Re: SV: Re: Large language structures

Michael Fors scripsit:

> I'm a Swede and can say that in handwriting, citation marks are just two =
> high little lines in the beginning and the end of the quote. When typed =
> it depends on the fonts of the text, but they are usually both high-9:s. =
> Sometimes the quote opens with high-6:s, I think.
Probably the influence of English-speaking computer systems.

> And guillemets (if you =
> mean << and >>) are extremely unusual in Swedish texts.
That is what I mean.  I should have said "guillemets (when used)".
They are extremely rare in English too, but not in all the languages
that use the high-6/high-9 pattern.

Other points: in American English it's usual to use double quotes,
and single quotes only within double quotes or for special effects;
in the rest of the English-speaking world the roles are reversed.
(Canada can go either way, I think.)

French quotation marks, like most French punctuation other than comma
and period, are generally set off from the text by non-breaking spaces.

--
A mosquito cried out in his pain,               John Cowan
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        The cause of his sorrow                 http://www.reutershealth.com
        Was para-dichloro-                      jcowan@reutershealth.com
Diphenyltrichloroethane.                                (aka DDT)