A diacritical mark is a symbol added to a letter to alter its pronunciation, indicate a different phonetic quality, or distinguish between words that would otherwise be spelled the same. Diacritical marks can indicate various sounds, stress, tone, or intonation in different languages. For example:
- The acute accent (é) can indicate a specific vowel sound in French.
- The umlaut (ö) alters the sound of the vowel in German.
- The tilde (ñ) in Spanish denotes a distinct nasal sound.
- The circumflex (ê) can indicate a change in vowel length or quality in languages such as French.
Diacritical marks are essential in many languages for accurate pronunciation and meaning.