Caron

A caron (/ˈkærən/ KARR-ən) or háček (/ˈhɑːtʃɛk, ˈhætʃɛk, ˈheɪtʃɛk/ HAH-chek, HATCH-ek, HAY-chek, plural háčeks or háčky), is a diacritic mark (◌̌) placed over certain letters in the orthography of some languages, to indicate a change of the related letter's pronunciation. Typographers tend to use the term caron, while linguists prefer the Czech word háček.

The symbol is common in the Baltic, Slavic, Finnic, Samic and Berber language families. Its use differs according to the orthographic rules of a language. In most Slavic and other European languages it indicates present or historical palatalization (e → ě; [e] → [ʲe]), iotation, or postalveolar articulation (c → č; [ts] → [tʃ]). In Salishan languages, it often represents a uvular consonant (x → x̌; [x] → [χ]). When placed over vowel symbols, the caron can indicate a contour tone, for instance the falling and then rising tone in the Pinyin romanization of Mandarin Chinese. It is also used to decorate symbols in mathematics, where it is often pronounced /ˈtʃɛk/ ("check").

The caron is shaped approximately like a small letter "v". For serif typefaces, the caron generally has one of two forms: either symmetrical, essentially identical to an inverted circumflex; or with the left stroke thicker than the right, like the usual serif form of the letter "v" (v, but without serifs). The latter form is often preferred by Czech designers for use in Czech, while for other uses the symmetrical form tends to predominate, as it does also among sans-serif typefaces.

The caron is not to be confused with the breve (◌̆, which is curved rather than angled):

Different disciplines generally refer to this diacritic mark by different names. Typography tends to use the term caron. Linguistics more often uses the Czech word háček.^{[citation needed]} Pullum's and Ladusaw's Phonetic Symbol Guide uses the term wedge.^{[citation needed]}

The term caron is used in the official names of Unicode characters (e.g., "LATIN CAPITAL LETTER C WITH CARON"). The Unicode Consortium explicitly states that the reason for this is unknown, but its earliest known use was in the United States Government Printing Office Style Manual of 1967, and it was later used in character sets such as DIN 31624 (1979), ISO 5426 (1980), ISO/IEC 6937 (1983) and ISO/IEC 8859-2 (1985). Its actual origin remains obscure, but some have suggested that it may derive from a fusion of caret and macron. Though this may be folk etymology, it is plausible, particularly in the absence of other suggestions. A Unicode technical note states that the name "hacek" should have been used instead.

The Oxford English Dictionary gives 1953 as the earliest appearance in English for háček. In Czech, háček ([ˈɦaːtʃɛk]) means 'small hook', the diminutive form of hák ([ˈɦaːk], 'hook')". The name appears in most English dictionaries, but they treat the long mark (acute accent) differently. British dictionaries, such as the OED, ODE, CED, write háček (with the mark) in the headwords, while American ones, such as the Merriam-Webster, NOAD, AHD, incorrectly omit the acute and write haček, however, the NOAD gives háček as an alternative spelling.^{[citation needed]}

In Slovak it is called mäkčeň ([ˈmɛɐktʂeɲ], i.e., 'softener' or 'palatalization mark'), in Croatian kvaka or kvačica ('angled hook' or 'small angled hook'), in Serbian ква̏ка or ква̏чица ('angled hook' or 'small angled hook'), in Slovenian strešica ('little roof') or kljukica ('little hook'), in Lithuanian paukščiukas ('little bird') or varnelė ('little jackdaw'), in Estonian katus ('roof'), in Finnish hattu ('hat'), and in Lakota ičášleče ('wedge').^{[citation needed]}