# Typographical syntax

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Aspect of typography

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Not to be confused with [Cartographic syntax](/source/Cartographic_syntax).

**Typographical syntax**, also known as **orthotypography**, is the aspect of [typography](/source/Typography) that defines the meaning and rightful usage of [typographic signs](/source/Glyph), notably [punctuation marks](/source/Punctuation), and elements of [layout](/source/Comprehensive_layout) such as [flush margins](/source/Justification_(typesetting)) and [indentation](/source/Indentation_(typesetting)).[1][2]

Orthotypographic rules vary broadly from [language](/source/Language) to language, from country to country, and even from [publisher](/source/Publisher) to publisher.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] As such, they are more often described as "[conventions](/source/Convention_(norm))".

While some of those conventions have ease of understanding as a justification – for instance, specifying that low punctuation ([commas](/source/Comma), [full stops](/source/Full_stop), and [ellipses](/source/Ellipsis)) must be in the same [typeface](/source/Typeface), weight, and style as the preceding text – many are probably [arbitrary](/source/Arbitrary).[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

The rules dealing with [quotation marks](/source/Quotation_mark) are a good example of this: which ones to use and how to nest them, how much [whitespace](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/whitespace) to leave on both sides, and when to integrate them with other punctuation marks.

Each major publisher maintains a list of orthotypographic rules that they apply as part of their [house style](/source/Style_guide).[3]

## See also

- [Typographical error](/source/Typographical_error)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Díaz-Cintas, Jorge; Remael, Aline (2014). *Audiovisual Translation, Subtitling*. Routledge. p. 102. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781317639886](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781317639886).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Szczyrbak, Magdalena; Tereszkiewicz, Anna, eds. (2020). *[Languages in contact and contrast: a festschrift for Professor Elżbieta Mańczak-Wohlfeld on the occasion of her 70th birthday](https://search.library.wisc.edu/catalog/9913350466602121)* (1st ed.). Kraków: [Jagiellonian University Press](/source/Jagiellonian_University_Press). pp. 381-390. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-83-233-4917-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-83-233-4917-4). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [1255222119](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1255222119).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["House style"](https://academic.oup.com/pages/for-authors/books/the-book-publishing-process/writing-and-content-preparation/house-style). *[Oxford Academic](/source/Oxford_Academic)*. Retrieved 2025-03-24.

- Rodríguez González F, Castañón Rodríguez J. Graphic and Orthotypographic Aspects of Anglicisms in the Field of Sports.

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