What 𝪉 means
It marks a pause before a phrase ends. In Sutton SignWriting, a way to write sign languages, this punctuation marks a boundary in the written sentence. A full stop closes a sentence; 𝪉 leaves the phrase open for what follows. It stands between sign text, not inside a sign.
SignWriting grew from DanceWriting, Valerie Sutton’s system for recording movement. In 1974, researchers at the University of Copenhagen asked for a way to record signs and gestures, and Sutton adapted the system for that purpose. Later work with researchers and Deaf writers helped make it a general writing system for sign languages. That history explains why its punctuation marks timing and structure in written signing.
Questions need more than this punctuation mark.
𝪉 can mark the questioning pause at the end of a SignWriting question, but it does not make the sentence a question on its own. SignWriting questions also use grammatical facial and head movements, such as raised or lowered eyebrows and a forward head movement. These non-manual cues carry grammatical information.
The mark can occur at the end of a question, but it does not turn any preceding text into one by itself. The signs and non-manual cues together show how the pause fits the question.
Specialist punctuation: it signals that the writer is using Sutton SignWriting to mark a phrase boundary.
Outside SignWriting, it may appear as a stray character or missing-font box; it is not a substitute for keyboard ;.
Part of the collection
Don't confuse it with
1
Related characters
4
Questions people ask
2Why does the SignWriting semicolon show as a box?
A fallback box or blank usually means the font or app cannot display it. Use an app and font with Sutton SignWriting support.
Does the SignWriting semicolon mark a question by itself?
No. It marks the questioning pause; the question's grammar also uses facial and head movements, such as eyebrow position and head movement.
More like this
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How to type or find 𝪉
- Search it as
- SignWriting punctuation · SignWriting pause · question pause SignWriting · sign language writing · Sutton SignWriting · SignWriting text · semicolon in SignWriting · uneven equals sign · thin thick bars · two horizontal bars
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
𝪉\1DA89Why is 𝪉 a box on my screen?
fsymbols draws rare signs with its own fonts, so they show here even where your device has none. An app or website without such a font shows an empty box (□) or a question mark instead. Turn our fonts off to see each sign as your device draws it by itself: a box here means a box in your chats and documents too.
Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.