Natlang Uses of Diacritics in the Latin Alphabet

This page will list different uses of diacritical marks that have natlang precedence. Conlangers can use this to find inspiration for their own conlang romanizations.

Caron

Caron is also known as háček.

Uses of Caron

Usage	Language	Letters	Origin	Notes
Postalveolar consonant	Latgalian, Latvian	Čč /tʃ/, Šš /ʃ/, Žž /ʒ/
	Livonian	Šš /ʃ/, Žž /ʒ/

Cedilla

Precomposed Letters with Cedilla

Ç

ç

Ḉ

ḉ

Ḑ

ḑ

Ȩ

ȩ

Ḝ

ḝ

Ģ

ģ

Ḩ

U+00C7

U+00E7

U+1E08

U+1E09

U+1E10

U+1E11

U+0228

U+0229

U+1E1C

U+1E1D

U+0122

U+0123

U+1E28

Latin Capital Letter C With Cedilla

Latin Small Letter C With Cedilla

Latin Capital Letter C With Cedilla And Acute

Latin Small Letter C With Cedilla And Acute

Latin Capital Letter D With Cedilla

Latin Small Letter D With Cedilla

Latin Capital Letter E With Cedilla

Latin Small Letter E With Cedilla

Latin Capital Letter E With Cedilla And Breve

Latin Small Letter E With Cedilla And Breve

Latin Capital Letter G With Cedilla

Latin Small Letter G With Cedilla

Latin Capital Letter H With Cedilla

​

Note: The diacritic is placed on top of the letter to avoid the descender of the g.

ḩ

Ķ

ķ

Ļ

ļ

Ņ

ņ

Ŗ

ŗ

Ş

ş

Ţ

ţ

U+1E29

U+0136

U+0137

U+013B

U+013C

U+0145

U+0146

U+0156

U+0157

U+015E

U+015F

U+0162

U+0163

Latin Small Letter H With Cedilla

Latin Capital Letter K With Cedilla

Latin Small Letter K With Cedilla

Latin Capital Letter L With Cedilla

Latin Small Letter L With Cedilla

Latin Capital Letter N With Cedilla

Latin Small Letter N With Cedilla

Latin Capital Letter R With Cedilla

Latin Small Letter R With Cedilla

Latin Capital Letter S With Cedilla

Latin Small Letter S With Cedilla

Latin Capital Letter T With Cedilla

Latin Small Letter T With Cedilla

Uses of Cedilla

Usage	Language	Letters	Origin	Notes
Palatal consonant	Latgalian, Latvian	Ģģ /ɟ/, Ķķ /c/, Ļļ /ʎ/, Ņņ /ɲ/
	Livonian	Ḑḑ /ɟ/, Ļļ /ʎ/, Ņņ /ɲ/, Ţţ /c/
Palatalized consonant	Livonian	Ŗŗ /rʲ/

Diaeresis/Umlaut

Precomposed Letters with Diaeresis/Umlaut

Ä

ä

Ǟ

ǟ

Ë

ë

Ḧ

ḧ

Ï

ï

Ḯ

ḯ

Ö

U+00C4

U+00E4

U+01DE

U+01DF

U+00CB

U+00EB

U+1E26

U+1E27

U+00CF

​ U+00EF

U+1E2E

U+1E2F

U+00D6

Latin Capital Letter A With Diaeresis

Latin Small Letter A With Diaeresis

Latin Capital Letter A With Diaeresis And Macron

Latin Small Letter A With Diaeresis And Macron

Latin Capital Letter E With Diaeresis

Latin Small Letter E With Diaeresis

Latin Capital Letter H With Diaeresis

Latin Small Letter H With Diaeresis

Latin Capital Letter I With Diaeresis

Latin Small Letter I With Diaeresis

Latin Capital Letter I With Diaeresis And Acute

Latin Small Letter I With Diaeresis And Acute

​ Latin Capital Letter O With Diaeresis

ö

Ȫ

ȫ

Ṏ

ṏ

ẗ

Ü

ü

Ǖ

ǖ

Ǘ

ǘ

Ǚ

U+00F6

​ U+022A

U+022B

U+1E4E

U+1E4F

U+1E97

U+00DC

​ U+00FC

U+01D5

U+01D6

U+01D7

U+01D8

U+01D9

Latin Small Letter O With Diaeresis

​ Latin Capital Letter O With Diaeresis And Macron

Latin Small Letter O With Diaeresis And Macron

Latin Capital Letter O With Tilde And Diaeresis

Latin Small Letter O With Tilde And Diaeresis

Latin Small Letter T With Diaeresis

Latin Capital Letter U With Diaeresis

Latin Small Letter U With Diaeresis

Latin Capital Letter U With Diaeresis And Macron

Latin Small Letter U With Diaeresis And Macron

​ Latin Capital Letter U With Diaeresis And Acute

Latin Small Letter U With Diaeresis And Acute

Latin Capital Letter U With Diaeresis And Caron

ǚ

Ǜ

ǜ

Ṻ

ṻ

Ẅ

ẅ

Ẍ

ẍ

Ÿ

ÿ

U+01DA

U+01DB

U+01DC

U+1E7A

U+1E7B

U+1E84

U+1E85

U+1E8C

U+1E8D

U+0178

U+00FF

Latin Small Letter U With Diaeresis And Caron

Latin Capital Letter U With Diaeresis And Grave

Latin Small Letter U With Diaeresis And Grave

Latin Capital Letter U With Macron And Diaeresis

Latin Small Letter U With Macron And Diaeresis

Latin Capital Letter W With Diaeresis

Latin Small Letter W With Diaeresis

Latin Capital Letter X With Diaeresis

Latin Small Letter X With Diaeresis

Latin Capital Letter Y With Diaeresis

Latin Small Letter Y With Diaeresis

Diaeresis (known as tréma in French) and umlaut both employ the same character: ¨ (U+00A8 for the non-combining form, U+0308 for the combining). But there is a difference of use between diaeresis and umlaut. Letters with umlaut stand for completely different sounds than their non-accented counterparts. For example in Swedish <o> represents /u/ while <ö> represents /ø/. Diaeresis on the other does not change the sound value of a letter, but instead marks that a vowel is not part of a diphthong or digraph.

Uses of Diaeresis or Umlaut

Usage	Language	Letters	Origin	Notes
Front version of back vowel	Finnish	Ää /æ/, Öö /ø/	From Swedish.
	Livonian	Ää /æ/
	Swedish	Ää /ɛ/, Öö /ø/	The umlaut evolved from the letter e in the digraphs ae[1] and oe[2].
Syllable break. When two vowel follow each other, a diaeresis on the second vowel indicates that the vowels are in two different syllables instead of forming a diphthong.	French	Ëë, Ïï, Üü, Ÿÿ

Ring Above

Precomposed Letter with Ring Above

Å	å	Ǻ	ǻ	Ů	ů	ẘ	ẙ
U+00C5	U+00E5	U+01FA	U+01FB	U+016E	U+016F	U+1E98	U+1E99
Latin Capital Letter A With Ring Above	Latin Small Letter A With Ring Above	Latin Capital Letter A With Ring Above And Acute	Latin Small Letter A With Ring Above And Acute	Latin Capital Letter U With Ring Above	Latin Small Letter U With Ring Above	Latin Small Letter W With Ring Above	Latin Small Letter Y With Ring Above
Note: May be confused with the Ångström sign Å (U+212B).

The non-combining form of ˚ is U+02DA and the combining form is U+030A.

Uses of Ring Above

Use	Language	Letters	Origin	Notes
Back version of front vowel. Often rounded.	Chamorro	Åå /ɑ/
	Danish, Norwegian	Åå /ɔ/	From an earlier digraph aa representing /ɔ/, which in turn came from /aː/.[3]
	Swedish	Åå /o/	From an earlier digraph aa representing /ɔ/, which in turn came from /aː/.[4]