Exclamation mark

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclamation_mark 

!
Exclamation mark
Other names	Exclamation point
U+0021 ! EXCLAMATION MARK (!)
¡ ՜ ǃ ﹗ Inverted exclamation mark Armenian exclamation mark Alveolar click Small exclamation sign
See also
U+00A1 ¡ INVERTED EXCLAMATION MARK

The exclamation mark, !, or exclamation point (American English), is a punctuation mark usually used after an interjection or exclamation to indicate strong feelings or to show emphasis. The exclamation mark often marks the end of a sentence, for example: "Watch out!". Similarly, a bare exclamation mark (with nothing before or after) is often used in warning signs. The exclamation mark is often used in writing to make a character seem as though they are shouting and/or excited/surprised.

Other uses include:

• In mathematics, it denotes the factorial operation.
• Several computer languages use ! at the beginning of an expression to denote logical negation. For example,!A means "the logical negation of A", also called "not A". This usage has spread to ordinary language (e.g., "!clue" means no-clue or clueless).
• Some languages use ! to denote a click consonant.

History

Graphically, the exclamation mark is represented by variations on the theme of a full stop point with a vertical line above. One theory of its origin posits derivation from a Latin exclamation of joy, namely io, analogous to "hurray"; copyists wrote the Latin word io at the end of a sentence, to indicate expression of joy. Over time, the i moved above the o; that o first became smaller, and (with time) a dot.

In the 15th century, the exclamation mark was introduced into English printing to show emphasis. It was later called by many names, including point of admiration (1611), note of exclamation or admiration (1657), sign of admiration or exclamation, exclamation point (1824), and finally, exclamation mark (1839).

Many older or portable typewriters did not have the exclamation mark. Instead the user typed a full stop and then backspaced and overtyped an apostrophe.

Slang and other names for the exclamation mark

Now obsolete, the name ecphoneme was documented in the early 20th century.

In the 1950s, secretarial dictation and typesetting manuals in America referred to the mark as "bang", perhaps from comic books – where the ! appeared in dialogue balloons to represent a gun being fired – although the nickname probably emerged from letterpress printing. This "bang" usage is behind the names of the interrobang, an unconventional typographic character, and a shebang, a feature of Unix computer systems.

In the printing world, the exclamation mark can be called a screamer, a gasper, a slammer, a dog's cock, or a startler.

In hacker culture, the exclamation mark is called "bang", "shriek", or, in the British slang known as Commonwealth Hackish, "pling". For example, the password communicated in the spoken phrase "Your password is em-zero-pee-aitch-bang-en-three" ("em-nought-pee-aitch-pling-en-three" in Commonwealth Hackish) is m0ph!n3.

Languages

The exclamation mark is common to languages using the Latin alphabet, although usage varies slightly between languages. It has also been adopted in languages written in other scripts, such as languages written with Cyrillic or Arabic scripts, Chinese characters, and Devanagari.

English

A sentence ending in an exclamation mark may represent an exclamation or an interjection (such as "Wow!", "Boo!"), or an imperative ("Stop!"), or may indicate astonishment or surprise: "They were the footprints of a gigantic hound!" Exclamation marks are occasionally placed mid-sentence with a function similar to a comma, for dramatic effect, although this usage is obsolete: "On the walk, oh! there was a frightful noise."

Informally, exclamation marks may be repeated for additional emphasis ("That's great!!!"), but this practice is generally considered unacceptable in formal prose.

The exclamation mark is sometimes used in conjunction with the question mark. This can be in protest or astonishment ("Out of all places, the squatter-camp?!"); a few writers replace this with a single, nonstandard punctuation mark, the interrobang, which is the combination of a question mark and an exclamation mark.

Overly frequent use of the exclamation mark is generally considered poor writing, as it distracts the reader and decreases the mark's significance.

Cut out all these exclamation points... An exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke.

— F. Scott Fitzgerald

Some authors, most notably Tom Wolfe, are known for unashamedly liberal use of the exclamation mark. In comic books, the very frequent use of exclamation mark is common—see Comics, below.

For information on the use of spaces after an exclamation mark, see the discussion of spacing after a full stop.

Several studies have shown that women use exclamation marks more than men do. One study suggests that, in addition to other uses, exclamation marks may also function as markers of friendly interaction, for example, by making "Hi!" or "Good luck!" seem friendlier than simply "Hi." or "Good luck." (with periods). However, use of exclamation marks in contexts that are not unambiguously positive can be misinterpreted as indicating hostility.

In English writing and often subtitles, a (!) symbol (an exclamation mark within parentheses) implies that a character has made an obviously sarcastic comment e.g.: "Ooh, a sarcasm detector. That's a really useful invention(!)" It also is used to indicate surprise at one's own experience or statement.

French

In French, as well as marking exclamations or indicating astonishment, the exclamation mark is also commonly used to mark orders or requests: Viens ici ! (English: 'Come here!'). When available, a 'narrow no-break space' (espace fine insécable) is used between the last word and the exclamation mark in European French. If not, a regular non-breaking space (espace insécable) is currently used. In Canadian French, either no space is used or a small space (espace fine insécable) is inserted if available. One can also combine an exclamation mark with a question mark at the end of a sentence where appropriate.

Fula in Adlam

In Fula written in the Adlam script, exclamative sentences start with U+1E95E 𞥞 ADLAM INITIAL EXCLAMATION MARK and end with the ASCII exclamation mark. For example, 𞥞 𞤢𞤤𞤢𞥄 !, "No!".

German

German uses the exclamation mark for several things that English conveys with other punctuation:

• It is used at the end of imperative sentences even when not particularly emphatic: Ruf mich morgen an! ('Call me tomorrow.') A normal full stop, as in English, is fairly common but is considered substandard.
• A related use is on signs that express a command or interdiction: Betreten verboten! (English: 'No trespassing!').
• The exclamation mark may also be used in the salutation line of a letter: Lieber Hans! (English: 'Dear Hans,'). However, the use of a comma is equally correct and is more common.

Cantonese

Cantonese has not historically used dedicated punctuation marks, rather relying on grammatical markers to denote the end of a statement. Usage of exclamation marks is common in written Mandarin and in some Yue speaking regions. The Canton and Hong Kong regions, however, generally refused to accept the exclamation mark as it was seen as carrying with it unnecessary and confusing Western connotations; however, an exclamation mark, including in some written representations of colloquy in Cantonese, can be used informally to indicate strong feeling.

Mandarin Chinese

It is called 感叹号 in China and 感嘆號 in Taiwan, both pronounced Gǎn tàn hào.

Greek

In Modern Greek, the exclamation mark (Θαυμαστικό, thavmastikó) has been introduced from Latin scripts and is used identically, although without the reluctance seen in English usage. A minor grammatical difference is that, while a series of interjections each employ an exclamation mark (e.g., Ωχ! Αχ!, Ōch! Ach!, 'Oops! Oh!'), an interjection should only be separated from an extended exclamation by a comma (e.g., Ωχ, ξέχασα το μάτι της κουζίνας ανοιχτό!, Ōch, xéchasa to máti tīs kouzínas anoichtó!, 'Oops! I left the stove on.').

Hungarian

In Hungarian, an exclamation mark is put at the end of exclamatory, imperative or prohibitive sentences, and sentences expressing a wish (e.g. De szép! – 'How beautiful!', A fűre lépni tilos! – 'Keep off the grass', Bárcsak sikerülne a tervem! – 'If only my plan would work out.'). The use of the exclamation mark is also needed when addressing someone and the addressing is a separate sentence. (typically at the beginning of letters, e.g. Kedves Péter! – 'Dear Peter,'). Greetings are also typically terminated with an exclamation mark (e.g. Jó estét! – 'Good evening.').

Solomon Islands Pidgin

In Solomon Islands Pidgin, the phrase may be between admiration marks. Compare Nomoa. ("No.") and !Nomoa nao! ("Certainly not!").

Spanish

Trilingual billboard in Barcelona (detail), showing the initial exclamation mark for Spanish, but not for Catalan (top line) and English

In Spanish, a sentence or clause ending in an exclamation mark must also begin with an inverted exclamation mark (the same also applies to the question mark): ¿Estás loco? ¡Casi la matas!, 'Are you crazy? You almost killed her!'

As in British English, a bracketed exclamation mark may be used to indicate irony or surprise at a statement: Dice que esta noche no va a salir de fiesta (!), 'He said that he's not going to a party tonight(!).' Such use is not matched by an inverted opening exclamation mark.

Turkish

In Turkish, an exclamation mark is used after a sentence or phrase for emphasis, and is common following both commands and the addressees of such commands. For example, in the Ordular! İlk hedefiniz Akdenizdir, ileri! ('Armies! Your first target is the Mediterranean') order by Atatürk, ordular ('the armies') constitute the addressee. It is further used in parentheses, (!), after a sentence or phrase to indicate irony or sarcasm: Çok iyi bir iş yaptın (!), 'You've done a very good job – Not!'.

Limbu

This section contains uncommon Unicode characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of the intended characters.

In Limbu, an exclamation mark is used after a Limbu sentence or phrase for emphasis, and is common following both commands and the addressees of such commands. For example, in the Limbu sentence ᤐᤚᤢ᥄ ᤄᤨᤘᤑ ᤂᤥᤆᤌᤙ Mediterranean, ᤚᤦᤛᤅ᥄ — Paṡu! Ghōwapha khōcathaśa Mediterranean, ṡausaṅa! (Armies! Your first target is the Mediterranean!). It is further used in parentheses, (᥄), after a sentence or phrase to indicate irony or sarcasm: ᤖᤥᤂᤌ ᤔᤚᤗ ᤐᤤ ᤊᤇ ᤃᤦᤄ (᥄) — Rōkhatha maṡala pai yancha gaugha (!) (You did a very good job — Not!).

Phonetics

In Khoisan languages, and the International Phonetic Alphabet, the exclamation mark is used as a letter to indicate the postalveolar click sound (represented as q in Zulu orthography). In Unicode, this letter is properly coded as U+01C3 ǃ LATIN LETTER RETROFLEX CLICK and distinguished from the common punctuation symbol U+0021 ! EXCLAMATION MARK to allow software to deal properly with word breaks.

The exclamation mark has sometimes been used as a phonetic symbol to indicate that a consonant is ejective. More commonly this is represented by an apostrophe, or a superscript glottal stop symbol (U+02C0 ˀ MODIFIER LETTER GLOTTAL STOP).

Proper names

Although not part of dictionary words, exclamation marks appear in some brand names and trade names, including Yum! Brands (parent of fast food chains like Taco Bell and KFC), Web services Yahoo! and Joomla!, and the online game Kahoot!. It appears in the titles of stage and screen works, especially comedies and musicals; examples include the game show Jeopardy!; the '60s musical TV show Shindig!; musicals Oklahoma!, Mamma Mia!, Oliver! and Oh! Calcutta!; and movies Airplane! and Moulin Rouge!. Writer Elliot S! Maggin and cartoonist Scott Shaw! include exclamation marks in their names. In the 2016 United States presidential campaign, Republican candidate Jeb Bush used "Jeb!" as his campaign logo.

Place names

Road sign marking the entrance to Westward Ho!

The English town of Westward Ho!, named after the novel by Charles Kingsley, is the only place name in the United Kingdom that officially contains an exclamation mark. There is a town in Quebec called Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!, which is spelled with two exclamation marks. The city of Hamilton, Ohio, changed its name to Hamilton! in 1986, but neither the United States Board on Geographic Names nor mapmakers Rand McNally recognised the change. The city of Ostrava, Czech Republic, changed its logotype to Ostrava!!! in 2008.

Warnings

Warning signs are often an exclamation mark enclosed within a triangle.

 

New Zealand road sign warning of a "cattle stop" (cattle grid/cattle guard)

Exclamation marks are used to emphasize a precautionary statement.

On warning signs, an exclamation mark is often used to draw attention to a warning of danger, hazards, and the unexpected. These signs are common in hazardous environments or on potentially dangerous equipment. A common type of this warning is a yellow triangle with a black exclamation mark, but a white triangle with a red border is common on European road warning signs.

Use in various fields

Custom cut tri-color PVC stands representing different styles of an exclamation mark

 

Aalto University School of Business Logo 2020 (exclamation mark)

Mathematics and formal logic

Further information: Glossary of mathematical symbols

In elementary mathematics, the symbol represents the factorial operation. The expression n! means "the product of the integers from 1 to n". For example, 4! (read four factorial) is 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 24. (0! is defined as 1, which is a neutral element in multiplication, not multiplied by anything.) Additionally, it can also represent the uniqueness quantifier or, if used in front of a number, it can represent a subfactorial.

In linear logic, the exclamation mark denotes one of the modalities that control weakening and contraction.

Computing

In computing, the exclamation mark is ASCII character 33 (21 in hexadecimal). Due to its availability on even early computers, the character was used for many purposes. The name given to "!" by programmers varies according to their background, though it was very common to give it a short name to make reading code aloud easier. "Bang" is very popular. In the UK the term pling was popular in the earlier days of computing, whilst in the United States, the term shriek was used. It is claimed that these word usages were invented in the US and shriek is from Stanford or MIT; however, shriek for the ! sign is found in the Oxford English Dictionary dating from the 1860s.

Many computer languages using C-style syntax use "!" for logical negation; !A means "not A", and A != B means "A is not equal to B". This negation principle has spread to ordinary language; for example, the word "!clue" is used as a synonym for "no-clue" or "clueless". The symbol in formal logic for negation is ¬ but, as this symbol is not present as standard on some keyboards, the C convention has spread informally to other contexts.

Early e-mail systems also used the exclamation mark as a separator character between hostnames for routing information, usually referred to as "bang path" notation.

In the IRC protocol, a user's nickname and ident are separated by an exclamation mark in the hostmask assigned to him or her by the server.

In UNIX scripting (typically for UNIX shell or Perl), "!" is usually used after a "#" in the first line of a script, the interpreter directive, to tell the OS what program to use to run the script. #! is usually called a "hash-bang" or shebang. A similar convention for PostScript files calls for the first line to begin with %!, called "percent-bang".

An exclamation mark starts history expansions in many Unix shells such as bash and tcsh where !! executes the previous command and !* refers to all of the arguments from the previous command.

Acorn RISC OS uses filenames starting with pling to create an application directory: for instance a file called !Run is executed when the folder containing it is double-clicked (holding down shift prevents this). There is also !Boot (executed the first time the application containing it comes into view of the filer), !Sprites (icons), !Help, and others.

In APL, !x is used for factorial of x (backwards from math notation), and also for the binomial coefficient: k!n means ${\displaystyle (\genfrac{}{}{0ex}{}{n}{k})}$ or n!⁄k!(n–k)!.

BBC BASIC used pling as an indirection operator, equivalent to PEEK and POKE of four bytes at once.

BCPL, the precursor of C, used "!" for pointer and array indirection: !P is equivalent to *P in C, and P!3 is equivalent to P[3] in C.

In the Haskell programming language, "!" is used to express strictness.

In the Kotlin programming language, "!!" ("double-bang") is the not-null assertion operator, used to override null safety so as to allow a null pointer exception.

In the ML programming language (including Standard ML and OCaml), "!" is the operator to get the value out of a "reference" data structure.

In the Raku programming language, the "!" twigil is used to access private attributes or methods in a class (like class Person { has $!name; } or self!private-method;).

In the Scheme, Julia, and Ruby programming languages, "!" is conventionally the suffix for functions and special forms that mutate their input.

In the Swift programming language, a type followed by "!" denotes an "implicitly unwrapped optional", an option type where the compiler does not enforce safe unwrapping. The "!" operator "force unwraps" an option type, causing an error if it is nil.

In Geek Code version 3, "!" is used before a letter to denote that the geek refuses to participate in the topic at hand. In some cases, it has an alternate meaning, such as G! denoting a geek of no qualifications, !d denoting not wearing any clothes, P! denoting not being allowed to use Perl, and so on. They all share some negative connotations, however.

Video games

The exclamation mark can be used in video games to signify that a character is startled or alarmed. In the Metal Gear and Paper Mario series, an exclamation mark appears over enemies' heads when they notice the player.

In massively multiplayer online (MMO) games such as World of Warcraft, an exclamation mark hovering over a character's head is often used to indicate that they are offering a quest for the player to complete.

In Dota 2, an exclamation mark is shown above the head of a unit if it is killed by means not granting enemies experience or gold (if it is "denied").

In the 2005 arcade dance simulation game In the Groove 2, there is a song titled "!" (also referred to as "bang") by the artist Onyx.

Internet culture

In Internet culture, especially where leet is used, multiple exclamation marks may be affixed with the numeral "1" as in !!!!!!111. The notation originates from a common error: when typing multiple exclamation points quickly, the typist may fail to hold the ⇧ Shift1 combination that produces the exclamation mark on many keyboard layouts. This error, first used intentionally as a joke in the leet linguistic community, is now an accepted form of exclamation in leet and derivative dialects such as Lolspeak. Some utterances include further substitutions, for example "!!!111oneeleven".

In fandom and fanfiction, ! is used to signify a defining quality in a character, usually signifying an alternative interpretation of a character from a canonical work. Examples of this would be "Romantic!Draco" or "Vampire!Harry" from Harry Potter fandom. It is also used to clarify the current persona of a character with multiple identities or appearances, such as to distinguish "Armor!Al" from "Human!Al" in a work based on Fullmetal Alchemist. The origin of this usage is unknown, although it is hypothesized to have originated with certain Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures, for example, "Football Player! Leonardo", "Rockstar! Raphael", and "Breakdancer! Michelangelo".

Comics

This Action Comics cover from 1959 ends every sentence with an exclamation point or question mark. Often, few or no periods would be used in the entire book.

Some comic books, especially superhero comics of the mid-20th century, routinely use the exclamation point instead of the period, which means the character has just realized something; unlike when the question mark appears instead, which means the character is confused, surprised or they do not know what is happening. This tends to lead to exaggerated speech, in line with the other hyperboles common in comic books. A portion of the motivation, however, was simply that a period might disappear in the printing process used at the time, whereas an exclamation point would likely remain recognizable even if there was a printing glitch. For a short period Stan Lee, as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, attempted to curb their overuse by a short-lived ban on exclamation points altogether, which led to an inadvertent lack of ending punctuation on many sentences.

Comic book writer Elliot S! Maggin once accidentally signed his name with an exclamation due to the habit of using them when writing comic scripts; it became his professional name from then on. Similarly, comic artist Scott Shaw! has used the exclamation point after his name throughout his career.

In comic books and comics in general, a large exclamation point is often used near or over a character's head to indicate surprise. A question mark can similarly be used to indicate confusion.

Chess

Main article: Punctuation (chess)

In chess notation "!" denotes a good move, "!!" denotes an excellent move, "?!" denotes a dubious move, and "!?" denotes an interesting, risky move. In some chess variants such as large-board Shogi variants, "!" is used to record pieces capturing by stationary feeding or burning.

Scrabble

In Scrabble, an exclamation mark written after a word is used to indicate its presence in the Official Tournament and Club Word List but its absence from the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, usually because the word has been judged offensive.

Baseball

Exclamation points or asterisks can be used on scorecards to denote a "great defensive play".

Popular music

The band !!! (pronounced "Chk Chk Chk") uses exclamation points as its name.

In 2008, the pop-punk band Panic! at the Disco dropped the exclamation point in its name; this became the "most-discussed topic on [fan] message boards around the world". In 2009, the exclamation mark was re-inserted following the band's split.

The band Bomb the Music Industry! utilizes an exclamation mark in its name, as well as several album and song titles and promotional material. Examples include their songs "(Shut) Up The Punx!!!" and the album Adults!!!: Smart!!! Shithammered!!! And Excited by Nothing!!!!!!!.

American musician Pink stylizes her stage name "P!NK", and uses three exclamation points in the subtitle of her 2010 release, Greatest Hits... So Far!!!.

Television

The exclamation mark was included in the title of Dinah Shore's TV series, Dinah! The exclamation mark was later the subject of a bitter argument between Elaine Benes and her boyfriend, Jake Jarmel, in the Seinfeld episode, "The Sniffing Accountant". Elaine got upset with Jake for not putting an exclamation mark at the end of a message about her friend having a baby. Jake took extreme exception to the trivial criticism and broke up with Elaine, putting an exclamation mark after his parting words: "I'm leaving!"

Theatre

In musicals, an exclamation mark is usually used when the title of the show has the same title of a song within the act. Examples of this are shows like Oklahoma! and Mamma Mia!.

Unicode code-points (with HTML)

• U+0021 ! EXCLAMATION MARK (HTML !, !)

Related forms have these code points:

• U+00A1 ¡ INVERTED EXCLAMATION MARK (¡)
• U+01C3 ǃ LATIN LETTER RETROFLEX CLICK (In IPA: alveolar click)
• U+203C ‼ DOUBLE EXCLAMATION MARK (for use in vertical text)
  • ‼️ with emoji variation selector
• U+203D ‽ INTERROBANG
• U+2E18 ⸘ INVERTED INTERROBANG
• U+2048 ⁈ QUESTION EXCLAMATION MARK (for use in vertical text)
• U+2049 ⁉ EXCLAMATION QUESTION MARK (for use in vertical text)
  • ⁉️ with emoji variation selector
• U+26A0 ⚠ WARNING SIGN (exclamation mark in triangle)
• U+2755 ❕ WHITE EXCLAMATION MARK ORNAMENT (in Unicode lingo, "white" means hollow)
• U+2757 ❗ HEAVY EXCLAMATION MARK SYMBOL
• U+2762 ❢ HEAVY EXCLAMATION MARK ORNAMENT
• U+2763 ❣ HEAVY HEART EXCLAMATION MARK ORNAMENT
  • ❣️ with emoji variation selector
• U+2E53 ⹓ MEDIEVAL EXCLAMATION MARK
• U+A71D ꜝ MODIFIER LETTER RAISED EXCLAMATION MARK
• U+A71E ꜞ MODIFIER LETTER RAISED INVERTED EXCLAMATION MARK
• U+A71F ꜟ MODIFIER LETTER LOW INVERTED EXCLAMATION MARK
• U+FE15 ︕ PRESENTATION FORM FOR VERTICAL EXCLAMATION MARK
• U+FE57 ﹗ SMALL EXCLAMATION MARK (for special applications within CJK text)
• U+FF01 ！ FULLWIDTH EXCLAMATION MARK (for special applications within CJK text)
• U+E0021 TAG EXCLAMATION MARK

Some emojis include an exclamation mark:

• U+1F199 🆙 SQUARED UP WITH EXCLAMATION MARK
• U+1F51B 🔛 ON WITH EXCLAMATION MARK WITH LEFT RIGHT ARROW ABOVE

Some scripts have their own exclamation mark:

• U+055C ՜ ARMENIAN EXCLAMATION MARK
• U+07F9 ߹ NKO EXCLAMATION MARK
• U+109F ႟ MYANMAR SYMBOL SHAN EXCLAMATION
• U+1944 ᥄ LIMBU EXCLAMATION MARK
• U+AA77 ꩷ MYANMAR SYMBOL AITON EXCLAMATION
• U+1E95E 𞥞 ADLAM INITIAL EXCLAMATION MARK

English punctuation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Punctuation in the English language helps the reader to understand a sentence through visual means other than just the letters of the alphabet. English punctuation has always had two complementary aspects: on the one hand, phonological punctuation linked to how the sentence can be read aloud, particularly to pausing; and on the other hand, grammatical punctuation linked to the structure of the sentence. In popular discussion of language, incorrect punctuation is often seen as an indication of lack of education and of a decline of standards.

Variants

British and American styles

The two broad styles of punctuation in English are often called British (typically used in the UK, Ireland, and most of the Commonwealth of Nations) and American (also common in Canada and places with a strong American influence on local English, as in the Philippines). These two styles differ mainly in the way in which they handle quotation marks with adjacent punctuation, and the use or omission of the full point (period) with contraction abbreviations. (See subsections below on Quotation marks and Full stop, full point or period.)

Open and closed punctuation

The terms open and closed punctuation have been applied to minimizing versus comprehensively including punctuation, respectively, aside from any dialectal trends. Closed punctuation is used in scholarly, literary, general business, and "everyday" writing. Open style dominates in text messaging and other short-form online communication, where more formal or "closed" punctuation can be misinterpreted as aloofness or even hostility.

Open punctuation

Open punctuation eliminates the need for a period at the end of a stand-alone statement, in an abbreviation or acronym (including personal initials and post-nominal letters, and time-of-day abbreviations), as well as in components of postal addresses. This style also eschews optional commas in sentences, including the serial comma. Open punctuation also frequently drops apostrophes.

Open punctuation is used primarily in certain forms of business writing, such as letterhead and envelope addressing, some business letters, and résumés and their cover letters.

Closed punctuation

In contrast, closed punctuation uses commas and periods in a strict manner.

Closed style is common in presentations, especially in bulleted and numbered lists. It is also frequently used in advertising, marketing materials, news headlines, and signage.

Usage of different punctuation marks or symbols

Frequency

One analysis found the average frequencies for English punctuation marks, based on 723,000 words of assorted texts, to be as follows (as of 2013, but with some text corpora dating to 1998 and 1987):

Name	Glyph	Frequency (per 1000 words)
Full stop (period)	.	65.3
Comma	,	61.3
Double quotation mark	"	26.7
Apostrophe / single quotation mark	'	24.3
Hyphen	-	15.3
Question mark	?	5.6
Colon	:	3.4
Exclamation mark	!	3.3
Semicolon	;	3.2

Apostrophe

Main article: Apostrophe § Usage in English

The apostrophe ( ’, ' ), sometimes called inverted comma in British English, is used to mark possession, as in "John's book", and to mark letters omitted in contractions, such as you're for you are.

Brackets

Brackets ( [...], (...), {...}, ⟨...⟩ ) are used for parenthesis, explanation or comment: such as "John Smith (the elder, not his son)..."

Colon

Main article: Colon (punctuation)

The colon ( : ) is used to start an enumeration, as in Her apartment needed a few things: a toaster, a new lamp, and a nice rug. It is used between two clauses when the second clause otherwise clarifies the first, as in I can barely keep my eyes open: I hardly got a wink of sleep.

Comma

Main article: Comma § Uses in English

The comma ( , ) is used to disambiguate the meaning of sentences, by providing boundaries between clauses and phrases. For example, "Man, without his cell phone, is nothing" (emphasizing the importance of cell phone) and "Man: without, his cell phone is nothing" (emphasizing the importance of men) have greatly different meanings, as do "eats shoots and leaves" (to mean "consumes plant growths") and "eats, shoots and leaves" (to mean "eats firstly, fires a weapon secondly, and leaves the scene thirdly").

The comma is also used to group digits in numerals and dates: “2,000” and “January 7, 1985”. In many other languages, the comma is used as the decimal separator.

Dash and hyphen

Main articles: Dash and Hyphen

The dash ( ‒, –, —, ― ) and hyphen or hyphen-minus ( ‐ ) is used:

• as a line continuation when a word is broken across two lines;
• to apply a prefix to a word for which there is no canonical compound word;
• as a replacement for a comma, when the subsequent clause significantly shifts the primary focus of the preceding text.

Ellipsis

Main article: Ellipsis § In English

An ellipsis ( ..., …, . . . ) is used to mark omitted text or when a sentence trails off.

Exclamation mark

Main article: Exclamation mark § English

The exclamation mark ( ! ) is used to mark an exclamation.

Full point, full stop, or period

The character known as the full point or full stop in British and Commonwealth English and as the period in North American English ( . ) serves multiple purposes. As the full stop, it is used to mark the end of a sentence. It is also used, as the full point, to indicate abbreviation, including of names as initials:

Dwight D. Eisenhower's home in Gettysburg, Pa., was not very far from Washington, D.C.

The frequency and specifics of the latter use vary widely, over time and regionally. For example, these marks are usually left out of acronyms and initialisms today, and in many British publications they are omitted from contractions such as Dr for Doctor, where the abbreviation begins and ends with the same letters as the full word.

Another use of this character, as the decimal point, is found in mathematics and computing (where it is often nicknamed the "dot"), dividing whole numbers from decimal fractions, as in 2,398.45. In many languages, the roles of the comma and decimal point are reversed, with the comma serving as the decimal separator and the dot used as a thousands separator (though a thin space is sometimes used for the latter purpose, especially in technical writing, regardless what the decimal separator is). In computing, the dot is used as a delimiter more broadly, as site and file names ("wikipedia.org", "192.168.0.1." "document.txt"), and serves special functions in various programming and scripting languages.

Question marks

The question mark ( ? ) is used to mark the end of a sentence which is a question.

Quotation marks

Main article: Quotation marks in English

Quotation marks ( ‘...’, “...”, '...', "..." ) are used in pairs to set off quotation, with two levels for distinguishing nested quotations: single and double. North American publishers of English texts tend to favour double quotation marks for the primary quotation, switching to single for any quote-within-a-quote, while British and Commonwealth publishers may use either single or double for primary quotation, also switching to the alternative for any nested. Further nesting (quote-within-a-quote-within-a-quote) reverts to the primary marks, and so forth.

Question marks, exclamation points, semicolons and colons are placed inside the quotation marks when they apply only to the quoted material; if they syntactically apply to the sentence containing or introducing the material, they are placed outside the marks. In British publications (and those throughout the Commonwealth of Nations more broadly), periods and commas are most often treated the same way, but usage varies widely. In American publications, periods and commas are usually placed inside the quotation marks regardless. The American system, also known as typographer's quotation, is also common in Canadian English, and in fiction broadly.

A third system, known as logical quotation, is strict about not including terminal punctuation within the quotation marks unless it was also found in the quoted material. Some writers conflate logical quotation and the common British style (which actually permits some variation, such as replacement of an original full stop with a comma or vice versa, to suit the needs of the quoting sentence, rather than moving the non-original punctuation outside the quotation marks). For example, The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th ed.: "The British style is strongly advocated by some American language experts. Whereas there clearly is some risk with question marks and exclamation points, there seems little likelihood that readers will be misled concerning the period or comma." It goes on to recommend "British" or logical quotation for fields such as linguistics, literary criticism, and technical writing, and also notes its use in philosophy texts.

Semicolon

Main article: Semicolon § English

The semicolon ( ; ) is used to separate two independent but related clauses: My wife would like tea; I would prefer coffee. The semicolon is also used to separate list items when the list items contain commas: "She saw three men: Jamie, who came from New Zealand; John, the milkman's son; and George, a gaunt kind of man."

Slash

The slash or stroke or solidus ( /, ⁄ ) is often used to indicate alternatives, such as "his/her", or two equivalent meanings or spellings, such as "grey/gray". The slash is used in certain set phrases, such as the conjunction "and/or".

Comma

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma 

,
Comma
U+002C , COMMA (,)
、 ، ◌̦ Japanese comma Arabic comma combining comma below

The comma , is a punctuation mark that appears in several variants in different languages. It has the same shape as an apostrophe or single closing quotation mark (’) in many typefaces, but it differs from them in being placed on the baseline of the text. Some typefaces render it as a small line, slightly curved or straight, but inclined from the vertical. Other fonts give it the appearance of a miniature filled-in figure 9 on the baseline.

The comma is used in many contexts and languages, mainly to separate parts of a sentence such as clauses, and items in lists mainly when there are three or more items listed. The word comma comes from the Greek κόμμα (kómma), which originally meant a cut-off piece, specifically in grammar, a short clause.

A comma-shaped mark is used as a diacritic in several writing systems and is considered distinct from the cedilla. In Byzantine and modern copies of Ancient Greek, the "rough" and "smooth breathings" (ἁ, ἀ) appear above the letter. In Latvian, Romanian, and Livonian, the comma diacritic appears below the letter, as in ș.

For the notation ⟨x⟩ and /x/ used in this article, see grapheme and phoneme, respectively.

History

Main article: Punctuation § Western Antiquity

The development of punctuation is much more recent than the alphabet.

In the 3rd century BC, Aristophanes of Byzantium invented a system of single dots (théseis) at varying levels, which separated verses and indicated the amount of breath needed to complete each fragment of the text when reading aloud. The different lengths were signified by a dot at the bottom, middle, or top of the line. For a short passage, a komma in the form of a dot ⟨·⟩ was placed mid-level. This is the origin of the concept of a comma, although the name came to be used for the mark itself instead of the clause it separated.

The mark used today is descended from a /, a diagonal slash known as virgula suspensiva, used from the 13th to 17th centuries to represent a pause. The modern comma was first used by Aldus Manutius.

Uses in English

Look up comma in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

In general, the comma shows that the words immediately before the comma are less closely or exclusively linked grammatically to those immediately after the comma than they might be otherwise. The comma performs a number of functions in English writing. It is used in generally similar ways in other languages, particularly European ones, although the rules on comma usage – and their rigidity – vary from language to language.

Serial comma

Further information: Serial comma

Commas are placed between items in lists, as in They own a cat, a dog, two rabbits, and seven mice.

Whether the final conjunction, most frequently and, should be preceded by a comma, called the serial comma, is one of the most disputed linguistic or stylistic questions in English.

• They served apples, peaches, and bananas. (serial comma used)
• We cleaned up cores, pits and skins. (serial comma omitted)

The serial comma is used much more often, usually routinely, in the United States. A majority of American style guides mandate its use, including The Chicago Manual of Style, Strunk and White's classic The Elements of Style, and the U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual. Conversely, the AP Stylebook for journalistic writing advises against it.

The serial comma is also known as the Oxford comma, Harvard comma, or series comma. Although less common in British English, its usage occurs within both American and British English. It is called the Oxford comma because of its long history of use by Oxford University Press.

According to New Hart's Rules, "house style will dictate" whether to use the serial comma. "The general rule is that one style or the other should be used consistently." No association with region or dialect is suggested, other than that its use has been strongly advocated by Oxford University Press. Its use is preferred by Fowler's Modern English Usage. It is recommended by the United States Government Printing Office, Harvard University Press, and the classic Elements of Style of Strunk and White.

Use of a comma may prevent ambiguity:

• The sentence I spoke to the boys, Sam and Tom could mean either I spoke to the boys and Sam and Tom (I spoke to more than three people) or I spoke to the boys, who are Sam and Tom (I spoke to two people);
• I spoke to the boys, Sam, and Tom – must be the boys and Sam and Tom (I spoke to more than three people).

The serial comma does not eliminate all confusion. Consider the following sentence:

• I thank my mother, Anne Smith, and Thomas. This could mean either my mother and Anne Smith and Thomas (three people) or my mother, who is Anne Smith; and Thomas (two people). This sentence might be recast as "my mother (Anne Smith) and Thomas" for clarity.
• I thank my mother, Anne Smith and Thomas. Because the comma after "mother" is conventionally used to prepare the reader for an apposite phrase – that is, a renaming of or further information about a noun – this construction suggests that my mother's name is "Anne Smith and Thomas". Compare "I thank my friend, Smith and Wesson", in which the ambiguity is obvious to those who recognise Smith and Wesson as a business name.

As a rule of thumb, The Guardian Style Guide suggests that straightforward lists (he ate ham, eggs and chips) do not need a comma before the final "and", but sometimes it can help the reader (he ate cereal, kippers, bacon, eggs, toast and marmalade, and tea). The Chicago Manual of Style and other academic writing guides require the serial comma: all lists must have a comma before the "and" prefacing the last item in a series (see Differences between American and British usage below).

If the individual items of a list are long, complex, affixed with description, or themselves contain commas, semicolons may be preferred as separators, and the list may be introduced with a colon.

In news headlines, a comma might replace the word "and", even if there are only two items, in order to save space, as in this headline from Reuters:

• Trump, Macron engage in a little handshake diplomacy.

Separation of clauses

Commas are often used to separate clauses. In English, a comma is used to separate a dependent clause from the independent clause if the dependent clause comes first: After I fed the cat, I brushed my clothes. (Compare this with I brushed my clothes after I fed the cat.) A relative clause takes commas if it is non-restrictive, as in I cut down all the trees, which were over six feet tall. (Without the comma, this would mean that only the trees more than six feet tall were cut down.) Some style guides prescribe that two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) must be separated by a comma placed before the conjunction. In the following sentences, where the second clause is independent (because it can stand alone as a sentence), the comma is considered by those guides to be necessary:

• Mary walked to the party, but she was unable to walk home.
• Designer clothes are silly, and I can't afford them anyway.
• Don't push that button, or twelve tons of high explosives will go off right under our feet!

In the following sentences, where the second half of the sentence is a dependent clause (because it does not contain an explicit subject), those guides prescribe that the comma be omitted:

• Mary walked to the party but was unable to walk home.
• I think designer clothes are silly and can't afford them anyway.

However, such guides permit the comma to be omitted if the second independent clause is very short, typically when the second independent clause is an imperative, as in:

• Sit down and shut up.

The above guidance is not universally accepted or applied. Long coordinate clauses are nonetheless usually separated by commas:

• She had very little to live on, but she would never have dreamed of taking what was not hers.

In some languages, such as German and Polish, stricter rules apply on comma use between clauses, with dependent clauses always being set off with commas, and commas being generally proscribed before certain coordinating conjunctions.

The joining of two independent sentences with a comma and no conjunction (as in "It is nearly half past five, we cannot reach town before dark.") is known as a comma splice and is sometimes considered an error in English; in most cases a semicolon should be used instead. A comma splice should not be confused, though, with the literary device called asyndeton, in which coordinating conjunctions are purposely omitted for a specific stylistic effect.

A much debated comma is the one in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which says "A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." but ratified by several states as "A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed." which has caused much debate on its interpretation.

Certain adverbs

Commas are always used to set off certain adverbs at the beginning of a sentence, including however, in fact, therefore, nevertheless, moreover, furthermore, and still.

• Therefore, a comma would be appropriate in this sentence.
• Nevertheless, I will not use one.

If these adverbs appear in the middle of a sentence, they are followed and preceded by a comma. As in the second of the two examples below, if a semicolon separates the two sentences and the second sentence starts with an adverb, this adverb is preceded by a semicolon and followed by a comma.

• In this sentence, furthermore, commas would also be called for.
• This sentence is a bit different; however, a comma is necessary as well.

Using commas to offset certain adverbs is optional, including then, so, yet, instead, and too (meaning also).

• So, that's it for this rule. or
• So that's it for this rule.
• A comma would be appropriate in this sentence, too. or
• A comma would be appropriate in this sentence too.

Parenthetical phrases

Commas are often used to enclose parenthetical words and phrases within a sentence (i.e., information that is not essential to the meaning of the sentence). Such phrases are both preceded and followed by a comma, unless that would result in a doubling of punctuation marks or the parenthetical is at the start or end of the sentence. The following are examples of types of parenthetical phrases:

• Introductory phrase: Once upon a time, my father ate a muffin.
• Interjection: My father ate the muffin, gosh darn it!
• Aside: My father, if you don't mind me telling you this, ate the muffin.
• Appositive: My father, a jaded and bitter man, ate the muffin.
• Absolute phrase: My father, his eyes flashing with rage, ate the muffin.
• Free modifier: My father, chewing with unbridled fury, ate the muffin.
• Resumptive modifier: My father ate the muffin, a muffin which no man had yet chewed.
• Summative modifier: My father ate the muffin, a feat which no man had attempted.

The parenthesization of phrases may change the connotation, reducing or eliminating ambiguity. In the following example, the thing in the first sentence that is relaxing is the cool day, whereas in the second sentence it is the walk, since the introduction of commas makes "on a cool day" parenthetical:

They took a walk on a cool day that was relaxing.

They took a walk, on a cool day, that was relaxing.

As more phrases are introduced, ambiguity accumulates, but when commas separate each phrase, the phrases clearly become modifiers of just one thing. In the second sentence below, that thing is the walk:

They took a walk in the park on a cool day that was relaxing.

They took a walk, in the park, on a cool day, that was relaxing.

Between adjectives

A comma is used to separate coordinate adjectives (i.e., adjectives that directly and equally modify the following noun). Adjectives are considered coordinate if the meaning would be the same if their order were reversed or if and were placed between them. For example:

• The dull, incessant droning but the cute little cottage.
• The devious lazy red frog suggests there are lazy red frogs (one of which is devious), while the devious, lazy red frog does not carry this connotation.

Before quotations

Some writers precede quoted material that is the grammatical object of an active verb of speaking or writing with a comma, as in Mr. Kershner says, "You should know how to use a comma." Quotations that follow and support an assertion are often preceded by a colon rather than a comma.

Other writers do not put a comma before quotations unless one would occur anyway. Thus they would write Mr. Kershner says "You should know how to use a comma."

In dates

Month day, year

When a date is written as a month followed by a day followed by a year, a comma separates the day from the year: December 19, 1941. This style is common in American English. The comma is used to avoid confusing consecutive numbers: December 19 1941. Most style manuals, including The Chicago Manual of Style and the AP Stylebook, also recommend that the year be treated as a parenthetical, requiring a second comma after it: "Feb. 14, 1987, was the target date."

If just month and year are given, no commas are used: "Her daughter April may return in June 2009 for the reunion."

Day month year

When the day precedes the month, the month name separates the numeric day and year, so commas are not necessary to separate them: "The Raid on Alexandria was carried out on 19 December 1941."

In geographical names

Commas are used to separate parts of geographical references, such as city and state (Dallas, Texas) or city and country (Kampala, Uganda). Additionally, most style manuals, including The Chicago Manual of Style and the AP Stylebook, recommend that the second element be treated as a parenthetical, requiring a second comma after: "The plane landed in Kampala, Uganda, that evening."

The United States Postal Service and Royal Mail recommend leaving out punctuation when writing addresses on actual letters and packages, as the marks hinder optical character recognition. Canada Post has similar guidelines, only making very limited use of hyphens.

In mathematics

Similar to the case in natural languages, commas are often used to delineate the boundary between multiple mathematical objects in a list (e.g., ${\displaystyle (3,5,12)}$). Commas are also used to indicate the comma derivative of a tensor.

In numbers

Main article: Decimal separator

In representing large numbers, from the right side to the left, English texts usually use commas to separate each group of three digits in front of the decimal. This is almost always done for numbers of six or more digits, and often for four or five digits but not in front of the number itself. However, in much of Europe, Southern Africa and Latin America, periods or spaces are used instead; the comma is used as a decimal separator, equivalent to the use in English of the decimal point. In India, the groups are two digits, except for the rightmost group, which is of three digits. In some styles, the comma may not be used for this purpose at all (e.g. in the SI writing style); a space may be used to separate groups of three digits instead.

In names

Commas are used when rewriting names to present the surname first, generally in instances of alphabetization by surname: Smith, John. They are also used before many titles that follow a name: John Smith, Ph.D.

Similarly in lists that are presented with an inversion: ...; socks, green: 3 pairs; socks, red: 2 pairs; tie, regimental: 1.

Ellipsis

Commas may be used to indicate that a word, or a group of words, has been omitted, as in The cat was white; the dog, brown. (Here the comma replaces was.)

Vocative

Commas are placed before, after, or around a noun or pronoun used independently in speaking to some person, place, or thing:

• I hope, John, that you will read this.

Between the subject and predicate

In his 1785 essay An Essay on Punctuation, Joseph Robertson advocated a comma between the subject and predicate of long sentences for clarity; however, this usage is regarded as an error in modern times.

• The good taste of the present age, has not allowed us to neglect the cultivation of the English language.
• Whoever is capable of forgetting a benefit, is an enemy to society.

Differences between American and British usage in placement of commas and quotation marks

See also: Quotation marks in English § Order of punctuation

The comma and the quotation mark can be paired in several ways.

In Great Britain and many other parts of the world, punctuation is usually placed within quotation marks only if it is part of what is being quoted or referred to:

• My mother gave me the nickname "Bobby Bobby Bob Bob Boy", which really made me angry.

In American English, the comma was commonly included inside a quotation mark:

• My mother gave me the nickname "Bobby Bobby Bob Bob Boy," which really made me angry.

However, this practice has fallen out of use in favor of the British form.

During the Second World War, the British carried the comma over into abbreviations. Specifically, "Special Operations, Executive" was written "S.O.,E.". Nowadays, even the full stops are frequently discarded.

Languages other than English

Western European languages

Western European languages like German, French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese use the same comma as English, with similar spacing, though usage may be somewhat different. For instance, in Standard German, subordinate clauses are always preceded by commas.

Comma variants

The basic comma is defined in Unicode as U+002C , COMMA (,), and many variants by typography or language are also defined.

Character	Unicode point	Unicode name	Notes
,	U+002C	COMMA	Prose in European languages Decimal separator in Continental Europe, Brazil, and most other Latin American countries
ʻ	U+02BB	MODIFIER LETTER TURNED COMMA	Used as ʻokina in Hawaiian
،	U+060C	ARABIC COMMA	Used in all languages using Arabic alphabet Also used in other languages, including Syriac and Thaana
⸲	U+2E32	TURNED COMMA	Palaeotype transliteration symbol – indicates nasalization
⸴	U+2E34	RAISED COMMA
⹁	U+2E41	REVERSED COMMA	Used in Sindhi, among other languages
⹉	U+2E49	DOUBLE STACKED COMMA	Used in the Eastern Orthodox liturgical book Typikon
、	U+3001	IDEOGRAPHIC COMMA	Used in Chinese and Japanese writing systems (see § Languages other than Western European, below)
︐	U+FE10	PRESENTATION FORM FOR VERTICAL COMMA	Used in vertical writing
︑	U+FE11	PRESENTATION FORM FOR VERTICAL IDEOGRAPHIC COMMA	Used in vertical writing
﹐	U+FE50	SMALL COMMA
﹑	U+FE51	SMALL IDEOGRAPHIC COMMA
，	U+FF0C	FULLWIDTH COMMA
､	U+FF64	HALFWIDTH IDEOGRAPHIC COMMA

Some languages use a completely different sort of character for the purpose of the comma.

Character	Unicode point	Unicode name	Notes
·	U+00B7	MIDDLE DOT	Used as a comma in Georgian
∘	U+2218	RING OPERATOR	Used as a comma in Malayalam
՝	U+055D	ARMENIAN COMMA
߸	U+07F8	NKO COMMA
፣	U+1363	ETHIOPIC COMMA
᠂	U+1802	MONGOLIAN COMMA
᠈	U+1808	MONGOLIAN MANCHU COMMA
⹌	U+2E4C	MEDIEVAL COMMA
꓾	U+A4FE	LISU PUNCTUATION COMMA
꘍	U+A60D	VAI COMMA
꛵	U+A6F5	BAMUM COMMA
𑑍	U+1144D	NEWA COMMA
𑑚	U+1145A	NEWA DOUBLE COMMA
𖺗	U+16E97	MEDEFAIDRIN COMMA
𝪇	U+1DA87	SIGNWRITING COMMA

There are also a number of comma-like diacritics with "COMMA" in their Unicode names that are not intended for use as punctuation. A comma-like low quotation mark is also available (shown below; corresponding sets of raised single quotation marks and double-quotation marks are not shown).

Character	Unicode point	Unicode name	Notes
ʽ	U+02BD	MODIFIER LETTER REVERSED COMMA	Indicates weak aspiration
‍̒	U+0312	COMBINING TURNED COMMA ABOVE	Latvian diacritic cedilla above
‍̓	U+0313	COMBINING COMMA ABOVE	Greek psili, smooth breathing mark
‍̔	U+0314	COMBINING REVERSED COMMA ABOVE	Greek dasia, rough breathing mark
‍̕	U+0315	COMBINING COMMA ABOVE RIGHT
‍̦	U+0326	COMBINING COMMA BELOW	Diacritical mark in Romanian, Latvian, Livonian
‚	U+201A	SINGLE LOW-9 QUOTATION MARK	Opening single quotation mark in some languages

There are various other Unicode characters that include commas or comma-like figures with other characters or marks, that are not shown in these tables.

Languages other than Western European

Modern Greek uses the same Unicode comma for its kómma (κόμμα) and it is officially romanized as a Latin comma, but it has additional roles owing to its conflation with the former hypodiastole, a curved interpunct used to disambiguate certain homonyms. The comma therefore functions as a silent letter in a handful of Greek words, principally distinguishing ό,τι (ó,ti, "whatever") from ότι (óti, "that").

The enumeration or ideographic comma — U+3001 、 IDEOGRAPHIC COMMA — is used in Chinese, Japanese punctuation, and somewhat in Korean punctuation. In the People's Republic of China and in North/South Korea, this comma (t 頓號, s 顿号, p dùnhào) is usually used only to separate items in lists, while in Japan it is the more common form of comma (読点, r tōten, lit. "clause mark"). In documents that mix Japanese and Latin scripts, the full-width comma (U+FF0C ， FULLWIDTH COMMA) is used; this is the standard form of comma (t 逗號, s 逗号, p dòuhào) in China. Since East Asian typography permits commas to join clauses dealing with certain topics or lines of thought, commas may separate subjects and predicates and constructions that would be considered a "comma splice" in English are acceptable and commonly encountered.

Korean punctuation uses both commas and interpuncts for lists.

In Unicode 5.2.0 "numbers with commas" (U+1F101 🄁 through U+1F10A 🄊 ) were added to the Enclosed Alphanumeric Supplement block for compatibility with the ARIB STD B24 character set.

The comma in the Arabic script (used by Arabic, Urdu, and Persian, etc.) is inverted, upside-down: ⟨،⟩ (U+060C ، ARABIC COMMA), in order to distinguish it from the Arabic diacritic ḍammah ⟨ُ⟩, representing the vowel /u/, which is similarly comma-shaped. In Arabic texts, the Western-styled comma (٫) is used as a decimal point.

Reversed comma (U+2E41 ⹁ REVERSED COMMA) is used in Sindhi when written in Arabic script. It is different from the standard Arabic comma.

Hebrew script is also written from right to left. However, Hebrew punctuation includes only a regular comma (,).

Dravidian languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam also use the punctuation mark in similar usage to that of European languages with similar spacing.

Computing

In the common character encoding systems Unicode and ASCII, character 44 (0x2C) corresponds to the comma symbol. The HTML numeric character reference is ,.

In many computer languages commas are used as a field delimiter to separate arguments to a function, to separate elements in a list, and to perform data designation on multiple variables at once.

In the C programming language the comma symbol is an operator which evaluates its first argument (which may have side-effects) and then returns the value of its evaluated second argument. This is useful in for statements and macros.

In Smalltalk and APL, the comma operator is used to concatenate collections, including strings. In APL, it is also used monadically to rearrange the items of an array into a list.

In Prolog, the comma is used to denote Logical Conjunction ("and").

The comma-separated values (CSV) format is very commonly used in exchanging text data between database and spreadsheet formats.

Diacritical usage

◌̦
Combining comma below
U+0326 ◌̦ COMBINING COMMA BELOW

Main articles: D-comma, S-comma, and T-comma

The comma is used as a diacritic mark in Romanian under ⟨s⟩ (⟨Ș⟩, ⟨ș⟩), and under ⟨t⟩ (⟨Ț⟩, ⟨ț⟩). A cedilla is occasionally used instead of it, but this is technically incorrect. The symbol ⟨d̦⟩ ('d with comma below') was used as part of the Romanian transitional alphabet (19th century) to indicate the sounds denoted by the Latin letter ⟨z⟩ or letters ⟨dz⟩, where derived from a Cyrillic ѕ (⟨ѕ⟩, /dz/). The comma and the cedilla are both derivative of ⟨ʒ⟩ (a small cursive ⟨z⟩) placed below the letter. From this standpoint alone, ⟨ș⟩, ⟨ț⟩, and ⟨d̦⟩ could potentially be regarded as stand-ins for /sz/, /tz/, and /dz/ respectively.

In Latvian, the comma is used on the letters ⟨ģ⟩, ⟨ķ⟩, ⟨ļ⟩, ⟨ņ⟩, and historically also ⟨ŗ⟩, to indicate palatalization. Because the lowercase letter ⟨g⟩ has a descender, the comma is rotated 180° and placed over the letter. Although their Adobe glyph names are 'letter with comma', their names in the Unicode Standard are 'letter with a cedilla'. They were introduced to the Unicode standard before 1992 and, per Unicode Consortium policy, their names cannot be altered.

In Livonian, whose alphabet is based on a mixture of Latvian and Estonian alphabets, the comma is used on the letters ⟨ḑ⟩, ⟨ļ⟩, ⟨ņ⟩, ⟨ŗ⟩, ⟨ț⟩ to indicate palatalization in the same fashion as Latvian, except that Livonian uses ⟨ḑ⟩ and ⟨ț⟩ to represent the same palatal plosive phonemes which Latvian writes as ⟨ģ⟩ and ⟨ķ⟩ respectively.

In Czech and Slovak, the diacritic in the characters ⟨ď⟩, ⟨ť⟩, and ⟨ľ⟩ resembles a superscript comma, but it is used instead of a caron because the letter has an ascender. Other ascender letters with carons, such as letters ⟨ȟ⟩ (used in Finnish Romani and Lakota) and ⟨ǩ⟩ (used in Skolt Sami), did not modify their carons to superscript commas.

In 16th-century Guatemala, the archaic letter cuatrillo with a comma (⟨Ꜯ⟩ and ⟨ꜯ⟩) was used to write Mayan languages.