Pomlky

Pomlky are punctuation marks used in Czech typography and orthography to indicate pauses, breaks, or omitted material. The term encompasses dash-like characters that function similarly to dashes and sometimes to hyphens in other languages. In contemporary practice, two main forms are commonly distinguished: the long dash and the short dash.

The long dash, often called dlouhá pomlčka, is used to set off abrupt remarks, introduce explanations, or replace parentheses and other interruptions in the sentence. It can provide a stronger break than a comma or semicolon and is typically spaced from surrounding text in many style guides. The short dash, or krátká pomlka, appears in more restricted roles and is associated with joining elements in some compound terms or signaling a partial continuation in line breaks, depending on the typographic tradition in use.

Historically, pomlky have served various functions in printed Czech texts, including marking omitted letters in older or censored forms and providing flexibility in sentence rhythm. With modern typography and digital typesetting, these marks are commonly implemented as part of the dash family. In Unicode typography, the long dash corresponds to em dash and the short dash to the simpler hyphen or en dash, depending on the precise typographic convention. While the terminology and rules can vary by publisher, pomlky remain a recognized category of dash-like punctuation in Czech writing, contributing to the punctuation palette available to editors and authors.