Polygonia comma form of comma is frequently confused with the dark form of the question mark ("P. interrogationis"), but the two can readily be distinguished by the shape of the comma mark on the underside. The pale form is easily confused with the satyr comma ("P. satyrus"), which usually occurs north and west of the eastern comma's range. They can be distinguished by the upperside color, which is orange brown in the comma and tawny yellowish brown in "P. satyrus"; by the underside pattern, which tends to be mottled in the comma but appears to be more longitudinally streaked in "P. satyrus";
Punctuation to be more prominent) by using not differing height but rather a differing number of marks—aligned horizontally (or sometimes triangularly)—to signify a pause's value: one mark for a minor pause, two for a medium one, and three for a major. Most common were the "punctus", a comma-shaped mark, and a 7-shaped mark ("comma positura"), often used in combination. The same marks could be used in the margin to mark off quotations. In the late 8th century a different system emerged in France under the Carolingian dynasty. Originally indicating how the voice should be modulated when chanting the liturgy, the "positurae"