laccento

Laccento, or l’accento in Italian, refers to two related concepts in language and writing. In everyday speech, it denotes the stressed syllable of a word—the syllable that carries extra prominence when the word is spoken. In writing, it designates diacritical marks placed over vowels to indicate stress or certain vowel qualities, especially in loanwords or in words that require disambiguation.

Etymology and scope. The term derives from Latin accentus, from ad cantum “toward singing.” In Italian grammars, l’accento is discussed as both a phonological feature of pronunciation and as a set of orthographic marks used to guide readers about pronunciation, meaning, or both. The distinction between prosodic accent (speech) and orthographic accent (writing) is central to understanding how accents function in Italian and related languages.

Prosodic accent. In Italian, the location of the primary stress can vary by word and dialect. Stress patterns influence intelligibility and meaning in some forms, and dialectal variation can shift accents. While many words follow standard stress rules, others exhibit nonpredictable stress and may appear with diacritical marks in dictionaries to clarify pronunciation.

Orthographic marks. The main diacritics used in Italian are the grave accent (à, è, ì, ò, ù) and, less commonly, the occasional acute accent in loanwords or proper names. Common examples include è in caffè or è in perché, à in città or là, and ì in lì. These marks can indicate vowel quality, vowel timbre, or, crucially, stress placement to avoid ambiguity.

Technology and typography. In digital text, l’accento is encoded in Unicode. Input methods and fonts must support diacritical marks to preserve correct pronunciation and meaning in Italian writing.