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Definitions from WordNet
Noun diacritic has 1 sense
- diacritical mark, diacritic - a mark added to a letter to indicate a special pronunciation
--1 is a kind of mark
--1 has particulars:
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Definitions from the Web
Diacritics
Definition:
Diacritics are marks or signs added to letters or symbols in writing systems to indicate various phonetic or linguistic features, such as stress, tone, pronunciation, or to distinguish homographs.
Senses and Usages:
- 1. Linguistic Sense: In linguistics, diacritics are used to indicate the phonetic or phonemic qualities of a specific sound or the pronunciation of a letter.
- 2. Orthographic Sense: In orthography, diacritics are employed to differentiate letters with similar shapes or sounds. They can indicate stress, length, or even completely change the meaning of a word.
Examples:
Linguistic:
- The diacritics on the vowels of French words indicate their pronunciation.
- In Vietnamese, diacritics modify the tones of syllables, altering their meaning.
Orthographic:
- The word "naīve" contains diacritics to indicate the pronunciation of the two vowels.
- The Spanish word "jalapeņo" uses a diacritic to denote stress on the final syllable.
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