(SOURCE: Link to the page where I downloaded this image) Of course, in the case of 'u' there is only way to pronounce this vowel in Italian there is no distinction made between an open pronunciation and a closed pronunciation as is the case with the letters e and o, so perhaps this does not matter much here. Anyways, it illustrates two different spellings of one particular word, one using the grave accent, and the other using the acute accent, on the very same place (and this is not a misprint, this is a sample representative of thousands of magazines each of whose cover page is similar): PIÙ and Piú. In response to a comment in one of the answers given below, his is an image of a magazine for kids that was popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s, perhaps even later (not sure if it still exists, haven't checked!). Could the reason for this orthographic rule be due to differences in regional pronunciations, or is there some other reason? It does not store any personal data.If using a grave accent as opposed to an acute accent on top of letters e and o in Italian is used to denote a difference in pronunciation when these appear on the last syllable of the word, and such syllable happens to be stressed, with è being an open e and é a closed e, then why is the Italian word perché sometimes written as perchè across the Internet instead of as perché?Īfter all, I've always heard the last vowel of this word being pronounced as a closed e. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Vowels with a diaeresis are to be pronounced separately from the vowel preceding them. The diaeresis (le tréma) ë, ï, rarely on ü ‘ç’ cannot be used in front of ‘e’ or ‘i’. It changes the sound of the letter ‘c’ from ‘k’ to ‘s’. For example, ‘a hospital’ in French used to be ‘un hospital’, the ‘s’ has been removed and an accent added on the ‘o’ nowadays, you spell it ‘un hôpital’.
It is an indication that in old French, an ‘s’ was used instead of an accent. The circumflex accent (l’accent circonflexe) â, ê, î, ô, û When the grave accent is used on ‘a’ or ‘u’, it doesn’t change its pronunciation, however, it sometimes changes the meaning of the word if you forget the accent. When it’s used on ‘e’, it changes its pronunciation to a deeper sound. The grave accent (l’accent grave) è, à, ù It is only used on ‘e’ and changes its pronunciation to a more high-pitched sound. In French, accents are really important, they can influence the meaning and the pronunciation of a word.