Full Stop: Origin and Meaning
ARISTOPHANES OF BYZANTIUM introduced the Greek punctuation in the 3rd century from which the full stop symbol was later derived. In the Aristophanes system, there were a series of dots whose placements were used to determine their meaning. The full stop mark looks like “. ”
The symbol is referred to as a “Full stop” (Britain) or “Period” (America), depending on the location it is used. The word period means the same as a full stop. It is the colloquial word for a full stop in America.
Full Stops are the most commonly used punctuation. The full stop is generally used to end sentences. The sentences could be very small or sometimes eves may contain one word. After analysis, it is found that the full stop is roughly half of the punctuations that are used in total. Full stops indicate the end of sentences that are no question marks or exclamation marks.
Uses of Full Stop
The full stop is used for different purposes, a few of them being:
It often is used to end declarative sentences. It may appear after names or acronyms for (eg: U.K) but recently not the usage of full stop between acronyms has been accepted. ( Eg: USA).
The mark is sometimes used to refer to sentences that are omitted “…..” or to be continued.
A full stop is also used after some abbreviations. For example: “My name is lucifer king jr.”
Full stops are used in email addresses as well as websites.
“Eg: www.google.com” or “jaden.smith@gmail.com”.
Full stops are also used in mathematics or to express the exact amount of something in numbers. It is known as decimals. Eg: 99.99.
Full stops are often used while naming documents. Eg: document.txt
Sometimes a full stop sentence might be of one word only. Eg: Hello.
People mostly in The United States of America often while talking say the word “period” out loud. In that context, the word period refers to their uninterest in carrying the conversation forward and are not open for any further talking. “Eg: I will buy you an mc flurry ice cream. PERIOD.”
Some Examples of a Full Stop in Every Type of Sentences are as Follows:
Simple full stop sentence examples:
“I will be home by 6.”
“We will have broccoli for dinner tonight.”
“I am extremely packed up with work.”
“I have never seen two pretty best-friends, one of them always going to be ugly.
One word full stop sentence examples:
“Good-day”
“Bye”
“Okay”
“hmm.”
Ellipses full stop sentence examples:
“They lived happily ever after or not….”
“If only animals could talk….”
“I promise things will better eventually, you can now relax…”
“Sometimes you might give everything to somebody but it is never enough….”
After acronyms full stop examples:
U.S.A
U.K
A.I.D.S
N.A.S.A
After names full stop examples:
Martin Luther King jr.
Kim Jenner jr.
Etc.
Inc.
Mathematical use of full stop examples:
“45.49”
“66.99”
“30.5869”
“23,556,79.723”
Full stop used in document naming example:
Document.txt
File.doc
Video.mp3
Pdf. Op
Full stop used in email and websites examples:
“www.torrent.com”
“www.onion.co.in”
carlaalavarez19@gmail.co
sheldoncooper01@gmail.com
Interesting Facts:
Do other Languages and Scripts Have a Full Stop?
Yes, many other languages have a full stop. The symbol of the full stop, however, differs from script to script The Armenian script uses ( : ). It looks a lot similar to cologne ( : ).
Languages like Korean use the whole Latin vocabulary along with their script, Vietnamese use the Latin vocabulary along with their punctuation.
Languages like Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, Sinhala have their symbol for a full stop.
The concept of full stop came from the Latin symbols from which many languages have adapted and made changed it but used it for the same purpose.
FAQs on Full Stop: The Importance of Periods in Writing
Q1: What are the Different Types of Spacing After a Full Stop?
Ans: There have been multiples questions on what is the perfect spacing after a full stop. There is no correct answer to this question as there are multiple types of spacing after full stops.
The different types of spacing after full stop are one-word space, two-word space, and one widened space.
One word spacing also knows as “French Spacing” is the most used spacing all over the world for digital media work as well as publishing the final work. In French spacing, spaces are included between two sentences n typeset text is a typographical convention. It contains a Latin letter.
Two-word spacing or alternatively known as the “English Spacing” was generally used in earlier eras while writing using a typewriter as it matches the spacing with typewriters. That methodology later got replaced by the single word spacing which is now majorly used worldwide.
One widened spacing was used historically in the typesetting era till the late 20th century. It is not used anymore even though it could be digitally used using a computer.
Thus among these three types of spacing, one word or the English spacing is the most widely used spacing. It is generally used while working with assignments in college or even at the workplace. If one is confused about which spacing to use they might stick to one-word spacing until specified otherwise.
Q2: How Does the Existence of the Full Stop Affect the English Vocabulary?
Ans: The full stop plays a very vital role in the English vocabulary as it is used while forming sentences. The full stop was derived from a Greek symbol created by ARISTOPHANES OF BYZANTIUM.
From the very beginning, full stop plays important role in writing.
Its major function is to help end sentences. Thus when a person will read out a sentence they will pause after they see a full stop emphasizing the end of the previous sentence and the beginning of a new sentence.
A full stop has multiple functions. It is used to show the continuation of a sentence, it is used in emails, websites, documents. It is also used after an abbreviation. Thus we can say that the existence of the full stop has a great impact on the English vocabulary.
