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Cedilla

Sound
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A diacritical mark (¸) placed under certain consonants (e.g., ç) to modify pronunciation, often used in multilingual or sound-focused poetry.

Detailed Definition
A cedilla is a diacritical mark (¸) placed under “c” in French and other languages to soften its sound (e.g., “façade”); in poetry, its visual and phonetic presence can signal foreignness, musicality, or textual precision, especially in multilingual or sound-focused verse.
Example
Example in poetry:
Cedilla: In French poetry, “garçon” uses a cedilla under ‘c’ to soften pronunciation; Rare in English, but appears in loanwords like “façade” in T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land”; Contemporary multilingual poems may use cedillas to preserve phonetic integrity: “niçoise dreams” (original)
Additional Notes
Diacritical mark (¸) placed under letter c to indicate soft pronunciation in French. Rarely appears in English poetry except in borrowed words. Important for accurate reproduction of French verse in translation.
Also Known As
diacritical mark pronunciation guide
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