U+0028 "(" Left Parenthesis Unicode Character
Unicode Version 17.0
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U+0028 "(" Left Parenthesis is a fundamental punctuation mark used primarily to denote the beginning of a parenthetical expression, which is an insertion of additional or explanatory text into a sentence. It serves as an opening delimiter that typically requires a matching right parenthesis to close the enclosed content, allowing writers to clarify, qualify, or add asides without breaking the grammatical flow of the main statement. Originating from Latin script and widely adopted across modern writing systems, the character is encoded in the Basic Latin block of Unicode and is commonly used in mathematics, programming, and general typography for grouping elements or defining function arguments.
General Properties
| Code Point | U+0028 |
| Version Added | 1.1 |
| Name | Left Parenthesis |
| Unicode 1.0 Name | Opening Parenthesis |
| Block | Basic Latin |
| General Category | Open Punctuation |
| Canonical Combining Class | Not Reordered |
| Bidirectional Class | Other Neutral |
| Mirrored | Yes |
| Mirrored Character | ")" U+0029 Right Parenthesis |
| Bidirectional Paired Bracket Type | Open |
| Bidirectional Paired Bracket | ")" U+0029 Right Parenthesis |
Encodings
| HTML Decimal Encoding | ( |
| HTML Hex Encoding | ( |
| UTF-8 Encoding | 0x28 |
| UTF-16 Encoding | 0x0028 |
| UTF-32 Encoding | 0x00000028 |
| C/C++/Java Escape | \u0028 |