Accent Mark Names: Every Mark Above and Below Letters, Explained

The marks added to letters are called diacritics (or diacritical marks). The most common ones are the acute ( ´ ), grave ( ` ), circumflex ( ˆ ), diaeresis or umlaut ( ¨ ), tilde ( ˜ ) and cedilla ( ¸ ), and a letter carrying one is called an accented letter or a letter with a diacritic.

Below you will find every mark you are likely to meet, what it looks like, which languages use it and its Unicode code. If you only need to type one, go straight to how to get an accent over a letter.

Accent vs diacritic: what the words mean

"Diacritic" comes from the Greek for "distinguishing". It covers any mark added to a letter to change its sound or meaning, whether it sits above, below or through the letter.

"Accent" is narrower in strict linguistic use. A true accent marks stress or pitch, as the acute does in Spanish canción. In everyday English, though, "accent" means any mark on a letter, and that is how most people search for it.

So both of these are correct:

• é is an accented letter (everyday term).
• é is a letter with a diacritic (technical term).

One trap for Spanish learners: in Spanish, tilde means the written accent mark in general, usually the acute in words like café. The wavy line on ñ is called virgulilla in careful usage, though most speakers say tilde for that too.

All accent mark names at a glance

The combining code is the separate Unicode mark that can sit on any letter. In practice you almost always want the ready-made (precomposed) letter, such as é at U+00E9, because it searches, sorts and displays more reliably.

The marks one by one

Acute accent ( ´ )

A short line slanting up to the right. In Spanish it marks the stressed syllable (canción, médico). In French it appears only on e (é) and gives a closed "ay" sound. In Irish, Czech and Hungarian it marks a long vowel. Full list: acute accent letters.

Grave accent ( ` )

A line slanting down to the right. French uses it to change the sound of e (père) and to tell apart words like à and a. Italian puts it on stressed final vowels (città, più). See grave accent letters.

Circumflex ( ˆ )

A small hat. In French it often marks a lost s from older spelling (forêt, once forest). In Portuguese it marks a closed stressed vowel (você). More in circumflex letters.

Diaeresis and umlaut ( ¨ )

Two dots, two names. As a German umlaut it changes the vowel itself (schon vs schön). As a diaeresis it tells you to say a vowel on its own, as in naïve, Noël or Spanish pingüino. Unicode uses the same character for both. See umlaut letters.

Tilde ( ˜ )

A wavy line. Spanish ñ is a separate letter. Portuguese ã and õ are nasal vowels (pão, põe). Vietnamese uses it as a tone mark. Details in tilde letters.

Cedilla ( ¸ )

A small hook under a consonant. French and Portuguese ç sounds like s before a, o and u (garçon, açúcar). Turkish ş sounds like "sh". Romanian ș and ț look similar but officially use a comma below, a separate mark.

Caron or háček ( ˇ )

A small v. Czech calls it háček ("little hook"). It turns s, c and z into "sh", "ch" and "zh" sounds (š, č, ž) across Czech, Slovak, Slovenian, Croatian and the Baltic languages. Pinyin uses it for the third tone (ǎ). See caron letters.

Macron ( ¯ )

A flat bar that usually marks a long vowel: Latvian ā, Māori and Hawaiian vowels, Latin dictionaries and Japanese romaji (Tōkyō). In pinyin it marks the first tone.

Breve ( ˘ )

A small cup. Romanian ă, Turkish ğ (yumuşak ge, the "soft g") and Vietnamese ă use it. Do not confuse it with the caron, which is pointed.

Ring above ( ˚ )

A small circle. Scandinavian å is its own letter, near the end of the alphabet. Czech ů marks a long u.

Ogonek ( ˛ )

Polish for "little tail". It hangs under a vowel to show nasal sound in Polish ą and ę, and length in Lithuanian.

Dot above ( ˙ )

A single dot. Polish ż sounds like the s in "measure". Turkish has a dotted capital İ and a dotless ı, which are different letters.

Double acute ( ˝ )

Two slanted lines, found only in Hungarian ő and ű. They are the long versions of ö and ü.

Stroke ( / or bar )

A line through the letter rather than a mark above it. Danish and Norwegian ø, Polish ł and Croatian đ are separate letters. The combining overlay exists but fonts handle it badly, so always use the ready-made letter.

Marks that are not on this list

A few more marks exist for specific languages: the comma below (Romanian ș, ț), the dot below and hook above (Vietnamese ạ, ả), and the double grave and inverted breve used in linguistics. They are rare in everyday text.

How to find the name of a mark you see

Look at its shape and position:

1. Above the letter, slanting up to the right: acute. Slanting down: grave.
2. Above, pointed up like a hat: circumflex. Pointed down like a v: caron.
3. Above, two dots: diaeresis or umlaut. One dot: dot above. Ring: ring above.
4. Above, wavy: tilde. Flat bar: macron. Cup shape: breve.
5. Below the letter, a hook: cedilla. A tail to the right: ogonek.
6. Through the letter: stroke.

Once you know the name, you can find the letter fast in any symbol picker by searching "e acute", "c cedilla" or "z caron".