Semicolon
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apostrophe ( ' ) parentheses ( ( ) ), brackets ( [ ] ); ( { } ); ( < > ) colon ( : ) comma ( , ) dash ( ‒ ); ( – ); ( — ); ( ― ) ellipsis ( ... ) exclamation mark ( ! ); ( ¡ ! ) full stop/period ( . ) hyphen ( - ); ( ‐ ) interrobang ( ‽ ) question mark ( ? ); ( ¿ ? ) quotation marks ( ‘ ’ ); ( “ ” ); ( ‹ › ); ( « » ); ( ‚ ‘ ); ( „ “ ); ( „ ” ); ( 「 」 ); ( 『 』 ) semicolon ( ; ) slash ( / ) and backslash ( \ ) space ( ) and interpunct ( · ) vertical bar / pipe ( | ) asterisk ( * ) and dagger ( † ‡ ) |
A semicolon is a punctuation mark.
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2 Uses 3 Examples 4 External link |
The semicolon was invented by an Italian (1450-1515) printer named Aldus Manutius the elder. He used it to separate words opposed in meaning and to mark off interdependent statements.
The earliest general use of the semicolon was in 1591. Shakespeare's sonnets have semicolons; Ben Johnson was the first notable English writer to systematically use the semicolon.
In English, the semicolon is used to join two sentences slightly more closely than they would be joined if separated by a full stop (or period). A writer might consider this appropriate where they are trying to indicate a close relationship between two sentences, or a 'run-on' in meaning from one to the next; they don't wish the connection to be broken by the abrupt use of a full-stop.
The semicolon is also used as a sort of "senior comma" to make meaning clear in a sentence where commass are already being used for other purposes.
History
Uses
Examples
In computer programming, the semicolon corresponds to Unicode and ASCII character 59, or 0x003B. In many procedural programming languages (such as Pascal, Ada, C or C++), it is used to separate instructions from each other. In assembly language and many other types of code, beginning a line with a semicolon usually means it is a comment.