Consider the following photo of the Westminster Cathedral:
What are those separator-dots called? I see them on many inscriptions. Why is it there?
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1 Answer
It is called the interpunct.
Empty space to separate words as we do now is not a universal phenomenon. Just as well the Romans might ask why we leave space between words instead of putting a dot in between or spelling all the words together.
The dots mark word boundaries, but I am not sure if they are added more for legibility or similarity to ancient inscriptions. Following ancient conventions does give a certain prestigious feel to an inscription.
In ancient Rome one would either separate words by an interpunct or not at all. See this question for the development of word spacing.
answered Aug 31, 2017 at 11:43
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2Interestingly, most word processors for Roman-alphabet languages have a setting letting you see whitespace as symbols, and interpuncts are typically used for spaces.– JABAug 31, 2017 at 14:30