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A reference mark is a typographic symbol, such as an (*), (†), or double dagger (‡), placed in written or printed text to direct the reader's attention to a footnote, , or other supplementary information. These marks serve as navigational aids in scholarly, literary, and technical works, allowing authors to provide additional context without disrupting the main narrative flow. The use of reference marks dates back to ancient textual practices, with the and among the oldest known annotations in Western typography. In early biblical manuscripts from the third century , these symbols were employed by scholars like in his to mark textual variants, such as additions to the from the Hebrew original () or suspected spurious passages ( or ). The , derived from the Greek asteriskos meaning "little star," has been in use for more than two thousand years, initially as a general highlighter before evolving into a specific reference tool. Similarly, the , also known as an , originated as a critical mark in classical texts by scholars like in the 2nd century BC to indicate doubt or excision, later adapting to footnote purposes in medieval and printing. In modern , reference marks follow a conventional sequence to avoid repetition: starting with the , followed by the , double dagger, (§), (||), and (#), before cycling through doubled or tripled versions (e.g., **, ††). This hierarchy ensures clarity in dense annotations, particularly in and legal documents. Beyond footnotes, these symbols have specialized roles, such as in where the denotes a birth year (*1492) and the a death year (†1519). While superscript numerals have largely supplanted symbols in many styles (e.g., ), reference marks persist in fields requiring compact or traditional formatting, like entries and scientific citations.

Names and Etymology

Linguistic Names

In English, the symbol is known as the "reference mark" or "reference symbol," a term documented in typographic contexts since the late to denote markers for notes or annotations. In Japanese, it is referred to as kome (米) or more fully komejirushi (米印), translating literally to "rice mark" or "rice symbol," derived from its visual resemblance to the character for uncooked (米), evoking scattered rice grains. The character 米 (mǐ), meaning "," is an ancient pictograph first appearing in of the (c. 1600–1046 BCE), depicting scattered grains or a rice . In , the formal name is chamgopyo (참고표), meaning "reference mark," while an informal term is danggujangpyo (당구장표), or "billiard hall mark," based on the symbol's perceived similarity to cues and balls.

Historical Origins

The reference mark, denoted as ※ and officially named in as REFERENCE MARK (U+203B) in the CJK Symbols and block, has its name derived from visual similarity to the 米. In Japan, the symbol was adopted in Buddhist texts and classical commentaries for highlighting key passages, citations, or interpretive notes. This usage persisted through woodblock printing and into the late 16th century with the introduction of movable type printing, facilitated by Korean influences during the Imjin War; the first known Japanese book using movable metal type, the Kobun Kokyo (a primer on filial piety), was produced in 1593. During the (1603–1868), the reference mark became standardized in Japanese printing for literature and academic texts, transitioning fully from irregular handwritten forms to consistent typographic elements in kaibon (block-printed books), enhancing readability in dense commentaries and novels by signaling or important annotations. Its role in marking citations in Buddhist-influenced scholarly traditions solidified its enduring place in East Asian typography.

Usage in CJK Languages

Japanese Applications

In Japanese writing and , the reference mark (※, known as komejirushi or 米印, literally "rice symbol") primarily functions as a footnote marker or to denote references, serving a role analogous to the while adhering to traditional typographic conventions in East Asian scripts. It is commonly employed in formal contexts such as academic papers, novels, and newspapers to link main text to supplementary explanations or citations. Placement conventions dictate that the mark appears at the end of a relevant , , or word, either inline immediately after the target element or positioned to jut out from the main text frame (kihon-hanmen)—to the right in vertical writing mode or above in horizontal mode—ensuring it does not disrupt line alignment. This is followed by the explanatory note, which in Japanese practice is often inserted directly into the main text stream rather than relegated to the page bottom, promoting seamless readability. No line breaks are permitted immediately before or within the mark, treating it as an unbreakable unit. A representative example occurs in historical or literary prose, such as "歴史的事件※" (rekishi-teki na jiken※, "a historical event※"), where the mark signals an inline or appended note detailing the event's context. Culturally, the mark's design and positioning reflect Japanese typesetting priorities for aesthetic balance and flow, with right-side alignment in vertical text preventing interference with the columnar layout prevalent in novels and traditional print media. Its frequency persists in modern digital Japanese typesetting, supported by standards that ensure compatibility across horizontal and vertical orientations without compromising legibility.

Chinese and Korean Contexts

In Chinese typography, the reference mark ※, known as cānkǎo biāojì or mǐ xīnghào, is used for citations and annotations, particularly in formal documents, books, and academic texts. It serves as a footnote indicator or to denote additional notes. In traditional , it marks explanatory content, while modern usage in the favors for references due to standardization efforts. In digital contexts, its use has declined, with a preference for superscript numerals or bracketed numbers to enhance compatibility. The symbol is encoded in as U+203B. In Korean contexts, the reference mark, called chamgopyo (참고표), functions similarly to highlight references or annotations in scholarly and legal texts written in . It has been employed historically in sections using (). In contemporary Korean academic papers, it occasionally denotes secondary sources, though predominate in formats. Both and conventions position the mark inline within text flows, aligning with broader CJK typographic norms. However, its prevalence has declined in word processors and publishing software, where standardization toward Western-style superscript numerals or bracketed numbers enhances compatibility and readability across global contexts. For example, in texts, the mark might appear as in "古文※" to signal an explanatory note, while Korean scholarly articles use it to reference supplementary materials without disrupting the primary .

Typographic Characteristics

Design Variations

The mark, denoted as ※ (U+203B in ), features a standard design of two adjacent circles bisected by a horizontal line, evoking the appearance of two grains of rice and thus earning its Japanese name komejirushi (米印, "rice symbol"). This form aligns with the character frame in Japanese standards to maintain visual harmony with surrounding text. Design variations occur across typefaces and media. In handwritten calligraphy, the mark often appears with thicker, irregular strokes to mimic brush dynamics, emphasizing expressive flow over uniformity. Digital fonts, such as Sans JP or , present cleaner, minimalist lines with uniform thickness for modern readability, while Mincho-style fonts may incorporate subtle flourishes or tapered ends at the intersections for aesthetic refinement. In contemporary sans-serif fonts like Unicode MS, it adopts a highly minimalist form with simplified to suit digital interfaces. Regarding size and spacing, the mark is generally rendered at full text size in body text but reduced when positioned as a superscript for , with adjustments applied to prevent optical crowding against adjacent characters. Cultural adaptations in Japanese typography may include adjustments for vertical writing modes, ensuring proper alignment within the kihon-hanmen (base text frame).

Related Symbols

The asterisk (*), a star-shaped typographic symbol typically rendered with four to eight points, serves primarily as a footnote marker in Western texts, where it links inline references to annotations at the bottom of the page or end of a document. In contrast, the reference mark (※) features a distinct grain-like design of two adjacent circles bisected by a horizontal line, evoking grains of rice (from its Japanese name komejirushi, meaning "rice symbol"), and is preferred in CJK contexts for similar referential purposes but with notes often integrated directly into the main text rather than separated. The dagger (†), resembling a long cross or obelisk, and its variant the double dagger (‡), function as sequential footnote indicators in Western typography, employed after the asterisk when multiple references are needed, such as the second and third notes respectively. These symbols, with their cruciform shapes, are not typically adopted in CJK writing for referential roles, where the reference mark fills an analogous but culturally adapted function without implying the same hierarchical sequencing. The section sign (§), a double-layered "S" form used to denote specific sections or paragraphs in legal, academic, or structured documents, provides a rectangular and ligature-like appearance that starkly contrasts the reference mark's compact, circular design. While both can reference divisions within text, the section sign emphasizes structural navigation rather than footnote-style citations prevalent with the reference mark in CJK typography. The bullet (•), a simple solid dot, is employed in Western and global typography for unordered lists or itemization, lacking the referential intent of the reference mark and presenting a minimal, non-overlapping circular form. Unlike the reference mark's nuanced role in highlighting or linking annotations, the bullet prioritizes organizational clarity without evoking textual notes. In multilingual documents, the reference mark may interchange with Western symbols like the asterisk in mixed-language contexts to maintain consistency, though CJK conventions favor ※ to align with traditional typesetting practices and avoid visual discord with Latin scripts.

Digital Encoding

Unicode Representation

The reference mark is encoded in the Unicode Standard as U+203B REFERENCE MARK, a single representing the symbol ※. This character belongs to the General block (U+2000–U+206F), which includes various and diacritical marks used across scripts. Its general category is Po (Other ), indicating it functions as a non-combining symbol without specific numeric or alphabetic properties. Key properties include a bidirectional class of ON (Other Neutral), meaning it does not inherently favor left-to-right or right-to-left rendering and remains unmirrored in contexts; a combining class of 0 (Not Reordered), signifying no combining behavior; and no mapping, as it is a base form without or compatibility equivalents. The East Asian Width property is A (Ambiguous), allowing flexible rendering in CJK where it may occupy full or half width depending on the context. U+203B was introduced in 1.1 in 1993, making it one of the early characters standardized for multilingual support. Official aliases in the Unicode names list include " kome" and " paragraph separator," reflecting its cultural applications while maintaining a neutral primary name. In rendering, the character typically displays as a distinct asterisk-like with a central and surrounding strokes, though font-specific variations may occur without standardized fullwidth substitutions.

Legacy and Alternative Encodings

The reference mark was first standardized in the 1983 revision of , where it was assigned the position 2-8 in the character arrangement. This placement facilitated its inclusion in subsequent Japanese encoding schemes derived from the standard. In Shift-JIS, a variable-width encoding widely used for Japanese text in Windows environments ( 932), the reference mark is encoded as the two-byte sequence 0x81A6. Similarly, in EUC-JP, an extended Unix commonly employed in systems, it appears as the byte sequence 0xA2A8. For Traditional Chinese contexts, the encoding directly maps the reference mark to 0xA1B0, though some legacy implementations substituted it with 0xA2C5 due to partial compatibility gaps in early Big5 variants. In Korean standards, (now superseded by ) incorporated the reference mark within its repertoire of symbols, aligning with for cross-compatibility in CJK systems. These legacy encodings presented compatibility challenges, particularly in pre-UTF-8 web browsers such as early versions of and , where mismatched declarations or auto-detection failures often caused or substitution with the ASCII (*). Fallback mechanisms in such systems prioritized ASCII-safe alternatives to avoid complete rendering failure in mixed-language documents. Contemporary guidelines from the and the recommend transitioning to for all digital CJK texts, mitigating these issues through universal compatibility and simplified handling of symbols like the reference mark.

References

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