Quotation Marks Symbols

Quotation Marks meanings

This page contains quotation marks of all kinds extracted from different Unicode sections.

This punctuation mark is a paired one. They designate a direct speech, or a word that is used in a meaning that does not correspond to the usual speech, for example, in the opposite. There are several kinds of quotation marks. Names went from the country where they were invented and from the similarity of the outline with some objects.

In different scripts different quotation marks are used according to ... Probably, traditions. Yes, there are punctuation rules, but they do not stipulate the form. There are norms of typographical set for which ordinary people can nachat. So, by tradition, we (in Russia) are using “Christmas tree” quotes. If you want to put them inside an already quoted part of the text, the symbols of the external and internal must be different. Embedded are the “paws” («„…“»). In addition, when writing by hand and in print, the form may not be the same. In the good old days, when I was still writing with my hand, always used the so-called Polish (see below). However, and the font does not exactly match the quotation marks.

Introduce the rules for quotation marks, for Slavic scripts, the first was Constantine the Philosopher. In the XV century, he wrote a treatise on the writing. There it was suggested that the quotations from some church texts should be marked with special symbols. The images of these symbols were very similar to the modern quotes “Christmas trees”.

Kinds:

Use in different languages. The rules are not strict (if at all), do not be surprised if they are poorly observed. It is more interesting, why in Sweden not Swedish backquotes are used. Basic and spare (put inside the main, if necessary):

Quotation Marks in Different Countries

Albanian « … » ‹ … ›

English “ … ” ‘ … ’

Arab « … » ‹ … ›

African „ … ” ‚ … ’

Belorussian « … » „ … “

Bulgarian „ … “ ‚ … ‘

Hungarian „ … ”

Greek « … » ‹ … ›

Danish » … « › … ‹

Hebrew " … " / ' … ' ' … ' / < < … > >

Irish “ … ” ‘ … ’

Icelandic „ … “ ‚ … ‘

Spanish « … » “ … ”

Italian « … »

Chinese “ … ” ‘ … ’

Latvian „ … “ „ … “

Lithuanian „ … “ ‚ … ‘

Dutch „ … ” ‚ … ’

German „ … “ ‚ … ‘

Norwegian « … »

Polish „ … ” « … »

Portuguese “ … ” ‘ … ’

Romanian „ … ” « … »

Russian « … » „ … “

Serbian „ … “ ‚ … ‘

Slovak „ … “ ‚ … ‘

Slovenian „ … “ ‚ … ‘

Turkish “ … ” ‘ … ’

Ukrainian « … » „ … “

Finnish ” … ” ’ … ’

French « … » ‹ … ›

Croatian » … « › … ‹

Czech „ … “ ‚ … ‘

Swedish ” … ” ’ … ’

Estonian „ … ” „ … ”

Japanese 「 … 」 『 … 』

Many of these icons are symmetrical in the horizontal plane. Even if the entire text is inverted, they will remain unchanged.

Language Variants & “Speech Marks Symbol” Guide

• English & American — default curly “double” for primary quotations; ‘single’ for quotes within quotes.
• British / Australian inverted commas — often swap: ‘single’ outside, “double” inside.
• French quote marks — « guillemets » with non-breaking thin spaces inside.
• Spanish quotation marks — «guillemet» or “curly”, plus «-» style dialogue dashes.
• Japanese speech marks — 「kakko」 for outer quotes, 『double-kakko』 nested.
• German & Swedish “Christmas tree” — „low-high double quotes“ or »angle pairs«.

Using Single vs Double — Quick Rules

1. Main quotation ➜ double curly “ ” (US style) or single ‘ ’ (UK style).
2. Quote inside a quote ➜ invert the pair: “He shouted, ‘Stop!’”.
3. Titles, irony, or “scare quotes” — choose doubles for clarity.
4. Technical strings / code — straight quotes “ ' avoid smart punctuation issues.
5. When to use single quotation marks? Headlines, newspaper scare quotes, measurements (5' 8“).

Fancy & Aesthetic Quotation Characters

For quotation aesthetic, social posts, or graphic design try these alternates:

• ❝ ❞ — Heavy double quotes (U+275D/U+275E)
• ❛ ❜ — Heavy single quotes (U+275B/U+275C)
• ⹂ — “Right-pointing double angle quotation mark symbol” (U+2E42)
• ﹁ ﹂ — Chinese low/high quotes
• „ ‟ — German low-double quotes & “double prime” style
• ＂ ＇ — Full-width variants for monospaced CJK layouts

End Mark, Quote Sign & “Quote Mark with Round Circle”

• End mark copy and paste: many writers simply reuse ” to close; typographers may add an em-dash — like so.
• The rarely used “quote mark with round circle” usually points to U+1F4AC quote emoji for speech-bubble aesthetics.
• Quotation mark sign / quotation icon in icon fonts (e.g. Font Awesome: <i class=“fa fa-quote-right>).

How to copy & paste Quotation Marks

Hover your mouse cursor over the emoticon or character you like, or tap on it from your phone and press “Copy”.