Elliot Kim
Diacritics, also known as diacritical marks, are symbols that are placed over, under, or through a letter to indicate a particular pronunciation. They are used in many languages, including French, German, Spanish, Norwegian, Polish, Turkish, and Welsh. In English, diacritics are rarely used, except when writing loanwords from other languages, such as cliché from French or piñata from Spanish. Some English words with diacritics include coöperate, naïve, and Zoë. The main purpose of diacritics is to change the sound-values of the letters they are added to, helping to indicate stress, length, or separation of syllables.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Main use of diacritics | To change the sound-values of the letters to which they are added |
| Diacritics in English | Borrowed words from other languages |
| Diaeresis | Indicates that a vowel is to be pronounced separately |
| Acute accent | Indicates a stressed syllable or raised pitch |
| Grave accent | Indicates an unaccented syllable or a lower inflection |
| Macron | Indicates a long vowel or a stressed or long syllable |
| Tilde | Indicates nasal sounds |
| Cedilla | Indicates that the letter is to be pronounced as 's' rather than 'k' |
| Circumflex | Indicates length, contraction, or another particular pronunciation of a vowel |
| Breve | Indicates that a vowel is short or that a syllable is short or unstressed |
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What You'll Learn
- Diacritics are used to indicate a change in pronunciation
- They are placed over, under, or through a letter
- They are used in many languages, including French, German, and Spanish
- English rarely uses diacritics, except in loanwords from other languages
- Diacritics can also be used to separate words or indicate stressed syllables
Diacritics are used to indicate a change in pronunciation
Diacritics are marks placed over, under, or through a letter in some languages to indicate a change in pronunciation. They are also known as diacritical marks or accents. The main use of diacritics in Latin script is to change the sound values of the letters to which they are added.
For example, the acute accent (`) generally indicates a stressed syllable or raised pitch. It is commonly found above the letter 'e' in many French words and French borrowings in English, such as 'exposé', where it indicates that the 'e' is pronounced as a long 'a'. The acute accent also appears in Spanish to mark that the syllable the vowel appears in is stressed, as in 'adiós'. The grave accent (`) is often used to indicate an unstressed syllable or a lower inflection, as in the French-derived 'à la carte' or 'crème'.
The tilde (~) is used in Spanish and Portuguese to indicate nasal sounds, as in the Spanish 'mañana' ('tomorrow') and 'señor' ('sir'). In Portuguese, it may appear over 'a' or 'o', as in 'São Paulo'. The cedilla (˙̧) is placed under the letter 'c' in French words such as 'façade' and 'garçon' to indicate that the letter is pronounced as an 's' rather than a 'k'.
In English, diacritics are rarely used, except when writing loanwords from other languages, such as the French 'cliché' or the Spanish 'piñata'. However, foreign language loanwords sometimes drop their diacritical marks when written in English, such as the French 'hôtel', which becomes 'hotel' in English.
Some other examples of diacritics include the macron (-), which is placed over a vowel to indicate that it is long, and the breve (˘), which indicates that a vowel is short.
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They are placed over, under, or through a letter
Diacritics are marks placed over, under, or through a letter in some languages to indicate that the letter should be pronounced in a particular way. They are also known as diacritical marks, diacritical points, diacritical signs, or accents.
The main use of diacritics in Latin script is to change the sound-values of the letters to which they are added. For example, the acute accent (`) generally indicates a stressed syllable or raised pitch, while the grave accent (`) often indicates an unstressed syllable or a lower inflection. The circumflex (ˆ) is used to mark length, contraction, or another particular pronunciation of a vowel. The tilde (~) indicates a blend of the sounds of 'n' and 'y' in Spanish and Portuguese, and nasality in Portuguese. The diaeresis (¨) indicates that a vowel is pronounced in a separate syllable. The macron (-) indicates that a vowel is long or that a syllable is stressed.
In English, diacritics are rarely used, except when writing loanwords from other languages, such as the French "cliché" or the Spanish "piñata". Even then, foreign language loanwords sometimes drop their diacritical marks when written in English, such as the French "hôtel" becoming "hotel". However, some words retain their diacritics in English, such as “naïve" and "Zoë", where the diaeresis indicates that the vowels are pronounced separately. The acute accent is also sometimes used in English to indicate that a final "e" is not silent, as in "résumé" and "saké".
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They are used in many languages, including French, German, and Spanish
Diacritics are used in many languages, including French, German, and Spanish. In French, diacritics are used to change the sound values of the letters they are added to. For example, the acute, grave, circumflex, and diaeresis accents are used to indicate different vowel pronunciations. The absence of these accents can lead to mispronunciation, so the Académie emphasizes the importance of systematically using diacritics on capital letters. French also uses the ligatures æ and œ, which are treated like the sequences ae and oe, respectively, for collation.
In German, the umlaut diacritic is placed over vowels to indicate a change in pronunciation, such as the "e" in "Mädchen" being pronounced differently from the "e" in "Madel." The exact shape of the umlaut is not important, and it can be written as dots, acute accents, or vertical bars. German also uses the Eszett or scharfes S (ß) to represent the "s" sound.
In Spanish, diacritics are occasionally used to distinguish between words that sound the same, such as "tú" and "tu." Accents are also used to differentiate between demonstrative pronouns and determiners, such as "éste" and "este." Additionally, accent marks are added or removed in the plural forms of some nouns and adjectives, and when pronominal suffixes are added to verbs.
Diacritics are also used in other languages, such as Malay, Maltese, and Turkish, to represent different sounds or distinguish between letters.
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English rarely uses diacritics, except in loanwords from other languages
Diacritics are marks placed over, under, or through a letter to indicate that it should be pronounced in a particular way. They are also known as diacritical marks, diacritical points, diacritical signs, or accents. English rarely uses diacritics, except in loanwords from other languages. This is because English orthography tends to use digraphs (like "sh", "oo", and "ea") instead of diacritics to indicate more sounds than the Latin alphabet can accommodate.
Loanwords enter the English language from foreign languages through a process of naturalisation or anglicisation. During this process, accents and other diacritics are often dropped. For example, the French words "hôtel" and "rôle" become "hotel" and "role" in English, respectively. Similarly, the French word "à propos" loses its accent and space, becoming "apropos" in English. Some imported words can be found in both their accented and unaccented versions, with modern dictionaries increasingly listing the unaccented forms.
English does have one native diacritic: the two dots representing a vowel hiatus. Its usage has declined, except in certain publications and particular cases. For example, the diaeresis (or "tréma") can be used to mark the second of two vowels in a hiatus, indicating that they are pronounced separately, as in "coöperative", "daïs", and "reëlect". However, its use has become less common, sometimes being replaced by a hyphen. The diaeresis mark is also rarely used over a single vowel, as in "Brontë", to show separate pronunciation.
English words with diacritics are typically borrowings from other languages, such as the French "cliché" or the Spanish "piñata". These loanwords sometimes retain their diacritics in English, like the tilde in "piñata", but they are often dropped during anglicisation, as in "hotel". In poetry and lyrics, diacritics like the acute and grave accents may be used to indicate stress or nonstandard pronunciation, as in "caléndar" or "warnèd".
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Diacritics can also be used to separate words or indicate stressed syllables
Diacritics are marks placed over, under, or through a letter in some languages to indicate a particular pronunciation. They are also called diacritical marks or accents. The main use of diacritics in Latin script is to change the sound values of the letters to which they are added.
In English, diacritics are rarely used, except when writing loanwords from other languages, such as the French "cliché" or the Spanish "piñata". Even then, foreign language loanwords sometimes drop their diacritical marks when written in English, like the French "hôtel", which becomes "hotel" in English.
However, there are a few instances where diacritics are used to separate words or indicate stressed syllables. One example is the diaeresis (¨), which is occasionally used in English to show that a vowel is to be pronounced separately. This can be seen in the name "Zoë", where the dots indicate that the "o" and "e" are pronounced as separate vowels. Another example is the acute accent (´), which generally indicates a stressed syllable or raised pitch. In the French word "exposé", the acute accent on the "e" indicates that it is pronounced as a long "a", distinguishing it from the word "expose".
In poetry, the grave accent (`), can indicate a falling inflection or a final syllable that is to be pronounced separately in words ending in '-ed'. For example, in the words "learnèd" and "agèd", the grave accent shows that each word is pronounced as two syllables, "learn-ed" and "age-ed", respectively.
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Frequently asked questions
A diacritic is a mark that is placed over, under, or through a letter in some languages to indicate that the letter should be pronounced in a particular way.
Some examples of diacritics include the acute accent (`́`), grave accent (`) and circumflex (ˆ) (all shown above an 'o').
English rarely uses diacritics. When writing in English, diacritics are usually only used when writing loanwords from other languages, such as the French "cliché" or the Spanish "piñata".
One example of an English word that uses a diacritic is "coöperate", which uses a diaeresis diacritic. Another example is "résumé", which uses an acute accent to indicate that the final "e" is not silent.
English is not commonly written with diacritics because it is a language with many exceptions to spelling rules and dialectical variations in pronunciation. The use of diacritics is more typical of languages with one dominant and centrally regulated prestige dialect.
