FUNCTIONAL POTENTIAL OF THE FULL STOP IN MODERN ENGLISH

Abstract

The article defines the status of a full stop in the system of graphic means of the English language, considers the functional and communicative characteristics of this punctuation mark. Using the material of modern English literature, the examples of the use of the full stop are analyzed and its role in the actualization of semantic and emotional connotations is determined, as well as cases when the dot, having a high positional and content significance, is one of the means of manifesting the author’s individuality and originality of the writer’s style. The article provides an analysis of the use of the period as an internal punctuation mark that forms the spelling appearance of a word. The article also establishes the range of functions and properties of the dot as a graphic conventional sign used in formal languages.