The modifier letter apostrophe is a letter in
Unicode
Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology standard for the consistent encoding, representation, and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems. The standard, ...
encoding, used primarily for various
glottal sounds.
Encoding
The letter apostrophe is encoded at , which is in the
''Spacing Modifier Letters'' Unicode block.
In Unicode code charts it looks identical to the , but this is not true for all fonts. The primary difference between the letter apostrophe and
U+2019
U or u, is the twenty-first and sixth-to-last letter and fifth vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''u'' (pro ...
is that the letter apostrophe U+02BC has the Unicode
General Category "Letter, modifier" (Lm), while U+2019 has the category "Punctuation, Final quote" (Pf).
In early Unicode (versions 1.0–2.1.9) U+02BC was preferred for the punctuation apostrophe in English. Since version 3.0.0, however, U+2019 is preferred, because it is defined as a punctuation mark. The behavior of Unicode letters and punctuation marks differs, causing complications if punctuation code points are used for letters or vice versa.
Use
In the
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standardized representation ...
, it is used to express
ejective consonant
In phonetics, ejective consonants are usually voiceless consonants that are pronounced with a glottalic egressive airstream. In the phonology of a particular language, ejectives may contrast with aspirated, voiced and tenuis consonants. So ...
s, such as
,
.
It denotes a
glottal stop
The glottal plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages, produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents thi ...
in orthographies of many languages, such as
Nenets (in Cyrillic script) and the artificial
Klingon language.
In one version of the
Kildin Sami alphabet, it denotes
preaspiration.
In the
Ukrainian alphabet
The Ukrainian alphabet ( uk, абе́тка, áзбука алфа́ві́т, abetka, azbuka alfavit) is the set of letters used to write Ukrainian, which is the official language of Ukraine. It is one of several national variations of the ...
, U+02BC is used for the semi-letter 'apostrophe' (which plays a role similar to Russian ) in certain contexts, such as, for example, in
internationalized domain name
An internationalized domain name (IDN) is an Internet domain name that contains at least one label displayed in software applications, in whole or in part, in non-latin script or alphabet, such as Arabic, Bengali, Chinese ( Mandarin, simplif ...
s where a punctuation mark would be disallowed.
See also
*
Apostrophe
The apostrophe ( or ) is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritical mark, in languages that use the Latin alphabet and some other alphabets. In English, the apostrophe is used for two basic purposes:
* The marking of the omission of one ...
*
Hamza
Hamza ( ar, همزة ') () is a letter in the Arabic alphabet, representing the glottal stop . Hamza is not one of the 28 "full" letters and owes its existence to historical inconsistencies in the standard writing system. It is derived from ...
*
Modifier letter double apostrophe
*
Saltillo and
Okina Okina may refer to:
* ʻOkina, a letter used in some Polynesian languages, visually resembling a left single quotation mark
* Okina () or , a character from the ''Rurouni Kenshin'' manga series
* Okina, Spain Okina ( es, Oquina) is a village of ...
, other letters used for glottal stop
*
Spacing Modifier Letters
References
Punctuation
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