a period is "un point"
a comma is "une virgule"
a colon is "deux points"
a semi-colon is "un point virgule"
a parenthesis is "une parenthèse"
a quote is "des guillemets" (open quote: ouvrez les guillemets,
end quote: fermez les guillemets") (in quotation marks: entre
guillemets, which can also mean "by the way" in conversation)
a hyphen is "un tiret"