The first thing we are going to do, before entering fully into clarifying the meaning of the term apostrophe, is to know its etymological origin. In this case, we can say that it is a word that comes from Greek, exactly from “apostrophe”. This can be translated as “turning to the other side” and was used in the theater to refer to the moment in which one of the actors turned their back to the audience to talk to another person, whether real or imaginary.
We can determine that Greek word is the result of the sum of two clearly delimited components:
-The prefix “apó”, which means “far from”.
-The verb “strofe”, which is equivalent to “return” or “turn”.
It is a notion that is used in the context of rhetoric to name an interpellation that is made vehemently to one or more subjects, who may or may not be alive; to something inanimate; to an abstract entity; or even oneself.
It is important not to confuse the apostrophe with the apostrophe : a spelling sign that is used to join two terms, eliminating a letter. This sign is « .
Returning to the idea of apostrophe, the figure appears in the narrative as an appeal to an interlocutor , regardless of whether the interlocutor is present or can hear the speech. The apostrophe usually appears in invocations, prayers and soliloquies.
An example of an apostrophe is the following: “Rough sea, calm down now! Stop shaking your walk and allow yourself to reach your destination. Calm your waves and grant you the honor of advancing in peace through your domains.” As you can see, the speaker addresses the sea: of course, the ocean cannot respond to him to engage in dialogue. That is why the apostrophe is not intended to develop a conversation.
Apostrophes, on the other hand, are frequent in political discourse : “What do they want for the country? We know that these are difficult times and that important decisions must be made. Are you willing to fight for the well-being of all our compatriots?” .