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The inverted question mark and inverted exclamation point in Spanish are used to begin interrogative and exclamatory sentences, respectively.
Usage
The inverted question mark (¿) is a punctuation mark indicating a question and is placed before the first letter of a sentence. It is an inverted form of the standard symbol speakers of other latin-alphabet languages recognize ('?').
In most languages, a single question mark is used and only at the end of an interrogative sentence: How old are you?. This was also once true for Spanish. The inverted question mark was not adopted until long after the decision of the Real Academia in the second edition of La Ortografía de la Real Academia (1754) to recommend it as the symbol indicating the beginning of a question in written Spanish —¿Cuántos años tienes? ("How old are you?"). The Real Academia also ordered the same system for statements of exclamation using the symbols '¡' and '!'.
Adoption of these new rules was slow, and there are even books from the nineteenth century that do not use either of the opening symbols, '¡' or '¿'. It did finally become standard usage, most likely due to its practicality given that Spanish syntax in many cases does not help the reader determine at what moment a sentence in progress is a question. For example, without any punctuation to indicate if they are questions or not, the sentences ¿Hablas bien el español? ("Do you speak Spanish well?") and Hablas bien el español. ("You speak Spanish well.") are identical in written Spanish. With longer sentences, using the punctuation indicates that a question has started.
An alternative usage, which did not become widely adopted, was to use the inverted question mark only when the question was long, or when there was sufficient risk of ambiguity, but not for short sentences or those that were clearly questions such as Quién vive? ("Who's alive?"). The influence of English could be reinstating this old criterion. Furthermore, it is common that in internet chat rooms or instant messaging people now only use the single, ending symbol ('?') to form a question since it saves time typing. Given that these are informal settings, this may seem to be of little importance, however some see this as a problem, fearing (and claiming) that many young people are now inappropriately extending this practice to homework and essays, thereby committing a very serious orthographical error.
¡ … ?
Although it has now fallen into disuse, it is actually correct usage in Spanish to begin a sentence with an opening inverted exclamation mark ('¡') and end it with a question mark ('?'), or vice-versa, for statements that are questions but also have a clear sense of exclamation or surprise such as: ¡Quién te has creído que eres? ("Who have you thought you are?").
Proposed adoption into English
In English, some people choose to express this idea by placing both a question and an exclamation mark at the end of a sentence: Who do you think you are?!; Who do you think you are!?, or Who do you think you are?!?!?!.This is rarely seen in formal, written English, and its usage is usually confined to emails, instant messages, personal correspondence, and comics.
It has been proposed that an English symbol that combines the exclamation and question mark be adopted. It is called the interrobang.
See also
"Inverted question mark and exclamation point in Spanish"