Interpunct

<h2 id="in-written-language">In written language</h2>
Various dictionaries use the interpunct (in this context, sometimes called a hyphenation point) to indicate where to split a word and insert a hyphen if the word doesn't fit on the line. There is also a separate Unicode character, U+2027 ‧ HYPHENATION POINT.

<h3>English</h3>

In <a href="/facts/British_English/ymJR5Rnd">British</a> <a href="/facts/Typography/byx4sANl">typography</a>, the space dot was once used as the formal <a href="/facts/Decimal_point/t6ocVouk">decimal point</a>. Its use was advocated by laws and can still be found in some UK-based academic journals such as <a href="/facts/The_Lancet/UYtU5P4P">The Lancet</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2">2</a> When the <a href="/facts/Pound_sterling/cGgjUJwv">pound sterling</a> was <a href="/facts/Decimalisation/94cUnaD6">decimalised</a> in 1971, the official advice issued was to write decimal amounts with a raised point (for example, £21·48) and to use a decimal point "on the line" only when typesetting constraints made it unavoidable. However, this usage had already been declining since the 1968 ruling by the <a href="/facts/Ministry_of_Technology/FKdofJlr">Ministry of Technology</a> to use the <a href="/facts/Full_stop/w0Ylafwn">full stop</a> as the decimal point,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3">3</a> not only because of that ruling but also because it is <a href="/facts/Decimal_separator/t6ocVouk">the widely-adopted international standard</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4">4</a> and because the standard <a href="/facts/UK_keyboard_layout/0DCjXEa9">UK keyboard layout</a> (for typewriters and computers) has only the full stop. On a typewriter, it is possible to improvise a space dot by turning the platen knob to bring a piece of paper up by half a line, typing a full‑stop in the middle of the line, and then turning the platen knob backwards to return the piece of paper to its original position; on a computer, however, one can type a space dot only by keying in the relevant Unicode code on the numpad while holding down ‘Alt’ or re‑mapping one’s keyboard to include the symbol. The space dot is still used by some in handwriting.
In the early modern era, full stops (periods) were sometimes written as interpuncts (for example in the depicted 1646 transcription of the <a href="/facts/Mayflower_Compact/QUqxkXDb">Mayflower Compact</a>).
In the artificially constructed <a href="/facts/Shavian_alphabet/GrraE6ug">Shavian alphabet</a>, interpuncts are used instead of <a href="/facts/Capitalization/eJx3dTaq">capitalization</a> as the marker of proper nouns. The dot is placed at the beginning of a word.

<h3>Catalan</h3>

The punt volat ("flying point") is used in <a href="/facts/Catalan_language/W2uTbK8Q">Catalan</a> between two <a href="/facts/L/gbad0Rv1">Ls</a> in cases where each belongs to a separate syllable, for example cel·la, "cell". This distinguishes such "<a href="/facts/Geminate/SWW77Fxw">geminate</a> Ls" (ela geminada), which are pronounced [<a href="/facts/Velarized_alveolar_lateral_approximant/dgbHhqeK">ɫ</a>ː], from "double L" (doble ela), which are written without the flying point and are pronounced [<a href="/facts/Voiced_palatal_lateral_approximant/95EyBgHm">ʎ</a>]. In situations where the flying point is unavailable, <a href="/facts/Period_mark/w0Ylafwn">periods</a> (as in col.lecció) or <a href="/facts/Hyphen/2qtCxIGv">hyphens</a> (as in col-lecció) are frequently used as substitutes, but this is tolerated rather than encouraged.
Historically, medieval Catalan also used the symbol · as a marker for certain <a href="/facts/Elision/wtgX5ywc">elisions</a>, much like the modern apostrophe (see Occitan below) and <a href="/facts/Syllabification/RIUVnIWq">hyphenations</a>.
There is no separate physical <a href="/facts/Keyboard_layout/6aYkBXuK">keyboard layout</a> for Catalan: the flying point can be typed using ⇧ Shift+3 in the <a href="/facts/QWERTY/0DCjXEa9">Spanish (Spain) layout</a> or with Option +⇧ Shift+9 on a US English layout. On a mobile phone with a Catalan keyboard layout, the geminate L with a flying dot appears when holding down the L key. It appears in <a href="/facts/Unicode/DDu3MfPV">Unicode</a> as the <a href="/facts/Precomposed_character/LhKrFQ4Y">pre-composed</a> letters Ŀ (U+013F) and ŀ (U+0140), but they are <a href="/facts/Unicode_compatibility_characters/8tPWBsaL">compatibility characters</a> and are not frequently used or recommended.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5">5</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6">6</a>

<h3>Chinese</h3>
The interpunct or "partition sign" is used in <a href="/facts/Chinese_language/771ruUY1">Chinese</a> (which generally lacks spacing between <a href="/facts/Chinese_characters/5pn1PFvj">characters</a>) to mark divisions in words <a href="/facts/Transliteration_into_Chinese_characters/X9K9UjKf">transliterated</a> from <a href="/facts/Phonogram_(linguistics)/HbQQXvXx">phonogram</a> languages, particularly names. Some fonts and software render U+00B7 · MIDDLE DOT as double-width if it is between double-width characters, Chinese standards recommend half-width between Arabic numerals.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7">7</a> In Taiwan, the formal standard, as defined by CNS 11643, historically specified U+2027 ‧ HYPHENATION POINT,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8">8</a> while U+30FB ・ KATAKANA MIDDLE DOT should be primarily used in Japanese contexts for separating <a href="/facts/Katakana/mmdWMTNr">Katakana</a> words. When the Chinese text is <a href="/facts/Romanization_of_Chinese/KUKnt9uq">romanized</a>, the partition sign is simply replaced by a standard space or other appropriate punctuation. Thus, <a href="/facts/William_Shakespeare/ohI96JTv">William Shakespeare</a> is written as 威廉·莎士比亞 (Wēilián Shāshìbǐyà) and <a href="/facts/George_W._Bush/mYSgM515">George W. Bush</a> as 乔治·W. 布什 (喬治·W. 布殊; Qiáozhì W. Bùshí)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9">9</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10">10</a>. Titles and other translated words are not similarly marked: <a href="/facts/Genghis_Khan/2cmqeW6a">Genghis Khan</a> and <a href="/facts/Elizabeth_II/os6eB47B">Elizabeth II</a> are simply 成吉思汗 (Chéngjísī hán) and 伊丽莎白二世 (伊麗莎白二世; Yīlìshābái èrshì).
The partition sign is also used to separate book and chapter titles when they are mentioned consecutively: book first and then chapter.

<h3>Hokkien</h3>
In <a href="/facts/Pe%25CC%258Dh-%25C5%258De-j%25C4%25AB/D9XlKhn6">Pe̍h-ōe-jī</a> for <a href="/facts/Taiwanese_Hokkien/C8257EsU">Taiwanese Hokkien</a>, middle dot is often used as a workaround for the dot above right <a href="/facts/Diacritic/Rw6lMzQW">diacritic</a>, since most early encoding systems did not support this diacritic. This is now encoded as U+0358 ◌͘ COMBINING DOT ABOVE RIGHT (see <a href="/facts/O%25CD%2598/82YCoGWK">o͘</a>). Unicode did not support this diacritic until June 2005. Newer fonts often support it natively; however, the practice of using middle dot still exists. Historically, it was derived in the late 19th century from an older barred-o with curly tail as an adaptation to the typewriter.

<h3>Tibetan</h3>
Main article: <a href="/facts/Tibetan_alphabet/d6SoCnze">Tibetan alphabet</a>
In <a href="/facts/Standard_Tibetan/SVRgs3bM">Tibetan</a> the interpunct, called tsek (ཙེག་), is used as a <a href="/facts/Morpheme/4JNcPMHs">morpheme</a> delimiter.

<h3>Ethiopic</h3>
The <a href="/facts/Ge%25CA%25BDez_script/K4RRPwCl">Geʽez</a> (Ethiopic) script traditionally <a href="/facts/Word_separator/3kM5CYBW">separates words</a> with an interpunct of two vertically aligned dots, like a <a href="/facts/Colon_(punctuation)/se9fjJa4">colon</a>, but with larger dots: U+1361 ፡ ETHIOPIC WORDSPACE. (For example ገድለ፡ወለተ፡ጴጥሮስ). Starting in the late 19th century the use of such punctuation has largely fallen out of use in favor of whitespace, except in formal hand-written or liturgical texts. In Eritrea the character may be used as a comma.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11">11</a>

<h3>Franco-Provençal</h3>
In <a href="/facts/Franco-Proven%25C3%25A7al_language/mTmSk7Ub">Franco-Provençal</a> (or Arpitan), the interpunct is used in order to distinguish the following graphemes:

<ul><li>ch·, pronounced [ʃ], versus ch, pronounced [ts]</li>
<li>j·, pronounced [ʒ], versus j, pronounced [dz]</li>
<li>g· before e, i, pronounced [ʒ], versus g before e, i, pronounced [dz]</li></ul>
<h3>French</h3>
In modern <a href="/facts/French_language/qe1DnaQh">French</a>, the interpunct is sometimes used for <a href="/facts/Gender-neutral_language/JqS24lNJ">gender-neutral</a> writing, as in les salarié·e·s for les salariés et les salariées ("the employees [both male and female]").

<h3>Greek</h3>

<a href="/facts/Ancient_Greek/LIK7NlUh">Ancient Greek</a> lacked spacing or interpuncts but instead ran all the letters together. By <a href="/facts/Late_Antiquity/sPTl0dyD">Late Antiquity</a>, various marks were used to separate words, particularly the <a href="/facts/Greek_comma/mcW9dcGT">Greek comma</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12">12</a>
In <a href="/facts/Greek_language/pzDd6eIz">modern Greek</a>, the ano teleia mark (<a href="/facts/Greek_language/pzDd6eIz">Greek</a>: άνω τελεία, <a href="/facts/Romanization_of_Greek/KTELT9Aq">romanized</a>: ánō teleía, <a href="/facts/Literal_translation/0cF1oFRh">lit.</a> 'upper stop'; also known as άνω στιγμή, áno stigmí) is the infrequently-encountered Greek semicolon and is properly <a href="/facts/Romanization_of_Greek/KTELT9Aq">romanized</a> as such.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13">13</a> In Greek text, <a href="/facts/Unicode/DDu3MfPV">Unicode</a> provides the code point U+0387 · GREEK ANO TELEIA,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14">14</a> however, it is also expressed as an interpunct. In practice, the separate code point for ano teleia canonically decomposes to the interpunct.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15">15</a>
The Hellenistic scholars of <a href="/facts/Alexandria/hdg1twWA">Alexandria</a> first developed the mark for a function closer to the <a href="/facts/Comma/mcW9dcGT">comma</a>, before it fell out of use and was then repurposed for its present role.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16">16</a>

<h3>Japanese</h3>
Main article: <a href="/facts/Japanese_punctuation/lcndjUH1">Japanese punctuation</a>
Interpuncts are often used to separate transcribed foreign names or words written in <a href="/facts/Katakana/mmdWMTNr">katakana</a>. For example, "<a href="/facts/Beautiful_Sunday_(song)/b4dncKhp">Beautiful Sunday</a>" becomes ビューティフル・サンデー (Byūtifuru·Sandē). A middle dot is also sometimes used to separate lists in <a href="/facts/Japanese_language/EEv485a5">Japanese</a> instead of the <a href="/facts/Comma/mcW9dcGT">Japanese comma</a>. Dictionaries and <a href="/facts/Grammar/vprQsHIR">grammar</a> lessons in Japanese sometimes also use a similar symbol to separate a <a href="/facts/Verb/zp42buvn">verb</a> <a href="/facts/Affix/MKeAIE7e">suffix</a> from its root. While some fonts may render the Japanese middle dot as a square under great magnification, this is not a defining property of the middle dot that is used in China or Japan.
However, the Japanese writing system usually does not use space or punctuation to separate words (though the mixing of katakana, <a href="/facts/Kanji/E1IN7hVL">kanji</a> and <a href="/facts/Hiragana/RTn1gxfS">hiragana</a> gives some indication of word boundary).
In Japanese <a href="/facts/Typography/byx4sANl">typography</a>, there exist two Unicode code points:

<ul><li>U+30FB ・ KATAKANA MIDDLE DOT, with a fixed width that is the same as most kana characters, known as fullwidth.</li>
<li>U+FF65 ･ HALFWIDTH KATAKANA MIDDLE DOT</li></ul>
The interpunct also has a number of other uses in Japanese, including the following: to separate titles, names and positions: 課長補佐・鈴木 (Assistant Section Head · Suzuki); as a decimal point when writing numbers in kanji: 三・一四一五九二 (3.141 592); as a slash when writing for "or" in abbreviations: 月・水・金曜日 (Mon/Wed/Friday); in place of hyphens, dashes and colons when writing vertically; and in song lyrics to add a brief pause between syllables.

<h3>Korean</h3>
Interpuncts are used in written Korean to denote a list of two or more words, similarly to how a <a href="/facts/Slash_(punctuation)/fuaRyKzc">slash</a> (/) is used to juxtapose words in many other languages. In this role it also functions in a similar way to the English <a href="/facts/En_dash/suU2rsJa">en dash</a>, as in 미·소관계, "American–Soviet relations". The use of interpuncts has declined in years of digital typography and especially in place of slashes, but, in the strictest sense, a slash cannot replace a middle dot in Korean typography.
U+318D ㆍ HANGUL LETTER ARAEA (아래아) is used more than a middle dot when an interpunct is to be used in Korean typography, though araea is technically not a punctuation symbol but actually an <a href="/facts/Hangul/prUQxzfJ">obsolete Hangul jamo</a>. Because araea is a <a href="/facts/Full-width/4D5usBPC">full-width</a> letter, it looks better than middle dot between Hangul. In addition, it is drawn like the middle dot in Windows default Korean fonts such as <a href="/facts/Ming_(typeface)/JI1fm0bv">Batang</a>.

<h3>Latin</h3>
The interpunct (interpunctus) was regularly used in <a href="/facts/Classical_Latin/xFLyGtxs">classical Latin</a> to separate words. In addition to the most common round form, <a href="/facts/Inscription/E9UbNeDh">inscriptions</a> sometimes use a small <a href="/facts/Equilateral_triangle/MJomsYDS">equilateral triangle</a> for the interpunct, pointing either up or down. It may also appear as a mid-line comma, similar to the Greek practice of the time. The interpunct fell out of use c. 200 CE, and <a href="/facts/Latin/pM3Kge85">Latin</a> was then written <a href="/facts/Scripta_continua/Yc8Jogxa">scripta continua</a> for several centuries.

<h3>Occitan</h3>
In <a href="/facts/Occitan_language/w0etTc3w">Occitan</a>, especially in the <a href="/facts/Gascon_language/1MQsKjnG">Gascon</a> dialect, the interpunct (punt interior, literally, "inner dot", or ponch naut for "high / upper point") is used to distinguish the following graphemes:

<ul><li>s·h, pronounced [s.h], versus sh, pronounced [ʃ], for example, in des·har 'to undo' vs deishar 'to leave'</li>
<li>n·h, pronounced [n.h], versus nh, pronounced [ɲ], for example in in·hèrn 'hell' vs vinha 'vineyard'</li></ul>
Although it is considered to be a spelling error, a <a href="/facts/Full_stop/w0Ylafwn">period</a> is frequently used when a middle dot is unavailable: des.har, in.hèrn, which is the case for French <a href="/facts/Keyboard_layout/6aYkBXuK">keyboard layout</a>.
In modern editions of <a href="/facts/Old_Occitan/Qo8swGt9">Old Occitan</a> texts, the apostrophe and interpunct are used to denote certain <a href="/facts/Elision/wtgX5ywc">elisions</a> that were not originally marked. The apostrophe is used with <a href="/facts/Clitic/4A00CTek">proclitic</a> forms and the interpunct is used with <a href="/facts/Clitic/4A00CTek">enclitic</a> forms:

<ul><li>que·l (que lo, that the) versus qu'el (that he)</li>
<li>From <a href="/facts/Bertran_de_Born/gP1PQ9q8">Bertran de Born</a>'s Ab joi mou lo vers e·l comens (translated by James H. Donalson):</li></ul>

<table><tbody><tr><td>Bela Domna·l vostre cors gens E·lh vostre bel olh m'an conquis, E·l doutz esgartz e lo clars vis, E·l vostre bels essenhamens, Que, can be m'en pren esmansa, De beutat no·us trob egansa: La genser etz c'om posc'e·l mon chauzir, O no·i vei clar dels olhs ab que·us remir.</td><td>Domna·l [ˈdonnal] = Domna, lo ("Lady, the": singular <a href="/facts/Definite_article/dLXmIPh1">definite article</a>) E·lh [eʎ] = E li ("And the": plural definite article) E·l [el] = E lo ("And the") E·l = E lo ("And the") No·us [nows] = Non vos ("(do) not... you": <a href="/facts/Indirect_objects/wybTVzna">direct object</a> pronoun) E·l = En lo ("in the") No·i [noj] = Non i ("(do) not... there") // Que·us [kews] = Que vos ("that (I)... you")</td><td>O pretty lady, all your grace and eyes of beauty conquered me, sweet glance and brightness of your face and all your nature has to tell so if I make an appraisal I find no one like in beauty: most pleasing to be found in all the world or else the eyes I see you with have dimmed. </td></tr></tbody></table>
<h3>Old Irish</h3>
In many linguistic works discussing <a href="/facts/Old_Irish/79xpaDv5">Old Irish</a> (but not in actual Old Irish manuscripts), the interpunct is used to separate a pretonic preverbal element from the stressed syllable of the verb, e.g. do·beir "gives". It is also used in citing the verb forms used after such preverbal elements (the <a href="/facts/Prototonic/FvHUtHsc">prototonic</a> forms), e.g. ·beir "carries", to distinguish them from forms used without preverbs, e.g. beirid "carries".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17">17</a> In other works, the <a href="/facts/Hyphen/2qtCxIGv">hyphen</a> (do-beir, -beir) or <a href="/facts/Colon_(punctuation)/se9fjJa4">colon</a> (do:beir, :beir) may be used for this purpose.

<h3>Runes</h3>
<a href="/facts/Runic/NxdzMS8E">Runic</a> texts use either an interpunct-like or a colon-like punctuation mark to separate words. There are two <a href="/facts/Unicode/DDu3MfPV">Unicode</a> characters dedicated for this:

<ul><li>U+16EB ᛫ RUNIC SINGLE PUNCTUATION</li>
<li>U+16EC ᛬ RUNIC MULTIPLE PUNCTUATION</li></ul>
<h2 id="in-mathematics-and-science">In mathematics and science</h2>

Up to the mid twentieth century, and sporadically even much later, the interpunct could be found used as the <a href="/facts/Decimal_marker/t6ocVouk">decimal point</a> in British publications, such as tables of constants (e.g., "π = 3·14159"). Conversely the multiplication sign was a full stop (period).
In publications conforming to the standards of the <a href="/facts/International_System_of_Units/S7YLglNz">International System of Units</a>, as well as the multiplication sign (×), the centered dot (dot operator) or space (often typographically a <a href="/facts/Non-breaking_space/lBPo5IS6">non-breaking space</a>) can be used as a multiplication sign. Only a <a href="/facts/Comma/mcW9dcGT">comma</a> or <a href="/facts/Full_stop/w0Ylafwn">full stop (period)</a> may be used as a decimal marker. The centered dot can be used when multiplying units, as in m·kg·s−2 for the <a href="/facts/Newton_(unit)/Ral9XgNl">newton</a> expressed in terms of SI base units. In the United States, the use of a centered dot for the multiplication of numbers or values of quantities is discouraged by <a href="/facts/NIST/gr9Fnh85">NIST</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18">18</a>
In <a href="/facts/Mathematics/pxTouaz4">mathematics</a>, a small middle dot can be used to represent <a href="/facts/Multiplication/VtcUjpNv">multiplication</a>; for example, 
 
 
 
 x
 ⋅
 y
 
 
 {\displaystyle x\cdot y}
 
 for multiplying 
 
 
 
 x
 
 
 {\displaystyle x}
 
 by 
 
 
 
 y
 
 
 {\textstyle y}
 
. When dealing with <a href="/facts/Scalar_(mathematics)/MkDbA4Eo">scalars</a>, it is interchangeable with the <a href="/facts/Multiplication_sign/XtsHgIbs">multiplication sign</a> (×), as long as the multiplication sign is between numerals such that it would not be mistaken as variable 
 
 
 
 x
 
 
 {\textstyle x}
 
. For instance, 
 
 
 
 2
 ⋅
 3
 y
 
 
 {\textstyle 2\cdot 3y}
 
 means the same thing as 
 
 
 
 2
 ×
 3
 y
 
 
 {\textstyle 2\times 3y}
 
. However, when dealing with <a href="/facts/Vector_(geometry)/bCLrdksy">vectors</a>, the dot operator denotes a <a href="/facts/Dot_product/tNz8MLjT">dot product</a> (e.g. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 x
 →
 
 
 
 ⋅
 
 
 
 y
 →
 
 
 
 
 
 {\textstyle {\vec {x}}\cdot {\vec {y}}}
 
, a scalar), which is distinct from the <a href="/facts/Cross_product/uRBJzkcW">cross product</a> (e.g. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 x
 →
 
 
 
 ×
 
 
 
 y
 →
 
 
 
 
 
 {\displaystyle {\vec {x}}\times {\vec {y}}}
 
, a vector).
The symbol is sometimes used to denote the <a href="/facts/Logical_conjunction/62uyyn1d">"AND" relationship</a> in formal <a href="/facts/Logic/8JnpJLtt">logic</a> and <a href="/facts/Boolean_algebra/VkCToAmg">Boolean algebra</a>, which can be seen as a special case of multiplication.
Another usage of this symbol in mathematics is with <a href="/facts/Function_(mathematics)/CdReEKCh">functions</a>, where the dot is used as a placeholder for a <a href="/facts/Argument_of_a_function/QkuPc28I">function argument</a>, in order to distinguish between the (general form of the) function itself and the value or a specific form of a function evaluated at a given point or with given specifications.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:19" href="#fn:19">19</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:20" href="#fn:20">20</a> For example, 
 
 
 
 f
 (
 ⋅
 )
 
 
 {\textstyle f(\cdot )}
 
 denotes the function 
 
 
 
 x
 ↦
 f
 (
 x
 )
 
 
 {\textstyle x\mapsto f(x)}
 
, and 
 
 
 
 θ
 (
 s
 ,
 a
 ,
 ⋅
 )
 
 
 {\displaystyle \theta (s,a,\cdot )}
 
 denotes a <a href="/facts/Partial_application/rLBPvYbW">partial application</a>, where the first two arguments are given and the third argument shall take any valid value on its domain.
In <a href="/facts/Computing/Kghtm9fX">computing</a>, the middle dot is usually displayed (but not printed) to indicate <a href="/facts/Whitespace_character/Q5xRIaSz">white space</a> in various software applications such as <a href="/facts/Word_processing/qAR7lagF">word processing</a>, <a href="/facts/Graphic_design/CJu4SYuG">graphic design</a>, web layout, <a href="/facts/Desktop_publishing/gUPtzSnH">desktop publishing</a> or <a href="/facts/Software_development/UUfsAaYY">software development</a> programs. In some <a href="/facts/Word_processor/qAR7lagF">word processors</a>, interpuncts are used to denote not only <a href="/facts/Hard_space/lBPo5IS6">hard space</a> or space characters, but also sometimes used to indicate a space when put in paragraph format to show indentations and spaces. This allows the user to see where white space is located in the document and what sizes of white space are used, since normally white space is invisible so tabs, spaces, non-breaking spaces and such are indistinguishable from one another.
In <a href="/facts/Chemistry/SrNqkGVm">chemistry</a>, the middle dot is used to separate the parts of formulas of <a href="/facts/Addition_compound/vBpTmotm">addition compounds</a>, mixture salts or solvates (typically hydrates), such as of <a href="/facts/Copper(II)_sulfate/Ya6fPoQe">copper(II) sulphate pentahydrate</a>, CuSO4·5H2O. The middle dot should not be surrounded by spaces when indicating a chemical adduct.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:21" href="#fn:21">21</a>

<h2 id="the-middot-as-a-letter">The middot as a letter</h2>
A middot may be used as a <a href="/facts/Consonant/81X2SGS6">consonant</a> or <a href="/facts/Modifier_letter/Ewwa2U0d">modifier letter</a>, rather than as punctuation, in transcription systems and in language orthographies. For such uses Unicode provides the code point U+A78F ꞏ LATIN LETTER SINOLOGICAL DOT.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:22" href="#fn:22">22</a>
In <a href="/facts/Americanist_phonetic_notation/ozMFd3Rl">Americanist phonetic notation</a>, the middot is a more common variant of the <a href="/facts/Colon_(letter)/ef6zC13w">colon</a> ⟨꞉⟩ used to indicate <a href="/facts/Vowel_length/BhBqJJu3">vowel length</a>. It may be called a half-colon in such usage. Graphically, it may be high in the letter space (the top dot of the colon) or centered as the interpunct. From Americanist notation, it has been adopted into the orthographies of several languages, such as <a href="/facts/Washo_language/7YvtomyW">Washo</a>.
In the writings of <a href="/facts/Franz_Boas/v1ot8CTw">Franz Boas</a>, the middot was used for palatal or <a href="/facts/Palatalization_(phonetics)/LXAIp4TB">palatalized</a> consonants, e.g. ⟨kꞏ⟩ for IPA [c].
In the Sinological tradition of the <a href="/facts/36_initials/8NsKBt9A">36 initials</a>, the onset 影 (typically reconstructed as a <a href="/facts/Glottal_stop/Xfqy2ArP">glottal stop</a>) may be transliterated with a middot ⟨ꞏ⟩, and the onset 喻 (typically reconstructed as a <a href="/facts/Null_onset/Ylt7pyJe">null onset</a>) with an <a href="/facts/Modifier_letter_apostrophe/WEwE0eFj">apostrophe</a> ⟨ʼ⟩. Conventions vary, however, and it is common for 影 to be transliterated with the apostrophe. These conventions are used both for Chinese itself and for other scripts of China, such as <a href="/facts/%25CA%25BCPhags-pa_script/YUtC0W72">ʼPhags-pa</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:23" href="#fn:23">23</a> and <a href="/facts/Jurchen_script/s1DBSBtK">Jurchen</a>.
In the <a href="/facts/Canadian_Aboriginal_syllabics/YylyRMzU">Canadian Aboriginal syllabics</a>, a middle dot ⟨ᐧ⟩ indicates a syllable medial ⟨w⟩ in <a href="/facts/Cree_language/MJnRxAHY">Cree</a> and <a href="/facts/Ojibwe_language/VRcmuBLS">Ojibwe</a>, ⟨y⟩ or ⟨yu⟩ in some of the <a href="/facts/Athapascan_languages/JMyzHIem">Athapascan languages</a>, and a syllable medial ⟨s⟩ in <a href="/facts/Blackfoot_language/tTnlMVEI">Blackfoot</a>. However, depending on the writing tradition, the middle dot may appear after the syllable it modifies (which is found in the Western style) or before the syllable it modifies (which is found in the Northern and Eastern styles). In Unicode, the middle dot is encoded both as independent glyph U+1427 ᐧ CANADIAN SYLLABICS FINAL MIDDLE DOT or as part of a pre-composed letter, such as in U+143C ᐼ CANADIAN SYLLABICS PWI. In the <a href="/facts/Carrier_syllabics/SJQdbXc4">Carrier syllabics</a> subset, the middle dot Final indicates a glottal stop, but a centered dot diacritic on [ə]-position letters transform the vowel value to [i], for example: U+1650 ᙐ CANADIAN SYLLABICS CARRIER SE, U+1652 ᙒ CANADIAN SYLLABICS CARRIER SI.

<h2 id="similar-symbols">Similar symbols</h2>
<table><tbody><tr><th>Symbol</th><th>Character Entity</th><th>Numeric Entity</th><th><a href="/facts/Unicode/DDu3MfPV">Unicode</a> Code Point</th><th><a href="/facts/LaTeX/c1lvjF0A">LaTeX</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:24" href="#fn:24">24</a></th><th>Notes</th></tr><tr><td>·</td><td>&middot;&centerdot;&CenterDot;</td><td>&#183;</td><td>U+00B7 MIDDLE DOT</td><td>\textperiodcentered</td><td>The interpunct</td></tr><tr><td>ˑ</td><td></td><td>&#721;</td><td>U+02D1 MODIFIER LETTER HALF TRIANGULAR COLON</td><td></td><td>IPA interpunct symbol: the triangular middot.</td></tr><tr><td>·</td><td></td><td>&#903;</td><td>U+0387 GREEK ANO TELEIA</td><td></td><td>Greek ánō stigmē</td></tr><tr><td>ּ</td><td></td><td>&#1468;</td><td>U+05BC HEBREW POINT DAGESH OR MAPPIQ</td><td></td><td>Hebrew point <a href="/facts/Dagesh/pWDjK9M0">dagesh</a> or <a href="/facts/Mappiq/xvYdq1MJ">mapiq</a></td></tr><tr><td>᛫</td><td></td><td>&#5867;</td><td>U+16EB RUNIC SINGLE PUNCTUATION</td><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Runic/NxdzMS8E">Runic</a> punctuation</td></tr><tr><td>•</td><td>&bull;</td><td>&#8226;</td><td>U+2022 BULLET</td><td>\textbullet</td><td><a href="/facts/Bullet_(typography)/DyPRSa50">bullet</a>, often used to mark list items</td></tr><tr><td>‧</td><td></td><td>&#8231;</td><td>U+2027 HYPHENATION POINT</td><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Hyphen/2qtCxIGv">hyphenation point</a> (dictionaries)</td></tr><tr><td>∘</td><td>&compfn;</td><td>&#8728;</td><td>U+2218 RING OPERATOR</td><td>\circ</td><td>ring operator (mathematics)</td></tr><tr><td>∙</td><td></td><td>&#8729;</td><td>U+2219 BULLET OPERATOR</td><td>\bullet</td><td>bullet operator (mathematics)</td></tr><tr><td>⋅</td><td>&sdot;</td><td>&#8901;</td><td>U+22C5 DOT OPERATOR</td><td>\cdot, \cdotp</td><td>dot operator (mathematics)</td></tr><tr><td>⏺</td><td></td><td>&#9210;</td><td>U+23FA BLACK CIRCLE FOR RECORD</td><td></td><td>black circle for <a href="/facts/Media_controls/IUHt9dJ1">record</a></td></tr><tr><td>●</td><td></td><td>&#9679;</td><td>U+25CF BLACK CIRCLE</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>◦</td><td></td><td>&#9702;</td><td>U+25E6 WHITE BULLET</td><td></td><td>hollow bullet</td></tr><tr><td>⚫</td><td></td><td>&#9899;</td><td>U+26AB MEDIUM CIRCLE BLACK</td><td></td><td>medium black circle</td></tr><tr><td>⦁</td><td></td><td>&#10625;</td><td>U+2981 Z NOTATION SPOT</td><td></td><td>symbol used by the <a href="/facts/Z_notation/5mUjpTvv">Z notation</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:25" href="#fn:25">25</a></td></tr><tr><td>⸰</td><td></td><td>&#11824;</td><td>U+2E30 RING POINT</td><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Avestan_alphabet/fUXtlHls">Avestan</a> punctuation mark</td></tr><tr><td>⸱</td><td></td><td>&#11825;</td><td>U+2E31 WORD SEPARATOR MIDDLE DOT</td><td></td><td>word separator (Avestan and other scripts)</td></tr><tr><td>⸳</td><td></td><td>&#11827;</td><td>U+2E33 RAISED DOT</td><td></td><td>vertical position between <a href="/facts/Full_stop/w0Ylafwn">full stop</a> and middle dot</td></tr><tr><td>・</td><td></td><td>&#12539;</td><td>U+30FB KATAKANA MIDDLE DOT</td><td></td><td>fullwidth <a href="/facts/Katakana/mmdWMTNr">katakana</a> middle dot</td></tr><tr><td>ꞏ</td><td></td><td>&#42895;</td><td>U+A78F LATIN LETTER SINOLOGICAL DOT</td><td></td><td>as a letter</td></tr><tr><td>･</td><td></td><td>&#65381;</td><td>U+FF65 HALFWIDTH KATAKANA MIDDLE DOT</td><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Half-width_kana/xhA9c7ge">halfwidth</a> katakana middle dot</td></tr><tr><td>𐄁</td><td></td><td>&#65793;</td><td>U+10101 AEGEAN WORD SEPARATOR DOT</td><td></td><td>word separator for Aegean scripts<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:26" href="#fn:26">26</a> (<a href="/facts/Linear_A/30d2ambk">Linear A</a> and <a href="/facts/Linear_B/caBvXdPb">Linear B</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table>
Characters in the Symbol column above may not render correctly in all browsers.

<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Punctuation/YsE7u4W6">Punctuation</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Syllabification/RIUVnIWq">Syllabification</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Dot_(disambiguation)/URjDdAjb">Dot (disambiguation)</a></li></ul>
<h2 id="notes">Notes</h2>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li> Media related to Interpuncts at Wikimedia Commons</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">Catich, Edward (1991). The Origin of the Serif: Brush Writing and Roman Letters. Des Moines, Iowa: Saint Ambrose University Catich Gallery. ISBN 978-0-9629740-1-4. <a href="978-0-9629740-1-4" target="_blank">978-0-9629740-1-4</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">"The Lancet – Formatting guidelines for electronic submission of manuscripts" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-04-25. <a href="http://download.thelancet.com/pb/assets/raw/Lancet/authors/artwork-guidelines.pdf" target="_blank">http://download.thelancet.com/pb/assets/raw/Lancet/authors/artwork-guidelines.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">"Victory on Points". Nature. 218 (5137): 111. 1968. Bibcode:1968Natur.218S.111.. doi:10.1038/218111c0. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038%2F218111c0" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1038%2F218111c0</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">Thompson, Ambler; Taylor, Barry N. (March 2008). "Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI)" (PDF). National Institute of Standards and Technology. p. 37. Retrieved 28 March 2018. <a href="https://physics.nist.gov/cuu/pdf/sp811.pdf#10.5.2" target="_blank">https://physics.nist.gov/cuu/pdf/sp811.pdf#10.5.2</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">Unicode Latin Extended A code chart p.13 <a href="http://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0100.pdf" target="_blank">http://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0100.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">The preferred Unicode representation is a succession of three characters, that is: ⟨L·L⟩ (U+004C + U+00B7 + U+004C) and ⟨l·l⟩ (U+006C + U+00B7 + U+006C). <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">GB/T 15834-1985 <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:8">"CNS11643 中文全字庫-字碼查詢與下載" (in Chinese). Cns11643.gov.tw. Archived from the original on 2019-05-09. Retrieved 2013-04-22. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190509120621/https://www.cns11643.gov.tw/AIDB/query_symbol_view.do?page=1&code=2126" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20190509120621/https://www.cns11643.gov.tw/AIDB/query_symbol_view.do?page=1&code=2126</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:9">第五页 中文出版物夹用英文的编辑规范 CY/T 154—2017 https://www.nppa.gov.cn/xxgk/fdzdgknr/hybz/202210/P020221004608768453140.pdf <a href="https://www.nppa.gov.cn/xxgk/fdzdgknr/hybz/202210/P020221004608768453140.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.nppa.gov.cn/xxgk/fdzdgknr/hybz/202210/P020221004608768453140.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:10">第29页 https://skxb.jsu.edu.cn/attached/file/20210105/20210105201153_839.pdf
 <a href="https://skxb.jsu.edu.cn/attached/file/20210105/20210105201153_839.pdf" target="_blank">https://skxb.jsu.edu.cn/attached/file/20210105/20210105201153_839.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:11">"Ethiopic Wordspace". Retrieved 16 August 2020. <a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/elreq/#ethiopic_punctuation" target="_blank">https://www.w3.org/TR/elreq/#ethiopic_punctuation</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:12">"Thesaurus Linguae Graecae". www.tlg.uci.edu. Archived from the original on 2012-08-06. Retrieved 2011-01-10. <a href="https://archive.today/20120806003722/http://www.tlg.uci.edu/~opoudjis/unicode/punctuation.html" target="_blank">https://archive.today/20120806003722/http://www.tlg.uci.edu/~opoudjis/unicode/punctuation.html</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:13">Ελληνικός Οργανισμός Τυποποίησης [Ellīnikós Organismós Typopoíīsīs, "Hellenic Organization for Standardization"]. ΕΛΟΤ 743, 2η Έκδοση [ELOT 743, 2ī Ekdosī, "ELOT 743, 2nd ed."]. ELOT (Athens), 2001. (in Greek). <a href="/wiki/Hellenic_Organization_for_Standardization" target="_blank">/wiki/Hellenic_Organization_for_Standardization</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:14">Unicode. "Unicode Greek code chart", pp. 34, 36. <a href="/wiki/Unicode" target="_blank">/wiki/Unicode</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:15">"Thesaurus Linguae Graecae". www.tlg.uci.edu. Archived from the original on 2012-08-06. Retrieved 2011-01-10. <a href="https://archive.today/20120806003722/http://www.tlg.uci.edu/~opoudjis/unicode/punctuation.html" target="_blank">https://archive.today/20120806003722/http://www.tlg.uci.edu/~opoudjis/unicode/punctuation.html</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:16">"Thesaurus Linguae Graecae". www.tlg.uci.edu. Archived from the original on 2012-08-06. Retrieved 2011-01-10. <a href="https://archive.today/20120806003722/http://www.tlg.uci.edu/~opoudjis/unicode/punctuation.html" target="_blank">https://archive.today/20120806003722/http://www.tlg.uci.edu/~opoudjis/unicode/punctuation.html</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:17">Thurneysen, Rudolf (1946). A Grammar of Old Irish. trans. D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. p. 25. ISBN 1-85500-161-6. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) <a href="1-85500-161-6" target="_blank">1-85500-161-6</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:18">Thompson, Ambler; Taylor, Barry N. (March 2008). "Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI)" (PDF). National Institute of Standards and Technology. p. 37. Retrieved 24 June 2021. <a href="https://physics.nist.gov/cuu/pdf/sp811.pdf#10.5.2" target="_blank">https://physics.nist.gov/cuu/pdf/sp811.pdf#10.5.2</a> <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:19">"· - Wiktionary". <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%C2%B7#Symbol" target="_blank">https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%C2%B7#Symbol</a> <a href="#fnref:19" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:20">Adams, Michael D. (2020). Signals and Systems (PDF) (3.0 ed.). p. 12. ISBN 978-1-55058-674-9. Retrieved 22 July 2021. <a href="978-1-55058-674-9" target="_blank">978-1-55058-674-9</a> <a href="#fnref:20" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:21">Connelly, Neil G.; Damhus, Ture; Hartshorn, Richard M.; Hutton, Alan T. (2005). Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry, IUPAC Recommendations 2005 (the "Red Book") (PDF). p. 56. ISBN 0-85404-438-8. Retrieved 10 January 2023. <a href="0-85404-438-8" target="_blank">0-85404-438-8</a> <a href="#fnref:21" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:22">Some discussion of the inappropriateness of a punctuation mark for such use, as well as the near equivalence of the triangular half colon, can be found here:Bibiko, Hans-Jörg (2010-04-07), On the proposed U+A78F LATIN LETTER MIDDLE DOTHill, Nathan (2010-04-14), Latin letter middle dot <a href="https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2010/10118-n3812.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2010/10118-n3812.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:22" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:23">West, Andrew (4 April 2009). Unicode Technical Committee (ed.). "Proposal to encode a Middle Dot letter for Phags-pa transliteration (UTC Document L2/09-031R, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 Document N3567)" (PDF). <a href="/wiki/Andrew_West_(linguist)" target="_blank">/wiki/Andrew_West_(linguist)</a> <a href="#fnref:23" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:24">Pakin, Scott (9 November 2009). "The Comprehensive LATEX Symbol List" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 March 2015. Retrieved 2015-03-19. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150328051921/http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/info/symbols/comprehensive/symbols-a4.pdf" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20150328051921/http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/info/symbols/comprehensive/symbols-a4.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:24" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:25">Bowen, Jonathan P. (May 1995). "Glossary of Z Notation". Information and Software Technology. 37 (5–6). University of Reading (UK): 333–334. doi:10.1016/0950-5849(95)90001-2. Retrieved 2015-03-19. <a href="https://www.academia.edu/288666" target="_blank">https://www.academia.edu/288666</a> <a href="#fnref:25" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:26">Anderson, Deborah; Everson, Michael (2001-10-03). "N2378: Final proposal to encode Aegean scripts in the UCS" (PDF). ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2. Retrieved 2015-03-19. <a href="https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2001/01370-n2378.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2001/01370-n2378.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:26" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

Interpunct open-in-new

Interpunct