The emphasis mark,[1][2][3] emphasis dot,[4] kenten[5] (圏点[6][7]) or boten[5] (傍点[6], bōten) is a typographic mark used in some East Asian languages to indicate emphasis. The markings can take many forms, such as dots or bullets, circles, or triangles. They were more commonly used historically, but with the rise of modern technology, it is now common to use quotation marks or change the font style.[1]
In China and Hong Kong, the emphasis mark (Chinese: 着重号) is used in textbooks and teaching materials. It is centred under each character highlighted in the horizontal texts, and centred to the right of each character in the vertical texts.
In Japan, the emphasis mark (傍点 bōten or 圏点 kenten) is usually a dot or a sesame dot and is centred above each character in the horizontal texts and to the right of each character in the vertical texts.
It is not unusual for kenten and ruby to concur on the same side of the main text (usually above or to the right), but this feature has not been possible with CSS.
In South Korea, the emphasis mark (드러냄표 deureonaempyo) usually rules as a dot or circle centred above the characters in the horizontal texts and to the right of the characters in the vertical texts.
Examples:
text-emphasis
In Vietnam, the emphasis mark (dấu nhấn mạnh[citation needed]) was written with various marks such as a dot, circle, or a sesame dot. It is commonly positioned to the right of the character. After Vietnam switched to the Latin alphabet, emphasis marks fell into disuse as bolding, underlining, and italics replaced the usage of emphasis marks.
Apart from any single character, the following characters are used as emphasis marks in some implementations.[2]
text-emphasis-style
dot
filled
filled dot
open
open dot
circle
filled circle
open circle
double-circle
filled double-circle
open double-circle
filled triangle
triangle
open triangle
filled sesame
sesame
open sesame
