Diakrítik

Diakrítik is a term derived from Greek, meaning "through a mark" or "by a mark." It refers to diacritical marks, which are symbols added to letters to indicate pronunciation, stress, or other linguistic distinctions. These marks are crucial in various languages for accurate representation of words and their meanings. For example, in Greek, diakritik are used to distinguish between homophones, such as "η" (eta) and "η" with a tonos (ή), which indicates stress and changes the meaning of the word. In Hungarian, diakritik are essential for indicating vowel length and pronunciation. Similarly, in Vietnamese, diakritik help to distinguish between different tones, which are critical for word meaning. The use of diakritik varies across languages and scripts, but they all serve the common purpose of enhancing the precision and clarity of written language.