# « ; » or " ? "



## shawnee

I've noticed the use of " " quotation marks in a number of Greek texts. Are they an acceptable alternative to « » or are they used for a particular purpose?


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## apmoy70

shawnee said:


> I've noticed the use of " " quotation marks in a number of Greek texts. Are they an acceptable alternative to « » or are they used for a particular purpose?


Definitely « ; ». 
The inverted commas as quotation marks are acceptable when typing Greek. When writing on paper though, the Greek standard quotation mark («) is preferred/used. The problem is that not many Greeks (I'm one of them actually), know how to type « instead of ". I'd be very interested to learn what key/keys you used to type « » (I copied-pasted it). As far as the Latin question mark (?) is concerned, we don't use it at all. And if any Greek is using it for writing/typing Greek, I think it's an aberrance, a norm violation.


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## ireney

Well, in programs such as Microsoft Office they automatically take the place of the inverted commas (if I remember correctly). In other cases you can use (having first switch to the Greek keyboard)  the combination 
Ctrl + Alt + [ for *«*  and 
Ctrl + Alt + ] for  *» *


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## apmoy70

ireney said:


> Well, in programs such as Microsoft Office they automatically take the place of the inverted commas (if I remember correctly). In other cases you can use (having first switch to the Greek keyboard)  the combination
> Ctrl + Alt + [ for *«*  and
> Ctrl + Alt + ] for  *» *


Thanks ireney, it works


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## shawnee

Thanks apmoy70, I'm glad to have that settled. 
I thought I may have seen it predominantly in e text but then I remembered I was confused when I received an official letter from a Greek dimarcho who used the ("...") for emphasis! I also remain curious about the use of such marks in a book I recently came across in the local library. Let give an example:
» 'Οθεν δικαίως ο Νικήτας Χωνιάτης ........ (he employs the polytonic system, which I would'nt know how to use even if I had it) The next sentence begins with,
 "Τοιαύθ' ώς εκ πολλών βραχεια ......( it is a large extract which is concluded with (")
I neither understand the inverted (») nor the use of (") in what I assume is a very conservative text with raised full stops and the full katherevousianiko panoply of diacriticals, and published in 2008?

The work in question is : Ο Θάνατος της Αυτοκρατορίας του Κώστα Σαρδέλη. 
I get the feeling that he might be speaking from an extreme Greek Orthodox religious point of view, which may explain the polytonic, but I don't get the use of the (") in this context at all?

Χαιρετισμούς


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## Traduita

Hi shawnee

1)Inverted » is used when you  have a quoted text with more than one paragraph. Each paragraph, from the second onwards, is introduced with an », so that we know that we are still inside the quoted text. 

2)  "" quotes can be used when the quotation is inside a «» quotation, such as in the text you cite. 
Shorter example:
Του είπα: «Πρέπει να φας κάτι πριν ξεκινήσεις. Η γιαγιά μου έλεγε πάντα "Νηστικό αρκούδι δεν χορεύει". Κάτσε να σου ψήσω ένα τοστ!».

 This way it is easier to distinguish the first quote from the one that is inside it.


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## zouzounaki

Φαντάζομαι εξαρτάται από το πληκτρολόγιο και τη γλώσσα. Για παράδειγμα, εγώ έχω το "", γράφοντας τώρα στα Ελληνικά, με το shift και δύο κουμπιά δίπλα στο λ.

Όταν γράφω στα Ισπανικά, για παράδειγμα, το έχω στο 2 μαζί με το shift.

Ούφου.


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## zouzounaki

Αλλά στο Word, όταν γράφω στα Ελληνικά, έχω μόνο *«», *, εκεί δύο κουμπία στα δεξιά του Λ μαζί με το shift.

Δεν ξέρω αν βοηθώ κάποιον. Μακάρι.


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## GreedyGreen

On a Greek Keyboard layout* «* is obtained by holding down *AltGr* while typing the open square bracket* [*
Similarly *» *is *AltGr* + *]*


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## shawnee

Thank you Traduita. I had a hunch that that was what was going on there. Its great to have it confirmed.


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