10. A handheld electronic device, comprising: a number of keys; an output apparatus; a processor apparatus comprising a processor and a memory in electronic communication with one another, said processor apparatus having stored therein a number of routines which, when executed on said processor, cause said handheld electronic device to perform operations comprising: receiving an input reflecting selection of one of the keys; based at least in part on the key selection, determining whether to output (i) a non-diacritical character or (ii) a diacritical character in, the determination comprising: determining whether the selection corresponds to a first alphanumeric input, based upon a determination that the selection corresponds to the first alphanumeric input, determining to output the non-diacritical character, and based upon a determination that there have been previous alphanumeric inputs, determining whether to output the non-diacritical character or the diacritical character based on whether the previous alphanumeric inputs satisfy a predetermined condition; and outputting the determined output using the output apparatus.
12. The handheld electronic device according to claim 10 , wherein the number of routines cause the handheld electronic device to perform operations further comprising detecting an operative language of the handheld electronic device, wherein determining whether to output the non-diacritical character or the diacritical character is at least in part based on the detected operative language.