punctus interrogativus

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin pūnctus interrogātīvus (“question mark”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌpʌŋktəs ɪntəɹɒɡəˈtiːvəs/, /ˌpʌŋktəs ɪntəɹɒɡəˈtaɪvəs/, /ˌpʌŋktəs ɪntəˈɹɒɡətɪvəs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌpʌŋktəs ɪntəɹɑɡəˈtivəs/, /ˌpʌŋktəs ɪntəɹɑɡəˈtaɪvəs/, /ˌpʌŋktəs ɪntəˈɹɑɡətɪvəs/

Noun

punctus interrogativus

1. (palaeography) The medieval ancestor of the modern question mark (approximately ~̣).
   • 1993, Malcolm Beckwith Parkes, Pause and Effect‎^[1], Glossary, pages 306–307:

     punctus percontativus A reversed, but not inverted punctus interrogativus […] used in the 16th and 17th centuries to indicate the end of a percontatio.

   • 2000, Jane Roberts, Janet Laughland Nelson, editors, Essays on Anglo-Saxon and Related Themes in Memory of Lynne Grundy‎^[2], King's College (University of London), →ISBN, page 537:

     […] manuscript punctuation has a punctus elevatus after the interjections and a punctus interrogativus at the end of the sentence.

   • 2015 December 23, Mary P. Richards, editor, Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: Basic Readings‎^[3], Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, page 387:

     […] although none of these happend to have occasion to use the punctus interrogativus.

See also

• punctus
• punctus circumflexus
• punctus elevatus
• punctus flexus
• punctus versus