You might have seen the 'circonflexe' accent also known as the 'little hat' in French words like poêle, être, pâle - but where does it come from and does it serve any purpose in modern French?
Shiri Lev-Ari is a lecturer in Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London. This story originally featured on The Conversation. If someone asked you to read this text aloud in a French accent or ...