Re:Why English doesn't use accents
by dkdbejwi383 on Monday July 07, 2025 @04:10AM
(#44487867)
> That is the fun thing about English. There isn't really a single right way to speak or write it. It is defined by common usage. As long as your audience understands you, it is correct.
That's how all languages work - to the chagrin of l'Académie Française - English is no special exception.
Re:Why English doesn't use accents
by BitwiseFool on Monday July 07, 2025 @11:19AM
(#44491298)
I like to believe that, by definition, the only person who speaks English properly is the King of England. Everyone else has an accent.
I see naïve as an example of diacritics in English as well.
I find it interesting that the Spanish consider the ñ to be a separate letter, in their 27 letter alphabet.
As someone else pointed out, loan words often have accents. At what point does jalapeño become en english word? There is no other english word to refer to the pepper, therefore it is now an english word and therefore english words can have diacritics.
The closest thing we have to a source of truth for the english language is the OED. It isn't prescriptive, it just lists how words are used rather than how words should be used.
Jalapeño is in the OED with the tilde https://www.oed.com/dictionary/jalapeno_n?tab=factsheet#1253...