Are diacritical marks part of the English language?

[Ahmed140]

Are diacritical marks part of the English language? Also, if they are a part of English language, then is it ok to use theme in the modern English language?
Finally, Do the following words English words?
1. Café.
2. Piñata.
3. Coöperate.

 

[5jj]

Are diacritical marks part of the English language? Also, if they are a part of English language, then is it ok to use theme in the modern English language?

Historically, English has used the diaeresis diacritic to indicate the correct pronunciation of ambiguous words, such as "coöperate", without which the <oo> letter sequence could be misinterpreted to be pronounced /ˈkuːpəreɪt/. Other examples are the acute and grave accents, which can indicate that a vowel is to be pronounced differently than is normal in that position, for example not reduced to /ə/ or silent as in the case of the two uses of the letter e in the noun résumé (as opposed to the verb resume) and the help sometimes provided in the pronunciation of some words such as doggèd, learnèd, blessèd, and especially words pronounced differently than normal in poetry (for example movèd, breathèd).

Most other words with diacritics in English are borrowings from languages such as French to better preserve the spelling, such as the diaeresis on naïve and Noël, the acute from café, the circumflex in the word crêpe, and the cedille in façade. All these diacritics, however, are frequently omitted in writing, and English is the only major modern European language that does not have diacritics in common usage.

[a]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diacritic#:~:text=The%20tilde%2C%20dot%2C%20comma%2C,to%20the%20letter%20they%20modify.

 

[5jj]

Finally, Do Are the following words English words?
1. Café.
2. Piñata.
3. Coöperate.

They have been accepted into English, often without the diacritical marks.

 

[emsr2d2]

Are diacritical marks part of the English language? Also, if they are a part of English language, then is it ok OK/okay to use theme them in the modern English language?

Finally, Do are the following words English words?

1. Café.
2. Piñata.
3. Coöperate.

Many borrowed words are "part of the English language". That doesn't make them English words.

I always use the marks. For example, I write "café". Not everyone does. I think "cafe" has become such a part of everyday English that no one notices/cares if it's missing its accent. I would expect to see the mark in "piñata" because it's not such a common word and the mark is vital to the correct pronunciation of the word. I've never seen "cooperate" written as you have in #3.

(Cross-posted with 5jj, whose explanation is far more detailed.)

 

[SoothingDave]

These marks are not a part of native English language words.

Cafe and pinata are loan words. "Cafe" has been English for so long it is strange to see it with any marks. "Pinata" is a newer addition. But most natives aren't going to bother to try to figure out how to type special characters with a word like "pinata" or "japaleno."

They're perfectly understandable without.

If "cooperate" ever had any special marks, it's news to me.

 

[emsr2d2]

SoothingDave mentioned something I meant to mention in my response. A lot of people can't find a way to add those marks on their computer keyboard even if they want to!

 

[probus]

Here is a simple way to produce any character. In a spreadsheet place the numerals 1 to 256 in column A. Make B1 equal =char (A1), then copy B1 all the way from B2 to B256. Column B now contains every ASCII character. Use Cut and Paste Special, Formulas as Vslues to cut them out and paste them into text files.

 

[probus]

And further to what @SoothingDave said consider the pop song that goes "I like pina colada and getting caught in the rain." The Spanish tilde over the n in pina has vanished both in speech and in writing.

 

[emsr2d2]

And further to what @SoothingDave said consider the pop song that goes "I like pina colada and getting caught in the rain." The Spanish tilde over the n in pina has vanished both in speech and in writing.

The same goes for "jalapeño". People who recognise the Spanish origin of the word write it that way and say "jhal-a-pen-yo" (the "jh" is the closest I can write to a Spanish "j" sound). People who use the Anglicised version write it without the tilde and say "hal-uh-pee-no".

 

[Tarheel]

I guess I'm just picky. What do I mean? Well, for example, a lot of people pronounce "llama" as if there is an "l" sound in it. But in the region of the world where you are most likely to see llamas in the wild there is no "l" sound in that word. As for "jalapeno," it should in my humble opinion be pronounced with the "yo" sound at the end. Having said that, that word is probably well on the way to becoming Anglicized.