Editing Semicolon (section)

== Natural languages ==

=== English ===
Although terminal marks (i.e. [[full stop]]s, [[exclamation mark]]s, and [[question mark]]s) indicate the end of a sentence, the [[comma]], semicolon, and [[Colon (punctuation)|colon]] are normally inside sentences, making them secondary boundary marks. In modern English orthography, the semicolon falls between terminal marks and the comma; its strength is equal to that of the colon.<ref>''The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language'', Chapter 19, §&nbsp;7.</ref>

The most common use of the semicolon is to join two independent clauses without using a conjunction such as "and".<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.grammarly.com/blog/semicolon/|title = Semicolon|date = 7 January 2016|access-date = 20 July 2021|archive-date = 20 July 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210720190839/https://www.grammarly.com/blog/semicolon/|url-status = live}}</ref> Semicolons are followed by a [[lower case]] letter, unless that letter would ordinarily be capitalised mid-sentence (e.g., the word "I", acronyms/initialisms, or [[proper noun]]s). In older English printed texts, colons and semicolons are offset from the preceding word by a non-breaking space, a convention still current in modern continental French texts. Ideally, the space is less wide than the inter-word spaces. Some guides recommend separation by a [[hair space]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/onebookfivewaysp00asso|url-access=registration|title=One book/five ways : the publishing procedures of five university presses|date=1978|location=USA|publisher=The Association of American University Presses|via=[[Internet Archive]]|page=[https://archive.org/details/onebookfivewaysp00asso/page/276 276]|quote=COLONS AND SEMI-COLONS Should be preceded by a hair space only.}}</ref> Modern [[style guide]]s recommend no space before them and one space after. They also typically recommend placing semicolons outside ending [[quotation mark]]s, although this was not always the case. For example, the first edition of ''[[The Chicago Manual of Style]]'' (1906) recommended placing the semicolon inside ending quotation marks.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://glyphic.design/chicago-manual-of-style-16th-edition-2/|title=Review|first=Dave|last=Spencer|date=15 February 2011|website=glyphic.design|access-date=28 August 2019|type=review of ''[[The Chicago Manual of Style]]'', 16th edition|archive-date=28 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190828072842/https://glyphic.design/chicago-manual-of-style-16th-edition-2/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Uses of the semicolon in English include:
* {{anchor|Super comma}}Between items in a series or listing when the items contain internal [[punctuation]], especially parenthetic commas, where the semicolons function as the [[serial comma]]s for the series or listing. The semicolon divides the items on the list from each other, to avoid having a jumble of commas with differing functions which could cause confusion for the reader. This is sometimes called the "super comma" function of the semicolon:
** The people present were Jamie, a man from New Zealand; John, the milkman's son; and George, a gaunt kind of man with no friends.
** Several fast food restaurants can be found within the following cities: London, England; Paris, France; Dublin, Ireland; and Madrid, Spain.
** Here are three examples of familiar sequences: one, two, and three; a, b, and c; first, second, and third.
** (Fig. 8; see also plates in Harley 1941, 1950; Schwab 1947).
* Between closely related [[independent clause]]s not conjoined with a [[Grammatical conjunction|coordinating conjunction]], when the two clauses are [[balanced sentences|balanced]], opposed or contradictory:<ref name="purdue.edu">{{cite web|url=https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/607/04/|title=Purdue OWL: Commas|work=purdue.edu|access-date=2016-06-20|archive-date=2016-08-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818200451/https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/607/04/|url-status=live}}</ref>
** My wife said she would like tea; coffee would have been my choice.
** I went to the basketball court; it was closed for cleaning.
** I told Kate she's running for the hills; she knew I was joking.
* In rare instances, when a comma replaces a period (full stop) in a quotation, or when a quotation otherwise links two independent sentences:
** "I have no use for this," he said; "you are welcome to it."
** "Is this your book?" she asked; "I found it on the floor."
In a list or sequence, if even one item needs its own internal comma, use of the semicolon as the separator throughout that list is justified, as shown by this example from the [[California Penal Code]]:{{Quote |text=A crime or public offense is an act committed or omitted in violation of a law forbidding or commanding it, and to which is annexed, upon conviction, either of the following punishments:
# Death;
# Imprisonment;
# Fine;
# Removal from office; or,
# Disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit in this State.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=15.|publisher=[[California Office of Legislative Counsel]]|title=California Penal Code § 15|date=1872|access-date=23 September 2020|archive-date=3 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003042235/http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=15.|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

=== Arabic ===
In [[Arabic]], the semicolon is called ''fasila manqoota'' ({{langx|ar|فاصلة منقوطة|links=no}}) which means literally "a dotted comma", and is written inverted {{char|؛}}. In Arabic, the semicolon has several uses:
* It can be used between two phrases, in which the first phrase causes the second.
** Example: "He played a lot; so, his clothes became dirty". ({{langx|ar|لَعِبَ كَثِيرًا؛ فَٱتَّسَخَتْ مَلَابِسُهُ.|links=no}})
* It can be used between two phrases, where the second is ''a reason'' for the first.
** Example: "Your sister did not get high marks; she didn't study". ({{langx|ar|لم تحقق أختك درجات عالية؛ لأنها لم تدرس .|links=no}})

=== Greek and Church Slavonic ===
{{Main|Question mark#Greek question mark}}
In [[Greek language|Greek]] and [[Church Slavonic language|Church Slavonic]], the question mark looks exactly the way a semicolon looks in English, similar to the [[question mark]] used in Latin.<ref>{{cite book |author=Paine, Stephen W. |year=1961 |title=Beginning Greek: A functional approach |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=13}}</ref><ref name="Truss 2004 111">{{harvnb|Truss|2004|page=111}}</ref> To indicate a long pause or to separate sections that already contain commas (the semicolon's purposes in English), Greek uses, but extremely rarely, the [[interpunct]] {{char|·}} ({{langx|el|{{math|άνω τελεία}}|translit=áno teleía|translation=upper dot|size=100%|links=no}}).

Church Slavonic with a question mark: {{math|гдѣ єсть рождeйсѧ царь їудeйскій;}} (Where is the one who is born king of the Jews? – [[Matthew 2:1]])

Greek with a question mark: {{math|Τι είναι μια διασύνδεση;}} (What is a connection?)

=== French ===
In French, a semicolon (''point-virgule'', literally "dot-comma") is a separation between two full sentences, used where neither a colon nor a comma would be appropriate. The phrase following a semicolon has to be an independent clause, related to the previous one but not explaining it. (When the second clause explains the first one, French consistently uses a [[Colon (punctuation)|colon]].)

The [[dash]] character is used in French writing too, but not as widely as the semicolon. Usage of these devices (semicolon and dash) varies from author to author.