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Typographical symbols and punctuation marks are marks and symbols used in typography with a variety of purposes such as to help with legibility and accessibility, or to identify special cases.
The colon, :, is a punctuation mark consisting of two equally sized dots aligned vertically. A colon often precedes an explanation, a list, [1] or a quoted sentence. [2] It is also used between hours and minutes in time, [1] between certain elements in medical journal citations, [3] between chapter and verse in Bible citations, [4] between a two numbers in a ratio, and, in the US, for ...
Punctuation in the English language helps the reader to understand a sentence through visual means other than just the letters of the alphabet. [1] English punctuation has two complementary aspects: phonological punctuation, linked to how the sentence can be read aloud, particularly to pausing; [2] and grammatical punctuation, linked to the structure of the sentence. [3]
Typically, a colon is used for the eyes of a face, unless winking, in which case a semicolon is used. However, an equals sign, a number 8, a capital letter B or a capital letter X are also used to indicate normal eyes, widened eyes, those with glasses or those with crinkled eyes, respectively.
According to Florian Cajori in A History of Mathematical Notations, Johann Rahn used both the therefore and because signs to mean "therefore"; in the German edition of Teutsche Algebra (1659) the therefore sign was prevalent with the modern meaning, but in the 1668 English edition Rahn used the because sign more often to mean "therefore".
In Greek, the question mark is written as the English semicolon, while the functions of the colon and semicolon are performed by a raised point · , known as the ano teleia (άνω τελεία). In Georgian, three dots ჻ were formerly used as a sentence or paragraph divider. It is still sometimes used in calligraphy.
When writing two consecutive unbulleted paragraphs, prefixing both with the same number of colons avoids the worst issues, but risks confusing people that a new person's message has begun. (If you are going to do this, it doesn't make a difference if you place empty properly-indented lines in between the paragraphs; screenreaders will ignore them.)
In English, the question mark typically occurs at the end of a sentence, where it replaces the full stop (period). However, the question mark may also occur at the end of a clause or phrase, where it replaces the comma (see also Question comma):