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Peisho
4th May 2002, 13:48
Is there any punctuation marks in the Japanese language? Stuff like periods and commas or question marks?

Adam Young
4th May 2002, 16:47
Yep, although really you only see periods (which look like little circles), commas and quotation marks (which look like right angles with one side longer than the other).

You don't really see exclamation points or questins marks as the sentence itself will indicate how it is to be read (e.g. "---desu ka." is a question.)

Cheers,

Enfield
4th May 2002, 22:20
Originally posted by Peisho
Is there any punctuation marks in the Japanese language? Stuff like periods and commas or question marks?
Well, it depends (like most things Japanese). In more formal writing, such as text books, newspapers, etc., the case is as Adam described. Periods, commas, and quotation marks. Quotation marks are somewhat optional, and there's not really any rules for comma usage.

Now in informal writing, or writing that is supposed to represent dialog, things like question marks, exclamation marks, and elipses all show up fairly regularly, representing what would be made clear through tone and inflection if the language were being spoken.

kabutoki
8th May 2002, 09:27
you also often find things like question marks or exclamation marks on signs and other advertisements that were specially designed to attract customers because they stick out from normal textpatterns.

karsten