Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.
ACUTE ACCENT
This accent mark (´) occurs in English mainly in words of French origin, such as étude, épée, and soigné, although in high-frequency words American English sometimes drops the accent mark, where British English continues to retain it. Soiree, for example, is in divided usage in the United States, appearing usually without the accent, but sometimes with it. An acute accent also indicates that the quality of the vowel letter e is fairly close to that of the American English vowel a in hate, and at the ends of words, a final -e with an acute accent means that the e is syllabic and must be pronounced, as in passé, unlike the usually silent final -e in English. See also ACCENT (2); DIACRITICS.
