The circumflex accent of August

Have you ever wondered what the circumflex accent is for? The very one that always takes a little time to find on azerty keyboards...

First what is it? Circonflexe comes from the Latin, circoflexus…which means flexed around. It's crazy eh how the etymology of words is always useful; just knowing that makes you imagine it, that little drawing above the vowels folded in half like a pointed hat. Didn't you remember that at school we said pointy hat? The circumflex accent is therefore graphically the combination of a grave accent, which leans towards the West and an acute accent, which leans towards the East.

Now that we know what it is, what use are you, little circumflex accent… Well, the circumflex accent has four uses. The first is to specify the pronunciation of an a, an e or an o by indicating a longer sound in phonetics. Example a bone that spoils a cake.

The second is to distinguish between homophones, ie words that are pronounced the same way – the same is true of kakemphaton. So "that's for sure, the mature man, the tough raw." The third is to indicate the disappearance of an old letter. Example party for feasting, hotel for hospital or beast for bestiary.

If these three uses make sense, the last nevertheless particularly appeals to me since it comes to punctuate... well, nothing in particular, just the pleasure of making a word more prestigious, it is thus with throne or supreme and in that... it is this futile utility that I suggest you retain, that which justifies prestige and which legitimizes the accessory which is useless… you see where I am coming from??