Syriac Supralinear Full Stop

It marks a pause, question, or command. In Syriac punctuation, this dot helps shape the reading and divide text. Its position above the line distinguishes it from marks with other functions.

A Syriac grammar describes ܁ as the script’s oldest mark for dividing text. Syriac parchments dated 240–243 have no punctuation dots; dots appear by the fifth century, including an above-line pause mark in a manuscript from 473. By the sixth and seventh centuries, Syriac had an extensive system of reading annotations. Later East- and West-Syriac traditions emphasized these dots differently.