apostrof

Apostrof is the term used in several languages for the punctuation mark commonly known in English as the apostrophe. It is a small, single mark used primarily to indicate omitted letters in contractions and to show possession, though its function varies across languages. There are two main typographic forms: the straight ASCII apostrophe (') and the typographic curly apostrophe (’).

In English, the apostrophe is used for contractions (do not → don't, it is → it's) and for possessives (the dog's bone, Mary's book). For plurals of nouns, it is used mainly to indicate possession (the dogs' bowls, the children's toys) and in certain cases with abbreviations or initials (p's and q's). For decades, the decade form is written without an apostrophe (the 1990s).

Across languages, the apostrof can mark omitted letters or elisions in transliteration, and in phonetic transcription it may denote a glottal stop or related sounds. In mathematics and computing, the apostrophe may function as a prime symbol or as a delimiter in code. In typography, the straight apostrophe and the curly apostrophe may be substituted depending on font and medium; in coding, the ASCII form is common.

History and etymology trace the symbol to the Greek term apostrophos, meaning a mark used to indicate elision. The symbol was used in medieval manuscripts and was adopted into Latin script and, later, into modern orthographies. Modern usage varies by language and style guide, with emphasis on avoiding confusion with quotation marks and on consistent rules for possession and contractions.