ühemärgised

Ühemärgised is a term used in Estonian linguistics and orthography to describe diacritic marks that are placed on letters to modify their pronunciation or meaning. The marks include the diaeresis on letters such as ä, ö, and ü, and the tilde on õ. These letters are treated as distinct phonemes and as full letters within the Estonian alphabet.

In standard Estonian writing, ühemärgised serve to distinguish otherwise similar sounds and to differentiate words that would be otherwise identical. They are essential for correct spelling, grammar, and meaning, and their presence or absence can change a word’s pronunciation and identity. The marks occur in native words as well as in loanwords and proper nouns.

From a typographic and computational perspective, ühemärgised are represented in Unicode as both precomposed characters (for example ä, ö, ü, õ) and as base letters with combining diacritical marks. Proper display and input require fonts and keyboard layouts that support these marks. Estonian orthography standardizes the use of these letters in education, publishing, and digital media, reflecting their role in the written language and its phonemic system.