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Chinese punctuation for proper nouns

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Modern versions of the Chinese language have two kinds of punctuation marks for indicating proper nouns – the proper name mark[1] / proper noun mark[2] (Simplified Chinese: 专名号; Traditional Chinese: 專名號) and book title mark[3] / title mark[4] (Simplified Chinese: 书名号; Traditional Chinese: 書名號). The former may be applied to all proper nouns except when the nouns in question are titles of textual or artistic works, in which case the latter are used instead. Unlike the proper name mark, there are several variants of book title marks.

Old-school style

The old-school style uses two different underlines. The proper name mark appears as a straight underline (_), while the book title mark appears as a wavy underline (﹏). On horizontally aligned texts, on-the-left beside lines (︳ and ︴) are used instead of underlines.

In Taiwan, the underlined book title mark is called "Type A" (甲式) in contrast to "Type B" (乙式), 《》[5]. In China, only type B book title marks are accepted in modern day use.[6] Both Taiwan and China recognise straight underline as proper name mark.[7][8]

Current status

When a proper noun immediately follows another, the lines accompanying each of them do not connect; however, many digital systems are unable to correctly display this break.

The old-school style proper name marks were an official rule in Taiwan and Hong Kong earlier.[9] However, since the old-school style is hard to typeset, current use of this style is common only in Traditional Chinese school textbooks as well as Classical Chinese text that has been re-laid out in a modern style.[10]

Example

屈原放逐,乃賦離騒左丘失明,厥有國語

Translation: Qu Yuan was exiled, the Li Sao was thus composed. Zuo Qiu (or Zuoqiu[note 1]) lost his sight, hence there is the Guo Yu.

Horizontally-aligned text

This style only uses a pair of guillemets (《⋯》) and a pair of angle brackets (〈⋯〉) as book title marks, which are intended to surround the title of a piece of textual or artistic work. However, no punctuation marks are used for other proper nouns.

Example

Vertically-aligned text

In this case, the rotated forms of the above-mentioned symbols (︽⋯︾) and (︿⋯﹀) are used instead.

Current status

Since these symbols are processed as individual characters, there are virtually no difficulties for digital systems to display them correctly.

These styles are dominant amongst both printed and digital Chinese text. In Taiwan's Traditional Chinese, the choice between guillemets and angle brackets is made according to the format of the textual or artistic work – in general, guillemets are for those that would be italicized if they were in English text, whereas angle brackets are for those that would be in quotations if they were in English text. In Mainland China's Simplified Chinese, guillemets are used regardless of the work's type – angle brackets only appear between them to indicate a title within another title. Outside of Hong Kong and Macao, whose governments have adopted the Mainland Chinese standard on the usage of all punctuation marks (even when Traditional Chinese are used), the Taiwan standard is widely adopted.

See also

  • Interpunct, used to mark divisions in proper names in Chinese
  • Tai tou, an honorific space sometimes inserted before a person's name as a mark of respect

References

  1. ^ 提升國小三年級學童標點符號運用能力之行動研究 [An Action Research for Improving the Ability of Using the Punctuation Mark for Third Graders] (Thesis). 2016-07-11. hdl:11296/vtcj9e. Retrieved 2022-10-10 – via 臺灣博碩士論文知識加值系統 (National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan). There is less patience for students to read long sentences, so it will be easy to make mistakes such as missing writing and wrong answering, and it is not easy to understand the use of colon and punctuation of proper name mark.
  2. ^ 由數學擬題探討國小高年級學童語文應用能力之現況 [A discussion of performance in language application using mathematical problem posing in higher graders of elementary school] (Thesis). 2011-06-17. hdl:11296/s5egqw. Retrieved 2022-10-10 – via 臺灣博碩士論文知識加值系統 (National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan). v. Omission of proper noun mark
  3. ^ "Requirements for Chinese Text Layout - 中文排版需求". World Wide Web Consortium. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
  4. ^ Standardization Administration of China (1994-12-07). 中华人民共和国国家标准 汉语信息处理词汇 02部分:汉语和汉字 GB/T 12200.2-1994 [Chinese information processing--Vocabulary--Part 02:Chinese and Chinese character]. p. 15. 4.1.8.15 书名号 title mark
  5. ^ National Languages Committee (2008-12-01). 《重訂標點符號手冊》修訂版 [Revised Handbook of Punctuation] (PDF). p. 14.
  6. ^ Standardization Administration of China (2011-12-30). 中华人民共和国国家标准GB/T15834-2011标点符号用法 [General rules of punctuation] (PDF). p. 12.
  7. ^ National Languages Committee (2008-12-01). 《重訂標點符號手冊》修訂版 [Revised Handbook of Punctuation] (PDF). p. 18.
  8. ^ Standardization Administration of China (2011-12-30). 中华人民共和国国家标准GB/T15834-2011标点符号用法 [General rules of punctuation] (PDF). p. 12.
  9. ^ 宋楚瑜 (1998). 學術論文規範. p. 56. ISBN 9789570903478.
  10. ^ 何永清 (2005). 現代漢語語法新探. p. 299-300. ISBN 9789570519495.

Notes

  1. ^ There are debates on whether the name 左丘明 has surname 左 and given name 丘明 (Zuo Qiuming) or surname 左丘 and given name 明 (Zuoqiu Ming).