The Acute Accent

Foundations

An acute accent (´) marks a stressed vowel that is not the last vowel of the word.

How It Works

Most Guarani words are stressed on the last syllable and need no mark. Some words are stressed earlier, and an acute accent shows where: óga “house”, ára “day”, kóva “this one”. The accent is also written when a word ends in a vowel plus a short i or u and the stress is on the vowel before it. In purahéi “song”, the stressed vowel is e, not the last letter.

A word usually carries one accent, and the accent follows the last stressed part of the word.

WordMeaningWhy
ambaʼapoI workthe stress is last, so no mark
ambaʼapótaI will work-ta has no stress, so the root keeps it and gets the accent
ambaʼaposeI want to work-se takes the stress, so the root loses its mark

A nasal vowel never gets an acute accent. Its tilde marks the stress. See The Tilde as a Stress Mark.

Examples (5)

  1. óga

    house

    The stress is on ó, the first vowel, so it takes the accent.

  2. ára

    day

    The stress is on á, not on the last vowel.

  3. kóva

    this one

    The accent marks the first vowel.

  4. purahéi

    song

    The word ends in a short i, and the accent is on e.

  5. ambaʼapóta

    I will work

    The ending -ta has no stress, so the accent stays on the root.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving out the accent.

    oga
    óga

    Without the accent the word would be read with its stress on the last vowel.

  • Keeping the root accent after a stressed ending.

    ambaʼapóse
    ambaʼapose

    The ending -se takes the stress, so the accent leaves the root.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

The Acute AccentFoundations

Learn This First

The acute accent marks the words that break the final-stress rule, so learners need the rule first.