What is the symbol called that looks like an "e" with a slanted line above it?

Question

My name has one (Beyonce's does too) but I don't know what it's called. It makes an "ay" sound. And which is the correct way to put it... is it like this / or that \? Does it matter?

Answer 1

I think it's just an accented e. I believe the accent is put in different places for different languages. Spanish uses the /.

Answer 2

The character you are describing is an accented "e". The dash above the character is called a "diacritical" mark and is used to distinguish pronunciations among similar words. This ( ` ) is called a "grave accent" while this ( ´ ) is an acute accent. It does matter which one you use, as they mean different things.

A "grave" accent is not generally used in English, but signifies an "open" vowel sound for either "e" or "o" in those languages in which it has significant function.

The "acute" accent is more commonly used in English, and also signifies vowel modifications, but can also be used to indicate the stressed syllable in a word in which this might otherwise be ambiguous. In the example of Beyoncé, the natural English pronunciation would be a two-syllable word with a silent "e", so the addition of the accent indicates a non-standard correct pronunciation.

All that being said, the use of diacritical marks is deemphasized in English, and most authorities acknowledge that words may be spelled correctly either with or without them. For example, both cafe and café are recognized as correct. The vast majority of English words that use diacritical marks have been borrowed from other languages in which such marks have a more active role.

Answer 3

Accent aigu, it is called in French, and your name seems French.

The name "aigu" comes from Latin "acutus", which means "sharp" (compare with "acute", "acid"). It was originally used to indicate pitch or change in pitch. We find the acutus for instance in Greek (it is called oxytonon there, "sharp tone").

Most common accents:

é : accent aigu, acutus, "sharp"
è : accent grave, gravis, "heavy"
ê : accent circonflex, circumflex, combination of é + è
ë : trema, diaresis, Umlaut

In French,
é is prounced "ay"
è and ê are pronounced "ai" (as in fair)

Answer 4

I don't know if this is correctly spelled, but it is called an
Accent Egout
or
Accent Egu

its a french accent.

Answer 5

It's an ACCENT AIGU. It is used in several languages. French is one, but also Spanish.

Answer 6

accenting the letter e in French, Italian, Latin languages etc. English people espercially Americans start adding it to their boring names to sound bougie, make it sound better than it is.