Diacritics

Diacritics are marks added above or below a letter (or sometimes within or between letters). In the Roman alphabet, they are basically used to indicate a modification in the pronunciation of the letter in question.

Although some languages make use of a large number of such marks, in those often used within our contexts, the most common diacritics are the so-called grave (`) or acute (´) accents, the cedilla (¸), the umlaut/diaeresis (¨), the tilde (˜) and the circumflex (ˆ).

Unlike some other European languages, which make use of a large number of diacritics, modern English does not have any. However, some borrowed words may be written in English with their original non-English diacritic. The most common are the grave (`) or acute (´) accents, the cedilla (¸), the umlaut/diaeresis (¨), the tilde (˜) and the circumflex (ˆ), but they rarely affect pronunciation (for exceptional cases, see Ambiguity below). Overall, borrowed words tend to lose their diacritics over time because of processes of simplification and assimilation, and the fact that diacritics are not easily typed on an English keyboard.

  • Ambiguity

    Use diacritics when their absence could result in ambiguity. For example, exposé, resumé and rosé, when unaccented, look like different words (in this case, expose, resume and rose, respectively). In many cases, when there is no possible ambiguity, you do not need to use the original diacritic (for example, facade, deja-vu or doppelganger). In other cases, however, assimilated foreign words, including some borrowed from French (for example, attaché, communiqué and soufflé) and, increasingly, from Spanish (jalapeño and piñata), often keep the original diacritic.

  • Names

    With names in other languages, use all the diacritics correctly and consistently, or use none at all.
    Therefore,

    Exemple adequatPlease contact Dr González Martí, assistant rector for Communication, for further information.

    Exemple adequatThe plenary talk was given by Professor Johan Lübeck, a specialist in medieval German manuscripts.


    or

    Exemple adequatPlease contact Dr Gonzalez Marti, assistant rector for Communication, for further information.

    Exemple adequatThe plenary talk was given by Professor Johan Lubeck, a specialist in medieval German manuscripts.


  • Other words

    When an English text uses foreign words or phrases that are not names but that have a diacritic in the original language, you should either keep all such marks or else use none at all. Be consistent. If you decide to use them, remember that they should also be used on capital letters.

    Exemple adequatThe Concept of Égalité in the Recognition of Non-EU Degrees in France: A Critical Analysis
Darrera actualització: 5-9-2023
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Recommended citation:
«Diacritics» [en línia]. A: Llibre d’estil de la Universitat de Barcelona. Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona. Serveis Lingüístics. <https://www.ub.edu/llibre-estil/criteri.php?id=2243> [consulta: 28 març 2024].
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