Leira Vigleik 2008 Alphabets Letters and Diacritics in ...

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Vigleik Leira (Norway): vleira@start.no

Alphabets, Letters and Diacritics in European Languages

(as they appear in Geography)

To the best of my knowledge English seems to be the only language which makes use of a "clean" Latin alphabet, i.d. there is no use of diacritics or special letters of any kind. All the other languages based on Latin letters employ, to a larger or lesser degree, some diacritics and/or some special letters.

The survey below is purely literal. It has nothing to say on the pronunciation of the different letters. Information on the phonetic/phonemic values of the graphic entities must be sought elsewhere, in language specific descriptions.

The 26 letters a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z may be considered the standard European alphabet.

In this article the word diacritic is used with this meaning: any sign placed above, through or below a standard letter (among the 26 given above); disregarding the cases where the resulting letter (e.g. ? in Norwegian) is considered an ordinary letter in the alphabet of the language where it is used.

Albanian The alphabet (36 letters): a, b, c, ?, d, dh, e, ?, f, g, gj, h, i, j, k, l, ll, m, n, nj, o, p, q, r, rr, s, sh, t, th, u, v, x, xh, y, z, zh. Missing standard letter: w. Letters with diacritics: ?, ?. Sequences treated as one letter: dh, gj, ll, rr, sh, th, xh, zh. Some geographic names: Durr?s, Gjirokast?r, Kor?a, Lushnja, Rogozhina, Shkodra. Bosnian See Croation. Croation The alphabet (3o letters): a, b, c, c, , d, dz, , e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, lj, m, n, nj, o, p, r, s, s, u, v, z, z. Missing standard letters: q, w, x. Letters with diacritics: c, , dz, , s, z. Sequences treated as one letter: dz, lj, nj. Some geographic names: Brac, Drnis, Korcula, Losinj, Peljesac, Palagruza, Perkovi, Sibenik, Varazdin, Vojni. Czech The alphabet (31 letters): a, b, c, c, d, e, f, g, h, ch, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, , s, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z, z. Sequence treated as one letter: ch. Letters (with diacritics) that are not part of the alphabet: ?, ( as majuscule), ?, , ?, , ?, ( as majuscule), ?, , ?. Some geographic names: As, Cesk? L?pa, Cesk? Budjovice, Cesk? Krumlov, Dob?s, Dvr Kr?lov? nad Labem, Dzb?n, Lond?n (London), Maarsko (Hungary), Plze, ecko (Greece), ?m (Rome), ?st? nad Labem. Danish The alphabet (29 letters): a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z, ?, ?, ?.

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Letters with diacritics: ?, ?. Special letter: ? (historically a contraction of a and e). Some geographic names: K?benhavn, Sj?lland, S?nderborg, ?r?, ?lborg, ?rhus. Dutch The alphabet is the standard European alphabet (no diacritics). The hiatus marker (?) is frequently used, most often in ?, more seldom in ?. Some geographic names: Albani?, Argentini?, Australi?, Belgi?, Brazili?, Ethiopi?, Georgi?, Ha?ti, Indonesi?, Isra?l, Itali?, Jordani?, Kirgizi?, Kroati?, Mongoli?, Namibi?, Oekra?ne, Roemeni?, Saudi-Arabi?, Servi?, Sloveni?, Syri?, Tsjechi?, Tunesi?. The sequence ij is written with two capitals in the beginning of names: IJmeer, IJmuiden, IJsland (Iceland), IJsselmeer, IJsselmonde, IJsselmuiden, IJzendijke, IJzer. English The alphabet is the standard European alphabet. No diacritics are used in ordinary English texts. Estonian The alphabet (32 letters): a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, s, z , z , t, u, v, w, ?, ?, ?, ?, x, y. Letters with diacritics: s, z , ?, ?, ?, ?. Some geographic names: P?rnu, V?ru, T?ri; Baskortostan (transcription of the Russian name ), R?binsk (transcription of the Russian name ), Voronez (transcription of the Russian name ). Faroese The alphabet (29 letters): a, ?, b, d, ?, e, f, g, h, i, ?, j, k. l, m, n, o, ?, p, r, s, t, u, ?, v, y, ?, ?, ?. Missing standard letters: q, w, x, z. Letters with diacritics: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?. Special letters: ?, ?. Because of the difference in appearence it may seem better to split the pair ?? and place them in different categories. In foreign geographic names the non-alphabetic letters c, q, x, ?, ? are used. Some domestic geographic names: Bor?oy, L?tla D?mun, M?rnafjall, N?lsoy, N?ggjaberg, N?raberg, Sk?lafj?r?ur, Sk?voy, St?ragj?gv, Su?uroy, T?rshavn, V?gar. Some foreign names: Cardiff, Cluj-Napoca, Fj?n (Fyn in Denmark), J?tland (Jylland in Denmark), K?ln, Meksiko, M?nchen, Phoenix, Qaanaaq, Qu?bec, Quimper, Quito, Roubaix. Finnish The alphabet (27 letters): a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, x, y, z, ?, ?. As in Swedish the w is considered a variant of v. Letters with diacritics: ?, ?. Some geographic names: Enonteki?, Hyvink??, Isosy?te, Jyv?skyl?, J?rvenp??, Kyr?njoki, Kyr?sj?rvi, Lontoo (London), Moskova (Moscow), P?ij?nne, Riihim?ki, ??nekoski. French The alphabet is the standard European alphabet. Although the letters of the alphabet have no diacritics, there is nevertheless an abundant presence of diacritics in French texts. Most letter variants with diacritics are also found in geographic names. ?: B?le (the Swiss town, Basel in German), Ch?lons-en-Champagne, Ch?tellerault, M?con ?: Alen?on, Besan?on, Lu?on, Montlu?on ?: Cap Fr?hel, ?vreux, L?v?zou, Loud?ac, Montp?llier, Orl?ans, P?rigueux, Saint-?tienne ?: Al?s, Auv?z?res, Compi?gne, Foug?res, Gen?ve (in Switzerland), la Norv?ge (Norway) ?: Angoul?me, Br?me (Bremen in Germany), G?nes (Genova in Italy) ?: Isra?l, Les Co?vrons, Sca?r

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?: ?le-de-France (and a lot of other names in ?le-de- and ?sles-de-) ?: This letter is especially used in the sequence a? in French renderings of foreign names:

Ad?la?de (in Australia), Alta? (in Russia), Azerba?djan, Ba?kal (in Russia), Jama?que, Ma?kop (in Russia), Port-Sa?d (in Egypt), Severna?a Zemlia (in Russia), Ta?myr (in Russia), Tha?lande, Ta?wan, Valda? (in Russia).

The sequences o? and y? are represented in Krasno?arsk, Verkho?ansk, Grosny? (cities in Russia). ?: Anc?ne (Ancona in Italy), D?le, Dr?me, P? (the river in Italy), Puy-de-D?me, Rh?ne, Sa?ne. Outside the alphabet there is also the special letter oe, a contraction of o and e, for instance in the word oeil 'eye'. It seems not to be used in geographic names. German German has the standard European alphabet. In addition there are three letters with diacritics: ?, ?, ?, and one special letter: ?. ? is treated as a variant of a ? is treated as a variant of o ? is treated as a variant of u ? is a variant of the sequence ss, to be used after long vowels and dipthongs Some geographic names: ?gypten, ?thiopien, D?nemark, K?rnten (in Austria), M?hren (in the Czech Republic), G?ttingen, K?ln, M?nchengladbach, ?sterreich, D?sseldorf, M?nchen, N?rnberg, Th?ringen, Z?rich (in Switzerland). - ? seems to be absent in geographic names. Hungarian The are two versions of the Hungarian alphabet, one which is said to be official (also characterized as 'full' or 'old'). The other one is said to be taught in school and is characterized as 'strict' or 'standard'. For the purpose of this article it it is a better choice to refer to the full version. The full alphabet (44 letters): a, ?, b, c, cs, d, dz, dzs, e, ?, f, g, gy, h, i, ?, j, k, l, ly, m, n, ny, o, ?, ?, , p, q, r, s, sz, t, ty, u, ?, ?, , v, w, x, y, z, zs. (In the other version are w, x, y excluded.) Letters with diacritics: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, , ?, ?, . (There are no consonants with diacritics, instead there are some consonant sequences that correspond with diacritic letters in other languages.) Sequences treated as one letter: cs, dz, dzs, gy, ly, ny, sz, ty, zs. Some geographic names: B?cs (Vienna), Dun?nt?l, Gyr, J?szs?g, Kaposv?r, Kiskr?s, Koml?, Mecsek, Nagykanizsa, P?cs, Szombathely, Tat?banya, Tiszaf?red. Icelandic The alphabet (36 letters): a, ?, b, c, d, ??, e, ?, f, g, h, i, ?, j, k, l, m, n, o, ?, p, q, r, s, t, u, ?, v, w, x, y, ?, z, ?, ?, ?. Letters with diacritics: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?. Special letters: ?, ?, ?. Because of the difference in appearence it may seem better to split the pair ?? and place them in different categories. Some geographical names: Brei?dalur, Gr?msey, H?ra?sfl?i, H?nafl?i, M?rdalsj?kull, Reykjav?k, Skegg?xl, Skj?lfandi, Sm?rfj?ll, Sn?fell, ?j?rs?, Vatnaj?kull, Vestfir?ir. Irish The alphabet is the standard European. Letters with diacritics; ?, ?, ?, ?, ? (not in the alphabet). Some geographic names: An Bhriot?in (Brittany), B?al Feirste (Belfast), Baile ?tha Cliath (Dublin), Corcaigh (Cork), D?lais (Douglas), D?n D?agh (Dundee), D?n ?ideann (Edinburgh), D?n na nGall (Donegal), ?ire (Ireland), Geansa? (Guernsey), Glasch? (Glashow), Luimneach (Limerick), Muir ?ireann (Irish Sea), Oile?in Fhar? (Faroe Islands) Italian

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The alphabet (21 letters): a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, z. Standard letters missing: j, k, w, x, y. When they are used, their alphabetic positions are in accordance with the standard European alphabet. An accent (most often the grave) is obligatory to indicate stress on the last syllable, e.g. citt? 'city'. The grave and the acute accents may be also be used (not obligatory) to mark differences in meaning. Some geographic names: Barzan? (in Piemonte), Cant? (in Piemonte), Cefal? (in Sicily), Gerusalemme, Jersey, Johannesburg, Karlsruhe, Katowice, Mondov? (in Valle d'Aosta), Oxford, Phoenix, Pizzo di Vern? (in Sicily), Washington, Weimar, Yokohama, York. Latvian The alphabet (33 letters): a, , b, c, c, d, e, , f, g, , h, i, , j, , l, , m, n, , o, p, r, s, s, t, u, , v, z, z. Missing standard letters: q, w, x, y. Letters with diacritics: , c, , , , , , , s, , z. The letter is peculiar since its diacritical sign is placed below the majuscule and above the miniscule. Some geographic names: Ainazi, Cle (Chile), ipte (Egypt), Jkabpils, Jokohama (Yokohama) Jrmala, Kanbera (Canberra), na (China), urmrags, Kvebeka ((Quebec), Liepja, Otava (Ottawa), Rga, Strenci, Varsava (Warsaw), Zaas, Zenva (Geneva). Lithuanian The alphabet (32 letters): a, , b, c, c, e, , , f, g, h, i, , y, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, s, t, u, , , v, z, z. (Mark the postion of the y.) Missing standard letters: q, w, x. Letters with diacritics: , c, , , , s, ,, , z. Some geographic names: in Lithuania: Klaipda, Mazeikiai, Siaulai, Taurag, Zemaitija; outside Lithuania: Atnai (Athens), Egjo jra (Aegean Sea), Kvebekas (Quebec), Kitas (Quito), Liuksemburgas (Luxembourg), Vasingtonas (Washington), Velsas (Wales). Norwegian The alphabet (29 letters, the same ones as in Danish): a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z, ?, ?, ?. Letters with diacritics: ?, ?. Special letter: ? (historically a contraction of a and e). Some geographic names: F?rder, H?gebostad, L?rdal, J?ren, Kv?nangen, R?lingen, Bod?, F?rde, Gj?vik, R?ros, R?st, T?nsberg, Vard?, ?lesund, B?tsfjord, Domb?s, Fl?m, Kols?s.

In foreign atlases the letters ?, ?, ? are alphabetized as ae, o and a respectively. Thus in an Italian atlas L?rdal (written that way) is placed between Lae and Laerru. The spelling T?nsberg is placed between Tons and Toora-Hem. ?lesund is placed between Alessano and Aletschhorn.

The other way round, in Norwegian the letters ?, ?, ? are alphabetized as ?, ? and y respectively. Polish The alphabet (32 letters): a, , b, c, , d, e, , f, g, h, i , j, k, l, l, m, n, , o, ?, p, r, s, , t, u, w, y, z, , . Standard letters missing: q, v, x. Letters with diacritics: , , , l, , ?, , , . Some geographic names: Brze (the city Brest in Belarus), Czstochowa, Gdask, Komin, Krak?w, Note, Quebec, Quito, lsk (Silesia in English), Toru, Valencia, Voss (in Norway), Wisla, Xiamen (in China), Xinxiang (in China), abno, Zamo. Portuguese The alphabet (23 letters): a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, l, m, n, o, p, q, s, t, u, v, x, z. Standard letters missing: k, w, y.

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Letters with diacritics: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ? (not in the alphabet). Some geographic names: Atl?ntico, B?ltico, Bol?via, Bragan?a, Camar?es (Cameroon), Col?mbia, Kalmar, Karlstad, Rond?nia, S?o Paulo, Serra da Adi?a, Serra da Luc?, Serra de A?or, Set?bal, Washington, Wolfsburg, Wollongong, York, Yucat?n, Yukon, Z?zere. Romanian The alphabet (31 letters): a, , ?, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, ?, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, , t, , u, v, w, x, y, z. Letters with diacritics: , ?, ?, , . The ? and the ? have the same phonetic value. After the collapse of the Ceauecu-regime the distribution of the two letters was regulated in the simple way that the ? is to be used in the beginning and in the end of words, while the ? is to be used elsewhere. There are some exceptions, e.g. in compound words. Some geographic names: Brila, Bucureti, Galai, Rom?nia, T?rgu Mure. Sami The alphabet (29 letters): a, ?, b, c, c, d, , e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, , o, p, r, s, s, , u, v, z, z. Standard letters missing: q, w, x, y. Letters with diacritics: ?, c, , , s, , z. Some geographic names: C?hppesmearra (Black Sea), Fr?kriika (France), Guovzasuolu (Bear Island), Jukatan (Yucat?n), K?r?sjohka, Papua-Oa-Guinea (Papua New Guinea), Qatar, Quito, Ruossa (Russia), Ruoa (Sweden), S?pmi, Wales, Winnipeg, Ystad, Yukoneatnu (Yukon River). Spanish The alphabet (30 letters): a, b, c, ch, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, ll, m, n, ?, o, p, q, r, rr, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z. Sequences considered as one letter: ch, ll, rr. Letters with diacritics: ? (in the alphabet); ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ? (not in the alphabet). Some geographic names: Alcal? de Henares, Almer?a, Andaluc?a, Camag?ey, Chiclana de la Frontera, Chile, C?rdoba, ?cija, Gij?n, La Coru?a, L?rida, Logro?o, Marbella, M?laga, M?rida, Mor?n, Sanl?car de Barrameda, Sevilla, Sierra Nevada, Tarragona. Swedish The alphabet (29 letters): a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z, ?, ?, ?. The w has just recently (in 2006) become a separate letter in the alphabet. Earlier it was considered a variant of v. Letters with diacritics: ?, ?, ?. Some geographic names: Lule?, Pite?, Sk?ne, Ume?, ?tvidaberg, H?rjedalen, J?mtland, V?rmland, V?ster?s, G?teborg, Link?ping, Malm?, ?land, ?rebro, Washington, Winnipeg. Turkish The alphabet (29 letters): a, b, c, ?, d, e, f, g, , h, i, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, ?, p, r, s, , t, u, ?, v, v, y, z. Standard letters missing: q, w, x. Special letters: The two i-s (one "dotted", the other "undotted") are each a part of the alphabet. They look like this: , i, I, i. Letters with diacritics: ?, , ?, , ? (in the alphabet); ?, ?, ? (not in the alphabet). Some geographic names: ?anakkale, Diyarbakir, El?zi, Eskiehir, stanbul, L?bnan (Lebanon), L?bnan? (Lebanese), Sula G?l?.

DISTRIBUTION OF LETTERS WITH DIACRITICS

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