Editing Circumflex (section)

==== French ====
{{Main|Circumflex in French}}
In [[French alphabet|French]], the circumflex generally marks the former presence of a consonant (usually ''s'') that was [[deletion (phonology)|deleted]] and is no longer pronounced. (The corresponding [[Norman French]] words, and consequently the words derived from them in English, frequently retain the lost consonant.) For example:
*''ancêtre'' "ancestor"
*''hôpital'' "hospital"
*''hôtel'' "hostel"
*''forêt'' "forest"
*''rôtir'' "to roast"
*''côte'' "rib, coast, slope"
*''pâté'' "paste"
*''août'' "August"
*''dépôt'' (from the Latin ''depositum'' 'deposit', but now referring to both a deposit or a storehouse of any kind)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dépôt |url=http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/d%C3%A9p%C3%B4t/23875 |access-date=8 December 2016 |website=Larousse |language=fr |archive-date=30 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130114714/http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/d%C3%A9p%C3%B4t/23875 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Some [[homophone]]s (or near-homophones in some varieties of French) are distinguished by the circumflex. However, â, ê and ô distinguish different sounds in most varieties of French, for instance ''cote'' {{IPA|fr|kɔt|}} "level, mark, code number" and ''côte'' {{IPA|fr|kot|}} "rib, coast, hillside".

In handwritten French, for example in taking notes, an ''m'' with a circumflex (m̂) is an informal abbreviation for ''même'' "same".

In February 2016, the Académie française decided to remove the circumflex from about 2,000 words, a plan that had been outlined since 1990. However, usage of the circumflex would not be considered incorrect.<ref>{{Cite news |date=5 February 2016 |title=End of the Circumflex? Changes in French Spelling Cause Uproar |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35496893 |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-date=4 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181104080028/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35496893 |url-status=live }}</ref>