Tahdot

Tahdot is a Finnish term meaning dots or points and is used in discussions of punctuation and typography to describe small marks that organize, separate, or decorate text. In this sense, tahdot encompass a range of dot-like characters found in writing and typesetting.

Common forms associated with tahdot include periods (full stops) that end sentences, decimal points used in numbers, and ellipses that indicate a pause or omission. Tahdot also cover bullet marks used to list items, as well as the interpunct (a middle dot) that separates elements within a line of text. In digital typography, these marks are represented by distinct Unicode code points, such as the full stop, ellipsis, bullet, and interpunct, and are chosen to fit the typographic style of a given text.

In Finnish orthography and style guides, tahdot are governed by standard punctuation rules, although the term itself is primarily used in descriptive or academic contexts rather than in everyday writing. Different languages have their own conventions for these marks, and the same characters can serve various functions depending on cultural and typographic practices.

Tahdot thus describe the set of dot-like characters that punctuation and typography rely on to convey structure, clarity, and emphasis in written language. See also punctuation, typography, Unicode.