Adobe PS: tilde
Unicode: 0303
Languages: Basque, English, Estonian, Portuguese, Sanskrit transliteration, Skolt Sámi, Spanish, Vietnamese
Tilde
History and examples of use
Tilde above the character softens n in Basque. In Spanish, the ñ is used as a separate letter roughly corresponding to the "ny" in "canyon". In Portuguese, it denotes nasality in a and o. Tilde above o was introduced into Estonian in 1818 by Otto Wilhem to denote pronunciation somewhere between ö and ō. In Vietnamese, the tilde (or dấu ngã) is used to specify a steep, glottalized, dipping and rising tone.
Design
The shape of the tilde above o should be the same as above n. Tilde above n is included in most western typefaces. It should be rather stressed and clearly distinguishable from macron. Tilde should not be derived from the one included in the ASCII set (asciitilde, 007E), since this one is usually too large and its shape is different.