Caret (proofreading)

Inverted V-shaped proof-reader's symbol

This article is about the proofreader's symbols that indicate insertion. For the similar symbol ^ used in computing, see Caret. For use as a diacritic modifying another character, see Circumflex. For other uses of the word "caret", see Caret (disambiguation).

‸ ⁁ ⎀

Caret (proofreading)

In Unicode| U+2038 ‸ CARET
U+2041 ⁁ CARET INSERTION POINT
U+2380 ⎀ INSERTION SYMBOL
Different from
Different from| U+005E ^ CIRCUMFLEX ACCENT
U+028C ʌ LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED V
U+2227 ∧ LOGICAL AND
U+03BB λ GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA
U+039B Λ GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA

The caret (/ˈkærɪt/) is a V-shaped grapheme, usually inverted and sometimes extended, used in proofreading and typography to indicate that additional material needs to be inserted at the point indicated in the text. The same symbol is also used as a diacritical mark modifying another character (as in â), for which purpose it is known as a circumflex.

## Usage

[edit]

The caret was originally and continues to be used in handwritten form as a proofreading mark to indicate where a punctuation mark, word, or phrase should be inserted into a document.[1] The term comes from the Latin word caret, "it lacks", from carēre, "to lack; to be separated from; to be free from".[2] The caret symbol can be written just below the line of text for a punctuation mark at low line position, such as a comma, or just above the line of text as an inverted caret (U+02C7 ˇ CARON) for a character at a higher line position, such as an apostrophe, or in either position to indicate insertion of a letter, word or phrase;[3] the material to be inserted may be placed inside the caret, in the margin, or above the line.

* Carets telling reader to insert a comma, an apostrophe, and quotation marks.

* Caret telling a reader to insert a letter.

* Caret telling reader to insert a word.

* Caret telling reader to change a word.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7 ed.). New York: Modern Language Association. 2009. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-60329-024-1.
2. ^ "Caret". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
3. ^ Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. 2001. p. 338. ISBN 1-55798-791-2.

* v
* t
* e

Common punctuation and other typographical symbols

* space
* , comma
* : colon
* ; semicolon
* ‐ hyphen
* ’ ' apostrophe
* ′ ″ ‴ prime
* . full stop

* & ampersand
* @ at sign
* ^ caret
* / slash
* \ backslash
* … ellipsis
* * asterisk
* ※ Reference mark
* ⁂ asterism
* • • • dinkus

* - hyphen-minus
* ‒ – — dash
* ⹀ ⸗ double hyphen

* ? question mark
* ! exclamation mark
* ‽ interrobang
* ¡ ¿ inverted ! and ?
* ⸮ irony punctuation

* # number sign
* № numero sign
* º ª ordinal indicator
* % percent sign
* ‰ per mille
* ‱ basis point
* ° degree symbol
* ⌀ diameter sign

* + − plus and minus signs
* × multiplication sign
* ÷ division sign
* ~ tilde
* ± plus–minus sign
* ∓ minus-plus sign
* √ radical symbol

* _ underscore
* ⁀ tie
* | ¦ ‖ vertical bar
* • bullet
* · interpunct

* © copyright symbol
* ℗ sound recording copyright
* ® registered trademark
* SM service mark symbol
* TM trademark symbol

* ‘ ’ “ ” ' ' " " quotation mark
* ‹ › « » guillemet
* ( ) [ ] { } ⟨ ⟩ bracket
* ” ditto mark

* † ‡ dagger
* ❧ fleuron (hedera, aldus)
* ☞ manicule
* ◊ ⌑ lozenge
* ¶ ⸿ pilcrow (paragraph mark)
* § section mark

* Version of this table as a sortable list

* Currency symbols
* Diacritics (accents)
* Logic symbols
* Math symbols
* Whitespace

* Chinese punctuation
* Hebrew punctuation
* Japanese punctuation
* Korean punctuation
* Vietnamese punctuation

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