A caron ( ˇ ) or háček (pronounce [ˈhɑːt͡ʃɛk] or [ˈɦaːt͡ʃɛk]), also known as a wedge, inverted circumflex, inverted hat, is a diacritic placed over certain letters to indicate present or historical palatalization, iotation, or postalveolar pronunciation in the orthography of some Baltic, Slavic, Finno-Lappic, and other languages.