proper name mark
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Modern versions of the Chinese language have two kinds of punctuation marks for indicating proper nouns – the proper name mark / proper noun mark (
Simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one, that is simpler (usually shorter), for example * Simplification of algebraic expressions, ...
: 专名号;
Traditional Chinese A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...
: 專名號) and the book title marks / title markshttp://www.moe.gov.cn/ewebeditor/uploadfile/2015/01/12/20150112165112869.pdf (
Simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one, that is simpler (usually shorter), for example * Simplification of algebraic expressions, ...
: 书名号;
Traditional Chinese A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...
: 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. The book title marks come in different forms while the proper name mark does not – given that their rotated forms are not counted separately.


Old-school style


Horizontally-aligned text

This style uses two different underlines. The proper name mark appears as a straight underline (No dedicated stand-alone digital characters are available yet…) while the book title mark appears as a wavy underline (﹏).


Example

放逐,乃賦離騒。失明,厥有國語。 (In case there are display errors on your device... '離騷' and '國語' are both supposed to be wavy-underlined.) Translation:
Qu Yuan Qu Yuan ( – 278 BCE) was a Chinese poet and politician in the Chu (state), State of Chu during the Warring States period. He is known for his patriotism and contributions to Classical Chinese poetry, classical poetry and verses, ...
was exiled, the ''
Li Sao "''Li Sao''" (; translation: "Encountering Sorrow") is an ancient Chinese poem from the anthology ''Chuci'' traditionally attributed to Qu Yuan. ''Li Sao'' dates from the late 3rd century BCE, during the Chinese Warring States period. Backgrou ...
'' was thus composed . Zuo Qiu (or Zuoqiu) lost his sight, hence there is the ''Guo Yu''.


Vertically-aligned text

In this case, on-the-left beside-lines (︳) and (︴) are used instead of underlines.


Current Status

When a proper noun immediately follows another, the lines accompanying each of them do not connect; many digital systems are unable to display this correctly. The use of this style is common only in Traditional Chinese school textbooks and modernly-laid-out Classical Chinese text.


Popular styles


Horizontally-aligned text

This style only uses a pair of guillemets (《》) and a pair of angle brackets (〈〉) as book title marks to precede and succede each proper noun which is the title of a piece of textual or artistic work, 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 of them.


Current status

Since those symbols are processed as individual characters instead of mark-ups on other 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 guillemets and angle brackets are chosen according to the format of the textual or artistic work – in general, the formers are for those that would be italicized if they were in English text; the latter 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. In Hong Kong and Macao, the governments adopt the Mainland China standard on the usage of all punctuation marks even when the characters are in Traditional Chinese, but otherwise, the Taiwan standard is widely adopted.


See also

*
Interpunct An interpunct , also known as an interpoint, middle dot, middot and centered dot or centred dot, is a punctuation mark consisting of a vertically centered dot used for interword separation in ancient Latin script. (Word-separating spaces did no ...
, used to mark divisions in proper names in Chinese *
Tai tou Tai tou () is a typographical East Asian expression of honor that can be divided into two forms, Nuo tai and Ping tai. Nuo tai Nuo tai (, literally ''"move and shift"'') is a typographical device used in written Chinese to denote respect for ...
, an honorific space sometimes inserted before a person's name as a mark of respect


References


Notes

{{notefoot Chinese characters Typography Names zh-yue:固有名詞#標點符號