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Diacritics, often referred to as accents, are marks added to letters in written language to indicate specific pronunciation, distinguish between words, or denote other linguistic features. These marks are not part of the standard alphabet but serve to modify the sound or meaning of the base letter.

Common diacritics include the acute accent (´), grave accent (`), circumflex accent (^), umlaut or diaeresis (¨), and tilde (~). The acute accent, for example, typically indicates a raised pitch or stress on a syllable in languages like Spanish or French. The grave accent can denote a falling pitch or, in some languages, a different vowel sound. The circumflex often signifies a vowel that was historically followed by an 's' or a different vowel quality. The umlaut indicates a change in vowel sound, often a fronting or rounding, as seen in German. The tilde can represent nasalization in Portuguese or a palatalized 'n' sound in Spanish (ñ).

Diacritics are crucial for the correct reading and understanding of many languages, including French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and many others. Their absence can lead to mispronunciation, ambiguity, or even entirely different words. While English has largely forgone the systematic use of diacritics, loanwords from other languages often retain their original accents, such as in "café" or "naïve". The use of diacritics is a fundamental aspect of orthography for a significant portion of the world's written languages.