Natlang Uses of Diacritics in the Latin Alphabet

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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.

Note that in this article combining diacritics are attached to a ◌. Diacritics without a ◌, like ¨ for example, are non-combining. Non-combining diacritics are sometimes called modifier letters in Unicode.

Caron

Precomposed Letters with Caron
ˇ ◌̌ Ǎ ǎ Č č Ď ď DŽ Dž dž Ě ě
U+02C7 U+030C U+01CD U+01CD U+010C U+010D U+010E U+010F U+01C4 U+01C5 U+01C6 U+011A U+011B
Caron Combining Caron Latin Letter Capital A With Caron Latin Letter Small A With Caron Latin Capital Letter C With Caron Latin Small Letter C With Caron Latin Capital Letter D With Caron Latin Small Letter D With Caron Latin Capital Letter Dz With Caron Latin Capital Letter D With Small Letter Z With Caron Latin Small Letter Dz With Caron Latin Capital Letter E With Caron Latin Small Letter E With Caron
Note: May be confused with Modifier Letter Down Arrowhead ˅ (U+02C5). Note: The caron looks actually like an apostrophe placed to the right of the ascender of the d.
Ǧ ǧ Ȟ ȟ Ǐ ǐ ǰ Ǩ ǩ Ľ ľ Ň ň
U+01E6 U+01E7 U+021E U+021F U+01CF U+01D0 U+01F0 ​ U+01E8 U+01E9 U+013D U+013E U+0147 U+0148
Latin Capital Letter G With Caron Latin Small Letter G With Caron Latin Capital Letter H With Caron Latin Small Letter H With Caron Latin Capital Letter I With Caron Latin Small Letter I With Caron Latin Small Letter J With Caron Latin Capital Letter K With Caron Latin Small Letter K With Caron Latin Capital Letter L With Caron Latin Small Letter L With Caron Latin Capital Letter N With Caron Latin Small Letter N With Caron
Note: The caron looks actually like an apostrophe placed to the right of the ascender of the Ll.
Ǒ ǒ Ř ř Š š Ṧ ṧ Ť ť Ǔ ǔ Ǚ
U+01D1 U+01D2 U+0158 U+0159 U+0160 U+0161 U+1E66 U+1E67 U+0164 U+0165 U+01D3 U+01D4 U+01D9
Latin Capital Letter O With Caron Latin Small Letter O With Caron Latin Capital Letter R With Caron Latin Small Letter R With Caron Latin Capital Letter S With Caron Latin Small Letter S With Caron Latin Capital Letter S With Caron And Dot Above Latin Small Letter S With Caron And Dot Above Latin Capital Letter T With Caron Latin Small Letter T With Caron Latin Capital Letter U With Caron Latin Small Letter U With Caron Latin Capital Letter U With Diaeresis And Caron
Note: The caron looks actually like an apostrophe placed to the right of the ascender of the t.
ǚ Ž ž Ǯ ǯ
U+01DA U+017D U+017E U+01EE U+01EF
Latin Small Letter U With Diaeresis And Caron Latin Capital Letter Z With Caron Latin Small Letter Z With Caron Latin Capital Letter Ezh With Caron Latin Small Letter Ezh With Caron

Caron is also known as háček or haček. Note that the caron is easily confused with the similar looking Breve ˘, especially in small font sizes.

Uses of Caron
Usage Language Letters Notes
Postalveolar consonant Latgalian, Latvian Čč /tʃ/, Šš /ʃ/, Žž /ʒ/ Unaccented Cc stands for /ts/ in Latvian and Latgalian.
Livonian Šš /ʃ/, Žž /ʒ/

Cedilla

Precomposed Letters with Cedilla
¸ ◌̧ Ç ç Ḉ ḉ Ḑ ḑ Ȩ ȩ Ḝ ḝ Ģ
U+00B8 U+0327 U+00C7 U+00E7 U+1E08 U+1E09 U+1E10 U+1E11 U+0228 U+0229 U+1E1C U+1E1D U+0122
Cedilla Combining Cedilla 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
ģ Ḩ ḩ Ķ ķ Ļ ļ Ņ ņ Ŗ ŗ Ş ş
U+0123 U+1E28 U+1E29 U+0136 U+0137 U+013B U+013C U+0145 U+0146 U+0156 U+0157 U+015E U+015F
Latin Small Letter G With Cedilla Latin Capital Letter H With Cedilla 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
Note: The diacritic is placed on top of the letter to avoid the descender of the g. ​ Note: May be confused with Latin Capital Letter S With Comma Below Ș (U+0218). Note: May be confused with Latin Small Letter S With Comma Below ș (U+0219).
Ţ ţ
U+0162 U+0163
Latin Capital Letter T With Cedilla Latin Small Letter T With Cedilla
Note: May be confused with Latin Capital Letter T With Comma Below Ț (U+021A). Note: May be confused with Latin Small Letter T With Comma Below ț (U+021B).

Note that cedilla may be confused with Ogonek ˛ or Comma Below ◌̦. In some fonts, the cedilla together with some letters may look identical to the comma. In Romanian the letters Șș and Țț are actually supposed to have a comma below and not a cedilla, while in most other languages Şş and Ţţ are supposed to have cedillas.

Uses of Cedilla
Usage Language Letters 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
U+00A8 U+0308 U+00C4 U+00E4 U+01DE U+01DF U+00CB U+00EB U+1E26 U+1E27 U+00CF ​ U+00EF U+1E2E
Diaeresis Combining Diaeresis 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
ḯ Ö ö Ȫ ȫ Ṏ ṏ ẗ Ü ü Ǖ ǖ Ǘ
U+1E2F U+00D6 U+00F6 ​ U+022A U+022B U+1E4E U+1E4F U+1E97 U+00DC ​ U+00FC U+01D5 U+01D6 U+01D7
Latin Small Letter I With Diaeresis And Acute ​ Latin Capital Letter O With Diaeresis 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
ǘ Ǚ ǚ Ǜ ǜ Ṻ ṻ Ẅ ẅ Ẍ ẍ Ÿ ÿ
U+01D8 U+01D9 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 Acute Latin Capital Letter U With Diaeresis And Caron 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. 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 hand 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 Notes
Front version of back vowel Finnish Ää /æ/, Öö /ø/ Usage borrowed 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

Dot Above

Precomposed Letter with Dot Above
˙ ◌̇ Ȧ ȧ Ǡ ǡ Ḃ ḃ Ċ ċ Ḋ ḋ Ė
U+02D9 U+0307 U+0226 U+0227 U+01E0 U+01E1 U+1E02 U+1E03 U+010A U+010B U+1E0A U+1E0B U+0116
Dot Above Combining Dot Above Latin Capital Letter A With Dot Above Latin Small Letter A With Dot Above Latin Capital Letter A With Dot Above And Macron Latin Small Letter A With Dot Above And Macron Latin Capital Letter B With Dot Above Latin Small Letter B With Dot Above Latin Capital Letter C With Dot Above Latin Small Letter C With Dot Above Latin Capital Letter D With Dot Above Latin Small Letter D With Dot Above Latin Capital Letter E With Dot Above
ė Ḟ ḟ Ġ ġ Ḣ ḣ İ i Ṁ ṁ Ṅ ṅ
U+0117 U+1E1E U+1E1F U+0120 U+0121 U+1E22 U+1E23 U+0130 U+0069 ​ U+1E40 U+1E41 U+1E44 U+1E45
Latin Small Letter E With Dot Above Latin Capital Letter F With Dot Above Latin Small Letter F With Dot Above Latin Capital Letter G With Dot Above Latin Small Letter G With Dot Above Latin Capital Letter H With Dot Above Latin Small Letter H With Dot Above Latin Capital Letter I With Dot Above Latin Small Letter I Latin Capital Letter M With Dot Above Latin Small Letter M With Dot Above ​ Latin Capital Letter N With Dot Above Latin Small Letter N With Dot Above
Note: In most languages i is the lower case version of I, but in Turkish İ and i resp. I and ı go together. If Turkish case is used, you need to make sure that various software handles that correctly. For example dictionaries need to sort the letters in the right order.
Ȯ ȯ Ȱ ȱ Ṗ ṗ Ṙ ṙ Ṡ ṡ ẛ Ṥ ṥ
U+022E U+022F U+0230 U+0231 U+1E56 U+1E57 U+1E58 U+1E59 U+1E60 U+1E61 U+1E9B U+1E64 U+1E65
Latin Capital Letter O With Dot Above Latin Small Letter O With Dot Above Latin Capital Letter O With Dot Above And Macron Latin Small Letter O With Dot Above And Macron Latin Capital Letter P With Dot Above Latin Small Letter P With Dot Above Latin Capital Letter R With Dot Above Latin Small Letter R With Dot Above Latin Capital Letter S With Dot Above Latin Small Letter S With Dot Above Latin Small Letter Long S With Dot Above Latin Capital Letter S With Acute And Dot Above Latin Small Letter S With Acute And Dot Above
Ṧ ṧ Ṩ ṩ Ṫ ṫ Ẇ ẇ Ẋ ẋ Ẏ ẏ Ż
U+1E66 U+1E67 U+1E68 U+1E69 U+1E6A U+1E6B U+1E86 U+1E87 U+1E8A U+1E8B U+1E8E U+1E8F U+017B
Latin Capital Letter S With Caron And Dot Above Latin Small Letter S With Caron And Dot Above Latin Capital Letter S With Dot Below And Dot Above Latin Small Letter S With Dot Below And Dot Above Latin Capital Letter T With Dot Above Latin Small Letter T With Dot Above Latin Capital Letter W With Dot Above Latin Small Letter W With Dot Above Latin Capital Letter X With Dot Above Latin Small Letter X With Dot Above Latin Capital Letter Y With Dot Above Latin Small Letter Y With Dot Above Latin Capital Letter Z With Dot Above
ż
U+017C
Latin Small Letter Z With Dot Above
Uses of Dot Above
Use Language Letters Notes
Raised vowel Livonian Ȯȯ /ʊ/

Ring Above

Precomposed Letter with Ring Above
˚ ◌̊ Å å Ǻ ǻ Ů ů ẘ ẙ
U+02DA U+030A U+00C5 U+00E5 U+01FA U+01FB U+016E U+016F U+1E98 U+1E99
Ring Above Combining Ring Above 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 Degree Sign ° (U+00B0) Note: May be confused with the Ångström Sign Å (U+212B).
Uses of Ring Above
Use Language Letters Notes
Back version of front vowel. Often also 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]
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