There can be some variability with how accents/tildes are written in Spanish, but for our project, we need to be consistent in how we are transcribing. This is because we use a multi-layered system of coding that takes each transcribed word and categorizes it according to a number of linguistic parameters. For specific words, such as question words (e.g., qué-que, cómo-como, quién-quien, cuándo-cuando, dónde-donde, cuál-cual) and certain conjunctions, pronouns, and verbs (e.g., sí-si, él-el, tú-tu, sé-se, dé-de, más-mas), these accents can have a significant impact on how the code interprets the word.
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Note: In this case, the underlined word is being used in an affirmative declaration and must have the accent.
Embedded question Conjunction word: si
Example utterance: “Yo no sé si es una casa”
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Direct questions that should have the accent can also appear when participants are asking themselves questions, too. For example “¿Cómo “¿Cómo se llama ….?”
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Remember, other words with accents do not follow these rules! |
Non-question words that require accents, such as él or yo sé, should always be written correctly according to Spanish spelling rules. That is, if él appears and is used as a pronoun, it should always have the accent. If sé is used as 1st person present tense of the verb saber, it should always have an accent, etc. Similarly, if the patient uses más and it has the meaning of “more”, it needs the accent. If it has the meaning of “but”, then it should not have the accent. Note that these words can interact with qué/que, too.
Direct question word: qué más
Example utterance: “¿Qué más hay?”
Note: This is an example of a direct question, so qué needs an accent. Likewise, más means “more” and also needs an accent.
Embedded question word: que + más
Example utterance: “Más que nunca…”
Note: This is a case in which más still means “more” and has an accent, but now notice that que is no longer in a direct question and should not have an accent.