View source for Modifier letter apostrophe

{{Short description|Phonetic modifier letter (ʼ)}}
{{Dist|Apostrophe|ʻOkina|Right single quotation mark|Modifier letter turned comma}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}}

{{infobox grapheme
| script = [[Cyrillic]], [[latin alphabet|Latin]], [[Devanagari]]
| name = Modifier letter apostrophe
| image = Unicode_0x2019.svg {{!}} class=skin-invert-image
| imagesize = 140px
| imagealt = 
| phonemes = {{IPAblink|ʔ}}, {{IPAblink|ʰ}}
| number = 
| fam1 = 
| type = alphabet
| typedesc = ic
| letter = ʼ
}}


The '''modifier letter apostrophe''' ('''{{char|ʼ}}''') is a letter found in [[Unicode]] encoding, used primarily for various [[glottal consonant|glottal]] sounds. It was used for the [[apostrophe]] in early Unicode versions.

==Encoding==
The letter apostrophe is encoded at {{unichar|02BC|MODIFIER LETTER APOSTROPHE}}, which is in the [[Spacing Modifier Letters (Unicode block)|''Spacing Modifier Letters'' Unicode block]].

In Unicode code charts it looks identical to the {{unichar|2019|RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK}},<ref>[https://www.unicode.org/charts/ Unicode code charts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615200730/http://www.unicode.org/charts/ |date=15 June 2018 }}. Unicode.org. Retrieved on 7 April 2013.</ref> but this is not true for all fonts. The primary difference between the letter apostrophe and [[U+2019]] is that the letter apostrophe U+02BC has the Unicode [[Unicode character property#General Category|General Category]] "Letter, modifier" (Lm), while U+2019 has the category "Punctuation, Final quote" (Pf).

==Use==
In early Unicode (versions 1.0<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode1.0.0/CodeCharts2.pdf |title=The Unicode Standard, Version 1.0, v. 1, p. 173 |access-date=24 March 2018 |archive-date=11 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211080017/https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode1.0.0/CodeCharts2.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>–2.1.9<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/Public/2.0-Update/NamesList-1.txt |title=Unicode 2.1.9 NamesList-1.txt |access-date=24 March 2018 |archive-date=4 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704025332/https://unicode.org/Public/2.0-Update/NamesList-1.txt |url-status=live }}</ref>) U+02BC was preferred for the punctuation apostrophe in English. Since version 3.0.0,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/Public/3.0-Update/NamesList-3.0.0.txt |title=Unicode 3.0.0 NamesList-3.0.0.txt |access-date=24 March 2018 |archive-date=4 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704025625/https://unicode.org/Public/3.0-Update/NamesList-3.0.0.txt |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://unicode.org/Public/UNIDATA/NamesList.txt |title=Current NamesList.txt |access-date=19 September 2016 |archive-date=17 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217221630/http://unicode.org/Public/UNIDATA/NamesList.txt |url-status=live }}</ref> however, U+2019 is preferred due to vast amounts of existing text written in character sets that unified the apostrophe and the single close quote characters. This does make searching for words with apostrophes in them somewhat harder.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://tedclancy.wordpress.com/2015/06/03/which-unicode-character-should-represent-the-english-apostrophe-and-why-the-unicode-committee-is-very-wrong/ |title=Which Unicode character should represent the English apostrophe? (And why the Unicode committee is very wrong.) |date=3 June 2015 |access-date=2020-04-14 |archive-date=2016-04-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407041732/https://tedclancy.wordpress.com/2015/06/03/which-unicode-character-should-represent-the-english-apostrophe-and-why-the-unicode-committee-is-very-wrong/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]], it is used to express [[ejective consonant]]s, such as {{IPA link|[kʼ]}} and {{IPA link|[tʼ]}}.

It denotes a [[glottal stop]] {{ipa|[ʔ]}} in orthographies of many languages, such as [[Tundra Nenets language|Nenets]] (in Cyrillic script) and the artificial [[Klingon language]].

In one version of the [[Kildin Sami]] alphabet, it denotes [[preaspiration]].<ref>Куруч, Р. Д.; Афанасьева, Н. Е.; Виноградова, И. В. 1995. ''Правила орфографии и пунктуации саамского языка''. Мурманск.</ref>

In the [[Ukrainian alphabet]] and in the [[Belarusian alphabet]], U+02BC is used for the semi-letter 'apostrophe' (which plays a role similar to Russian {{angbr|[[ъ]]}}) in certain contexts, such as, for example, in [[internationalized domain name]]s where a punctuation mark would be disallowed.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://archive.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/cyrillic-vip-issues-report-06oct11-en.pdf |title=IDN Variant TLDs – Cyrillic Script Issues |access-date=19 September 2016 |archive-date=13 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413093943/https://archive.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/cyrillic-vip-issues-report-06oct11-en.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

In [[Boro language (India)|Bodo]] and [[Dogri language|Dogri]] written in [[Devanagari]], it marks high tone and low-rising tone on short vowels, respectively.

==See also==
* [[Apostrophe]]
* [[Hamza]]
* [[Modifier letter double apostrophe]]
* [[Modifier letter turned comma]]
* [[Saltillo (linguistics)|Saltillo]] and [[{{okina}}Okina]], other letters used for glottal stop
* [[Spacing Modifier Letters]]

== References ==

{{Reflist}}
{{Cyrillic navbox}}
{{Latin script}}

[[Category:Punctuation]]