diacrítikumok

A diacritical mark, or diacritic, is a glyph added to a letter or symbol to alter its pronunciation, stress, or meaning. These marks are common in many alphabets and languages, serving various linguistic functions. For example, in French, the acute accent (é) changes the sound of the letter 'e', while the cedilla (ç) in Portuguese modifies the pronunciation of 'c' before certain vowels. Other common diacritics include the grave accent (à), circumflex (â), umlaut (ü), tilde (~), and macron (ā).

Diacritics can indicate vowel length, distinguish between homographs, or show tonal variations. In some languages, they are integral to the spelling and can change the word entirely if omitted. For instance, the difference between "no" and "nó" (meaning "no" and "knot" respectively) in Spanish is determined by the presence of the acute accent. The use and specific form of diacritics vary significantly across languages and writing systems. They are crucial for accurate reading and writing, ensuring that words are pronounced and understood correctly. Their inclusion in character sets, such as Unicode, has facilitated the digital representation of texts containing these specialized markings.