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.
- 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
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.
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
¸ | ◌̧ | 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. | | ||||||||||||
Ţ | ţ | ||||||||||||
U+0162 | U+0163 | ||||||||||||
Latin Capital Letter T With Cedilla | Latin Small Letter T With 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
¨ | ◌̈ | 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.
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
˙ | ◌̇ | 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 |
Use | Language | Letters | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Raised vowel | Livonian | Ȯȯ /ʊ/ |
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). |
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] |