Typography is a vast, deep subject. It spans nearly the entire history of mankind and is continually evolving. Written languages are constantly being mutated by shorthand, new technology, etc. and spawn a huge number of ligatures, logograms, symbols, and other glyphs. Below is just a brief look into the history of some of the more popular symbols.
The ampersand
The ampersand was originally a ligature of the Latin word et, meaning and. The ligature can be traced back to the first century, but the Roman ampersand we see most often today evolved sometime around the 9th century during the development of the Carolingian Miniscule. Its evolution can be seen in the large number of variations among current typefaces.
The term ampersand is derived from the saying “and per se and.” When reciting the alphabet, it was common for the speaker to add “and per se” to letters that, by themselves, formed words (A, and I). The ampersand was included as a 27th letter of the alphabet, so when reciting the alphabet, the last letter became ampersand.
Pilcrow
The pilcrow, or more commonly, the paragraph symbol has a much more muddled history. The common thought is that the pilcrow evolved from a C, which would have stood for capitulum, which is Latin for chapter. The fact that the pilcrow resembles a backwards P is purely incidental.
There was a time when paragraphs were not physically separated, and multiple thoughts were containted within one large body of text. The pilcrow was used to denote changes in thought before it was common to separate paragraphs with line spacing.
Guillemets
Guillemets are also called angle quotations. They are used in some languages to denote speech, just as “ ” are used in English. Guillemets are also used to denote less than and greater than, as well as rewind and fast forward on some media players.
There has been some debate in some design circles about the use of guillemets on the web. They are often used as bullet points or arrows, which is incorrect. Misuse of type like this can cause accessibility problems as some screen readers will pronounce the mark as something rather obscure like “right double angle quote”.
Section Sign
The sections symbol is one of my personal favorites. This glyph has evolved from two S characters, which stood for the Latin phrase, signum sectionis, placed one on top of another. The resulting figure is quite beautiful.
The symbols is correctly used as reference character. A single section symbol is generally followed by a number, which denotes the specific section referenced. Two symbols can be used to reference multiple sections.
The section symbol is also used as the currency note in the computer game, the Sims.
Dagger
The dagger, also called obelisk or obelus, is generally used as a footnote reference, much the same way the asterisk is used. The obelisk/obelus name comes from the Greek word, obeliskos, which literally means “roasting spit”. A double dagger, also called a diesis, can be used as well. The dagger has its roots in the liturgical books of the Roman Catholic Church.
The dagger is used as a footnote reference only when the asterisk has already been used. If both the dagger and asterisk have been used, the double dagger is employed. In some Christian regions, the dagger is used before or after a name when referencing a deceased person.
We are only just scratching the surface of typographical marks. There are countless other glyphs of varying levels of obscurity. Each one has a unique and interesting history that is worth exploring and learning. In weeks to come, I may revisit this subject with a new set of typographical marks.