In Catalan, why do they have this dot inbetween a word, eg "paral.lel"?

Question

In Catalan, why do they have this dot inbetween a word, eg "paral.lel"?

Answer 1

It's called a "punt volat" (literally, "flown dot"), in English 'middle dot', 'centered dot' or 'interpunct', used only between a pair of L letters. It's used in cases where each "L" belongs to a separate syllable (e.g. col·lecció, 'collection'). This is to distinguish the true "double-L" pronunciation from that of the letter-combination LL (without a dot) : lloc "place", castellà "Castilian", castell "castle".

It changes the pronunciation (and even the meaning) of a double-L from the "L mouillé" (where it is pronounced like "y" between vowels), to a "consonantal palatal L".

Answer 2

To indicate that the LL is not pronounced as the usual 'Y'.