Apr. 14, 2008
Accents Can Give You Fits
Many times while learning a language it's hard to get the accent right while speaking. My question is how can you show the accent(s) when typing that particular language?
Diacritical marks - (1.) A mark, such as an accent, that is used in conjunction with a character to indicate phonetic value. (2.) Marks added to letters or symbols to distinguish it in some way, often indicating pronunciation. (3.) A diacritical mark or diacritic, also called an accent mark, is a small sign added to a letter to alter pronunciation or to distinguish between similar words. The term derives from Greek διακριτικός (diakritikos, "distinguishing").
Microsoft Windows® and Macintosh® have codes that you can type to have your accents inserted. Or like in the Word® program if you go under "Insert" then choose "Symbol" you can choose whatever language you are typing. A list of symbols will show up, click the one you want.
I personally like to do things on the fly and don't like to take the time to do all those steps. Plus I'm a numbers person so it is easy for me to memorize the keystrokes. The following list will give you the codes to use with Microsoft® products.
All Spanish questions start with an upside down question mark then ends with a right side up one. The code for the upside down question mark is 0191. So type holding down the (Alt) key the number 0191 and then hit (Enter). ¿ See even in HTML you can create anything you want.
Here are the rest:
(Alt)0161(Enter) = ¡ The exclamation mark is used like the question mark. Always upside down at the beginning of the sentence then right side up at the end.
(Alt)0209(Enter) = Ñ
(Alt)0241(Enter) = ñ
(Alt)0193(Enter) = Á
(Alt)0225(Enter) = á
(Alt)0201(Enter) = É
(Alt)0233(Enter) = é
(Alt)0205(Enter) = Í
(Alt)0237(Enter) = í
(Alt)0211(Enter) = Ó
(Alt)0243(Enter) = ó
(Alt)0218(Enter) = Ú
(Alt)0250(Enter) = ú
¡Aye carumba! That was a lot of work but in the end you will all be better off for it. If you have any questions, please feel free to post them here.
