What is the squiggly line above a letter called?

The squiggly line above a letter is broadly called a diacritic, a mark that modifies the sound or meaning of a letter.

Understanding Diacritics: More Than Just Squiggles

Diacritics are fascinating linguistic marks that enhance the expressiveness and precision of alphabetic writing systems. They encompass a wide variety of symbols—including various little dots, lines, and squiggles—that are added to letters. While they can appear above, below, or even through a letter, the "squiggly line above" often refers to specific types that significantly alter pronunciation or meaning. These marks are primarily used to indicate something specific about a letter's pronunciation, distinguish between words that would otherwise look identical, or convey grammatical information. Though technically distinct, diacritics are often loosely referred to as "accents."

Why Are Diacritics Used?

Diacritics play several crucial roles in languages around the world:

• Pronunciation Guidance: They tell a reader how to pronounce a letter differently from its standard form. For example, in French, an é is pronounced differently from an e.
• Distinguishing Homographs: They help differentiate words that are spelled the same but have different meanings or pronunciations. For instance, in Spanish, mas (but) and más (more) are distinguished by an accent.
• Indicating Stress or Tone: In some languages, diacritics mark which syllable in a word receives stress, or they can indicate the tone of a vowel, which changes the word's meaning in tonal languages.
• Preserving Historical Sounds: They can reflect sounds that existed in earlier forms of a language but have since changed, like the circumflex in French often indicating a lost "s" (e.g., forêt from forest).

Common "Squiggly" Diacritics Above Letters

While many diacritics exist, some are particularly known for their "squiggly" appearance when placed above a letter. Here are a few prominent examples:

• Tilde (~): Perhaps the most iconic "squiggly" mark, used in Spanish over the n to create ñ (pronounced like "ny" in "canyon"), or in Portuguese over a and o (ã, õ) to indicate nasalization.
• Circumflex (ˆ): Resembling a tiny hat or inverted 'V', it appears in French (e.g., âge, rôle), Portuguese, Romanian, and other languages. Its function varies, often indicating a historical change in the vowel's pronunciation or length.
• Hacek / Caron (ˇ): This v-shaped mark is common in Slavic languages (e.g., Czech, Slovak, Croatian) and Baltic languages (e.g., Lithuanian). It usually indicates a palatalized or "soft" pronunciation of a consonant, such as š (like "sh" in "shoe") or ž (like "zh" in "measure").
• Breve (˘): A small bowl-shaped mark, often used to indicate a short vowel, as seen in Romanian (ă) or Turkish (ğ).

Other Common Diacritics Above Letters

Even those that aren't strictly "squiggly" are often confused for or referred to as "accents" and are important to recognize:

• Acute Accent (´): A slanting line, commonly seen in Spanish (ó, é), French (é), and Italian, often indicating stress or a specific vowel quality.
• Grave Accent (`): Slanting in the opposite direction to the acute, found in French (à, où), Italian, and Portuguese, typically indicating stress or distinguishing homographs.
• Macron (¯): A flat line above a vowel, often used in classical languages like Latin to denote a long vowel sound.
• Diaeresis / Umlaut (¨): Two dots above a vowel (e.g., ï in French naïve, ü in German über). It can indicate that a vowel is pronounced separately from the preceding vowel, or alter the vowel's sound.

Table of Common Diacritics

Here's a quick overview of some diacritics often found above letters:

Understanding diacritics is key to accurately pronouncing and comprehending many foreign languages, highlighting their critical role in linguistic nuance. For more in-depth information, you can explore resources on linguistic terminology or phonetics and phonology.