"S med en liten fjång nertill"

Det dagliga bruket av diakriter hos namnbärare med invandrade namn

Abstract

This article presents a qualitative study based on interviews with Swedes with Turkish, Kurdish, Croatian or Vietnamese names. It addresses the level of knowledge and daily use of diacritics in the name bearers’ own names, and it becomes evident that diacritics are seldom used. In some cases, the knowledge of the diacritics in the original name form becomes lost in younger generations; in others, informants are aware of the diacritics in their own name, but choose to omit them to facilitate life in Swedish society. While this is of no importance to some informants, others deeply regret the omission. The author discusses conditions and possible future development for the use of diacritics.