinya writing systems. This punctuation mark maintains continuity with classical Ge'ez traditions, where it replaced earlier vertical bars used in pre-Aksumite and Aksumite inscriptions dating back to the 4th century CE.^[40]^[41]^[42] Historical Ethiopic Bible editions, such as those printed in the 19th and 20th centuries for the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, prominently feature this wordspace to delineate words in Ge'ez texts, facilitating readability in liturgical and scriptural contexts. In modern usage, it underscores the script's role in post-colonial African linguistic preservation, where indigenous adaptations of Ethiopic punctuation support cultural identity in languages like Amharic amid influences from European orthographies.^[40]^[43] In the romanization of Hokkien (Min Nan Chinese), particularly Pe̍h-ōe-jī developed by 19th-century Presbyterian missionaries, the middle dot (U+00B7 ·) serves to separate syllables in written forms lacking spaces, aiding pronunciation amid complex tone sandhi rules. This convention appears in early church materials, including hymnals and catechisms produced in Taiwan and Amoy (Xiamen), where it clarified tonal shifts in connected speech for vernacular worship.^[44] Modern Greek polytonic orthography occasionally employs a raised middle dot (ano teleia, U+0387 ·) as punctuation, distinct from but typographically akin to the interpunct, though its use for indicating breathings remains primarily historical and rare in contemporary texts. Presbyterian texts in Taiwan from the late 19th century onward, such as those by missionary Thomas Barclay, exemplify the middle dot's integration into Hokkien romanization for educational and religious purposes.^[21]

Uses in Mathematics and Science

Mathematical Notation

In mathematical notation, the interpunct, also known as the middle dot (·), primarily functions as a multiplication operator, particularly in algebraic expressions to denote the product of scalars or to clarify operations where juxtaposition might cause ambiguity, such as with variables resembling the letter "x". For instance, the expression $2 \cdot 3 = 6 explicitly indicates multiplication without confusion. This usage contrasts with implicit multiplication via juxtaposition (e.g., $2x$), which is preferred in many contexts for brevity, but the interpunct ensures precision in inline formulas.^[45] The interpunct's adoption as a multiplication symbol traces back to Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who introduced it in a 1698 letter to Johann Bernoulli, proposing the raised dot to replace the "X" symbol and avoid its resemblance to the variable "x".^[45] Although initially met with resistance, the notation gained traction in the 18th century and became more standardized in 19th-century mathematical texts, particularly with the expansion of algebraic and analytical methods, as documented in historical surveys of symbols.^[45] By the mid-1800s, it appeared routinely in European works on arithmetic and higher mathematics, reflecting a shift toward clearer, less ambiguous operators. In geometry and vector analysis, the interpunct denotes the dot product (or scalar product) of two vectors, \mathbf{a} \cdot \mathbf{b}, which yields a scalar value representing the cosine of the angle between them scaled by their magnitudes. This operation, introduced by Josiah Willard Gibbs in his 1881–1884 lecture notes Elements of Vector Analysis, distinguishes the commutative scalar result from the cross product \mathbf{a} \times \mathbf{b}, which produces a vector perpendicular to both inputs and is non-commutative.^[46] Gibbs's notation, using a baseline dot (α.β) for the "direct product," evolved into the centered interpunct in later publications, such as Edwin Bidwell Wilson's 1901 textbook based on Gibbs's lectures.^[46] It is not employed for exponentiation, where the caret (^) or superscript notation is standard (e.g., $2^3 for $8), to preserve distinction between operations. In modern typesetting, the interpunct is rendered in [LaTeX](/page/Latex) via the command \cdot$, ensuring consistent spacing and alignment in mathematical documents.^[47]

Scientific and Technical Applications

In physics, the interpunct, or middle dot, has historically served as a decimal separator in some scientific notations, particularly in older British texts where numbers like 3·14 were used instead of the modern period or comma. This practice persisted in mathematical and scientific publications up to the mid-20th century to distinguish it from punctuation marks.^[48]^[49] In the International System of Units (SI), the middle dot is the preferred symbol for indicating multiplication between unit symbols, such as meters per second expressed as m \cdot s^{-1}, to avoid ambiguity with other operators like division. This convention ensures clarity in expressing compound units, where the dot is placed at mid-height relative to the symbols. Guides such as the NIST explicitly recommend the middle dot (Unicode U+00B7) for this purpose, aligning with international standards.^[50]^[51] In chemistry, the interpunct denotes the separation of components in addition compounds, solvates, or hydrates, such as copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate written as CuSO_4·5H_2O, indicating loosely associated subunits without specifying exact bonding. For coordination compounds, it may separate the complex ion from counterions in certain notations, though brackets are more common for the coordination sphere itself. The IUPAC Recommendations 2005 (Red Book) outline this use for denoting addition compounds and mixtures. Additionally, the middle dot represents unpaired electrons in free radicals, placed adjacent to the atomic or molecular symbol, as in ·OH for the hydroxyl radical, to indicate the site of highest spin density.^[52]^[53]^[54] Historically, early chemical tables employed dots for separating elements or compounds, as seen in Antoine Lavoisier's 1789 Traité élémentaire de chimie, where punctuation like interpuncts aided in organizing lists of simple substances. The IUPAC Recommendations 2005 permit optional use of the middle dot in such contexts for clarity in inorganic formulas. Technical standards, such as ISO 80000-1 (2009), specify the middle dot as the symbol for multiplication in physical quantities and units, recommending it over other signs to maintain consistency in international scientific communication. This guideline supports its role in denoting products of quantities without implying numerical multiplication.^[51]

The Interpunct as a Distinct Character

In Phonetic and Syllabic Systems

In the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), the interpunct serves as the standard symbol for marking syllable breaks within words, allowing precise transcription of phonological structures. For instance, the English word "apple" is rendered as /ˈæp.əl/, where the interpunct divides the initial consonant-vowel cluster from the following schwa-initial syllable. This convention dates to the IPA's initial publication in 1888, established by the International Phonetic Association to standardize phonetic notation across languages.^[55]^[56] The 1993 revision of the IPA, formalized at the Kiel Convention and elaborated in the 1999 Handbook of the International Phonetic Association, reaffirmed the interpunct's role in syllable division while introducing guidelines for its electronic rendering to accommodate digital typography and ensure cross-platform consistency in transcriptions. This update emphasized the symbol's utility in narrow phonetic analyses, where syllable boundaries influence sound realization, such as in cases of ambisyllabicity.^[57] In syllabic romanization systems like Pe̍h-ōe-jī (POJ) for Hokkien, developed by 19th-century European missionaries such as Thomas Barclay, the interpunct functions as a practical substitute for the right-side dot diacritic on the vowel "o͘," denoting the open-mid back rounded vowel /ɔ/. This adaptation arose from constraints in early printing and encoding technologies, enabling accurate representation of tonal and syllabic distinctions in Taiwanese Hokkien texts without specialized fonts. For example, words like "go͘" (meaning "five") rely on this middle dot to preserve phonetic fidelity in missionary-era Bibles and grammars. Linguistic studies of Tibetan phonology frequently utilize the interpunct in IPA-based transcriptions to analyze sandhi processes, where tone and consonant assimilation occur across syllables. In Lhasa Tibetan, for example, analyses of tone sandhi rules employ notations like /mə·tɕʰi/ for "medicine" to illustrate how high-tone syllables trigger low-tone shifts in adjacent units, revealing the language's prosodic patterns in connected speech. Such applications draw on the IPA's conventions to document historical sound changes from Old Tibetan.^[58]

Computing and Typography

In computing, the interpunct is encoded in Unicode as U+00B7 MIDDLE DOT, part of the Latin-1 Supplement block, ensuring compatibility with UTF-8 encoding via the byte sequence C2 B7. In HTML, it can be represented using the named entity · or the decimal entity ·, providing fallbacks for legacy systems that may not fully support Unicode rendering.^[11] Historically, the interpunct was absent from the 7-bit ASCII standard established in the 1960s and revised through the 1980s, limiting its use in early digital text to approximations like periods or hyphens. Its formal inclusion came with the ISO/IEC 8859-1 standard in 1987, where it appears at hexadecimal B7 (decimal 183), enabling broader adoption in Western European character sets for text processing and display.^[59] Keyboard input for the interpunct varies by platform. On Windows, it is entered using the Alt code 0183 on the numeric keypad.^[11] In Unix-like systems such as Linux, the Compose key sequence (often mapped to the right Alt key) followed by period then period produces U+00B7.^[60] On mobile devices, access depends on the keyboard app; for example, in iOS, it appears in the symbols palette under numbers, while Android's Gboard offers it via long-press on the period key or handwriting input.^[61] In typography, the interpunct is designed as a vertically centered dot, typically aligned to the x-height for optical balance rather than the baseline, distinguishing it from period marks. Fonts like Adobe Minion Pro incorporate specific kerning pairs for the interpunct in abbreviations such as "U.S.A.", reducing space between the dot and adjacent letters (e.g., -50 to -100 units) to prevent visual gaps while maintaining readability.^[9] In web design, baseline alignment can pose challenges, as the interpunct's centered positioning may shift relative to surrounding text in inline contexts, often requiring CSS adjustments like vertical-align: middle to ensure consistent height alignment across browsers.^[62] Modern rendering issues persist, particularly in PDF generation, where libraries like react-pdf may fail to display U+00B7 correctly, substituting it with placeholders or omitting it due to incomplete glyph support, unlike more reliable HTML rendering in browsers.^[63] For centering in web layouts, CSS properties such as text-align: center handle horizontal positioning effectively, though vertical inconsistencies between PDF exports and HTML views can arise from differing font embedding standards.

Similar Symbols and Distinctions

The interpunct (·, U+00B7) is visually similar to the bullet point (•, U+2022) but serves a distinct typographical purpose; the bullet is larger, bolder, and employed as a graphic marker to introduce items in lists or for itemization, whereas the interpunct is smaller, more refined, and centered for separating words or syllables without emphasizing structure.^[9] In mathematical notation, the interpunct may resemble the multiplication dot or dot operator (⋅, U+22C5), which denotes scalar multiplication or the dot product of vectors, but the two differ in Unicode encoding and contextual application—the interpunct functions as punctuation for clarity in text, while the mathematical dot avoids ambiguity in expressions like radicals, where juxtaposition is preferred, as in \sqrt{ab} over \sqrt{a \cdot b} to prevent confusion with decimals or other operators.^[64]^[5] The interpunct contrasts with the period (., U+002E) in baseline position and function; the period marks the end of a sentence or serves as a decimal point at the text baseline, whereas the interpunct is vertically centered and used for internal separation, such as in time notations or abbreviations, without terminating clauses.^[9] Similarly, it differs from the colon (:, U+003A), a vertical stack of two dots indicating lists, explanations, or ratios, due to its stacked form and introductory role, unlike the interpunct's single centered dot for division.^[9] Among other variants, the Greek ano teleia (·, U+0387) is a related but distinct character, used in modern Greek as a raised punctuation mark equivalent to a semicolon or full stop, positioned at the top of the x-height. In ancient Greek texts, the interpunct (U+00B7) was used for word separation. In contrast, the Hebrew maqaf (־, U+05BE) is a horizontal hyphen-like stroke aligned at the top of letters for connecting compound words, differing fundamentally from the interpunct's rounded, centered dot form and separation intent. The full-width interpunct (・, U+30FB) in CJK scripts, particularly Japanese katakana, provides interword spacing for foreign terms or enumeration, occupying the full em-width of ideographs unlike the proportional standard interpunct. Typographical guidelines emphasize these distinctions to maintain clarity in composition, recommending the interpunct's precise sizing and positioning to avoid conflation with bullets, periods, or mathematical operators in professional typesetting.^[9]

References

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TRANSLATION OF THE GREEK SECTION OF THE ROSETTA STONE. Greek Text: OGIS 90 ( BM EA 24 ) The Rosetta Stone Provenance: Bolbitine Date: 196 B.C.. Language ...Missing: interpunct | Show results with:interpunct
[31]
2.1.2. Les lletres modificades - Ortografia catalana - IEC
Són diacrítics: el trenc (¸), que modifica la lletra c, la qual esdevé ç (ce trencada); el punt volat (·), que modifica el grup gràfic ll, el qual esdevé l ...
[32]
[PDF] els signes de puntuació i altres signes ortogràfics - Manual d'estil - IEC
Mar 12, 1992 · El punt volat és un signe que consisteix en un punt situat a mitja ... punt volat, proposada per Antoni M. Alcover i adoptada per l ...
[33]
[PDF] 1. Background 2. Middle Dot Use Cases - Unicode
Oct 5, 2009 · In this use case the middle dot is not a letter, but is simply used as a separation mark. It is therefore quite appropriate to represent such ...Missing: hiatus punt
[34]
12 Most Common Chinese Punctuation
May 24, 2020 · Middle dot 间隔号(Jiàngé hào) Chinese uses a middle dot to separate characters in non-Han personal names. When we translate and write a non-Han ...
[35]
Requirements for Chinese Text Layout
Jul 13, 2023 · The usage of middle dot differs between Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese. In principle, the middle dot, either in vertical writing ...
[36]
All About Common Chinese Punctuation Marks - ThoughtCo
Mar 10, 2019 · Chinese characters can be written either vertically or horizontally, so the Chinese punctuation marks change position depending on the direction ...
[37]
・ Middle Dot | Japanese with Anime
Mar 12, 2018 · The middle dot in Japanese forces the reader to pause. The ・ isn't pronounced, you just shut up for a bit, maybe. It works like a comma in the phonetic aspect.
[38]
Requirements of Japanese Text Layout (English version) - W3C
Ideographic digits and KATAKANA MIDDLE DOT "・" representing a decimal point are set solid (as in the right line in [Fig.68]). In vertical writing mode, when ...
[39]
[PDF] korean punctuation systems - University of Ljubljana Press Journals
Modern Korean punctuation marks were influenced from. Modern Chinese and Japanese punctuation marks. The standardization of the Korean punctuation has been ...
[40]
Tibetan Script - ecph-china - Berkshire Publishing
Spaces are not used to divide words, but syllables are separated by a small dot.
[41]
Ethiopic Layout Requirements - W3C
May 26, 2020 · U+1361 ETHIOPIC WORDSPACE (አማ/ ሁለት ነጥብ, ትግ/ ክልተ ነጥቢ) in keeping with Ge'ez heritage, is used as the word separator (i.e. space) in the classical ...
[42]
[PDF] the ethiopic script - UiO
The South Arabian vertical bar ( | ) as a word divider is found in early Ethiopic inscriptions. ... 14 Except for the word divider ( : ), the punctuation marks ...
[43]
[PDF] Current Trends in Tigrinya Punctuation 4 ITYOPIS vol 3 (2021 ...
According to Dillmann (2005), a perpendicular stroke (i.e., |) was used as a word-divider (:) in ancient Ethiopic writing. The use of the mark in Ge'ez is ...
[44]
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church – Canonical Books
The Ethiopic version of the Old and New Testament was made from the Septuagint. It includes the book of Enoch, Baruch, and the third and fourth Esdras. In the ...Missing: interpunct | Show results with:interpunct
[45]
Min-Nan 閩南語 Hokkien 福建話 Amoy 廈門話 Taiwanese 臺灣語 ...
Aug 21, 2010 · Southern Min usually refers to Hokkien, in particular Amoy and Taiwanese. Amoy and Taiwanese are both combinations of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou speech.
[46]
Earliest Uses of Symbols of Operation - MacTutor
MULTIPLICATION SYMBOLS. X was used by William Oughtred (1574-1660) in the Clavis Mathematicae (Key to Mathematics), composed about 1628 and published in London ...
[47]
AMS Style Guide - American Mathematical Society
The AMS allows authors discretion in setting displayed math. Displayed ... Do not use either a times sign or a centered dot when breaking at a fence;.
[48]
Earliest Uses of Symbols for Matrices and Vectors - MacTutor
In Vector Analysis Wilson wrote A∙B. The notation inspired the alternative term for the direct product, the dot product. Other authors used symbols ...<|control11|><|separator|>
[49]
[PDF] User's Guide for the amsmath Package (Version 2.1) - LaTeX
The amsmath package is a LATEX package that provides miscellaneous enhance- ments for improving the information structure and printed output of documents.
[50]
Central dot as decimal point in top journal - Academia Stack Exchange
Oct 5, 2018 · All mathematical text-books published in the UK used the interpunct for the decimal indicator. It was not only pupils in school! (I am old ...
[51]
Interpunct - English Gratis
An interpunct is a small dot used for interword separation in ancient Latin script, being perhaps the first consistent visual representation of word ...
[52]
[PDF] Practical Guide to the International System of Units (SI)
Jan 28, 2008 · To multiply unit symbols, use a middle dot (·), but don't pronounce or spell it out. (A middle dot is Unicode character 00B7.) To divide unit.
[53]
Characters in SI notations - Jukka Korpela
Dec 28, 2020 · However, it can be argued that middle dot is a punctuation character and that the dot used for multiplication (called “half-high dot” in the ISO ...Missing: interpunct | Show results with:interpunct
[54]
What is the meaning of the "dot" notation in chemical formulas?
Feb 27, 2015 · When a dot is used to break a formula into subunits, it may signify ignorance of how the subunits are structurally related.
[55]
[PDF] Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry | IUPAC
This document is the IUPAC Recommendations 2005 for the nomenclature of inorganic chemistry, issued by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.
[56]
radical (R05066) - IUPAC Gold Book
(In these formulae the dot, symbolizing the unpaired electron, should be placed so as to indicate the atom of highest spin density, if this is possible.)
[57]
Species Taxonomy Nomenclature - BioScience Writers
Oct 22, 2018 · Binomial nomenclature uses 'Genus species' (e.g., Sabal mexicana). Genus is capitalized, species is not, and both are italicized. Genus is ...
[58]
History of the IPA | International Phonetic Association
The IPA's first chart was in 1888. Paul Passy, Daniel Jones, and others contributed to its development. The first 100 years are detailed in a 1986 article.
[59]
IPA i-charts (2025) - International Phonetic Association
Major (intonation) group . Syllable break. ‿. Linking (absence of a break). TONES AND WORD ACCENTS −. Level. Contour. ̋. or. ˥. Extra high. ̌. or. ˩˥. Rising. ́.
[60]
[PDF] Handbook_of_the_IPA.pdf
The Handbook of the International Phonetic Association is a comprehensive guide to the. Association's 'International Phonetic Alphabet'.
[61]
[PDF] 語假- 名) UCS - Unicode
→ ・ U+30FB KATAKANA MIDDLE DOT. ◌̅COMBINING OVERLINE. Mojikyō 69637 ... like Ogawa's work, mixed Pe̍h-ōe-jī with Taiwanese kana. 3. Chen, Chun-Hui ...Missing: sandhi | Show results with:sandhi
[62]
[PDF] Amharic romanization table
Gurage, and Tigre. Ge'ez, which is chiefly a liturgical language, uses only 26 basic letter forms from this table. Amharic Romanization Table. 2011 version.
[63]
[PDF] Lesson 4
In Lhasa Tibetan, sandhi rules fix tonal combinations unnatural to native speakers' ears. This section discusses the two tone sandhi rules in Lhasa Tibetan.
[64]
Phoenician Alphabet - Phoenicia.org
The Phoenician alphabetic script of 22 letters was used at Byblos as early as the 15th century B.C. This method of writing, later adopted by the Greeks, is the ...
[65]
Ugaritic alphabet | Canaanite, Semitic & Clay Tablets - Britannica
Extant documents in Ugaritic are written on clay tablets with a wedge-shaped stylus and date from the 15th–14th century bc. They were found primarily at Ugarit ...
[66]
Etruscan Language and Inscriptions - The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Jun 1, 2013 · The Etruscans wrote right to left, and many of the Greek letters are reversed in orientation. Some early Greek inscriptions are also written ...
[67]
iso_8859-1(7) - Linux manual page - man7.org
ISO/IEC 8859-1 encodes the characters used in many West European languages. ISO/IEC 8859 alphabets The full set of ISO ... MIDDLE DOT 270 184 B8 ¸ CEDILLA ...
[68]
Xlib Compose Keys for en_US.UTF-8 - X.Org
"·" periodcentered # MIDDLE DOT. Multi_key period asciicircum, "·" periodcentered # MIDDLE DOT. Multi_key asciicircum period, "·" periodcentered # MIDDLE DOT.
[69]
How to type a midpoint / middle dot / interpunct in iOS
Nov 1, 2013 · To type a middle dot on Mac· press Shift+Option+9. Some other shortcuts are here: http://www.nouilles.info/keyboard_shortcuts.htmlenter middot on iOS or iPadOS? - Apple Support CommunitiesHow can I create a centered dot in a line of text?More results from discussions.apple.comMissing: input | Show results with:input
[70]
Micro-Typography: How To Space And Kern Punctuation Marks And ...
Nov 24, 2021 · This article will show you how to analyze typography in more detail, and how to better judge spacing and micro-typographic details.<|control11|><|separator|>
[71]
Does not render U+00B7 special character (∙) · Issue #2717 - GitHub
Apr 13, 2024 · A clear and concise description of what the bug is. react-pdf doesn't seem to render special character U+00B7 (aka. middle dot, https://www ...Missing: HTML | Show results with:HTML
[72]
Dot Operator Symbol (⋅) - Wumbo
The interpunct symbol also referred to as the middle dot, dot product symbol, or center dot is used in math to represent the multiplication operator or the ...