accent mark

noun

1. a mark used to indicate an accent, stress, etc., as for pronunciation or in musical notation. Compare diacritic ( def 1 ).

Word History and Origins

Origin of accent mark¹

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

He wrote on his Facebook: “Note to news broadcasters in the USA: there’s an accent mark over the second ‘e’ in Pelé’s name because it is supposed to be pronounced ‘pay-LAY.’

From Los Angeles Times

His song titles often feature extraneous umlauts, and while the accent mark highlights different vowel sounds, Yeat seems obsessed with creating new sounds entirely.

From Washington Post

Another system of accent marks, the te’amim, function as musical notes, and also indicate how to parse a sentence.

From New York Times

For complex Nigerian languages like Yoruba, those accent marks — often associated with tones — make all the difference in communication.

From Seattle Times

However, the English alphabet needs to be interspersed to convey certain information due to the use of accent marks in Navajo words.

From Washington Times