Proper nouns are another class of words that sometimes appear in English texts with diacritics. A number of different approaches are acceptable as long as writers make sure that each word is spelled consistently throughout a text and that their chosen spelling is permitted by a reputable dictionary. Since each case can be viewed differently in terms of how well established the word is in English and how useful its diacritics are, it would be unusual for any writer to either use diacritics at every opportunity or reject them completely. However, different style guides have different opinions on whether they should be retained in borderline cases such as café and façade. This haphazard application of diacritics stems from a misunderstanding of the symbols in question and is widely discouraged. Many job advertisements will ask candidates to send in a resumé, but the French word résumé includes two acute accents ( resume, which drops the accents entirely, is also an acceptable form in English). Many a café in the English-speaking world offers its customers a latté, but the Italian word from which it derives, latte, is accent-free. This awareness may be another reason why diacritics are retained in certain words, but it can also cause them to be used incorrectly or inconsistently. They know that the acute accent in café means the final e is not silent (IPA: ), and that the cedilla in façade denotes a soft c (IPA: ). Although these words have a long history in English, most people are aware of their French origins, which may explain why their diacritics often persist.Īdditionally, most English speakers have some knowledge of how the diacritics in these words work. Meanwhile, a number of other French-derived words frequently occur both with and without diacritics, for example café/ cafe, façade/ facade and naïve/ naive. English speakers are more likely to omit the diacritics from words they consider to have become part of their language, which is why they are no longer found in such words as hotel, role and elite-from the French words hôtel, rôle and élite. Words and expressions that are less well established in English, such as piñata (from Spanish), raison d’être (from French) and açai (from Portuguese), generally include their original diacritics. *The Spanish character eñe ( ñ) is considered a letter in its own right, while the ˜ symbol in other contexts is a diacritic known as a tilde. These borrowings sometimes come with diacritics, including the following common symbols: Many languages make extensive use of diacritics, and English has absorbed a steady stream of foreign words and expressions throughout its development, particularly from French. But is this acceptable practice? If not, can we at least dispense with some of them? Read on to find out. The term accent specifically refers to a subclass of some of the more common diacritics.īecause they are uncommon and may be difficult to enter using a standard English keyboard, writers might be tempted to omit them. Although many people call them accents, the correct name for these symbols is diacritic mark or simply diacritic. The reason for this is no mystery they have never been a prominent part of the English writing system, unlike most languages that use a Latin script. To many speakers of English, there is something distinctly foreign about those small symbols that accompany letters in words like piñata, café, and many more.