Katkoviiva

Katkoviiva is a term used in Finnish typography to refer to a long dash that marks a break, interruption, or abrupt shift in a sentence. It functions similarly to the English em dash and is one of the punctuation marks that writers use to control rhythm, emphasis, and the flow of dialogue or prose.

In usage, katkoviiva can indicate an abrupt interruption in speech, a sudden change of thought, or a digressive aside within a sentence. It is also employed to set off explanatory or clarifying material that breaks the main clause without forming a new sentence. In dialogue, it can signal an interruption or a change of speaker, contributing to the pacing and tone of the text.

Etymologically, the word is a compound of katko, meaning “break,” and viiva, meaning “line,” reflecting its function to create a deliberate break in the text. The mark is typographically distinct from a hyphen and from shorter dash varieties such as the en dash, and its use is governed by Finnish style guides and publishers' conventions.

Spacing and formatting around katkoviiva vary by style guide and era. Some guidelines prefer spaces on both sides of the dash, while others advocate a closer connection to the adjacent words. In digital writing and typesetting, katkoviiva is commonly represented by the character — (em dash), though in plain ASCII contexts it may appear as two hyphens (--).

Overall, katkoviiva serves to convey nuance in Finnish writing that other punctuation marks, like commas or periods, cannot achieve, aiding in the expression of tone, pacing, and rhetorical structure.