Editing Slovene language (section)

===Diacritics===

To compensate for the shortcomings of the standard orthography, Slovene also uses standardized [[diacritic]]s or accent marks to denote [[Stress (linguistics)|stress]], [[vowel length]], and [[Pitch-accent language|pitch accent]], much like the closely related [[Serbo-Croatian]]. However, as in Serbo-Croatian, use of such accent marks is restricted to dictionaries, language textbooks, and linguistic publications. In normal writing, the diacritics are almost never used, except in a few minimal pairs where real ambiguity could arise.

Two different and mutually-incompatible systems of diacritics are used. The first is the simpler non-tonemic system, which can be applied to all Slovene dialects. It is more widely used and is the standard representation in dictionaries such as SSKJ. The tonemic system also includes tone as part of the representation. However, neither system reliably distinguishes schwa {{IPA|/ə/}} from the front mid-vowels, nor vocalised l {{IPA|/w/}} from regular l {{IPA|/l/}}. Some sources, such as [[Maks Pleteršnik]]'s 1894/95 dictionary, write these as ''ə'' and ''ł'', respectively, but this is not as common.

====Non-tonemic diacritics====
In the non-tonemic system, the distinction between the two mid-vowels is indicated, as well as the placement of stress and the length of vowels:

* Long stressed vowels are notated with an acute diacritic: {{angbr|á é í ó ú ŕ}} (IPA: {{IPA|/aː eː iː oː uː ər/}}).
* However, the rarer long stressed low-mid vowels {{IPA|/ɛː/}} and {{IPA|/ɔː/}} are notated with a circumflex: {{angbr|ê ô}}.
* Short stressed vowels are notated with a grave: {{angbr|à è ì ò ù}} (IPA: {{IPA|/a ɛ i ɔ u/}}). Some systems may also include {{angbr|ə̀}} for {{IPA|/ə/}}.

====Tonemic diacritics====
The tonemic system uses the diacritics somewhat differently from the non-tonemic system. The high-mid vowels {{IPA|/eː/}} and {{IPA|/oː/}} are written {{angbr|ẹ ọ}} with a subscript dot, while the low-mid vowels {{IPA|/ɛː/}} and {{IPA|/ɔː/}} are written as plain {{angbr|e o}}.

Pitch accent and vowel length is indicated by four diacritical marks:

* The [[acute accent|acute]] (&nbsp;´&nbsp;) indicates '''long and low''' pitch: {{angbr|{{wrap|á é ẹ́ í ó ọ́ ú ŕ}}}} (IPA: {{IPA|/àː ɛ̀ː èː ìː ɔ̀ː òː ùː ə̀r/}}).
* The [[inverted breve]] (&nbsp; ̑&nbsp;) indicates '''long and high''' pitch: {{angbr|{{wrap|ȃ ȇ ẹ̑ ȋ ȏ ọ̑ ȗ ȓ}}}} (IPA: {{IPA|/áː ɛ́ː éː íː ɔ́ː óː úː ə́r/}}).
* The [[grave accent|grave]] (&nbsp;`&nbsp;) indicates '''short and low''' pitch. This occurs only on {{angbr|è}} (IPA: {{IPA|/ə̀/}}), optionally written as {{angbr|ə̀}}.
* The [[double grave]] (&nbsp; ̏&nbsp;) indicates '''short and high''' pitch: {{angbr|ȁ ȅ ȉ ȍ ȕ}} (IPA: {{IPA|á ɛ́ í ɔ́ ú}}). {{angbr|ȅ}} is also used for {{IPA|/ə́/}}, optionally written as {{angbr|ə̏}}.

The schwa vowel {{IPA|/ə/}} is written ambiguously as {{angbr|e}}, but its accentuation will sometimes distinguish it: a long vowel mark can never appear on a schwa, while a grave accent can appear only on a schwa. Thus, only {{angbr|ȅ}} and unstressed {{angbr|e}} are truly ambiguous.