# English in Use/Less Common Typographical Marks

-   the **Acute accent** \[**´**\]
-   the **Asterisk** \[**\***\]
-   the **Asterism** \[**⁂**\]
-   the **Brace**, or **Curly Brackets** \[**{}**\]
-   the **Breve** \[**˘**\]
-   the **Caret** \[**\^**\]
-   the **Cedilla** \[**¸**\]
-   the **Circumflex** \[**ˆ**\]
-   the **Crotchets**, or **Brackets** \[**\[\]**\],
-   the **Diaeresis** \[**¨**\]
-   the **Diesis**, or **Double Dagger** \[**‡**\]
-   the **Ellipsis** \'\'\'...\'\'\'
-   the **Grave accent** \[**\`**\]
-   the **Guillements**, or **Angle Quotes** \[**«»**\]
-   the **Index** \[**☞**\]
-   the **Macron** \[**¯**\]
-   the **Obelisk**, or **Dagger** \[**†**\]
-   the **Paragraph** \[**¶**\]
-   the **Quotation Marks** \[**""**\]
-   the **Parallels** \[**\|\|**\]
-   the **Section** \[**§**\]

## Acute accent \[ **´** \]

The acute accent marks the syllable which requires the principal stress
in pronunciation: as, e\'qual, equal\'ity. It is sometimes used in
opposition to the grave accent, to distinguish a close or short vowel:
as, *Fancy*; or to denote the rising inflection of the voice: as,

-   \"Is it he?\"

## Asterisk ( **\*** )

The asterisk, or star, the obelisk, or dagger, the diesis, or double
dagger, the section, the parallels, and the paragraph, refer to marginal
notes. Where many references are to be made, the small letters of the
alphabet, or the numerical figures, in their order, may be conveniently
used for the same purpose.

## Asterism \[**⁂**\]

The asterism, or three stars, a sign not very often used, is placed
before a long or general note, to mark it as a note, without giving it a
particular reference.

## At sign at sign ( @ )

The *at sign* is variously used in various conventions. Originally it
was an accountancy abbreviation for \"at\", as:

-   \"One load of erunam @ \$7.50 per bucket\"

and still used informally to represent \'at\'\
On the Internet it commomly indicates the start of an email address

## Brace or Curly Brackets \[**{}**\]

The brace serves to unite a triplet; or, more frequently, to connect
several terms with something to which they are all related.

## Brackets of various types ( **( ) \[ \] { }〈 〉**)

The crotchets, parentheses or brackets generally enclose a parenthetic
correction or remark, but sometimes the sign or subject to be explained:
as,

-   \"He \[Mr. Maurice\] was of a different opinion.\"---Allen\'s Gram.,
    p. 213.

In formal notation it can delimit an expression to be used as a term or
logical unit in a larger expression, to be evaluated out of the lexical
sequence before being included in the encompassing expression. eg, in
the following expression, the addition must be performed before the
multiplication or division:

-   \"The assessment is to be calculated as: Contribution \* (age +
    diameter) / mean weighting\"

## Breve \[ **˘** \]

The breve, or stenotone, is used to denote either the close, short, shut
sound of a vowel, or a syllable of short quantity: as, l˘ive, to have
life; r˘av\'en, to devour; c˘al˘am˘us, a reed.

## Caret \[**\^**\]

The caret, used only in writing, shows where to insert words or letters
that have been accidentally omitted.

## Cedilla \[**¸**\]

The cedilla is borrowed from the French. It is placed under the letter
*c*, to give it the sound of *s*, before *a* or *o*: as, *Façade*,
*Alençon*. It is sometimes attached to other letters, to denote their
soft sounds: Ģ as *J*; Ş as *Z*.

## Circumflex**ˆ**

The circumflex generally denotes either the broad sound of a or an
unusual sound given to some other vowel: as in *all, heir, machine*.
Some use it to mark a peculiar wave of the voice, and when occasion
requires, reverse it: as,

-   \"If you said s\^o, then I said so.\"

## Degree sign

The degree sign ( **`<big>`{=html}°`</big>`{=html}** ) : marks several
different units: arc degrees, temperature degrees, and (rarely) hours of
time. Different from the masculine ordinal indicator, used to abbreviate
ordinal numbers in some languages

## Diaeresis \[**¨**\]

The diaeresis, or dialysis, placed over either of two contiguous vowels,
shows that they are not a diphthong: as, *Danaee, aerial*.

## Ellipsis (**...**)

The ellipsis, or suppression, denotes the omission of some letters or
words: as, K...g, for King; c...d, for coward; d...d, for damned.

## Grave accent \[**\`**\]

The grave accent is used in opposition to the acute, to distinguish an
open or long vowel: as, *Favour*; or to denote the falling inflection of
the voice: as,

-   \"Yes; it is he.\"

It is sometimes placed over a vowel to show that it is not to be
suppressed in pronunciation: as,

-   \"Let me, though in humble speech, your refined maxims
    teach.\"---Amer. Review, May, 1848.

## Index \[**☞**\]

The index, or hand, points out something remarkable, or what the reader
should particularly observe: as,

-   \"**`<big>`{=html}☞`</big>`{=html}** On odd dates it is a criminal
    offence to bring a wheeled vehicle into the controlled area

## Macron \[**¯**\]

The macron, or macrotone, is used to denote either the open, long,
primal sound of a vowel, or a syllable of long quantity: as, l¯ive,
having life; r¯a\'ven, a bird; ¯e\'qu¯ine, of a horse.

## Number sign, octothorpe, pound sign, or hash ( **\#** )

The number sign is variously used in different conventions. Commonly
means \"number\" when preceding ordinal numbers, but weight when
following numbers

## Paragraph mark or pilcrow \[**¶**\]

The paragraph denotes the commencement of a new subject. Those parts of
discourse that usually are called paragraphs, generally are sufficiently
distinguished by beginning a new line, often with the first word or the
body text indented. However, when referring to numbered paragraphs in
books, the pilcrow may be used as an abbreviation for the word
\"paragraph\".

## Section \[**§**\]

The section marks the smaller divisions of a book or chapter; and, with
the help of numbers, serves to abridge references.

## Slash/Solidus (**/**) and backslash (**\\**)

Forward slashes are used to indicate alternatives, connect words, and
form abbreviations. For example, black/white, either/or, w/o (without).\
Slashes also are used variously in technical notation, for example to
denote division, rates or fractions, or to denote files within different
folders on an Internet server.

## Other marks

ampersand ( & ) : a substitute for the word \'and\'. Most common in signs, titles, and informal writing.

```{=html}
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```

bullet ( •, more ) : used to mark items in lists

```{=html}
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```

currency ( ¤ ) :

```{=html}
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```

dagger ( † ‡ ) : commonly used to mark footnotes (along with the asterisk)

```{=html}
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```

interrobang ( ‽ ) : A superimposed exclamation point and question mark, sometimes used in place of !? to denote a surprised question.

```{=html}
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```

percent and related signs ( % ) ( ‰ ) ( ‱ ) :

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```

prime ( ′ ) :

```{=html}
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```

spaces ( ) (   ) (   ) :

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```

tilde ( \~ ) :

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```

umlaut/diaresis ( ¨ ) :

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```

underscore/understrike ( \_ ) :

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```

vertical line/pipe/broken bar ( \| ) ( ¦ ) :

## References

-   A part of the text in this article, was taken from the public domain
    English grammar \"The Grammar of English
    Grammars\" by Goold Brown,
    1851.


