- published: 27 Aug 2006
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Guillemets ( /ˈɡɪləmɛt/, or /ɡiːəˈmeɪ/ from the French [ɡijmɛ]), also called angle quotes or French quotation marks, are line segments, pointed as if arrows (« or »), sometimes forming a complementary set of punctuation marks used as a form of quotation mark.
The symbol at either end – double « and » or single ‹ and › – is a guillemet. They are used in a number of languages to indicate speech. They resemble (but are not the same as) the symbols for lesser than, greater than (for the single <), and for left and right bit shifts in some programming languages, as well as rewind and fast forward on various media players, such as VCRs, DVD players and MP3 players.
The word is a diminutive of the French name Guillaume (the equivalent of which in English is William), after the French printer and punchcutter Guillaume Le Bé (1525–1598). Some languages derive their word for guillemets analogously; for example, the Irish term is Liamóg, from Liam 'William' and a diminutive suffix.
Used pointing outwards («like this») to indicate speech in these languages and regions: