Exclamation mark
The exclamation point "!" ( Borrowed from the Latin signum exclamationis and also exclamation point, call sign ( Austrian ) or exclamation mark ( schweiz. ) called ) is a punctuation mark after exclamation, request and call records as well as exclamation words and after conditional indirect questions ( subjunctive ) is. In Germany it was once also used in the salutation in letters. The latter practice is still widespread in Austria. In addition, it symbolizes important and similar transactions and represents some completely different meanings.
Formation
Hartmut Günther, professor of German language and didactics at the University of Cologne, found at a diachronic comparison of editions of Luther's Bible translation, the first exclamation point in an edition of 1797. It filled it already grammatical tasks, and served as suspects until then just as intonation information.
Use
As a punctuation mark
German
As a punctuation mark, the exclamation point is in independent sentences, phrases or individual words ( in headings, etc.), after exclamations, calls, commands, requests, warnings, prohibitions, wishes, greetings, emphatic assertions.
Unlike in most Roman and Anglo-Saxon countries, the exclamation mark is used not only by direct invocation, but also to affirm in the German language. This development is, however, justified colloquially and emerged in the early years of the Internet. Besides the use of so-called emoticons, the multiple use of exclamation points and question marks was ( "Tell me how? ?") Used as an additional emphasis on Internet forums and newsgroups without that there was a historical background for it. Due to the multiple use of the exclamation mark in the importance of the pure volume emphasis is increasingly a summary in the form of 'important' given way: "Now just 5 percent! ". The number of exclamation mark should therefore be a mirror of the importance of what is said.
Examples:
- You must not!
- Trespassing!
- Stop!
When speaking, the pitch drops to the end of the block from back.
The exclamation point is written without spaces at the last word of the sentence. In typographic use a narrow space for better visual separation is often inserted before the exclamation point.
An exclamation mark in a parenthesis " (!) " Informed that the words the author of the sentence seems remarkable immediately before the clamp.
Example:
Spanish: " ¡ "
In Spanish, the exclamation point, which here signo de exclamación sometimes exists, but also signo de admiración ( lit. " admiration " character) is called in two forms. " " In addition to the usual in other languages , a set of final mark, there is the opening exclamation " ¡ ", which emphasized sentences or words are preceded by:
- ¡ Atención!
If exclamation marks are repeatedly desired, the exclamation point opening is often written as the closing:
- ¡ ¡ ¡ Atención!
As a phonetic characters
- In the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA ) for the postalveolar click sound
- In written languages of some Khoisan languages for the postalveolar click sound
Deskriptorsymbole
- Faculty ( Mathematics ) and Subfakultät, mathematical functions
- Not that negation in many programming languages , also in combination with other operators (such as "! =" Corresponds to, not equal ',' not equal ')
- "# " Is for Unix-like operating systems, shebang
- In the chess notation a good train, two exclamation points are a particularly good train
Symbolic meanings
The exclamation point generally stands for 'important', especially for a warning (' Warning '), or for, danger 'and' threat '.
Warning concerning a point of danger ( DIN 4844-2 D- W000 )
Irritant, according to the new GHS
Other uses:
- In fraternities a part of the connecting circle of connection, see Circle ( Fraternity ) # The exclamation point
Encoding
The exclamation point is in the ASCII character set to 21 hexadecimal (Unicode U 0021 ) and is the first visible sign to the control characters, and is therefore in alphabetical order in the first place.
The inverted exclamation mark is in ISO 8859-1 and Unicode to code 161 (U 00 A1) and can be running Windows on each keyboard via Alt 0161 or Alt 173 on the number pad, produce. On a Macintosh this is Alt 1 /! generated under Linux/X11 by Shift AltGr 1 /! .
The double exclamation mark ("!" ) Is encoded in Unicode as U 203 C.
In HTML, the exclamation mark can also be generated by the following codes: