What is Caron?
{{Diacritical marks|ˇ}} A '''caron''' ( ˇ ) or '''haček''' (from {{lang-cs|háček}}), is a [[diacritic]]. This is a special symbol that is written over some letters to show that they are [[pronunciation|pronounced]] differently. Some other names for the caron are: '''wedge''', '''inverted circumflex''', and '''inverted hat.''' The caron is used in [[Baltic languages|Baltic]], [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] and [[Finno-Lappic languages]] to show that a letter is pronounced differently than normal. Sometimes the caron is drawn over a letter to show that it ''used'' to be pronounced differently. Usually the caron shows: * [[palatalization]], a softer pronunciation * [[iotation]], a ''y'' sound before a [[vowel]] * [[postalveolar consonant]], letter sounds made with the [[tongue]] touching the back of the [[alveolar ridge]] in the [[mouth]] The caron looks like an upside-down [[circumflex]] ( ˆ ). It looks a lot like the [[breve]] symbol, but is more pointed at the bottom. It is also used as a [[symbol]] in [[mathematics]]. {{-}} {{Europe-stub}} [[Category:Writing systems]] [[Category:Alphabetic diacritics]]