Definition

1. Noun:
   • Apostrophe: A punctuation mark (') used in written Vietnamese primarily to indicate the omission of a letter or sound within a word, often for poetic or stylistic contraction.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Trong thơ ca, "bóng" đôi khi được viết là "bóng" với dấu lược để chỉ "bóng". (In poetry, "bóng" is sometimes written as "bóng" with an apostrophe to mean "bóng".)
  • Dấu lược ít được dùng trong văn xuôi hiện đại. (The apostrophe is seldom used in modern prose.)

Advanced Usage

• The dấu lược is a historical punctuation mark in Vietnamese orthography. Its use is now largely archaic and mostly found in classical poetry or specific dialects to mark elision, such as shortening "đàng hoàng" to "đàng hoàng".

Variants and Related Words

• Dấu ngoặc đơn (n): parentheses, round brackets.
• Dấu phẩy (n): comma.

Synonyms

• Apostrophe: The direct equivalent punctuation mark in English.

Notes on Usage

• The dấu lược is not to be confused with the more commonly used dấu nháy đơn (single quotation mark), which is used for quotations. The dấu lược specifically denotes omission.
• Its function is similar to the English apostrophe in words like "can't" (for "cannot"), but its application in Vietnamese is much more restricted and not part of standard contemporary spelling.

1. Apostrophe