What ⸖ means
It marks a line where Aristarchus disagreed with Zenodotus.
The sign stood in the poem's margin. Readers followed it to a separate commentary—a companion text keyed to the marked line—where Aristarchus of Samothrace explained the different reading and his judgment.
How is ⸖ related to >?
It is the dotted counterpart of the plain diple, >.
In Greek editorial notation, > marked a line for broader attention; the dot narrowed ⸖ to a specific disagreement over the text. This is a historical link, not just a resemblance in shape.
Aristarchus of Samothrace worked on Homer's text in Alexandria during the second century BCE. P.Tebt. I 4, a Homeric papyrus from the second century BCE, was once reported to carry ⸖ beside Iliad 2.156; that mark is no longer visible on the papyrus.
Related critical-sign editions also appear in papyri from the Roman Imperial period.
Specialist Greek editorial notation, found beside text in critical editions and manuscript transcriptions rather than ordinary prose.
Don't confuse it with
1Questions people ask
1Why does ⸖ look different in fonts?
Its documented glyph forms put the dot on either side of the angle. These are drawings of the same character, not separate signs; the editorial context explains its role.
How to type ⸖
⸖\2E16Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.