Cedilha

The cedilha (ç) is a diacritical mark used in several Latin-based writing systems, most notably in French, Portuguese, and Catalan. It consists of a c-shaped symbol placed underneath the letter "c" to modify its pronunciation.

In French, the cedilla is used exclusively with the letter "c" before the vowels "a", "o", and "u" to indicate a soft "s" sound rather than the typical hard "k" sound. For example, the word "français" is pronounced with an "s" sound where the cedilla appears. This distinguishes it from words like "francais" which would be pronounced with a "k" sound.

Portuguese employs the cedilla more extensively, using it in both native words and loanwords to represent the same soft "s" sound before back vowels. Common examples include "país" (country) and "açúcar" (sugar). The cedilla helps maintain consistent pronunciation rules within the language's phonetic system.

The cedilla originated from the Latin letter "z" and evolved through medieval scribal abbreviations. Its name derives from the Old Spanish "çeda", which itself comes from the Arabic "sad" through Andalusian Arabic influence. The symbol represents a historical bridge between different writing traditions and linguistic influences.

In modern digital typography, the cedilla is encoded in Unicode and can be typed using various keyboard layouts and input methods. It remains an essential component of proper spelling and pronunciation in languages that employ it, serving as more than mere decoration but as a functional element of orthographic accuracy.

The cedilla should not be confused with other similar-looking diacritics such as the cursive or the comma diacritic used in some Eastern European languages, which serve different phonetic purposes.