Diacritical

Diacritical marks, also known as diacritics, are symbols added to letters to alter their pronunciation or to distinguish between words. They are used in many written languages, including those that use the Latin alphabet, Cyrillic alphabet, Arabic alphabet, and others.

History

The term diacritical comes from the Greek word διακριτικός (diakritikos), meaning "distinguishing". The first known use of diacritical marks dates back to the Ancient Greek era, where they were used in the Hellenistic period to mark differences in pronunciation.

Types of Diacritical Marks

There are several types of diacritical marks, including:

• Acute accent (´): This mark is used in many languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, and French, to indicate stress or a change in vowel quality.

• Grave accent (`): Used in Italian and French to indicate a change in vowel quality.

• Circumflex (^): Used in French and Portuguese to indicate stress and vowel quality.

• Tilde (~): Used in Spanish and Portuguese to indicate nasalization.

• Cedilla (¸): Used in French and Portuguese to indicate a change in consonant quality.

• Umlaut (¨): Used in German to indicate a change in vowel quality.

Use in Different Languages

Diacritical marks are used in many languages to indicate various phonetic features. For example, in Spanish, the acute accent is used to indicate stress, while in French, it is used to indicate vowel quality. In German, the umlaut is used to indicate a change in vowel quality, while in Turkish, the cedilla is used to indicate a change in consonant quality.

Controversy

Despite their widespread use, diacritical marks have been the subject of controversy. Some argue that they are unnecessary and complicate the writing system, while others argue that they are essential for accurately representing the sounds of a language.

See Also

• Accent (diacritic)
• Diacritic
• List of Latin-script diacritics