Question Mark

question markQuestion Mark PNG

Question Mark is a sentence-ending punctuation mark that expresses a direct question or doubt about something. The question mark is one of the most common punctuation marks. Questioning sentences, for the most part, imply a subsequent answer to the question posed. The exception is rhetorical questions, to which no answer is required, as they only call for reasoning.

Meaning and history

question mark clipart

In ancient times, the punctuation system was far different from what it is now, and there were no punctuation rules. The modern punctuation system was formed over a long period and by the efforts of different grammarians. To this day, many scientists argue about who should be thanked for punctuation marks. All that is known is that by the beginning of the first century B.C., the Greeks used only three signs – dots located at the bottom, middle, or top of the line.

As for the Question Mark, it appeared much later. This punctuation mark is found in printed books from the XVI century, but to express a question this symbol is fixed only in the XVIII century. It is also known that for a long time instead the question marks were used semicolons, which denoted in general any change of intonation, not only questioning.

The appearance of the question mark is associated with the Latin word quaestio, which literally means “search” (search for an answer). The initial and final letters of this word, q, and o, the writer put after the statement requiring an answer. Then the letter “Q” began to be written above “O”, i.e. to place these symbols in a column. The letter “O” decreased in size until it became a dot, and “q” lost its left wall.

Use of a Question Mark

inverted question mark

The Question Mark punctuation sign, as you know, is usually placed at the end of a sentence to express a question or doubt. With the help of this symbol, the speaker wants to know about something, seeks to obtain information of interest or solve some problem that concerns him at the time of the speech, as well as if he doubts about something.

Also, the question mark is put at the end of the sentence, which in essence does not require an answer. The answer is initially known and clear to everyone. This is a rhetorical question, which is used to draw attention to the raised problem.

The question mark can be combined with an exclamation mark to indicate surprise or bewilderment, as well as with an ellipsis if the direct question is joined by a sense of understatement. If a question mark is inside brackets, it is an expression of doubt and is most often found inside quotations.

Question Mark in Different Languages

question marks

The familiar Question Mark does not look the way we are used to in all languages. In Arabic, for example, it is mirrored, but this is logical, given that the language is written from right to left. Although in Hebrew, where the spelling is the same, the question mark looks ordinary, “?”.

Greek uses “;” as a question mark, which is how it looked many centuries ago. In Armenian, there is a separate symbol, which, by the way, is placed not at the end of the sentence, but above the last vowel of the question word.

Interestingly, in the course of history, some writers have tried to introduce the mirror question mark (the same as in Arabic script) as a symbol of a rhetorical question or irony, but such use has not spread.

Upside Down Question Mark​

upside down question mark

In Spanish, the question is emphasized on both sides by a pair of symbols (an inverted sign at the beginning, and a regular one at the end), which enclose the sentence or part of it, like brackets. This is not just a quirky feature, but a very convenient typographical tradition that immediately sets the proper emotional/intonational tone.

Spanish culture is very bright and people are super emotional, so the upside-down symbol at the beginning of a phrase or a sentence makes it easier for them to read it with the proper intonation.

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