In the Lithuanian phonology, stressed heavy syllables are pronounced in one of two prosodically distinct ways.[1][2] One way is known as the acute or falling accent: this may be described as "sudden, sharp or rough". In Lithuanian it is called tvirtaprãdė príegaidė, literally 'firm-start accent'. The second way is known as the circumflex or rising accent, which may be described as "continued, mild or smooth". In Lithuanian it is called tvirtagãlė príegaidė, literally 'firm-end accent'. Light (i.e. short) syllables may be stressed or unstressed, but cannot be differentiated by accent.
In written Lithuanian, various diacritic marks (acute ⟨´⟩, tilde ⟨˜⟩, and grave ⟨`⟩) are used to mark the tonal accent and stress.