Accent Marks (Diacritics)
An accent mark (diacritic), when added to a letter, indicates a phonetic value different from that of the unmarked letter. English words once spelled with accent marks (eg, cooperate, preeminent) now are written and printed without them. Consult the most recent edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary to resolve questions about whether a word should retain its accent. In general, English words in common usage should be spelled without diacritical marks.
Accent marks should always be retained in the following instances:
▪ Proper names
Dr Bönneman is a Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences.
▪ When it is desirable to show the correct spelling in the original language
Köln (Cologne)
▪ In quotations
“Más vale pájaro en mano que cientos volando” (“a bird in the hand is worth more than a hundred flying birds”) is a Spanish proverb similar to the English-language “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”
▪ In terms in which accent marks are retained in current use (consult dictionaries)
café au lait spots
garçon
Möbius strip
voilà
▪ To show pronunciation and syllabic emphasis
centime (sän-tēm)
gluteus (glutéus)
Accent marks should be clearly indicated on manuscript copy.
Accent Mark
Example of Usage
acute
Ménétrier
breve
Ğabdulla Tuqay
cedilla
Behçet
circumflex
Le Nôtre
dot
marlė
grave
Bibliothèque
macron
gignōskein
ring
Ångstrom
slash
København
tilde
mañana
umlaut
Henoch-Schönlein purpura
wedge
Vrapče
Some languages are not supported by commonly used word-processing programs and Web browsers. Page proofs including words in such languages should be reviewed thoroughly by a person familiar with the language, and some letters or entire words and phrases may need to be rendered online using images rather than HTML.