This Grave Accent Keyboard is an online tool that allows anyone to create, make or put a Grave accent mark above or below any letter or character in just three steps.
We all know that our keyboards have a standard set of letters, numbers, and symbols on them. To type these characters, we usually don’t need to press more than a few keys at once. There are times, however, when we need to type special letters, such as those with the Grave accent mark below or above them.
There are several ways to type these special letters on the keyboard, however, with some level of difficulty. And if you’re someone who frequently types any of the Grave Accented letters, you may find it time-consuming to try to find ways to get those symbols with your keyboard.
That’s why we created this free Grave Accent Keyboard for people like you to use, as it enables anyone irrespective of their technical knowledge to type and put Grave accents on any letter or character.
Thus, to type letters with the Grave accent marks (below or above them), use this free online keyboard tool. You can do so following the steps below:
Now that you’ve gotten the tool to type any letter with the Grave accent, we will like to use this opportunity to educate you more about this symbol.
The grave accent or l'accent grave is one of the most common accent marks or diacritics worldwide. You can find it in French, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, and several major languages.
Most languages that use the grave accent will also use the acute accent. Historically, both the grave accent and acute accent have been two of the main accent marks. Of course, this list includes the circumflex.
You'll find that the grave, acute, and circumflex are the three most common accent marks in Greek and Latin.
Enough about that. Let's take a look at the grave accent, its history, and how you can utilize it in modern tools and software today.
Similarly to the acute accent, the grave accent has similar historical roots. The Greeks showcased one of the earliest use of acute, grave, and circumflex accents.
The Greeks and Romans also have the most evidence regarding accent marks and their usage. For that reason, let's look at the history behind the grave accent marks from the Greeks, trickling down to the Romans.
In ancient Greek, the grave accent was one of the most common accent marks in the writing system. You only found the grave accent on the last syllable of words. For instance: ἀγαθὸς ἄνθρωπος agathòs ánthrōpos (a good man).
One of the earliest discussions of accent marks in Greek writing systems is in Plato's Cratylus. He discusses the change of όξεΐα τάσις (the acute accent) to βαρεία (τάσις) (the grave accent).
The Greeks referred to the grave accent as a faint sound or weak stress. You can find this in Plato's Cratylus.
The acute accent was a high pitch while the grave accent was a low pitch.
Greek scholars also shared that in the spoken language, when the voice falls into the grave, it should not fall past a certain interval. This theory is why in modern languages, scholars argue that the grave accent at the end of a syllable isn't a true accent.
You will find a lot of comparisons between music and the spoken language in Greek when discussing accent marks. Greek historian and teacher Dionysius Halicarnassus referred to accent marks as a modification of the musical voice.
This comparison is why words like 'pitch' and 'tone' were words used to describe accent marks.
The Greeks and Romans made economic and political contact at some point after the fifth century B.C. The time is unknown, but the evidence is prevalent.
Here is a translation from Greek to Roman about the different types of accent marks:
acutus (Latin) - οξύς (Greek) - acute accent (English)
gravis (Latin) - βαρύς (Greek) - grave accent (English)
Roman author and polymath Marcus Terentius Varro referred to the grave accent as thicker and longer than the acute accent. He continues to add that: "the grave, in proportion to its greater mass and slower movement, tarries longer in a word and rests upon any number of successive syllables. Wherefore, grave syllables are more numerous, acute syllables fewer, and circumflex syllables the rarest of all".
Similar to modern languages, the Romans also had rules to follow when using the Latin grave accent. Here are some of the rules for the Latin grave accent.
Marcus Varro also referred to accent marks in general (the main accent marks during the Roman empire were the acute, grave, and circumflex) as 'charming varieties perfected in song.
Greek and Latin were two languages and writing systems that held a lot of influence during their time. Today, they still influence modern languages. For instance, binomial nomenclature is done in Latin and Greek.
Even if the grave accent is rarely seen in English, it still holds value in today's society.
It might or might not come as a surprise, but there are several languages worldwide that use the grave accent mark. Most people might relate the grave (or even the acute accent) to French but it holds linguistic relevance in several other languages.
Furthermore, it has different functions and purposes in these languages. Here are some of the languages that use the grave accent and how they utilize them.
Interestingly, the grave accent is one of the most common accent marks in Italian. It is known as accento grave in Italian. You can find the grave accent above a vowel and at the end of a word. Essentially, the grave accent points to word-final stress.
It indicates that you should pronounce vowels with a short sound. For instance: "eh" for the letter 'e' and "ah" for the letter 'a'.
The grave accent also helps to distinguish words. For instance:
Italians also use the grave accent in words with more than one syllable. It places stress on the final vowel. For instance: Caffè (coffee), Città (city), etc.
Furthermore, you can use the grave accent in monosyllabic words consisting of a consonant + i or u + vowel. For instance: Ciò (this, that), Già (yet, already), giù (down), etc.
In French, only three vowels can use the grave accent (l'accent grave): à, è, and ù. On the letters 'a' and 'u', the grave accent is a simple accent mark. However, on the letter 'e' it is a pronunciation marker.
You pronounce words with è (with the grave accent) as ehhh. For instance:
On the letters 'a' and 'u' the grave accent serves to distinguish between words that would otherwise have an identical spelling. For instance:
In Bulgarian, the grave accent is known as gravis. It sometimes appears on the vowels а, о, у, е, и, and ъ to indicate stress. You will mainly find the grave accent in children's books or foreign reading material to differentiate homophones.
For instance:
а̀ра (pàra, 'steam/vapour') - пара̀ (parà,'cent/penny, money')
въ̀лна (vằlna, 'wool') - вълна̀ (vǎlnà, 'wave')
Serbian is interesting because it has a normal grave and a double grave. They both have different functions in written and spoken formats.
The Grave - The Serbians refer to the grave accent as kratkouzlazni. It is the short rising grave. For instance: in the word màskara, the first 'a' is slightly stressed (with the grave accent), the second 'a' is higher than the first one, and the third 'a' is even higher than the second one.
The Double Grave - The Serbians refer to the double grave accent as kratkosilazni. It is the short-falling grave. For instance: in the name Mïlica, 'i' is stressed and short.
The use of the grave accent is similar to its use in French. It marks the opening of a vowel. It also differentiates homophone words such as ma ('my(f)') and mà ('hand').
Furthermore, the grave accent also marks stressed vowels in words. Lastly, if the grave accent is present on the vowels 'e' and 'o', you must pronounce it more openly.
The grave accent indicates the secondary stress in compound words, with an acute accent for the primary stress. However, you will only see this use in some Russian dictionaries and linguistic literature.
In Norwegian, the grave accent separates words that would be identical. For instance:
Norwegian doesn't have diacritics or accent marks. However, there has been a recent trend to use the grave accent to replace the acute accent.
In the previous Scottish Gaelic orthography the grave accent denoted a long vowel. The acute accent indicated rarer close long vowels, while the grave accent indicated open long vowels.
It is no longer the case in the current Scottish Gaelic orthography.
The grave accent in Hawaiian isn't placed on top of a vowel or consonant. They use it as an easier typographical substitute for the okina. Okina is a unicameral consonant that indicates a glottal stop.
Disclaimer: If you were curious, there is no grave accent mark in Spanish.
The grave accent fulfills many roles in different languages. Some of which are peculiar, but it does the job. Here are the primary uses of the grave accent across the globe.
The grave accent has several functions in languages. Here's a general list of the functions of the grave accent:
There are other uses of the grave accent, but those are specific to a certain language. For instance, the use of the grave accent in Hawaiian is special and unique to Hawaiian alone.
The grave accent has always gone hand in hand with the acute accent. Where the acute accent was high pitched in ancient Greece, the grave accent carried a low pitch. There is some debate whether the grave accent is a true accent, however, it remains one of the most common accent marks in the world.
Thanks to a rich history and usage in several languages, the grave accent remains one of the best advancements in the human writing system.