How to use punctuation marks in Taiwan

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 Just as language continues to change, punctuation marks also evolve with language changes. The last modification of punctuation marks in Taiwan was in 2008. There are 15 types in all. Let’s take a look.

標點符號 Punctuation marks

Punctuation marks are marks that indicate how to read and understand a written text. 
It is divided into 2 major categories: 標號 are used to guide your reading and make it easier for you to understand the meaning of the article.；點號 is used to indicate pauses and stops in the tone of voice.
Let's start with 標號

標號：
  • 引號
    單引號「」
    雙引號『』
  • 夾注號
    (甲乙 is a way of numbering； you can think of them as the first and the second.)
    甲式 ()
    乙式 —— ——
  • 破折號 ——
  • 刪節號 ……
  • 連接號
    甲式 —
    乙式 ~
  • 間隔號 ．
  • 書名號 《》〈〉
  • 專名號 ＿  ︳
    專名號, also called 私名號, is used to indicate names. It will appear on the straight text's left side of words;  horizontal text will be marked at the bottom of the words. It will look like this way. But now it's rarely used.
點號：
  • Symbols placed at the end of a sentence: 句號、問號、驚嘆號
  • Symbols are placed between sentences, phrases, or words to indicate a pause: 逗號、頓號、分號、冒號

Same usage as English punctuation

. (Period/Dot) = 句號 。 句號 is a small circle placed in the center.
? (Question mark) = 問號 ？
! (Exclamation mark) = 驚嘆號 ！
 ; (Semicolon) = 分號 ； 
: (Colon) = 冒號 ：
() (Parentheses) = 夾注號 甲式 (). also known as 括號
— (Em dash) = 破折號 — —. the em dash is a single horizontal line, but the 破折號 is two horizontal lines.
… (Ellipsis) = 刪節號 …… 刪節號 is six dots.

Different usage

  • , (Comma) 逗號  
    • In English writing, we use the "comma" to separate parts of a sentence that show a slight pause. We call it 逗號 in Taiwan.
      • I like spicy food, especially spicy hot pot.
        我喜歡辛辣的食物，特別是麻辣火鍋。
    • We also put commas between items in lists to separate the items. In Taiwan, however, we use 頓號 to separate things. 
      • They served apples, peaches, and bananas.
        他們提供蘋果、桃子和香蕉。
    • Sometimes, commas are used to enclose parenthetical words within a sentence; such parenthetical words have a comma before and after them. To enclose these words in Taiwan, we use 夾注號乙式.
      • My father, his eyes flashing with rage, ate the muffin.
        我父親——眼神閃爍著憤怒——吃掉馬芬。
  • “ ” (Quotation marks)  = 單引號「」
    ‘ ’ (Single quotation marks) = 雙引號『』
    • Quotation marks are used to identify direct speech, a quotation, or a phrase. The pair consists of an opening quotation mark and a closing quotation mark.
      In Taiwan, we call it 引號. Quotation marks are 單引號 and the single quotation marks are 雙引號; obviously, they are not only different in shape, but also in quantity: 單 means single and 雙 means double, so it's the opposite. Be careful not to mix them up.
      • let's see the example: 
        "Didn't she say 'I like red best' when I asked her wine preferences?" he asked his guests. 
        他問他的客人：「我問她喜歡哪一種葡萄酒時，她不是說『我最喜歡紅酒』嗎？」
  • Quotation marks are also used to indicate the title of a work, but in Taiwan we use 書名號《 》、〈〉to indicate it.  
  • 書名號《 》、〈〉
    • 《》This one is to indicate the titles of books, publications, newspapers, films, TV series, paintings, sculptures, etc.
    • 〈〉This one is for the chapter titles.
    • However, if you want to label the book title and chapter title at the same time, you need to use 間隔號 to separate them.
      • 《莊子．逍遙遊》The first is a book title and the second is a chapter title.
  • 間隔號．
    • This middle dot is used to separate the book title and chapter title, we call it 間隔號.
    • As you know, the Chinese language does not have spaces between characters, so we use 間隔號 to indicate the full name as transliterated from the phonogram.
      • William Shakespeare 威廉．莎士比亞
    • Sometimes, we also use 間隔號 to make the titles clear.
      • "Sex, Lies, and Videotape"《性．謊言．錄影帶》

Our final one is 
  • – (En dash) = 連接號
  • 甲式 —：連接號甲式 is used to indicate a closed range of values, such as between dates, times, or numbers. it is also used to indicate from one place to another. Moreover, it can be used to indicate compound words.
    • June–July 1967 → 1967年6—7月
      Taipei–Kaohsiung → 台北—高雄
      The Greco-Roman civilization → 古希臘—羅馬文明
  • 乙式~/波浪號
  •  - (hyphen)
 However, when writing numbers, we often use 乙式~(or call 波浪號) or a hyphen mark instead of 連接號甲式.
  • June–July 1967 → 1967年6—7月
       → 1967年6~7月
       → 1967年6-7月

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