This section is from the book "Hill's Manual Of Social And Business Forms: A Guide To Correct Writing", by Thos. E. Hill. Also available from Amazon: Hill's Manual Of Social And Business Forms: The How-To-Do-Everything Book Of Victorian America.
For the purpose of giving inflection to certain words, or to designate the prolongation of occasional syllables in a word, the author frequently finds it convenient to use certain characters to denote such accents. To illustrate :
The Acute (á) gives the rising inflection ; as
"Will you ride?"
The Grave (à) the falling; as
" Will you wàlk or ride."
The Circumflex (â.) indicates the rising and falling inflection in the same syllable ; as,
" Machine," Montreâl," etc.
The Macron (-) placed above a letter designates a full, long vowel sound ; as
"Fāte." "Hōme." "Nōte." "Ēve," etc.
A Breve ( ˘ ) denotes a short sound, when placed above a vowel; as
" Ă-dōre." " Glō-rĭ-oŭs."
The Diosresis (ä) is used for the purpose of dividing a diphthong, or syllable into two distinct syllables; as
" Avengëd" " Belovëd."
Also when two vowels come together, this character is sometimes used to show that they are not contracted into a diphthong; as
"Coöperate." "Reïterate." "Reäppear."
The Cedilla (Ç) is a mark placed under the c to denote that its sound is the same as the letter s; as
"Çhaise." " Façade."
The Tilde (ñ) placed over an n gives it the sound of ny ; as
"Miñon." "Señor."
 
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