apostrophe
(redirected from Apostrophe (punctuation))Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus.
apostrophe
apostrophe:
see punctuationpunctuation[Lat.,=point], the use of special signs in writing to clarify how words are used; the term also refers to the signs themselves. In every language, besides the sounds of the words that are strung together there are other features, such as tone, accent, and pauses,
..... Click the link for more information. ; abbreviationabbreviation,
in writing, arbitrary shortening of a word, usually by cutting off letters from the end, as in U.S. and Gen. (General). Contraction serves the same purpose but is understood strictly to be the shortening of a word by cutting out letters in the middle, the omission
..... Click the link for more information. .
apostrophe,
figure of speech in which an absent person, a personified inanimate being, or an abstraction is addressed as though present. The term is derived from a Greek word meaning "a turning away," and this sense is maintained when a narrative or dramatic thread is broken in order to digress by speaking directly to someone not there, e.g., "Envy, be silent and attend!"—Alexander Pope, "On a Certain Lady at Court."Apostrophe
comma written above the line, used in writing for various functions: (1) In French, Italian, English, and other languages the apostrophe is used to indicate the omission of a vowel (the French I’homme instead of le homme, the English “don’t” instead of “do not,” and so on).
(2) In the orthography of the Nenets language it is used to indicate glottal stops.
(3) The apostrophe is used in transcription to convey glottal stops (in Semitic and other languages), to indicate soft consonants, and so on.
(4) In Russian writing it is used in places where foreign languages use apostrophes in proper names (Jeanne d’Arc, O’Casey); in the 1920’s and 1930’s the apostrophe was also used in place of the “hard sign” Ъ (pod’ezd instead of podЪezd).
Apostrophe
a word or group of words naming the person or object to which speech is addressed. Apostrophe may be used within or outside a sentence. It is not bound grammatically to the other parts of a sentence. Apostrophe is widely used in literary language to convey dialogue. For example:
(Famusov:) “Sergei Sergeich, can this be you!”
A. S. Griboedov, Woe From Wit
It is also used in the speech of the narrator to address an individual. For example:
“And you, exile,” I thought, “weep on your vast, free steppes.”
M. Iu. Lermontov, Bela
Or it may be used to address an inanimate object:
“Loosen up, shoulder! Swing, arm!
You, wind, blow in the face from afternoon on!”
A. V. Kol’tsov, “The Mower”