| '' | |
|---|---|
Ditto mark | |
| In Unicode | U+0027 'APOSTROPHE (×2) U+0022 "QUOTATION MARK |
| Related | |
| See also | U+2033 ″DOUBLE PRIME U+201D ”RIGHT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK U+3003 〃DITTO MARK (CJK character) |
Theditto mark is a shorthandsign, used mostly in hand-written text, indicating that the words or figures above it are to be repeated.[1][2]
The mark is made using "a pair ofapostrophes";[1] "a pair of marks" used underneath a word";[3] the symbol" (quotation mark);[2][4] or the symbol” (right double quotation mark).[5] The abbreviation "do." was a common alternative notation.
In the following example, the second line reads "Blue pens, box of twenty".
Black pens, box of twenty ... $2.10Blue " " " " ... $2.35
Early evidence of ditto marks can be seen on a cuneiform tablet of theNeo-Assyrian period (934–608 BCE) where two vertical marks are used in a table of synonyms to repeat text.[6]
The wordditto comes from theTuscan language,[7] where it is the past participle of the verbdire (to say), with the meaning of "said", as in thelocution "the said story". The first recorded use ofditto with this meaning in English occurs in 1625.[7]
In English, the abbreviation "do.", usually italicised, has sometimes been used instead of ditto marks - see example below, and also in a table in a U.S. Patent.[8]
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Other languages may use equivalent symbols. For example, in Norwegian and Swedish handwriting, a version using horizontal lines to indicate the span of the cell in a table where an entry repeats is sometimes seen (––〃––).[9] In French, it is called aguillemet itératif, but the actual symbol used may vary:» is used in Quebec, while in France— is preferred.[10] For Chinese, Japanese and Korean, there is the specificUnicode characterU+3003 〃DITTO MARK in the rangeCJK Symbols and Punctuation. This facilitates the setting of both marks on a single horizontal line in Asian vertical text.
In China the corresponding historical mark was two horizontal lines𠄠 (UnicodeU+16FE3 𖿣OLD CHINESE ITERATION MARK), which is also the ancient ideograph of "two", similar to the modern ideograph二. It is found inbronze script from theZhou dynasty, as in the example at right (c. 825 BCE). Inseal script form this became〻, and is now written as々; seeiteration mark.
In theMaya script, a pair of small dots may appear above or in front of a glyph to indicate that it should be read twice. This duplicationdiacritic functions as a phonetic doubling device, typically applied to syllabic signs. For example, the Maya wordkakaw ("cacao") can be written with aka sign marked by two small prefixed dots, signaling that it be read aska-ka, followed bywa.[11][12]
A symbol formed from two apostrophes (〃) representing 'ditto'.
two small marks (") placed under something to indicate that it is to be repeated
A pair of marks " used underneath a word to save space and show that the word is repeated where the marks are.
The dictionary definition ofditto at Wiktionary