<rp>: The Ruby Fallback Parenthesis element

The <rp> HTML element is used to provide fall-back parentheses for browsers that do not support display of ruby annotations using the <ruby> element. One <rp> element should enclose each of the opening and closing parentheses that wrap the <rt> element that contains the annotation's text.

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Attributes

This element only includes the global attributes.

Usage notes

  • Ruby annotations are for showing pronunciation of East Asian characters, like using Japanese furigana or Taiwanese bopomofo characters. The <rp> element is used in the case of lack of <ruby> element support; the <rp> content provides what should be displayed in order to indicate the presence of a ruby annotation, usually parentheses.

Examples

Using ruby annotations

This example uses ruby annotations to display the Romaji equivalents for each character.

html

<ruby>
  漢 <rp>(</rp><rt>Kan</rt><rp>)</rp> 字 <rp>(</rp><rt>ji</rt><rp>)</rp>
</ruby>

Result

See the article about the <ruby> element for further examples.

Without ruby support

If your browser does not support ruby annotations, the result looks like this instead:

Technical summary

Content categories None.
Permitted content Text
Tag omission The end tag can be omitted if the element is immediately followed by an <rt> or another <rp> element, or if there is no more content in the parent element.
Permitted parents A <ruby> element. <rp> must be positioned immediately before or after an <rt> element.
Implicit ARIA role No corresponding role
Permitted ARIA roles Any
DOM interface HTMLElement

Specifications

Specification
HTML Standard
# the-rp-element

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also