# Diacritical Mark

This help file explains the Diacritical Mark feature.
To use this feature, click Diacritics on the top menu to display the screen shown below.
This feature introduces an experimental method of using diacritical marks for certain Hmong RPA consonants and for all tone markers.
Because this system is experimental, any of these diacritics may change in the future based on public feedback.
Using diacritics in Hmong RPA provides several advantages:

- Words become more compact and visually consistent.
- Readability improves by removing extra consonant letters.
- Computer processing becomes simpler because each tone marker becomes a clear syllable boundary.

## Checkboxes

The following groups correspond to the options in the Diacritical Mark window:

1. Aspirated consonants that begin with letter h, such as: hm, hn, hml, hny, hv
2. Nasal consonants that begin with letter n, such as:
   nc, nch, ndl, ndlh, nk, nkh, np, nph, npl, nplh, nq, nqh, nr, nrh, nt, nth, nts, ntsh, ntx, ntxh, ny
3. Tone markers used at the end of a syllable: ab, am, aj, av, a, as, ag, ad

Setting Menu
Checkbox | Function
--- | ---
Aspirate | Replaces the letter h in aspirated consonants by placing a combining ring above on the first consonant. Examples: hm → M̊hn → N̊hml → M̊lhny → N̊yhv → V̊
Nasal | Replaces the letter n in nasal consonant clusters with a combining tilde placed on the first consonant. Examples: nc → C̃, nch → C̃h, ndl → D̃l, ndlh → D̃lh, nk → K̃, nkh → K̃h, np → P̃, nph → P̃h, npl → P̃l, nplh → P̃lh, nq → Q̃, nqh → Q̃h, nr → R̃, nrh → R̃h, nt → T̃, nth → T̃h, nts → T̃s, ntsh → T̃sh, ntx → T̃x, ntxh → T̃xh, ny → Ỹ
Tone Markers | Converts tone letters into their corresponding diacritical marks. Examples: ab → Â(am → ǎ) (aj → à) (av → á) a → ȧ(as → ā) (ag → a̐) (ad → ȃ)

When the Diacritics window is open and all checkboxes are selected in the setup menu, typing regular RPA words automatically converts to their diacritical forms after you press the space bar—provided the dialect of the typed text is Dawb or Leeg.
To transliterate between RPA and diacritic forms, use the Transliterate option under the Tool menu.
File name: DiacriticalMark.html
Date: 12/11/2025