Upside-down question and exclamation marks: Difference between revisions
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{{unichar|00A1|Inverted exclamation mark}} | {{unichar|00A1|Inverted exclamation mark}} | ||
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The '''upside-down''' (also '''inverted''', '''turned''' or '''rotated''') '''question mark''' {{char|¿}} and '''exclamation mark''' {{char|¡}} are [[punctuation]] marks used to begin interrogative and exclamatory sentences or clauses in [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and some languages that have cultural ties with Spain, such as [[Asturian language|Asturian]] and [[Waray language|Waray]].<ref>{{cite book|last=De Veyra|first=Vicente I.|title=Kandabao: Essays on Waray language, literature, and culture|date=1982|chapter=Ortograpiya han Binisaya}}</ref> The initial marks are mirrored at the end of the sentence or clause by the ordinary [[question mark]], {{char|?}}, or [[exclamation mark]], {{char|!}}. | The '''upside-down''' (also '''inverted''', '''turned''' or '''rotated''') '''question mark''' {{char|¿}} and '''exclamation mark''' {{char|¡}} are [[punctuation]] marks used to begin interrogative and exclamatory sentences or clauses in [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and some languages that have cultural ties with Spain, such as [[Asturian language|Asturian]] and [[Waray language|Waray]].<ref>{{cite book|last=De Veyra|first=Vicente I.|title=Kandabao: Essays on Waray language, literature, and culture|date=1982|chapter=Ortograpiya han Binisaya}}</ref> The initial marks are mirrored at the end of the sentence or clause by the ordinary [[question mark]], {{char|?}}, or [[exclamation mark]], {{char|!}}. | ||
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{{Main|Spanish orthography}} | {{Main|Spanish orthography}} | ||
[[File:Signosdepuntuación html y binario.pdf|thumb|Punctuation marks in Spanish, showing their positions relative to the [[baseline (typography)|baseline]]]] | [[File:Signosdepuntuación html y binario.pdf|thumb|Punctuation marks in Spanish, showing their positions relative to the [[baseline (typography)|baseline]]]] | ||
The upside-down question mark {{char|¿}} is written before the first letter of an interrogative sentence or clause to indicate that a question follows. It is a rotated form of the standard symbol "?" recognized by speakers of other languages written with the [[Latin script]]. A regular question mark is written at the end of the sentence or clause. | The upside-down question mark {{char|¿}} is written before the first letter of an interrogative sentence or clause to indicate that a question follows. It is a rotated form of the standard symbol "?" recognized by speakers of other languages written with the [[Latin script]]. A regular question mark is written at the end of the sentence or clause. | ||
Upside-down punctuation is especially critical in [[Spanish language|Spanish]] since the syntax of the language means that both statements and questions or exclamations could have the same wording.<ref name="Rosetta">{{cite web|url =https://blog.rosettastone.com/whats-up-with-the-upside-down-question-mark/ | Upside-down punctuation is especially critical in [[Spanish language|Spanish]] since the syntax of the language means that both statements and questions or exclamations could have the same wording.<ref name="Rosetta">{{cite web|last=Galavitz |first=Rowena |date=September 5, 2019 |title=What's Up With The Upside Down Question Mark? |url=https://blog.rosettastone.com/whats-up-with-the-upside-down-question-mark/ |website=[[Rosetta Stone Inc.]] |access-date=31 May 2020 }}</ref> "Do you like summer?" and "You like summer." are translated respectively as {{lang|es|"¿Te gusta el verano?"|italic=yes}} and {{lang|es|"Te gusta el verano."|italic=yes}} (There is not always a difference between the wording of a [[yes–no question]] and the corresponding statement in Spanish.) | ||
In sentences that are both declarative and interrogative, the clause that asks a question is isolated with the starting-symbol upside-down question mark, for example: {{lang|es|"Si no puedes ir con ellos, ¿quieres ir con nosotros?"|italic=yes}} ("If you cannot go with them, would you like to go with us?"), not *{{lang|es|"¿Si no puedes ir con ellos, quieres ir con nosotros?"|italic=yes}} This helps to recognize questions and exclamations in long sentences. | In sentences that are both declarative and interrogative, the clause that asks a question is isolated with the starting-symbol upside-down question mark, for example: {{lang|es|"Si no puedes ir con ellos, ¿quieres ir con nosotros?"|italic=yes}} ("If you cannot go with them, would you like to go with us?"), not *{{lang|es|"¿Si no puedes ir con ellos, quieres ir con nosotros?"|italic=yes}} This helps to recognize questions and exclamations in long sentences. | ||
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Unlike the ending marks, which are printed along the [[Baseline (typography)|baseline]] of the text, the upside-down marks (¿ and ¡) [[Descender|descend below the line]]. | Unlike the ending marks, which are printed along the [[Baseline (typography)|baseline]] of the text, the upside-down marks (¿ and ¡) [[Descender|descend below the line]]. | ||
== History == | ==History== | ||
Upside-down marks, simple in the era of hand typesetting, were originally recommended by the {{Lang|es|[[Royal Spanish Academy|Real Academia Española]]}} (Royal Spanish Academy), in the second edition of the {{lang|es|Ortografía de la lengua castellana}} (Orthography of the Castilian language) in 1754<ref>{{cite web|title=Ediciones de la Ortografía Académica|trans-title=Editions of the Academic Orthography |url=http://www.rae.es/sites/default/files/Tabla_ediciones_Ortografia.pdf|publisher=Real Academia Española|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230617020907/https://www.rae.es/sites/default/files/Tabla_ediciones_Ortografia.pdf|archive-date=June 17, 2023}}</ref> recommending it as the symbol indicating the beginning of a question in written Spanish—e.g. {{lang|es|"¿Cuántos años tienes?"|italic=yes}} ("How old are you?"; {{lit|How many years do you have?|}}). The Real Academia also ordered the same upside-down-symbol system for statements of exclamation, using the symbols "¡" and "!". | |||
Upside-down marks, simple in the era of hand typesetting, were originally recommended by the {{Lang|es|[[Royal Spanish Academy|Real Academia Española]]}} (Royal Spanish Academy), in the second edition of the {{lang|es|Ortografía de la lengua castellana}} (Orthography of the Castilian language) in 1754<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rae.es/sites/default/files/Tabla_ediciones_Ortografia.pdf | |||
These new rules were slow to be adopted: there are 19th-century books in which the printer uses neither "¡" nor "¿".{{ | These new rules were slow to be adopted: there are 19th-century books in which the printer uses neither "¡" nor "¿".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Carrithers|first1=Michael|last2=Candea|first2=Matei|last3=Sykes|first3=Karen|last4=Holbraad|first4=Martin|last5=Venkatesan|first5=Soumya|date=May 28, 2010|title=Ontology is just another word for culture |url=https://archive.today/20250626220935/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0308275X09364070|url-access=subscription|website=[[Critique of Anthropology]]|publisher=[[Sage Journals]]|archive-url=https://doi.org/10.1177/0308275x09364070|archive-date=June 26, 2025 |access-date=June 26, 2025}}</ref> | ||
Outside of the Spanish-speaking world, [[John Wilkins]] proposed using the upside-down exclamation mark "¡" as a symbol at the end of a sentence to [[irony punctuation|denote irony]] in 1668. He was one of many, including [[Desiderius Erasmus]], who felt there was a need for such a punctuation mark, but Wilkins' proposal, like the other attempts, failed to take hold.<ref name="Houston2013">{{cite book|first=Keith|last=Houston|title=Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3R2SAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA214|date=24 | Outside of the Spanish-speaking world, [[John Wilkins]] proposed using the upside-down exclamation mark "¡" as a symbol at the end of a sentence to [[irony punctuation|denote irony]] in 1668. He was one of many, including [[Desiderius Erasmus]], who felt there was a need for such a punctuation mark, but Wilkins' proposal, like the other attempts, failed to take hold.<ref name="Houston2013">{{cite book|first=Keith|last=Houston|title=Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3R2SAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA214|date=September 24, 2013|publisher=[[W. W. Norton]]|access-date=September 1, 2014|isbn=978-0-393-24154-9 | ||
|page=214}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Popova|first=Maria|title=Ironic Serif: A Brief History of Typographic Snark and the Failed Crusade for an Irony Mark |url=http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/09/27/shady-characters-irony/|work=[[Brain Pickings]]|date=September 27, 2013 |access-date=September 1, 2014}}</ref> | |||
== Adoption == | ==Adoption== | ||
Some writers omit the upside-down question mark in the case of a short unambiguous question such as: {{lang|es|"Quién viene?"|italic=yes}} ("Who comes?"). This is the criterion in [[Galician language|Galician]]<ref>{{cite book |title=Normas ortográficas e morfolóxicas do idioma galego |trans-title=Orthographic rules and morphology of the Galician language |publisher=[[Royal Galician Academy|Real Academia Galega]] |isbn=978-84-87987-78-6 |page=27 |edition=23ª |chapter-url=https://www.lingua.gal/c/document_library/get_file?folderId=1647069&name=DLFE-10938.pdff |access-date=25 December 2021 |language=gl |chapter=7. Os signos de interrogación e de admiración |year=2012 |quote=Para facilitar a lectura e evitar ambigüidades pode-rase indicar o inicio destas entoacións cos signos ¿ e ¡, respectivamente. }}{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | Some writers omit the upside-down question mark in the case of a short unambiguous question such as: {{lang|es|"Quién viene?"|italic=yes}} ("Who comes?"). This is the criterion in [[Galician language|Galician]]<ref>{{cite book |title=Normas ortográficas e morfolóxicas do idioma galego |trans-title=Orthographic rules and morphology of the Galician language |publisher=[[Royal Galician Academy|Real Academia Galega]] |isbn=978-84-87987-78-6 |page=27 |edition=23ª |chapter-url=https://www.lingua.gal/c/document_library/get_file?folderId=1647069&name=DLFE-10938.pdff |access-date=25 December 2021 |language=gl |chapter=7. Os signos de interrogación e de admiración |year=2012 |quote=Para facilitar a lectura e evitar ambigüidades pode-rase indicar o inicio destas entoacións cos signos ¿ e ¡, respectivamente. }}{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://portaldaspalabras.gal/video/posicion-signo-de-interrogacion-e-exclamacion/ |title=A posición do signo de interrogación (?) e exclamación (!) |trans-title= The position of the question mark (?) and exclamation mark (!) |date=21 October 2017 |website=Portal das Palabras |access-date=25 December 2021}}</ref> and formerly in [[Catalan language|Catalan]].<ref>{{citation |chapter=Els signes d'interrogació i d'admiració (Acord de l'11 de juny de 1993) |title=Documents de la Secció Filològica |volume=III |year=1996 |author=Institut d'Estudis Catalans |pages=92–94 |chapter-url=http://www.iecat.net/institucio/seccions/Filologica/llenguacatalana/documentsnormatius/docsf2.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110906173859/http://www.iecat.net/institucio/seccions/Filologica/llenguacatalana/documentsnormatius/docsf2.htm |archive-date=2011-09-06 |author-link=Institut d'Estudis Catalans }}</ref> Certain Catalan-language authorities, such as [[Joan Solà i Cortassa]], insist that both the opening and closing question marks be used for clarity.<ref name="Houston2013" /> The current [[Institute for Catalan Studies]] prescription is never to use the upside-down marks for Catalan.<ref>{{citation |chapter=Els signes d'entonació inicials|title=Manual d'estil. La redacció i l'edició de textes. |author=Josep M. Mestres |author2=Joan Coste |author3=Mireira Oliva |author4=Ricard Fité |edition=4 |year=2009 |pages=197–200 |chapter-url=https://estil.llocs.iec.cat/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2019/02/07_Pag_167-278_p-4.pdf|author-link=Institut d'Estudis Catalans }}</ref> | ||
Some Spanish-language writers, among them Nobel laureate [[Pablo Neruda]] (1904–1973), refuse to use the upside-down question mark.<ref>Pablo Neruda, {{cite web |url= http://www.pehuen.cl/docman/neruda/antlogia-fundamental/download.html | Some Spanish-language writers, among them Nobel laureate [[Pablo Neruda]] (1904–1973), refuse to use the upside-down question mark.<ref>Pablo Neruda, {{cite web |title=''Antología Fundamental'' |url=http://www.pehuen.cl/docman/neruda/antlogia-fundamental/download.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120425154155/http://www.pehuen.cl/docman/neruda/antlogia-fundamental/download.html |archive-date=April 25, 2012 }} {{small|(556 KB)}}, (June 2008). {{ISBN|978-956-16-0169-7}}. p. 7 {{in lang|es}}</ref> | ||
== Mixtures == <!-- Courtesy note per [{WP:RSECT]]: [[Interrobang#Inverted interrobang]] links here. --> | ==Mixtures== <!-- Courtesy note per [{WP:RSECT]]: [[Interrobang#Inverted interrobang]] links here. --> | ||
It is acceptable in Spanish to begin a sentence with an opening upside-down [[exclamation mark]] ("¡") and end it with a question mark ("?"), or vice versa, for statements that are questions but also have a clear sense of exclamation or surprise such as: {{lang|es|¡Y tú quién te crees?}} ("And who do you think you are?!"). Normally, four signs are used, always with one type in the outer side and the other in the inner side (nested) (''{{lang|es|¿¡Y tú quién te crees!?}}'', ''{{lang|es|¡¿Y tú quién te crees?!}}''<ref> | It is acceptable in Spanish to begin a sentence with an opening upside-down [[exclamation mark]] ("¡") and end it with a question mark ("?"), or vice versa, for statements that are questions but also have a clear sense of exclamation or surprise such as: {{lang|es|¡Y tú quién te crees?}} ("And who do you think you are?!"). Normally, four signs are used, always with one type in the outer side and the other in the inner side (nested) (''{{lang|es|¿¡Y tú quién te crees!?}}'', ''{{lang|es|¡¿Y tú quién te crees?!}}'')<ref>{{cite web|date=2014|title=Diccionario de la lengua española|url=http://lema.rae.es/dpd/srv/search?id=Ivs8zvWdED6bQUncsG%7CbH8aKhoE1D6eF5Wp4C|work=[[Real Academia Española|RAE]]|access-date=May 31, 2018}} {{in lang|es}}</ref> | ||
[[Unicode#Versions|Unicode 5.1]] also includes {{unichar|2E18|INVERTED INTERROBANG}}, which is an [[Interrobang#Inverted interrobang|upside-down version of the interrobang]], a nonstandard punctuation mark used to denote both excitement and a question in one glyph. It is also known as a "gnaborretni" | [[Unicode#Versions|Unicode 5.1]] also includes {{unichar|2E18|INVERTED INTERROBANG}}, which is an [[Interrobang#Inverted interrobang|upside-down version of the interrobang]], a nonstandard punctuation mark used to denote both excitement and a question in one glyph. It is also known as a "gnaborretni" ({{IPAc-en|ŋ|ˌ|n|ɑː|b|ɔːr|ˈ|ɛ|t|.|n|i}}) ([[interrobang]] spelled backwards). | ||
}}) ([[interrobang]] spelled backwards). | |||
==Computer usage== | ==Computer usage== | ||
| Line 58: | Line 53: | ||
On systems with an [[AltGr]] key (actual or emulated via [[right Alt key]]) and Extended (or 'International') [[keyboard mapping]] set, the symbols can be accessed directly, though the sequence varies by OS and locality and is documented by the vendor. Otherwise see [[Unicode input]]. | On systems with an [[AltGr]] key (actual or emulated via [[right Alt key]]) and Extended (or 'International') [[keyboard mapping]] set, the symbols can be accessed directly, though the sequence varies by OS and locality and is documented by the vendor. Otherwise see [[Unicode input]]. | ||
== See also == | ==See also== | ||
* [[Spanish orthography]] | * [[Spanish orthography]] | ||
Latest revision as of 12:18, 1 July 2025
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Redirect hatnote". Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Template:Infobox punctuation mark The upside-down (also inverted, turned or rotated) question mark Template:Char and exclamation mark Template:Char are punctuation marks used to begin interrogative and exclamatory sentences or clauses in Spanish and some languages that have cultural ties with Spain, such as Asturian and Waray.[1] The initial marks are mirrored at the end of the sentence or clause by the ordinary question mark, Template:Char, or exclamation mark, Template:Char.
Upside-down marks are supported by various standards, including ISO-8859-1, Unicode, and HTML. They can be entered directly on keyboards designed for Spanish-speaking countries.
Usage
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".
The upside-down question mark Template:Char is written before the first letter of an interrogative sentence or clause to indicate that a question follows. It is a rotated form of the standard symbol "?" recognized by speakers of other languages written with the Latin script. A regular question mark is written at the end of the sentence or clause.
Upside-down punctuation is especially critical in Spanish since the syntax of the language means that both statements and questions or exclamations could have the same wording.[2] "Do you like summer?" and "You like summer." are translated respectively as Script error: No such module "Lang". and Script error: No such module "Lang". (There is not always a difference between the wording of a yes–no question and the corresponding statement in Spanish.)
In sentences that are both declarative and interrogative, the clause that asks a question is isolated with the starting-symbol upside-down question mark, for example: Script error: No such module "Lang". ("If you cannot go with them, would you like to go with us?"), not *Script error: No such module "Lang". This helps to recognize questions and exclamations in long sentences.
Unlike the ending marks, which are printed along the baseline of the text, the upside-down marks (¿ and ¡) descend below the line.
History
Upside-down marks, simple in the era of hand typesetting, were originally recommended by the Script error: No such module "Lang". (Royal Spanish Academy), in the second edition of the Script error: No such module "Lang". (Orthography of the Castilian language) in 1754[3] recommending it as the symbol indicating the beginning of a question in written Spanish—e.g. Script error: No such module "Lang". ("How old are you?"; Template:Lit). The Real Academia also ordered the same upside-down-symbol system for statements of exclamation, using the symbols "¡" and "!".
These new rules were slow to be adopted: there are 19th-century books in which the printer uses neither "¡" nor "¿".[4]
Outside of the Spanish-speaking world, John Wilkins proposed using the upside-down exclamation mark "¡" as a symbol at the end of a sentence to denote irony in 1668. He was one of many, including Desiderius Erasmus, who felt there was a need for such a punctuation mark, but Wilkins' proposal, like the other attempts, failed to take hold.[5][6]
Adoption
Some writers omit the upside-down question mark in the case of a short unambiguous question such as: Script error: No such module "Lang". ("Who comes?"). This is the criterion in Galician[7][8] and formerly in Catalan.[9] Certain Catalan-language authorities, such as Joan Solà i Cortassa, insist that both the opening and closing question marks be used for clarity.[5] The current Institute for Catalan Studies prescription is never to use the upside-down marks for Catalan.[10]
Some Spanish-language writers, among them Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda (1904–1973), refuse to use the upside-down question mark.[11]
Mixtures
It is acceptable in Spanish to begin a sentence with an opening upside-down exclamation mark ("¡") and end it with a question mark ("?"), or vice versa, for statements that are questions but also have a clear sense of exclamation or surprise such as: Script error: No such module "Lang". ("And who do you think you are?!"). Normally, four signs are used, always with one type in the outer side and the other in the inner side (nested) (Script error: No such module "Lang"., Script error: No such module "Lang".)[12]
Unicode 5.1 also includes Template:Unichar, which is an upside-down version of the interrobang, a nonstandard punctuation mark used to denote both excitement and a question in one glyph. It is also known as a "gnaborretni" (Template:IPAc-en) (interrobang spelled backwards).
Computer usage
Encodings
Template:Char and Template:Char are in the "Latin-1 Supplement" Unicode block, which is inherited from ISO-8859-1:
Typing the character
Template:Char and Template:Char are available in all keyboard layouts designed for Spanish-speaking countries. Smartphones typically offer these if Template:Keypress or Template:Keypress is held down in the on-screen keyboard. Auto-correct will often turn a normal mark typed at the start of a sentence to the upside-down one.
On systems with an AltGr key (actual or emulated via right Alt key) and Extended (or 'International') keyboard mapping set, the symbols can be accessed directly, though the sequence varies by OS and locality and is documented by the vendor. Otherwise see Unicode input.
See also
References
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".Template:Dead link
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Pablo Neruda, Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". (556 KB)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"., (June 2008). Template:ISBN. p. 7 Template:In lang
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Template:In lang