Tell me more ×
English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 8 down vote favorite
1

One of our users, Stan Rogers, mentioned there was such a distinction, I think, when he answered a question and talked about how the orthography of foreign loan-words typically changes to conform with the usual rules of English spelling. In passing he used the word rôle as an example and said something to the effect that implied that artists made a distinction between the two spellings. Anyway, if I’m remembering the episode correctly, can someone make that distinction clear to me?

share|improve this question
3  
As a native English speaker, the only distinction I'm aware of is that people who speak French are more likely to use the circumflex. – Peter Taylor Mar 8 '11 at 7:10
Just read Henry Seton Merriman aka Hugh Stowell Scott's wonderful The Last Hope and noticed 'rôle' used throughout - published posthumously, it seems, in 1904. Glad to read the etymology as I couldn't work out which letter/s would be missing. – user11554 Aug 2 '11 at 5:19
Or one could say that if the circumflex is good enough for John le Carré, then it's probably good enough for the rest of us. – user28423 Oct 14 '12 at 14:46

3 Answers

up vote 5 down vote accepted

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language gives four definitions of role, the first of which is

  1. also rôle A character or part played by a performer.

while the other three definitions (related to functions or characteristic behaviour) do not offer rôle. So for some people the circumflex indicates a particular meaning. Not for me.

share|improve this answer
8  
The other three definitions are extensions of the original meaning (a character of part played by a performer). Once a word has been sufficiently well-adopted to undergo semantic broadening, it's probably time to stop using funny foreign squiggles to write it. (The circumflex, by the way, indicates that one or more letters had been given the old heave-ho in the original French. It had been rolle -- literally, the roll of paper or parchment upon which the part had been written.) – bye Mar 8 '11 at 8:47
@Stan Rogers Since you're so clear on the etymology and evolution of this word, mind giving me a sentence where using "rôle" over "role" would be particularly apt? – Billare Mar 9 '11 at 1:44
2  
@Billare: There is no good reason to use rôle anymore. My comment in the previous thread sums it up: the rôle of rôle is now being played by role. The plain English spelling has entirely supplanted the old spelling in modern usage; I wouldn't be at all surprised if more than ninety percent of the occurrences of rôle in the past fifty years were in discussions of whether to use rôle or role when writing. – bye Mar 9 '11 at 5:52
@Stan Rogers Thanks, Stan. – Billare Mar 9 '11 at 6:03
up vote 1 down vote

The circumflex is often used in the French language to replace a missing letter; which was removed during the 1600s when the French decided to remove some silent letters. However there were some who wished to remain true to Latin and correct French orthography, and so the circumflex was introduced to represent two accents put together to replace the missing letter. Although I am not entirely sure which letter has been removed here.

share|improve this answer
Do you have sources? – Luke Nov 14 '12 at 17:34
Well, there's an upvoted comment on the accepted answer which not only says this (albeit undated), but also states which letter is omitted. – Andrew Leach Nov 14 '12 at 19:30
What @Andrew said - this adds nothing to the existing comment. The circumflex, by the way, indicates that one or more letters had been given the old heave-ho in the original French. It had been rolle -- literally, the roll of paper or parchment upon which the part had been written. – FumbleFingers Nov 14 '12 at 20:52
up vote -2 down vote

The casting director's role is mainly to find persons suitable for the rôle each is required to play.

[Based more on surmise than a quote or on research.]

share|improve this answer
I'm not sure why you were downvoted, as you introduce a significant point - those people who follow the AHDEL's spellings and choose the accented version where it is allowed must use both spellings in a sentence (or passage) such as your example. This does look rather ridiculous (though it would be better not to use different polysemes in the same sentence) and argues for the total dropping of the circumflex. – Edwin Ashworth Nov 14 '12 at 21:43

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.