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New Spanish language article:

Types of accentuation in Spanish
Learn about the different types of Spanish accentuation, what is "accent" and what "tilde".

Hola, Angeles. I always thought the tilde was the squiggly line over the n as in Quincea�era.

�Hola, Amgie!!

Sure, you are right, "tilde" is also that line used on letter "�". In fact, as the article is about accents, the "tilde" concept there is used referring to the written accent. But that's not its unique meaning.

Look: According to the Real Academia de la Lengua, tilde has three uses:

"1. amb. Virgulilla o rasgo que se pone sobre algunas abreviaturas, el que lleva la �, y cualquier otro signo que sirva para distinguir una letra de otra o denotar su acentuaci�n. U. m. en f.

2. amb. p. us. Tacha, nota denigrativa.

3. f. Cosa m�nima."
("tilde", according to the RAE)

The first one:

1. amb. Virgulilla o rasgo que se pone sobre algunas abreviaturas, el que lleva la �, y cualquier otro signo que sirva para distinguir una letra de otra o denotar su acentuaci�n. U. m. en f. means:

"Virbulilla" (this is another name for "tilde") or sign placed on some abbreviations, the one used with the letter "�", and any other sign used to distinguish a letter from another one or denote its accentuation. (U.m. en f. means "Usado m�s en feminino" = "Most of the times used in feminine".)

So, in few words, "tilde" is not only the name given to the written accent, but also to any written mark on other letters, as in �.

Good point, Angie!

Thanks for your post!

Interesting article. I still remember, when I was studying Spanish in college, my professor was explaining to us the difference between Mexican Spanish and Spanish in Spain. They talk with a lisp and use words like vosotros.