1647: Diacritics

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Diacritics

Title text: Using diacritics correctly is not my forté.

Explanation

A diacritic (or a diacritical mark) is a glyph added to a letter. The main use of diacritical marks in the latin script is to change the sound-values of the letters to which they are added, typically vowels.

Cueball is writing an e-mail (maybe for a job application) and notes in the mail that he attaches his résumé, or curriculum vitae. The word résumé uses two es with an acute accent so they look like this: é.

While diacritics can be common in several languages, English is an example of a language that rarely ever has any at all. This occurs to such an extent that words and expressions borrowed from other languages (such as "résumé" or "piñata") are frequently written in English with the diacritics omitted, as in "resume" or "pinata". As Cueball/Randall is a native English speaker, it is thus natural that he often forgets (or just doesn't bother) to add these diacritics, hence the title of the comic. When he occasionally remembers them, for instance when he types a word where he knows they should be included, like résumé, he then makes up for all those he must have forgotten since last time he thought of it, and thus adds a whole bunch at once. This reason is somewhat nonsensical.

Randall may be poking fun at people who use Zalgo, a form of spam where people continuously spam diacritics in chat messages. For example:

T̯̙̻̼̠͕̙̬̬̜̼̊ͥͦͬͤ̇̎̆̌ͭ͢͠͡o̡̲̩̟̲̬̰̪̜̝͙̺̦̙͍̳ͬͯͯ͋͒̍ͨ̓̇́̚̚̕ ̸̢̬̘̦͕̯̱̜̲̼̤ͬͧͤͨǐ̷̷̯̼̝̹̫ͪ̀̋̿̄̓n̿͂ͩ͂ͮ̔̆͏͎͍͕̜͎̺̯͈̼̩̣̥̬͡͞ͅͅv̴̨̙̼̤̼͙͖̫̖̺̹̠̹̦́͌͑̓̆̂ͯ̑̈̏ͭo̢̫̲̙̺̬̤̲̳ͨ̐ͦ̽͛ͮ͛́͂ͣ͂ͮ͆͑̍̀ͯ̕͟k̵̨̫̙̤͙̹̫͚͈̪͇͓͈̫̬̥͕̱͎̜̉̔ͬͭͦ̓͐ͫ̋̋ͥ̋̀̕͟è̢̛͑͋͐̀̏ͣ̏ͬ̒̌͌́̚͘͝͏̟̞͇̘̤̼̮̤͍͚̫̤͚̰ ̶̧̮̗̣̫͇̦͎̮̤̗͙̗̳͎̺͆̉̈ͭ̽̈́̌̽ͥ̾͑̀̚̚͘͟ͅͅt̸͓͉̩́̓̓ͮ̇̈̆ͣ̀ͪͬ͑̅ͣ̍h̸̡̧ͧ͑̐̂ͥ̄̃̂̄́͋ͨ͑̓̆͋̚͏̸̟̣̤̺͔̘̞̦̖͖̣̺̱̜͔̗̫̰ͅȇ̡͇͎͎̩̮̟̖̖̤̦̜͍̱̇ͨ̃̈́̄̑ͦͭ̚͞ͅ ̛̼̤̟̩̦̻̤̙̥̬̠̩̙̙̱͚͕ͫ͐̏ͥ̄ͧͧͭ̔̆͐̋͘h̶̵̜̤͓̹̰ͣ̄͗́́i̝͕̘̗͉͚̰͓̮͕̣͒̂̒ͨ̽ͫ̎ͪͦ́̕͝ͅv̧̙̞̣̳͍̟̖͚̻̝͈ͧ͊ͫ͋ͩͫ̍͋̏̽ͤ̀͝͞ͅẻ̢͓̣̰͔̟͎̥̻̤̲̟̣̜̄̈́̌͛̌̄͢͞ͅ-̨̡͆̓̌̎̉̑҉͚̝̗m̨̛͎̬͉̯̽ͥͫ̇ͦ̒̿̎́͒́̚͡͠ỉ̧̡͖͙̙͕͔̲ͩ́ͣ͐ͧ͑̊̾̒͑̅͗̊́̎̚n̠̮̜̝̜̤̰̻̘͖̦͚̼ͫ̄͐͗ͣ́͢͜d̡̛̳͕̬̫̯̩͕̰̖̟̲͕͙ͭ̅̓ͥ͛ͨ͒ͯ͌̚ͅͅ ̟̜̳̫͕̺͎̺̲̗̋̐̀͛͑̅̅͛̾̈́̀̚͞͠r̸̯̥͚̟̰͉͎͓̖͉͂̎̅̐ͫͧ͛ͯ͜ë́̎͂̆ͥͩ͟͏̰̤̳͓̩͉̲̣̠͍͔̗̦̬̱̯p̽ͧ͒͗ͣ̿̆̄̑͏̘̜̥̠̜̥̘̲̮̹̤̪̦͕͇͓͞r̴͓̼̺̰̹͙͉̦͚̞̤͕̭̦̈́ͫ̔̂̓̆̒͗͛̿̑̉̿̓ͤ̏̇̀̚͘͘͢é̴̢̛̖̗̖̤ͧ̽͑ͨ̒̌̍ͭ̑̋̃̒ͫ̀͡ş̶͉͚̠̠͇͓̬̙͚̖̝͓͕̤̟́̂̏ͧͩ͌͑͐ͣ͌͌̄̾̿ȩ̢͈̗̝͍ͨ̒͗ͭ̔̈͆ͫ̔ͨ̈́́̊ͣ̃̎̀͝͝n̸̟͔̺̠̺̓̑̏͐ͩͬ̏̈́̌͒́̏ͥ̌̍͊ͧ̀̚͜͞͞tͮ̾͒̇̐ͩ͆̓ͣ҉̢̤͖̩͕̬̮͚͙̖͕̬̘̙͘͠ͅĩ̡̬̙̙̯̩͋̋̄n̡̡̊̐͌ͣ̍̒̽ͩͫ͌ͦ̚͝͏̳̻̞͓̗̹̪̜̘̰̠̟͈̮̲̳̜g̵̎̓́̃ͮ̍̏̈̄ͧ̈́̐̔̏ͤͭͨ҉̛̘̰̘̟̬̝̰̜̗̼ͅͅ ̸̦̞͓̟͉̫͔̦̰̝͈̩̳̞̼̮̩̬͕̿ͩ͗̂̌̐ͭ͟͞c̳̻͚̻̩̻͉̯̄̏͑̋͆̎͐ͬ͑͌́͢h̵͔͈͍͇̪̯͇̞͖͇̜͉̪̪̤̙ͧͣ̓̐̓ͤ͋͒ͥ͑̆͒̓͋̑́͞ǎ̡̮̤̤̬͚̝͙̞͎̇ͧ͆͊ͅo̴̲̺͓̖͖͉̜̟̗̮̳͉̻͉̫̯̫̍̋̿̒͌̃̂͊̏̈̏̿ͧ́ͬ̌ͥ̇̓̀͢͜s̵̵̘̹̜̝̘̺̙̻̠̱͚̤͓͚̠͙̝͕͆̿̽ͥ̃͠͡.̔̈́ͤͣͪ̅̎̄̽ͩͪ͛̓̂̂̑͒҉̤͍͔̲̣̜͕̺͕͇̖͓̺̦̺́̀͢

Which reads (without the diacritics) as 'To invoke the hive mind representing chaos.'

The first diacritic in the comic could be a macron over the i in "find". In English, this modifies a vowel to be "long". The second (or first) diacritic is the normal acute accent for the e in résumé, to make it an é which does belong in résumé. However, the next diacritic he uses is an umlaut on the u making it into ü, which is not part of the word. Ü typically represents the close front rounded vowel /y/, pronounced similar to the <ee> in "See" but with rounded lips. Ü can be found in languages such as German and Turkish; however, in French ü is not used in this way since the diacritic-less u already represents this sound. German has a word spelt as Resümee, but the meaning is not the same but rather conclusions or abstracts.

Cueball then goes all in on the last e which, like the first e, is supposed to have an acute accent. This e has a cedilla (as in ȩ), a ring (as in e̊), three acute accents, and is topped off by a breve (as in ĕ). In total, six diacritics are used on this e alone.

Some languages—notably Vietnamese—can use more than one diacritic per letter, but usually only two (for example, ṏ). This is because in Vietnamese diacritics can serve two functions: the aforementioned modifying sound values as well as to indicate tone. Using multiple diacritics in the comic's fashion makes little sense though it is reminiscent of (the aforementioned) Zalgo text.

There are also three acute accents over the last period. Diacritics over punctuation is not something that is ever used.

So for a word that is supposed to have two diacritics, Cueball uses eight, plus three for the period.

In the title text "not my forté" is supposed to mean that it is not one of Randall's strength or talent. However, to obtain this meaning forte should not have an acute diacritic over the e, thus proving Randall's point that it is not his forte to use diacritics. This is a form of hyperforeignism, where people spell loan words or use pronunciations that they believe is more faithful to the language it comes from instead of the "English" one, even though the "English" one is actually more correct. Due to its similarity with other words from French such as café, some people believe that forte is also spelled with a diacritic on the ending E (also note that the word was independently borrowed twice: from French as "a strength" and from Italian as a musical term. Neither usage requires diacritics).

The title text may be a reference to the what if? article released a week before this comic, Fire from moonlight, in which note 9 reads, "My résumé says étendue is my forté" (with the same error on "forte"). It is possible that noticing his mistake was the inspiration for this comic. (Note: étendue, borrowed from French étendue 'spread, expanse', refers to the extent of how much the light from a particular source “spreads out” by the time it reaches the target.)

If there actually has been someone who corrected Randall's mistake in the what if?, then there could be an extra pun hidden in the title. Those who criticized Randall's use of accents, would thus become diacritics!

Comic 1209: Encoding also references an absurd use of diacritics, and later a possible movie called Combining Diacritical Marks was mentioned in 1857: Emoji Movie, a direct reference to this comic.

Transcript

[Cueball sitting in front of his lap top typing. The text above him is the one he is typing. The last word résumé has too many diacritics. The u has an umlaut (as in ü) and the last é has no less than six diacritics; a cedilla below (as in ȩ), a ring above (as in e̊ ), then three acute accents above the ring (as in é), and finally they are topped off by a breve (as in ĕ). In addition, find is spelled fīnd with a macron over the i. Also, the last full stop has three accents "´" above it:]

Cueball (typing): Attached please fīnd my résümȩ̊́́́̆.́́́

[Caption below the panel:]

I usually leave out diacritics when I type, so I make up for it by occasionally adding a whole bunch at once.

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Discussion

Not quite sure if and how to inlcude the fact, that the German writing of résumé is Resümee. So the ü used by Cueball/Randall ist not that far off. However in German the word is not used for a CV (or similar), but for conclusions / abstracts. Elektrizikekswerk (talk) 10:19, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

I have included it. --Kynde (talk) 20:31, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

Thanks! Elektrizikekswerk (talk) 08:37, 25 February 2016 (UTC)

There is a newsgroup reading software called Forté Agent, which was popular in the past. It uses the same silly spelling as the title text. Might Randall be referring to it? http://www.forteinc.com/main/homepage.php -- Lou Crazy (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

OT but I'm pretty amazed that my browser renders ȩ̊́́́́̆.́́́ properly. 108.162.223.131 11:09, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

I doubt that Randall **forgets** to add the diacritics. My guess is that he is leaving it out due to habit or custom (or laziness), as accented characters often got mangled in emails at the Internet of yore. Just as some sysadmins here in .cz, me included. 141.101.95.49 11:35, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

Well it fits with his error in hie what if that may explain this comic. It is no referenced, so I think he means that it is not his strength to put them right! --Kynde (talk) 20:31, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

Might have a relation with changes officially added to school manuals regarding the spelling of many words in french (removal of many accents), in order to simplify it that sparked some debate (1990 paper from Académie française in charge of normalizing/perfecting french language pushed by government few weeks(months?) ago). Zurgul (talk) 11:47, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

The top accent on the last e can be a caron [1]. It is hard to tell in hand-written text. Jkotek (talk) 12:18, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

In phonetics, you have to use many diacritics when describing unusual sounds narrowly. So you could end up with something like [ë̯̰̙̹̃́], which is a slightly rounded, nasalised, centralised, creaky-voiced open short e with retracted tongue root that has a high tone but does not serve as a syllable nucleus. --162.158.91.222 13:32, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

Forte means both loud and strong in both Italian and French --188.114.103.7 14:35, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

And also in music in English, so included that instead. --Kynde (talk) 20:31, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

When I first clicked on "explain xkcd" from Android app, I saw:

"@@@@@@@@ Pogo Game Technical Support Phone Number USA ------ ((((((((- - - - ------Call us on . . ." etc

I wondered whether it was part of the joke. But now I see that it is gone. I have a screenshot, but don't know how to include it. 108.162.238.83 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

We have had a lot of spam. (Link is to version you saw). --Kynde (talk) 20:31, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

This comic looks like a mild example of Zalgo text, of which the most famous example (at least in my corner of the universe) is the "don't parse html with regex" answer on StackOverflow. 173.245.54.53 17:42, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

I was just going to mention the Zalgo-iness. You think this was intentional? ~AgentMuffin

I have seen similar jokes on punctuation. Like: "I know Im not good at putting in any punctuation So here is some you can put in yourself ..........,,,,,,,,,,------------""""""""" ''''''''' " I sadly have it this way with commas especially (but not only) in English. I can see that when others have copy edited my posts. But I think that is the great thing about wikis. The hard part is making the explanations, and the others can easily correct spell erroers etc.  :-) --Kynde (talk) 20:31, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

I'm a French native speaker, and I think I need more explanation. In English, you only use diacritics with words from other languages, right ? I guess "Résumé" comes from French (even if we only say CV), and forte/forté comes from Italian, am I right ? Then WHY do you write "forté" on a music sheet when in France, and I think in Italy too, we write "forte" ? Thank you for your potential answers. Seipas (talk) 21:06, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

As an Italian mother tongue speaker, I removed the reference to "forté" as musical term, and marked it for verification on Wiktionary. --141.101.104.129 21:39, 24 February 2016 (UTC) (Gengis Gat)

The explanation used to have a bit about how English speakers confuse the French-derived word "forte", pronounced /fort/, and the Italian-derived musical term "forte", pronounced /fortay/, and come up with a neither-fish-nor-fowl spelling of forté, which is of course incorrect in all three languages. Note that you emphatically don't write "forté" on sheet music, or anywhere else for that matter, unless you're misspelling it. 173.245.54.53 22:46, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

It's not quite true that English only uses diacritics on borrowed words.

• English can use a diaeresis (¨) for hiatus when the spelling would otherwise be confusing, much like in French—e.g., in "noöne" or "coöperation". This is nearly obsolete, but the New Yorker still uses it, as do a few medical and biological journals (the Greek root "-oo-" in particular can be confusing…).

• There are a few other completely obsolete rules that English used to have. For example, until around the mid-19th century, an acute accent could be used to mark a non-silent "e" where it would otherwise be confusing—e.g., the Sicilian-English Duchy of Bronte was once often spelled Bronté to distinguish it from the French town of Bronte (pronounced /ˈbrɒnti/ and /bront/, respectively).

• Some of these obsolete rules still leave relics in proper names. There are people with the surname Bronté from back when the Duchy was spelled that way, and many American girls around 6-8 years old are named Chloë because the last time that name was popular, English spelling still used the diaeresis for hiatus.

Some pedants like to spell words with French diacritics that weren't actually borrowed from French, like "canoë" (which was actually borrowed into French from English, not vice-versa), or, most famously, 'naïve" (which was borrowed from French back before French had the hiatus rule).

But "forté" is even worse than "canoë"—at least "canoë" is the correct French spelling; "forté" is not the correct Italian spelling. The fact that it was correct English spelling centuries years ago isn't relevant (especially since English was almost never used on sheet music until pretty recently). When you see it on English sheet music in 2016, it's not because the ancient usage has been revived, but because someone mistakenly thought the Italian has a diacritic. Music tutorials often go out of their way to remind people that there is no such word as "forté" in either English or Italian, but people still keep making the mistake. --162.158.252.125 08:08, 28 May 2016 (UTC)

Just a note: In the transcript, the fancy ȩ̊́́́́̆ has one acute accent too much ;) (4 instead of 3)... 162.158.114.147 05:12, 25 February 2016 (UTC)

141.101.104.27 fixed this already. --Kynde (talk) 13:03, 25 February 2016 (UTC)

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the macron over the i in "find".108.162.210.213 00:45, 26 February 2016 (UTC)

So I added it to the explanation. Interestingly, the transcript did include the macron. Nitpicking (talk) 01:34, 25 January 2022 (UTC)

Note that in French "résumé" means "summary" and is never used as a replacement for "CV". 162.158.91.221 22:13, 6 March 2016 (UTC)

I amn't sure how to pronounce the band name "Down Left Forte". Couldn't contact them. Omg Oriental Music Group (talk) 06:11, 7 April 2023 (UTC)