Diacritic of the Latin alphabet

The Latin alphabet knew, initially in the western world then after the various periods of colonization, everywhere in the world, a considerable geographical extension: throughout its history, it was preserved or borrowed by many people which were used for themselves about it to note their language. In the beginning intended for the language of the Romans, whom it already did not transcribe very accurately, its reduced number of letters showed the limits of them: the languages using it had, to extend the possibilities of a more faithful transcription, either to work new letters, or to create new units by means of several signs (as the Digramme S) or, finally, to modify existing letters by means of Diacritique S .

The signs obtained can be regarded as new graphèmes (they are in this case included in the alphabet of the language), or as of the alternatives of the fundamental graphème which carries them (they are then not indexed in the alphabet). This distinction is very important for the Alphabetical classification of the words of a dictionary, for example. Thus, in Castilian, the diacritée letter ñ ( N tilde) is regarded as an independent letter, classified following N , while in French none diacritées alternatives of E (are E , E , E and E ) is classified differently than if it did not carry any diacritic. In Castilian, always, á , E , í , ó , and ú is however not regarded graphèmes but as alternatives.

The International Phonetic Alphabet makes great use of diacritic; those which are clean for him will be also treated in this series of articles. Lastly, the Diacritiques used in French are the subject of additional articles.

Introduction

The use of diacritic proved very fertile and the movement accelerated at the XVIIIe century when it was a question of rigorously forwarding texts or statements of remote languages which one discovered: the transcriptions and transliterations in Latin letters, i.e. the romanisation, required the use of big number of diacritic. It would indeed not be easy to read a transcription in which certain letters would be invented. The various phonetic alphabets, resulting from new research in Phonetic and Phonology, them also had recourse to this process to extend their number of characters. Knowing, finally, that many languages are not written or recently, it is now almost exclusively in wide Latin alphabet that they are noted by the linguists, by means of tools like the International Phonetic Alphabet. The Alphabet side-Nigerian is in this respect representative.

Apex and I long Latin

In the first times of the Latin alphabet, there existed so to speak any Ponctuation (if one excludes the sporadic use of the median Point Séparateur from words), no diacritic. It is however as of the end of the 2nd century before the Christian era that first diacritic appears, known as apex (in Latin: “point”), which is not systematic use, far from it, nor always used with “good” knowledge, if its role is clearly to show the presence of long vowels. It is rather current under the Empire. The apex, which resembles a Acute accent, is however not placed on the letter I which, it, is traced larger than the normal. To note that the apex is slightly shifted on the line of the vowel which carries it and which the I long exceeds in height but does not go down under the base line.

In the images above, one reads:

CORVINUS and SILANUS (on the left);
FÉCIT (in the center);
RÓMVLVS·MÁRTIS·FILIVS·VRBEM·RÓMAM (on the right; to note the separating median points).

In the didactic works, one marks the long quantity of the Latin vowels by means of the Macron, sign invented by the Greek grammairiens: one would have in this case Corvīnus , fēcit , Rōmulus Mārtis fīlius Urbem Rōman .

The apex and the I long bring important information on the Latin Phonologie: indeed, in addition to by the knowledge of the Phonétique history of this language, it is very often by the Scansion of the Latin towards that one knows the vocalic quantities of the words. However, the scansion reveals only the quantity of the Syllabe S: for metric Latin, /mar/, in Martis , is a syllable long (because closed) whatever the quantity of /a/. The apex on the letter has states here that the long syllable is made up of a long vowel.

Abbreviatory signs and leading articles become of the diacritic ones

The apex and the I long were not sufficiently spread to be last in the posterior uses and are limited to only Latin (if one excludes Czech, who nowadays still uses the apex). What, on the other hand, became important extensive since the beginnings of the Latin alphabet, they are the marks indicating of the Abréviation S present in epigraphy then, and especially, in the Manuscrit S.

At the beginning, the signs and processes used to announce such abbreviations are certainly not the diacritic ones with the real direction of the term but, changing function with the passing of years, they could thereafter (generally with the Middle Ages) become it, the scribes being more and more often confronted with the problem of the notation of their native language by an alphabet which lends itself to it badly. Indeed, the Latin language, after the fall of the Roman Empire, had ceased being - so to speak - the only one which was écrite.

Among the re-used abbreviatory signs, one counts the titulus (“title”; the word became Tilde ), feature superscribed (become then a corrugated feature) used to indicate that a letter, generally a Nasale, was omitted for reasons of saving of space (or of material). For example, ass (m) could be written an̅u in the Spanish manuscripts to become finally año , “year”, in Castillan, since /nn/ Latin passed to/ɲ/(of gn one ) in this language.

Superscribed or subscribed letters are also used in a diacritic function; it is the case of the Z which, initially placed after a C to announce that it was to decide /ts/ (now /s/) in front of vowels as has , O and U , was finally written below the C . This Z subscribes, named zedilla in Castilian, that is to say “small Z ”, became our Cédille (diacritic cf also Lettre ). There however was, before the cedilla, diacritic graphically near (or close to a Ogonek ) attested as of the 6th century in Onciale under the E , then said E caudata (“ E equipped with a tail”), replacing sometimes the Digramme ae (written æ sometimes, habit which extended thereafter) being used to generally note an open/ɛ/. It is notable that this letter, that one can represent here by ę (with a ogonek) or ȩ (with a cedilla), was preserved in the Transcription of the novelists whereas it is the digraph ae (now presented in the dependant æ and named form Ash ) which was it in the Transcription of the Germanic languages (knowing that ę was also used in the English manuscripts old of the uncial islander).

Lastly, of the more general leading symbols (being used to indicate errors of the Copyist, for example) also could reach the statute the diacritic ones; the case arises with the punctum delens (“not erasing”), very frequent in the Irish manuscripts, which announces that the letter carrying it is an error and does not have to be made hear. By extension, it announces then the dumb letters resulting from a Consonant shift then all the consonant shifts; thus in Gaelic Mo ḟele , “my incantation”, Mo ċú , “my dog” (currently written Mo fhele , Mo chú ). To consult not superscribed for more details.

Some of these signs gave typographical symbols, like the Croisillon (#), old NR overcome by a Titulus , abbreviation for numerus , “number”.

List the diacritic ones

Superscribed

The diacritic ones superscribed are placed above the letter which they modify:

ó: Acute accent
ő: Double acute accent
ô: Circumflex accent
ò: Grave accent
ȍ: Double grave accent
ŏ: Short
ȏ: Short reversed
ỏ: Hook as a chief
ƈ: Stick
ǒ: háček or Charon
o̩: vertical Line (see also the article on the apostrophizes)
ō: Macron or superscribed Line
ȯ: Not as a chief (see also the not in Punctuation)
o̊: Round as a chief, or kroužek according to the Czech term
õ: Tilde
ö: Dieresis or, improperly, Umlaut
o̐: Chandrabindu: (note a type of Nasalisation suitable for the Sanskrit; one meets it in the transcription of the syllable ॐ Om̐ , for example).

Subscribed

The diacritic ones subscribed are placed below the letter which they modify:

o̧: Cedilla
ọ: not subscribed
ǫ: Ogonek
o̡: palatal Hook
o̢: Hook rétroflexe
ɕ: subscribed Loop
o̰: Tilde subscribes
o̭: Circumflex accent subscribes
o̱: subscribed Line
o̦: subscribed Comma
o̮: Short subscribed
o̯: Short reversed subscribed
o̩: subscribed vertical Line
o̥: Rond subscribes

Adscript

The diacritic adscript ones are placed on the side of the letter which they modify:

lʼ: apostrophizes (to replace the háček in certain cases);
ơ: horn
o˞: Hook rhotic
ŀ: Not median

Registered voters

The diacritic registered voters are placed through the letter which they modify:

ɵ: registered Bar
ø: Barre obliques
o⃥: Against-bars oblique
ɫ: Tilde registered
ɬ: registered Strap

Summary table

The following table draws up a list of the combinations of Latin letters and the diacritic ones actually used in the languages using a derivative of the Latin alphabet.