French Accents

l’accent aigu (´)

on the letter E, this accent changes the pronunciation to the equivalent of a long A in English, like that of the A in ape

l’accent grace (`)

on the letter E, this accent changes the pronunciation to the equivalent of E at the beginning of the word everyday. on other letters it serves to distinguish the meaning from another word with identical spelling

l’accent circonflexe (ˆ)

is usually an indication of spelling change over time. frequently, it means that in Old French there was an S following the vowel

la cédille (ç)

softens a hard C (k-sound) to a soft C (s-sound)

le tréma (¨)

indicates that neighboring vowels are to be pronounced separately