diacriticising

Diacriticising is the process of adding diacritical marks to letters in written language. These marks, such as accents, umlauts, and cedillas, can alter the pronunciation, meaning, or grammatical function of a word. For example, the French word "français" uses a cedilla under the "c" to indicate an "s" sound, distinguishing it from "franca" which would be pronounced with a hard "k" sound. Similarly, in Spanish, the tilde over the "ñ" signifies a distinct palatal nasal sound.

The use of diacritics is common in many languages to represent sounds that do not exist in the basic Latin alphabet or to differentiate between homophones. In English, while less prevalent, diacritics sometimes appear in loanwords, such as "résumé" or "naïve," to preserve original pronunciation. The systematic application of these marks is crucial for accurate reading and comprehension in languages that employ them. Proper diacriticising ensures that words are understood as intended and avoids potential misinterpretations. The creation and maintenance of these marks are part of the orthographic conventions of a given language.