Research draft

question mark

vr.tr.question-mark · INF.MED

Enable an AI agent to recognise a question mark, assess whether its form and use fit its context, and decide whether to preserve, insert, replace, explain or flag it.

Thing Registry Information and virtual systems

Research draft, second pass

A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.

Researched by: Codex + Grok

Purpose and description

Enable an AI agent to recognise a question mark, assess whether its form and use fit its context, and decide whether to preserve, insert, replace, explain or flag it.

A punctuation grapheme that marks interrogative illocution (and, by extension, uncertainty or a missing value) in writing and encoded media, whose canonical Latin-script form is Unicode U+003F QUESTION MARK, inherited from ASCII 0x3F and historically the medieval punctus interrogativus.

It can be Locate and classify an occurrence while retaining its original representation.; Associate the sign with the text, token or component whose interpretation it affects.; Check its placement and function against an identified language or notation convention.; Insert, remove or replace it when editing authority and contextual rules support the change.; Explain its evidenced role or flag ambiguity for review.; Compare source and output representations to detect recognition errors or unintended substitutions..

Distinguishing features

Distinguish the sign from a question: a question-mark occurrence can be recorded even when no interrogative content is present.

Distinguish identity from resemblance: a curved stroke and dot are visual evidence, while the encoded character, source or declared convention may support a different identity.

Distinguish a literal question mark from a symbol with a formally assigned role by checking the enclosing notation and whether its interpreter gives it operational meaning.

Distinguish a question mark used to signal uncertainty from an interface control by recording whether the sign itself is merely displayed or belongs to an actionable component.

Distinguish a standalone sign from a sequence or composite by checking character boundaries, visual grouping and the governing convention before splitting it.

Scope

+ Identification of a question-mark sign independently of its font or visual styling

+ Individual occurrences and their attachment to surrounding text or interface elements

+ Interrogative, uncertainty-signalling, literal and formally assigned uses

+ Encoded, drawn and rendered representations and their correspondence

+ Context-sensitive validation and permitted transformations

- The content, answerability and resolution of a question

- Complete grammar and punctuation systems of individual languages

- Whole typefaces, font production and general text layout

- Programming languages, query languages and URI syntax beyond the role assigned to a question-mark occurrence

- Complete help controls, status indicators or other interface components containing the sign

Characteristics

Sign identity: Identified question mark; candidate variant; lookalike; unresolved Prevents visual resemblance from being treated as sufficient proof of identity.
Recorded representation: Encoded text; vector outline; raster image; handwriting; mixed representation Determines how identity can be checked and which edits preserve the source.
Language or notation context: Reference to the applicable language, writing convention, formal notation or interface convention; unknown Placement and interpretation depend on the convention governing the occurrence.
Contextual function: Interrogative punctuation; uncertainty annotation; literal mention; formal syntax; interface symbol; other evidenced function; unresolved The same visible sign can require different interpretation and handling.
Attachment: Reference to the affected text span, token, annotation target or interface component; unattached; unresolved Identifies what the occurrence qualifies or participates in.
Sequence position: Start offset and length with the indexing unit declared; unavailable for unsegmented visual sources Supports exact selection without confusing character boundaries with visual boundaries.
Contextual validity: Unchecked; supported by the governing convention; disputed; inconsistent with the governing convention Separates an observed occurrence from a judgement that its use is appropriate.
Representation integrity: Verified against source; suspected recognition error; suspected substitution; illegible; unresolved Helps distinguish an intentional question mark from a damaged or incorrectly transcribed sign.
Editing constraint: Source-preserving only; editorial changes permitted; changes require syntax validation; changes require review; unspecified Prevents punctuation correction from changing quoted evidence or executable meaning.

Also called

⸮; (U+037E)՞܉

Where this came from

wikidata · CC0 1.0

Source repository Registry entry point

Drafted structure

Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 6 bundles · 11 layers · 18 findings · 28 questions.

Sign identity Establish what counts as this sign and what evidence identifies an occurrence.

An agent must distinguish a question mark from a resembling shape before interpreting or changing it.

Family boundary

Separate the registered sign from candidate variants and neighbouring punctuation.

Variant membership

Record whether an observed form belongs to this entry, with unresolved membership retained explicitly.

What evidence establishes that this form belongs to the registered question mark rather than a neighbouring sign? boundary
Which visual or encoded differences are treated as variants by the convention governing this occurrence? definition

Occurrence evidence

Identify the particular sign present in a source.

Identity support

Keep the source representation and the evidence used to identify it, including disagreements between appearance and encoding.

Was this occurrence identified from encoded text, an image, handwriting or a source description? provenance
Do its visible form and recorded encoding support the same identity, and what remains unresolved if they disagree? boundary

Interrogative attachment Record when and how an occurrence functions as punctuation for interrogative content.

Recognising the sign alone does not establish what passage it punctuates or whether its placement is appropriate.

Question scope

Determine the span to which interrogative punctuation applies.

Punctuated span

Associate an interrogative occurrence with its relevant clause, sentence, fragment or quoted span.

Which exact span does this question mark punctuate? boundary
Does the sign belong to quoted material, enclosing text or another explicitly identified span? boundary

Placement convention

Assess position and punctuation relationships using the applicable writing convention.

Placement assessment

Record the rule used to judge position, spacing and relationships to nearby punctuation without assuming one universal convention.

Which language and editorial convention govern this question mark's position and spacing? provenance
Under that convention, should this occurrence be preserved, moved, supplemented or removed? action

Non-interrogative roles Distinguish uncertainty, literal display and formally assigned meanings from interrogative punctuation.

Treating every question mark as a sentence-level question can corrupt annotations, interface interpretation or formal expressions.

Annotation and display

Identify occurrences used as annotations, examples of the sign or interface symbols.

Displayed role

Record an evidenced non-interrogative role and the target or component supplying its context.

What evidence shows that this occurrence signals uncertainty, names the sign itself or serves an interface role? definition
Which assertion, value or interface component supplies the meaning that the sign alone cannot establish? boundary

Formal interpretation

Identify whether a surrounding formal system interprets the occurrence.

Notation-assigned role

Link an operational meaning to the specific notation and parsing context that assign it.

Which formal notation and version, if applicable, assign a role to this question mark in this position? provenance
What validation is needed before changing it to establish whether parsing or behaviour would change? action

Representation and legibility Assess whether the recorded and presented forms preserve the intended sign.

An apparent question mark may reflect transcription or rendering problems, while a valid occurrence may be difficult to perceive.

Source fidelity

Compare the current occurrence with its source across recognition and conversion steps.

Transcription integrity

Track whether the question mark was present in the source or appeared during transcription, conversion or substitution.

Can this occurrence be verified against the original source as an intentional question mark? provenance
Which recorded transformation first introduced a discrepancy between the source sign and the current representation? provenance

Perceptible form

Assess recognition in the actual presentation context, including relevant nonvisual output.

Recognition in presentation

Record whether intended readers can distinguish the sign and recover its contextual role from the presented output.

At the intended display or print size, is this question mark distinguishable from nearby marks and plausible lookalikes? measurement
Where nonvisual access is required, does the tested output convey the sign's relevant role or require an accompanying label? action

Controlled question-mark edits Determine when an occurrence may be changed and what must be checked afterward.

Changing a question mark can alter interrogative force, expressed uncertainty, source fidelity or formal behaviour.

Edit justification

Connect proposed insertion, deletion or replacement to a specific contextual need.

Permitted transformation

Record the intended change, its authority and the interpretation it is expected to preserve or alter.

Is the proposed change correcting representation, changing punctuation or deliberately changing the meaning supplied by this question mark? action
Do the source-preservation and editing constraints permit that specific change? boundary

Edit verification

Check the consequences of a question-mark transformation in its surrounding context.

Context preservation check

Verify the resulting attachment, presentation and interpretation against the stated purpose of the edit.

After the edit, does the surrounding passage or expression retain the intended interrogative, uncertainty-signalling or formal meaning? action
What comparison, rendering inspection or notation-specific validation demonstrates that the change achieved its intended result? measurement

Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.

A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.