On my keyboard, it's '-a, with ' in a place that's easy to hit accidentally, and since it's combining, it doesn't print. I suspect some layouts might have OPTION-a, which would be almost as easy a mistake to make.
Yes. I think this is part of it. Here are the logs from a few weeks ago: http://j.mp/pBqfbx I'd be curious if anyone can figure out why so many visitors are using a browser called Netfront (apparently from Samsung mobiles).
On my BlackBerry, inadvertently swiping the trackpad while typing a vowel results in an accented version of the vowel. There might a similar mechanism at work in Samsung devices.
I see. What is interesting is that most of the requests come from Samsung devices in Spanish-speaking countries, so I guess their keyboards must make it even easier to make the mistake.