Cedilla

The cedilla is a diacritic mark that resembles a hook curved to the left, placed below a letter and found in several languages using the Latin alphabet. For instance: ç, çh, ş, ķ.

Current use in Romance languages

The cedilla appeared first in the Romance languages, below the letter ç. In those tongues, c is pronounced [k] in general; but a c placed before e, i or y is pronounced with a fricative sound which is [s], [tʃ] or [θ] according to the language. The cedilla below ç indicates that the fricative sound ([s], [tʃ] or [θ]) is found exceptionnally in another position than before e, i or y.

• In Galician-Portuguese, French and Francoprovençal, ç before a, o, u is pronounced [s]; c before e, i, y is also pronounced [s]. In other positions, c is pronounced [k].
• In Occitan and Catalan, ç before a, o, u or at word ending is pronounced [s]; c before e, i, y is also pronounced [s]. In other positions, c is pronounced [k].
• In Aragonese, ç before a, o, u is pronounced [θ]; c before e, i, y is also pronounced [θ]. In other positions, c is pronounced [k].
• In Friulian, ç before a, o, u or at word ending is pronounced [tʃ]; c before e, i, y is also pronounced [tʃ]. In other positions, c is pronounced [k].

Current use in non-Romance languages

• In various Turkic languages (Turkish, Azeri, Volga Tatar, Crimean Tatar, Gagauz, Turkmen) and in Kurdish (an Iranian language):
  • ç is pronounced [tʃ] (in contrast with c pronounced [dʒ])
  • ş is pronounced [ʃ] (in contrast with s pronounced [s]).
• In Zaza (an Iranian language):
  • ç is pronounced [tʃ/ts] (in contrast with c pronounced [dʒ/dz])
  • ş is pronounced [ʃ] (in contrast with s pronounced [s]).
• In Manx (a Celtic language), çh is pronounced [tʃ] (in contrast with ch pronounced [x]).
• In Latvian (a Baltic language), a sort of cedilla (or comma) is found on the following palatal consonants: ķ pronounced [c], ļ pronounced [ʎ], ņ pronounced [ɲ], ģ (uppercase: Ģ) pronounced [ɟ] and, formerly, ŗ.

Diacritic marks not to be confused with the cedilla

• A comma below ș and ț occurs in Romanian (a Romance language) but it is often replaced by a cedilla (ş, ţ) because of computing input problems. In an accurate typography, the comma should be preferred.
• The ogonek resembles a hook that is curved to the right (in contrast with the left-curved cedilla): it occurs in Polish (a Slavic language) below ą and ę and in Lithuanian (a Baltic language) below ą, ę, į, ǫ, ų. Its use has been extended to various Native American languages.

History

The primary shape of the cedilla was the letter z placed under the letter c: cedilla is a Spanish word that means ‘little z’. The little z was more and more simplified to look like a hook. The first use of the cedilla appeared during the Middle Ages in several Romance languages of south-west Europe (Spanish, Galician-Portuguese, Asturian-Leonese, Aragonese, Catalan and, lately, Occitan).

From the 16th century on, the cedilla was extended to other Romance languages like French. At the same time, it was progressively abandoned in Spanish and in Asturian-Leonese where it was replaced by the letter z which is pronounced like ç (that is: [θ]).

Since the 20th century, the cedilla has been adopted in recently codified Romance languages like Friulian and Francoprovençal and in non-Romance languages. Non-Romance languages have extended its use to new graphemes like çh, ş or ķ.