|
|
| Line 1: |
Line 1: |
| {{Other uses|Asterisk (disambiguation)|* (disambiguation)}}
| | Nice to satisfy you, I am Marvella Shryock. My family members lives in Minnesota and my family loves it. To do aerobics is a factor that I'm completely addicted to. My day job is a meter reader.<br><br>my blog - [http://www.xgwl.com/xiaoyoulu/space.php?uid=28028&do=blog&id=865339 www.xgwl.com] |
| {{Distinguish|Asterix}}
| |
| {{Punctuation marks|*}}
| |
| [[File:Section break 02 by Pengo.jpg|thumb|Asterisks used to illustrate a [[section break]] in ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]''.]]
| |
| | |
| An '''asterisk''' ('''*'''; [[Late Latin|Late]] {{lang-lat|asteriscus}}, from {{lang-el|ἀστερίσκος}}, ''asteriskos'', "little star")<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Da%29steri%2Fskos ἀστερίσκος], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus</ref> is a [[typographical]] symbol or [[glyph]]. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star. [[Computer]] scientists and mathematicians often pronounce it as '''star''' (as, for example, in ''the [[A* search algorithm]]'' or ''[[C*-algebra]]''), or, more informally, '''splat'''.<ref>[http://foldoc.org/splat Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing 'splat']</ref> In English, an asterisk is usually five-pointed in [[sans-serif]] [[typeface]]s, six-pointed in [[serif]] typefaces,{{Citation needed|date=October 2012|reason=I don't see relation between # of points and serif-ness for some 20 installed fonts. Even if references are shown, it may not apply to today's norm.}} and six- or eight-pointed when handwritten. It can be used to censor swear words and vulgar or objectionable text. It is also used on the internet to correct one's spelling, in which case it appears before or after the correct word.
| |
| | |
| The asterisk is derived from the need of the printers of family trees in feudal times for a symbol to indicate date of birth. The original shape was seven-armed,{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}} each arm like a teardrop shooting from the center.
| |
| | |
| In [[computer science]], the asterisk is commonly used as a [[wildcard character]], or to denote [[pointer (computer programming)|pointer]]s, repetition, or [[multiplication]].
| |
| | |
| ==Usage==
| |
| | |
| ===Typography===
| |
| * The asterisk is used to call out a [[footnote]], especially when there is only one on the page. Less commonly, multiple asterisks are used to denote different footnotes on a page (i.e., *, **, ***). Typically, an asterisk is positioned after a word or phrase and preceding its accompanying footnote.
| |
| * Three spaced asterisks centered on a page may represent a jump to a different scene, thought, or [[Section (typography)|section]]
| |
| * A group of three asterisks arranged in a triangular formation <span style="font-size: 18px">{{Unicode|⁂}}</span> is called an [[asterism (typography)|asterism]].
| |
| * One or more asterisks may be used to [[bowdlerization|strike out]] portions of a word to avoid offending by using the full form of a profanity ([[fuck|f**k]]), to preserve anonymity (Peter J***), or to avoid profanation of a holy name, especially in Jewish usage ([[God|G*d]]).
| |
| * Asterisks are sometimes used as an alternative to [[Bullet (typography)|typographical bullets]] to indicate items of a list.
| |
| * Asterisks can be used in textual media to represent *[[emphasis (typography)|emphasis]]* when [[bold text|bold]] or [[italic text]] is not available (e.g., [[Twitter]], [[text messaging]]).
| |
| * Asterisks may denote corrections to misspelling or misstatements in previous electronic messages, particularly when replacement or retraction of a previous writing is not possible, especially with "instant messaging" but also with other "immediate delivery" types of textual messages such as SMS. Usually this takes the form of a message consisting solely of the corrected text, with an asterisk; etiquette varies on whether the asterisk should precede or follow such a correction. Example:
| |
| I had breakfast this mroning
| |
| <nowiki>*</nowiki>morning
| |
| I prefer serial
| |
| cereal<nowiki>*</nowiki>
| |
| I like toast
| |
| don't<nowiki>*</nowiki>
| |
| I asked for bread
| |
| <nowiki>*</nowiki>no bread
| |
| * Bounding asterisks as "a kind of self-describing stage direction", as linguist [[Ben Zimmer]] has put it. For example, in "''Another school shooting *sigh*''," the writer uses *sigh* to express disappointment (but does not necessarily literally sigh).<ref>{{cite web|last=Zimmer|first=Ben|title=The cyberpragmatics of bounding asterisks|url=http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=4466|work=Language Log, University of Pennsylvania|accessdate=24 August 2013}}</ref>
| |
| | |
| ===Linguistics===
| |
| | |
| In [[linguistics]], an asterisk is placed before a word or phrase to indicate that it is not used, or there are no records of it being in use. This is used in several different ways depending on what is being discussed.
| |
| | |
| ==== Historical linguistics ====
| |
| In [[historical linguistics]], the asterisk marks words or phrases that are not directly recorded in texts or other media, and that are therefore [[linguistic reconstruction|reconstructed]] on the basis of other linguistic material (see also [[comparative method]]).
| |
| | |
| In the following example, the [[Proto-Germanic]] word ''ainlif'' is a reconstructed form.
| |
| * <nowiki>*</nowiki>''ainlif'' → ''endleofan'' → ''eleven''
| |
| | |
| A double asterisk indicates a form that would be expected according to a rule, but is not actually found. That is, it indicates a ''reconstructed'' form that is not found or used, and in place of which ''another'' form is found in actual usage:
| |
| * For the plural, **''kubar'' would be expected, but separate masculine plural ''akābir'' أكابر and feminine plural ''kubrayāt'' كبريات are found as irregular forms.
| |
| | |
| ==== Generativist tradition in linguistics ====
| |
| In [[Generative linguistics|generativism]], especially [[syntax]], an asterisk in front of a word or phrase indicates that the word or phrase is not used because it is [[grammar|ungrammatical]].
| |
| *wake her up / *wake up her (in Standard American English)
| |
| An asterisk before a parenthesis indicates that the lack of the word or phrase inside is ungrammatical, while an asterisk after a parenthesis indicates that the existence of the word or phrase inside is ungrammatical.
| |
| *go *(to) the station - Here, "go the station" would be ungrammatical.
| |
| *go (*to) home - Here, "go to home" would be ungrammatical.
| |
| | |
| ===== Ambiguity =====
| |
| Since a word marked with an asterisk could mean either "unattested" or "impossible", it is important in some contexts to distinguish these meanings. In general, authors retain asterisks for "unattested", and prefix ˣ, **, or a superscript "?" for the latter meaning.
| |
| | |
| ===Music===
| |
| * In musical notation the sign [[Image:Music-pedalup.svg|20px]] indicates when the [[sustain pedal]] of the piano should be lifted.
| |
| * In [[liturgical music]], an asterisk is often used to denote a deliberate pause.
| |
| | |
| ===Computing===
| |
| | |
| ====Computer science====
| |
| * In [[computer science]], the asterisk is used in [[regular expression]]s to denote zero or more repetitions of a pattern; this use is also known as the ''[[Kleene star]]'' or ''Kleene closure'' after [[Stephen Kleene]].
| |
| * In the [[Unified Modeling Language]], the asterisk is used to denote zero to many classes.
| |
| | |
| ====Computer interfaces====
| |
| * In some [[command line interface]]s, such as the [[Unix shell]] and [[Microsoft]]'s [[Command Prompt]], the asterisk is the ''[[wildcard character]]'' and stands for any [[string (computer science)|string]] of [[character (computing)|characters]]. This is also known as a wildcard symbol. A common use of the wildcard is in searching for files on a computer. For instance, if a user wished to find a document called <tt>Document 1</tt>, search terms such as <tt>Doc*</tt> and <tt>D*ment*</tt> would return this file. <tt>Document*</tt> would also return any file that begins with <tt>Document</tt>.
| |
| * In some [[graphical user interface]]s an asterisk is pre- or appended to the current working document name shown in a window's title bar to indicate that unsaved changes exist. In Windows versions before XP the asterisk was also used as a mask to hide passwords being entered into a text box; later this was changed to a [[Bullet (typography)|bullet]].
| |
| * In [[Commodore International|Commodore]] (and related) [[filesystem]]s, an asterisk appearing next to a filename in a directory listing denotes an improperly closed file, commonly called a "splat file."
| |
| * In travel industry [[Computer reservations system|Global Distribution Systems]], the asterisk is the display command to retrieve all or part of a [[Passenger Name Record]].
| |
| * In [[HTML]] [[web form]]s, an asterisk can be used to denote required fields.
| |
| * [[Chat Room]] etiquette calls on one asterisk to correct a misspelled word that has already been submitted. For example, one could post <tt>lck</tt>, then follow it with <tt>luck*</tt> to correct himself, or if it's someone else that notices the mistake, they would use <tt>*luck</tt>.
| |
| **Enclosing a phrase between two asterisks is used to denote an action the user is "performing", e.g. <tt>*pulls out a paper*</tt>, although this usage is also common on forums, and less so on most chat rooms due to /me or similar commands. [[Hyphen]]s (<tt style="white-space:nowrap;">-action-</tt>) and double [[colon (punctuation)|colons]] (<tt>::action::</tt>) as well as the operator <tt>/me</tt> are also used for similar purposes.
| |
| | |
| =====Adding machines and printing calculators=====
| |
| * Some international models of [[adding machine]]s and [[calculator|printing calculators]] use the asterisk to denote the ''total,'' or the terminal sum or difference of an addition or subtraction sequence, respectively, sometimes on the keyboard where the total key is marked with an asterisk and sometimes a capital T, and on the printout.
| |
| | |
| ====Programming languages====
| |
| Many [[programming language]]s and [[calculator]]s use the asterisk as a symbol for [[multiplication]]. It also has a number of special meanings in specific languages, for instance:
| |
| * In some programming languages such as the [[C (programming language)|C]], [[C++]], and [[Go (programming language)|Go]] programming languages, the asterisk is used to dereference or to declare a pointer variable.
| |
| * In the [[Common Lisp]] programming language, the names of [[global variable]]s are conventionally set off with asterisks, <TT>*LIKE-THIS*</TT>.
| |
| * In the [[Ada (programming language)|Ada]], [[Fortran]], [[Perl]], [[Python (programming language)|Python]], [[Ruby (programming language)|Ruby]] programming languages, in some dialects of the [[Pascal programming language]], and many others, a double asterisk is used to signify [[exponentiation]]: 5**3 is 5*5*5 or 125.
| |
| * In the [[Perl|Perl programming language]], the asterisk is used to refer to the ''[[typeglob]]'' of all variables with a given name.
| |
| * In the programming languages [[Ruby programming language|Ruby]] and [[Python (programming language)|Python]], * has two specific uses. First, the unary * operator applied to a list object inside a function call will expand that list into the arguments of the function call. Second, a parameter preceded by * in the parameter list for a function will result in any extra positional parameters being aggregated into a [[tuple]] (Python) or [[array data type|array]] (Ruby), and likewise in Python a parameter preceded by ** will result in any extra [[named parameter|keyword parameters]] being aggregated into a [[associative array|dictionary]].
| |
| * In the [[APL (programming language)|APL]] language, the asterisk represents the [[Exponential function|exponential]] and [[exponentiation]] functions. <!--how?-->
| |
| * In IBM [[Job Control Language]], the asterisk has various functions, including in-stream data in the DD statement, the default print stream as SYSOUT=*, and as a self-reference in place of a procedure step name to refer to the same procedure step where it appears.
| |
| | |
| ====Comments in computing====
| |
| {{Main|block comments}}
| |
| In the [[B (programming language)|B programming language]] and languages that borrow syntax from it,
| |
| like [[C (programming language)|C]], [[PHP]], [[Java (software platform)|Java]], or [[C Sharp (programming language)|C#]], comments (parts of the code not intended to be compiled into the program) are marked by an asterisk combined with the slash:
| |
| | |
| /* Here is a comment.
| |
| The compiler will ignore it. */
| |
| | |
| Some [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]]-like programming languages, for example, [[Object Pascal]], [[Modula-2]], [[Modula-3]], and [[Oberon (programming language)|Oberon]], as well as several other languages including [[ML (programming language)|ML]], [[Mathematica]], [[AppleScript]], [[OCaml]], [[Standard ML]], and [[Maple (software)|Maple]], use an asterisk combined with a parenthesis:
| |
| | |
| (* This is a comment.
| |
| The compiler will ignore it. *)
| |
| | |
| [[CSS]], while not strictly a programming language, also uses the slash-star comment format.
| |
| | |
| body {
| |
| /* This ought to make the text more readable for far-sighted people */
| |
| text-size:24pt;
| |
| }
| |
| | |
| ===Mathematics===
| |
| The asterisk has many uses in [[mathematics]]. The following list highlights some common uses and is not exhaustive.
| |
| | |
| ;stand-alone:
| |
| * An arbitrary point in some set. Seen, for example, when computing [[Riemann sums]] or when contracting a simply connected group to the singleton set { {{unicode|∗}} }.
| |
| ;as a [[unary operator]], denoted in [[prefix notation]]:
| |
| * The [[Hodge dual]] operator on vector spaces <math>*: A^k \rightarrow A^{n-k}</math>.
| |
| ;as a unary operator, written as a [[subscript]]:
| |
| * The [[pushforward (differential)]] of a [[smooth map]] ''f'' between two [[smooth manifolds]], denoted ''f''<sub><span style="font-size:100%;">{{unicode|∗}}</span></sub>.
| |
| ;as a unary operator, written as a [[superscript]]:
| |
| * The [[complex conjugate]] of a [[complex number]] (the more common notation is <math>\bar{z}</math>).<ref>[http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ComplexConjugate.html Complex Conjugate - from Wolfram MathWorld<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
| |
| * The [[conjugate transpose]], Hermitian transpose, or adjoint matrix of a [[Matrix (mathematics)|matrix]].
| |
| * [[Hermitian adjoint]].
| |
| * The multiplicative group of a [[Ring (mathematics)|ring]], especially when the ring is a [[Field (mathematics)|field]]. E.g. <math>\mathbb{C}^* = \mathbb{C}-\{0\}.</math>
| |
| * The [[dual space]] of a [[vector space]] ''V'', denoted ''V*''.
| |
| * The combination of an indexed collection of objects into one example, e.g. the combination of all the [[cohomology|cohomology groups]] ''H<sup>k</sup>''(''X'') into the [[cohomology ring]] ''H''*(''X'').
| |
| * In statistics, ''z*'' and ''t*'' are given critical points for ''z''-distributions and ''t''-distributions, respectively.
| |
| ;as a [[binary operator]], in [[infix notation]]:
| |
| * A notation for an arbitrary binary operator.
| |
| * The [[free product]] of two [[Group (mathematics)|groups]].
| |
| * ''f'' {{unicode|∗}} ''g'' is a [[convolution]] of ''f'' with ''g''.
| |
| | |
| The asterisk is used in all branches of mathematics to designate a correspondence between two quantities denoted by the same letter – one with the asterisk and one without.
| |
| | |
| ====Mathematical typography====
| |
| In fine mathematical typography, the [[Unicode]] character {{unichar|2217|asterisk operator}} (in HTML, &lowast;) is available. This character also appeared in the position of the regular asterisk in the [[PostScript]] symbol character set in the ''Symbol'' font included with Windows and Macintosh operating systems and with many printers. It should be used in fine typography for a large asterisk that lines up with the other mathematical operators.
| |
| | |
| ===Fluid Mechanics===
| |
| In [[fluid mechanics]], an asterisk in superscript is sometimes used to mean a property at sonic speed.<ref>White, F. M. Fluid Mechanics, Fourth Ed. WCB McGraw Hill.</ref>
| |
| | |
| ===Statistical results===
| |
| In many scientific publications, the asterisk is employed as a shorthand to denote the [[statistical significance]] of results when testing [[hypothesis|hypotheses]]. When the likelihood that a result occurred by chance alone is below a certain level, one or more asterisks are displayed. Popular significance levels are 0.05 (*), 0.01 (**), and 0.001 (***).
| |
| | |
| ===Human genetics===
| |
| *In human genetics, [[* (haplogroup)|*]] is used to denote that someone is a member of a [[haplogroup]] and not any of its subclades (see [[* (haplogroup)]]).
| |
| | |
| ===Telephony===
| |
| <!--*****
| |
| | |
| DO *NOT* ADD THE ASTERISK PBX HERE. IT IS REFERENCED VIA THE DISAMBIG AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE, AND THIS ARTICLE IS ABOUT THE SYMBOL ITSELF, NOT THINGS NAMED AFTER IT
| |
| | |
| *****-->
| |
| On a [[Touch-Tone]] [[telephone]] keypad, the asterisk (called ''star'', or less commonly, ''palm'' or ''[[sextile]]'')<ref name=p>{{Cite patent|US|3920926}}</ref> is one of the two special keys (the other is the [[number sign]] (''pound sign'' or ''hash'' or, less commonly, ''octothorp''<ref name=p/> or ''square'')), and is found to the left of the zero. They are used to navigate menus in [[Touch-Tone]] systems such as [[Voice mail]], or in [[Vertical service code]]s.
| |
| | |
| ===Cricket===
| |
| *In [[cricket]], it signifies a total number of runs scored by a batsman without losing his wicket, e.g. 107* means '107 [[not out]]'. When written before a player's name on a scorecard, it indicates the [[captain (cricket)|captain]] of the team.
| |
| | |
| *It is also used on television when giving a career statistic during a match. For example, 47* in a number of matches column means that the current game is the player's 47th.
| |
| | |
| ===Economics===
| |
| *In [[economics]], the use of an asterisk after a letter indicating a [[Variable (mathematics)|variable]] such as [[price]], [[output]], or [[employment]] indicates that the variable is at its optimal level (that which is achieved in a perfect market situation). For instance, ''p''* is the price level ''p'' when output ''y'' is at its corresponding optimal level of ''y''*.
| |
| | |
| *Also in international economics asterisks are commonly used to denote economic variables in a foreign country. So, for example, "p" is the price of the home good and "p*" is the price of the foreign good, etc.
| |
| | |
| ===Education===
| |
| *In the [[General Certificate of Secondary Education|GCSE]] and [[Advanced Level General Certificate of Education|A-Level]] examinations in the [[United Kingdom]] and the [[Primary School Leaving Examination|PSLE]] in [[Singapore]], A* ("''A''-star") is a special top grade that is distinguished from grade A.
| |
| *In the [[Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education]] (HKDSE) examination in [[Hong Kong]], 5** (5-star-star) and 5* (5-star) are two special top grades that are distinguished from Level 5. Level 5** is the highest level a candidate can attain in HKDSE.
| |
| | |
| ===Games===<!-- This section is linked from [[Splat (pronouns)]] -->
| |
| *Certain categories of character types in [[role-playing game]]s are called '''splats''', and the game supplements describing them are called '''[[splatbook]]s'''. This usage originated with the shorthand "*book" for this type of supplement to various [[World of Darkness]] games, such as ''Clanbook: Ventrue'' (for ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]'') or ''Tribebook: Black Furies'' (for ''[[Werewolf: The Apocalypse]]''), and this usage has spread to other games with similar character-type supplements. For example, ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' Third Edition has had several lines of splatbooks: the "X & Y" series including ''Sword & Fist'' and ''Tome & Blood'' prior to the "3.5" revision, the "Complete X" series including ''Complete Warrior'' and ''Complete Divine'', and the "Races of X" series including ''Races of Stone'' and ''Races of the Wild''.
| |
| *In many [[MUD]]s and [[MOO]]s, as well as "male", "female", and other more esoteric genders, there is a gender called "splat", which uses an asterisk to replace the letters that differ in standard English gender pronouns. For example, ''h*'' is used rather than ''him'' or ''her''. Also, asterisks are used to signify doing an action, for example, "*''action''*"
| |
| *[[Game show]] producer [[Mark Goodson]] used a six-pointed asterisk as his trademark. It is featured prominently on many set pieces from ''[[The Price Is Right (U.S. game show)|The Price Is Right]].''
| |
| *[[Scrabble]] players put an asterisk after a word to indicate that an illegal play was made.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tucsonscrabble.com/articles/glossary.html|title=Scrabble Glossary|publisher=Tucson Scrabble Club|accessdate=2012-02-06}}</ref>
| |
| | |
| ===Baseball===
| |
| *In recent years, the asterisk has come into use on scorecards to denote a "great defensive play."<ref>[http://baseball-almanac.com/score2b.shtml Baseball Almanac - Scoring Baseball: Advanced Symbols]</ref> However, off scorecards, it can have the same connotation as in other sports; see below.
| |
| ****
| |
| | |
| ===Competitive sports and games===
| |
| *In colloquial usage, an asterisk is used to indicate that a [[World record|record]] is somehow tainted by circumstances, which are putatively explained in a footnote referenced by the asterisk.<ref>See e.g. {{Cite news|title=''An Asterisk is very real, even when it's not|author=Allen Barra|date=2007-05-27|publisher=New York Times|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/27/weekinreview/27barra.html}}</ref> This usage arose after the 1961 baseball season in which [[Roger Maris]] of the [[New York Yankees]] broke [[Babe Ruth]]'s 34-year-old single-season [[home run]] record. Because Ruth had amassed 60 home runs in a season with only 154 games, compared to Maris's 61 over 162 games, baseball commissioner [[Ford Frick]] announced that Maris' accomplishment would be recorded in the record books with an explanation (often referred to as "an asterisk" in the retelling). In fact, [[Major League Baseball]] had no official record book at the time, but the stigma remained with Maris for many years, and the concept of a real or figurative asterisk denoting less-than-official records has become widely used in sports and other competitive endeavors. A 2001 [[TV movie]] about Maris' record-breaking season was called ''[[61*]]'' (pronounced ''sixty-one asterisk'') in reference to the controversy.
| |
| | |
| *In February 2011 the [[United States Olympic Committee]] and the [[Ad Council]] launched an [[Use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport#Anti-Doping organizations and legislation|anti-steroid]] campaign called "Play Asterisk Free"<ref>[http://facebook.com/playasteriskfree Facebook.com]</ref> aimed at teens. The campaign, whose logo uses a [[heavy asterisk]], first launched in 2008 under the name Don't Be An Asterisk.<ref>[http://www.adcouncil.org/newsDetail.aspx?id=241 Adcouncil.org], ''Ad Council'', August 8, 2008</ref>
| |
| | |
| ====Barry Bonds====
| |
| Fans critical of [[Barry Bonds]], who has been accused of using [[performance-enhancing drugs]] during his baseball career, invoked the asterisk notion during the 2007 season, as he approached and later broke [[Hank Aaron]]'s career home run record.<ref>See e.g. {{Cite news|title=''Tarnished records deserve an Asterisk''|author=Michael Wilbon|date=2004-12-04|publisher=Washington Post|page=D10|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33718-2004Dec3.html}}</ref> Opposing fans would often hold up signs bearing asterisks whenever Bonds came up to bat. After Bonds hit his record-breaking 756th home run on August 7, 2007, fashion designer and entrepreneur [[Marc Ecko]] purchased the home run ball from the fan who caught it, and ran a poll on his Web site to determine its fate. On September 26, Ecko revealed on NBC's [[Today (NBC program)|''Today'' show]] that the ball will be branded with an asterisk and donated to the [[Baseball Hall of Fame]]. The ball, marked with a die-cut asterisk, was finally delivered to the hall on July 2, 2008 after Marc Ecko unconditionally donated the artifact rather than loaning it to the hall as originally intended.
| |
| | |
| ===Marketing===
| |
| Asterisks (or other symbols) are commonly used in advertisements to refer readers to special terms/conditions for a certain statement, commonly placed below the statement in question. For example: an advertisement for a sale may have an asterisk after the word "sale" with the date of the sale at the bottom of the advertisement, similar to the way footnotes are used.
| |
| | |
| ===Religious texts===
| |
| *In the Geneva Bible and the King James Bible, an asterisk is used to indicate a marginal comment or scripture reference.
| |
| *In the Leeser Bible, an asterisk is used to mark off the seven subdivisions of the weekly Torah portion. It is also used to mark the few verses to be repeated by the reader of the Haftara.
| |
| *In American printings of the ''[[Book of Common Prayer]]'', an asterisk is used to divide a verse of a Psalm in two portions for responsive reading. British printings use a spaced colon (" : ") for the same purpose.
| |
| | |
| ===Censorship===
| |
| {{Main|Wordfilter}}
| |
| Many companies which deal with slang or vulgar text might censor such words using an asterisk. This is often done by replacing a vowel with the asterisk.<ref>[http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/10/27/itunes-uk-asterisk-c.html iTunes UK asterisk censors H*t T**n K****r P****y] retrieved 9 April 2012</ref><ref>[https://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/vboptions_group_censor censorship options] retrieved 9 April 2012</ref>
| |
| | |
| ==Encodings==
| |
| <!-- There's also U+0359, U+2051, U+20F0, U+229B, U+29C6, U+A673. -->
| |
| The [[Unicode]] standard states that the asterisk is distinct from:
| |
| *{{unichar|066d|Arabic five pointed star|html=|nlink=}},
| |
| *{{unichar|2217|asterisk operator|html=}}, and
| |
| *{{unichar|2731|heavy asterisk|html=}}.<ref>{{cite web
| |
| |url=http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/latin1/3.html
| |
| |title=Detailed descriptions of the characters (The ISO Latin 1 character repertoire)
| |
| |date=2006-09-20
| |
| |accessdate=~~~~~}}</ref>
| |
| | |
| The symbols are compared below (the display depends on your browser's font).
| |
| | |
| {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" cellpadding="10"
| |
| |-
| |
| ! Asterisk !! Asterisk Operator !! Heavy Asterisk !! Small Asterisk !! Full Width Asterisk !! Open Centre Asterisk
| |
| |- style="font-size: 6em;"
| |
| | style="padding:15pt; padding-top:30pt;" class="Unicode" |*
| |
| | style="padding:15pt; padding-top:30pt;" class="Unicode" |∗
| |
| | style="padding:15pt; padding-top:30pt;" class="Unicode" |✱
| |
| | style="padding:15pt; padding-top:30pt;" class="Unicode" |﹡
| |
| | style="padding:15pt; padding-top:30pt;" class="Unicode" |＊
| |
| | style="padding:15pt; padding-top:30pt;" class="Unicode" |✲
| |
| |}
| |
| | |
| {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" cellpadding="10"
| |
| ! Low Asterisk !! [[Arabic star]] !! East Asian reference mark !! Teardrop-Spoked Asterisk !! Sixteen Pointed Asterisk
| |
| |- style="font-size: 6em;"
| |
| | style="padding:15pt; padding-top:30pt;" class="Unicode" |⁎
| |
| | style="padding:15pt; padding-top:30pt;" class="Unicode" |٭
| |
| | style="padding:15pt; padding-top:30pt;" class="Unicode" |※
| |
| | style="padding:15pt; padding-top:30pt;" class="Unicode" |✻
| |
| | style="padding:15pt; padding-top:30pt;" class="Unicode" |✺
| |
| |}
| |
| | |
| {| class="wikitable"
| |
| |'''Name'''||'''[[Unicode]]'''||'''[[Decimal]]'''||'''[[UTF-8]]'''||'''[[HTML]]'''||'''Displayed'''
| |
| |-
| |
| |Asterisk||U+002A||&#42;||2A|| ||*
| |
| |-
| |
| |Small Asterisk||U+FE61||&#65121;||EF B9 A1|| ||﹡
| |
| |-
| |
| |Full Width Asterisk||U+FF0A||&#65290;||EF BC 8A|| ||＊
| |
| |-
| |
| |Low Asterisk||U+204E||&#8270;||E2 81 8E|| ||⁎
| |
| |-
| |
| |Two Asterisks Aligned Vertically||U+2051||&#8273;||E2 81 91|| ||⁑
| |
| |-
| |
| |Asterisk Operator||U+2217||&#8727;||E2 88 97||&lowast;||∗
| |
| |-
| |
| |Heavy Asterisk||U+2731||&#10033;||E2 9C B1|| ||✱
| |
| |-
| |
| |Open Centre Asterisk||U+2732||&#10034;||E2 9C B2|| ||✲
| |
| |-
| |
| |Eight Spoked Asterisk||U+2733||&#10035;||E2 9C B3|| ||✳
| |
| |-
| |
| |Sixteen Pointed Asterisk||U+273A||&#10042;||E2 9C BA|| ||✺
| |
| |-
| |
| |Teardrop-Spoked Asterisk||U+273B||&#10043;||E2 9C BB|| ||✻
| |
| |-
| |
| |Open Centre Teardrop-Spoked Asterisk||U+273C||&#10044;||E2 9C BC|| ||✼
| |
| |-
| |
| |Heavy Teardrop-Spoked Asterisk||U+273D||&#10045;||E2 9C BD|| ||✽
| |
| |-
| |
| |Four Teardrop-Spoked Asterisk||U+2722||&#10018;||E2 9C A2|| ||✢
| |
| |-
| |
| |Four Balloon-Spoked Asterisk||U+2723||&#10019;||E2 9C A3|| ||✣
| |
| |-
| |
| |Heavy Four Balloon-Spoked Asterisk||U+2724||&#10020;||E2 9C A4|| ||✤
| |
| |-
| |
| |Four Club-Spoked Asterisk||U+2725||&#10021;||E2 9C A5|| ||✥
| |
| |-
| |
| |Heavy Teardrop-Spoked Pinwheel Asterisk||U+2743||&#10051;||E2 9D 83|| ||❃
| |
| |-
| |
| |Balloon-Spoked Asterisk||U+2749||&#10057;||E2 9D 89|| ||❉
| |
| |-
| |
| |Eight Teardrop-Spoked Propeller Asterisk||U+274A||&#10058;||E2 9D 8A|| ||❊
| |
| |-
| |
| |Heavy Eight Teardrop-Spoked Propeller Asterisk||U+274B||&#10059;||E2 9D 8B|| ||❋
| |
| |-
| |
| |[[Arabic star]]||U+066D||&#1645;||D9 AD|| ||٭
| |
| |-
| |
| |East Asian reference mark||U+203B||&#8251;||E2 80 BB|| ||※
| |
| |-
| |
| |[[Plane (Unicode)#Supplementary Special-purpose Plane|Tag]] Asterisk||U+E002A||&#917546;||F3 A0 80 AA|| ||
| |
| |}
| |
| | |
| ==See also==
| |
| *[[Arabic star]]
| |
| *[[Asterism (typography)]]
| |
| *[[Star (glyph)]]
| |
| | |
| ==References==
| |
| {{Reflist}}
| |
| | |
| [[Category:Punctuation]]
| |