User:Yurim/Punctuation and Special Characters
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General
- As a general rule, MusicBrainz editors should correct spelling and punctuation. (Style/Principle/Error_correction_and_artist_intent)
- Use of basic ASCII punctuation characters such as ' and " is allowed, but typographically-correct punctuation is preferred. (Style/Miscellaneous)
- Picard can convert Unicode punctuation characters in MusicBrainz data to ASCII for consistent use of punctuation in tags. ([1], [2])
- Japanese artists have a tendency to choose capitalization and punctuation for aesthetic reasons; and to be very consistent regarding case over all releases. For this reason, words in the Latin script on a Japanese release should be in the same case as on the album art if other available sources, such as official discography or record label pages, are consistent; not normalized according to English or other capitalization standards. (Style/Language/Japanese)
Input
- Wikipedia writes about Hexadecimal code input in general.
- Linux:
- <CTRL-SHIFT-u>, <hex-code>, <SPACE>
- On Ubuntu you might be able to enter the code points with the ComposeKey.
- Windows:
- fileformat.info has an article How to enter Unicode characters in Microsoft Windows.
- Press and hold <ALT>, <+> on the numpad, <hex-code>, release <ALT>
- Use The UnicodeInput Utility from fileformat.info
English
- Quotation marks [3]):
- Apostrophe:
’
(U+2019 'RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK') ([4]) - Ellipsis is treated inconsistently ([5]). Some authorities require three dots, some suggest using the prefabricated ellipsis character
…
(U+2026 'HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS'). The use of spaces before and/or after the ellipsis is also inconsistent.
- Uses of Hyphens, Dashes and the Minus Sign
-
(U+0012 'HYPHEN-MINUS') is the multi-purpose character with its own key on the keyboard ([6]).‐
(U+2010 'HYPHEN') joins words and syllables and is used within dates ([7])−
(U+2212 'MINUS SIGN') is used in equations or for negative numbers ([8]).‒
(U+2012 'FIGURE DASH') is the same width as a digit and thus mostly used within a number ([9]).–
(U+2013 'EN DASH') is used for ranges, relationships, and connections ([10]).—
(U+2014 'EM DASH') can be used instead of colons, parentheses or to show an aprupt change of thought ([11]).―
(U+2015 'HORIZONTAL BAR') is used as quotation mark ([12]).
German
- Quotation marks in Germany, Austria, etc. ([13]):
„…“
(U+201E 'DOUBLE LOW-9 QUOTATION MARK' / U+201C 'LEFT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK')‚…‘
(U+201A 'SINGLE LOW-9 QUOTATION MARK' / U+2018 'LEFT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK')»…«
(U+00BB 'RIGHT-POINTING DOUBLE ANGLE QUOTATION MARK' / U+00AB 'LEFT-POINTING DOUBLE ANGLE QUOTATION MARK')›…‹
(U+203A 'SINGLE RIGHT-POINTING ANGLE QUOTATION MARK' / U+2039 'SINGLE LEFT-POINTING ANGLE QUOTATION MARK')
- Quotation marks in Switzerland and Liechtenstein ([14]):
«…»
(U+00BB 'RIGHT-POINTING DOUBLE ANGLE QUOTATION MARK' / U+00AB 'LEFT-POINTING DOUBLE ANGLE QUOTATION MARK')‹…›
(U+203A 'SINGLE RIGHT-POINTING ANGLE QUOTATION MARK' / U+2039 'SINGLE LEFT-POINTING ANGLE QUOTATION MARK')„…“
(U+201E 'DOUBLE LOW-9 QUOTATION MARK' / U+201C 'LEFT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK')‚…‘
(U+201A 'SINGLE LOW-9 QUOTATION MARK' / U+2018 'LEFT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK')
- Apostrophe:
’
(U+2019 'RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK') ([15]) - Ellipsis
…
(U+2026 'HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS') marks an omission. It is not followed by a period, heading and trailing white space is handled like if there was no omission. ([16], [17])
- Uses of Hyphens, Dashes and the Minus Sign
-
(U+0012 'HYPHEN-MINUS', German “Mittestrich”) is the multi-purpose character with its own key on the keyboard ([18]).‐
(U+2010 'HYPHEN', German “Viertelgeviertstrich” or “Divis”) joins words and syllables ([19])−
(U+2212 'MINUS SIGN') is used in equations or for negative numbers ([20]).‒
(U+2012 'FIGURE DASH', German “ziffernbreiter Strich”) can be used for omitted digits ([21]).–
(U+2013 'EN DASH', German “Halbgeviertstrich”) is used for ranges, omissions, comparisons, routes, and to show an insert or a pause within a sentence ([22]).—
(U+2014 'EM DASH', German “Geviertstrich”) may be used for list items ([23]).
French
- Quotation marks [24]), separated from the inner text by a space:
« … »
(U+00BB 'RIGHT-POINTING DOUBLE ANGLE QUOTATION MARK' / U+00AB 'LEFT-POINTING DOUBLE ANGLE QUOTATION MARK')‹ … ›
(U+203A 'SINGLE RIGHT-POINTING ANGLE QUOTATION MARK' / U+2039 'SINGLE LEFT-POINTING ANGLE QUOTATION MARK')“ … ”
(U+201E 'DOUBLE LOW-9 QUOTATION MARK' / U+201C 'LEFT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK')‘ … ‘
(U+201A 'SINGLE LOW-9 QUOTATION MARK' / U+2018 'LEFT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK')
Other locales
Check this map on Imgur describing what quotations marks are used how in Europe.
Other Special Characters
- Number signs come in different shapes:
- The sharp sign in music notation:
- Unit signs: ([25])
- Degree
°
(U+00B0 'DEGREE SIGN') is used to represent degrees of arc, hours, degrees of temperature, alcohol proof, or diminished quality in musical harmony. ([26]) - Prime
′
(U+2032 'PRIME') is commonly used to represent feet (ft), arcminutes (am) and minutes (min). ([27]) - Double Prime
″
(U+2033 'DOUBLE PRIME') represents inches (in), arcseconds (as), seconds (s) and is used as ditto mark. ([28], [29]) µ
(U+00B5 'MICRO SIGN')
- Degree
- The numero sign
№
(U+2116 'NUMERO SIGN'). ²
(U+00B2 'SUPERSCRIPT TWO')³
(U+00B3 'SUPERSCRIPT THREE')
- Intellectual property:
©
(U+00A9 'COPYRIGHT SYMBOL') ([30]) Don't confuse it with:℗
(U+2117 'SOUND RECORDING COPYRIGHT') ([31])®
(U+00AE 'REGISTERED SIGN') ([32])™
(U+2122 'TRADE MARK SIGN') ([33])℠
(U+2120 'SERVICE MARK') ([34])
- Please, let's never get started with white space characters. ([35])