An Übershort Guide to These Funky Symbols

The acute accent (´) signals stressed syllables; the grave accent (`) signals unstressed ones. Other marks include the cedilla (¸) for an s sound, the circumflex (^) for vowel length, the tilde (˜) for an n-plus-y sound, and the umlaut (¨) for a rounded vowel. The umlaut has a twin: the diaeresis. In words (naïve) or names (Chloë), it indicates a separate syllable.