On the question of the use of colon in Russian and Persian

Abstract

This article is devoted to the use of the punctuation mark “colon” in the Russian and Persian languages. Its purpose is to identify the exact meanings and areas of this sign usage in Russian and Persian. Punctuation marks in the grammar of the Russian language play a significant role, they help to read and understand the text easier. Punctuation marks in Persian are mainly used to eliminate ambiguities and lead to simple and correct reading of the text. The article analyzes the situations of the usage of this sign in Russian and Persian applying a comparative method and providing examples for each case. The relevance of the study is due to the incompletion of the inventory of cases in which the colon is used; it can also serve as a source for students who have problems on this topic when writing, reading and understanding texts. The scientific novelty of the study is that a comprehensive study of different aspects of the use of the colon in Russian and Persian is carried out. The novelty is also determined by the comparison of the use of colon in Russian and Persian in view of the lack of a special comparative study in this area. It was found that the scope of colon usage in Persian is wider in comparation with Russian, and most cases of its usage match, but some differ. In addition, our article confirms the insufficient consideration of this topic in Russian language textbooks. The results of the article can be helpful to students studying at departments of Russian as a foreign language at Iranian universities, used as additional materials in classroom and by translators.