09-16-2009, 12:26 PM | #1 | ||
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French Typography
I have just been looking at L'île mystérieuse, and found something that I find difficult to reconcile with what I know about French typography thus far.
Quote:
Also, there seems to be a fairly liberal mixing of the use of the quotation dash and guillemots... Quote:
In Hungarian, a book that uses quotation dashes has few (if any) quotation marks or guillemots at all... so I'm quite confused by the above French stuff. Assuming that the above is all correct, are there any other peculiarities of French typography (of a more complex sort than leaving non-breaking spaces between words and sentence ending punctuation) people could share with me that superficial tutorials/guide books are likely to fail to mention? - Ahi |
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09-16-2009, 12:45 PM | #2 | |||
frumious Bandersnatch
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Quote:
Quote:
Like this: « Tomorrow, you'll take the case blah blah blah. -- We will do it, captain, replied Cyrus Smith. -- Fine. You will blah blah blah. Blah blah blah at the bottom of the sea », said he. Quote:
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09-16-2009, 12:46 PM | #3 | |
zeldinha zippy zeldissima
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hm, i am not positive about all the rules, but in french, the first speech should have an opening guillemet, the following replies should be indicated by an emdash, and the end of the dialogue should be indicated by closing guillemet, like in the example in your second quotation, with guillemets enclosing the exchange and an emdash to show that it's a second person speaking (see wikipedia : http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillem...des_guillemets).
and guillemets are used to enclose a citation or reported speech within a sentence, like in the example : Quote:
but it seems to me that i've seen a dialogue indicated using only emdashes, so perhaps the guillemets + emdashes rule is evolving. edit : never mind, just ask jellby. |
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09-16-2009, 12:53 PM | #5 |
frumious Bandersnatch
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I have the feeling guillemets+dashes is used in older books, while newer ones tend to prefer only dashes. But I don't have enough French books to check that, you are probably in a better position than I for that task
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09-16-2009, 12:54 PM | #6 |
zeldinha zippy zeldissima
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09-16-2009, 01:19 PM | #7 | |||
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Damn you, spellcheck!!! You have crossed me for the last time!
Quote:
The Hungarian and Russian and et cetera approach would be: Quote:
Quote:
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09-16-2009, 01:27 PM | #8 | ||
zeldinha zippy zeldissima
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Quote:
Quote:
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09-16-2009, 01:31 PM | #9 | ||
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Quote:
Quote:
- Ahi |
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09-16-2009, 01:38 PM | #10 | |
zeldinha zippy zeldissima
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Quote:
you make a good point actually (joking aside) and i agree. i wonder whether the different uses of guillemets will standardise now that technology is making culture and media so internationally accessible ? |
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09-16-2009, 01:43 PM | #11 | |
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There is just too much variation currently... most of which is doubtless still seen as the (only) right way by its users. - Ahi |
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09-16-2009, 01:44 PM | #12 |
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Being a French person and going to school in France, I have to say typography doesn't exist in the French language. Just leave it alone because it's not important to French people who speak French to their French friends and colleagues in France. In fact, real French people who get a French education in France find it rude to think French needs any visual decoration at all. Damn outsiders imposing their rules on our language!
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09-16-2009, 01:44 PM | #13 | |
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I guess I was asking for that! - Ahi |
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09-16-2009, 02:11 PM | #14 | ||
frumious Bandersnatch
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Quote:
The English style would be unbalanced for a multi-paragraph quote: an opening mark at the beginning of every paragraph, a closing mark only at the end of the last. But I guess Spanish is weirder here, we'd use a closing mark at the beginning of every paragraph but the first. Quote:
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09-16-2009, 02:22 PM | #15 | |
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But yes, I do understand what you mean. - Ahi |
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