Here are some examples:
SQL>create table t (word varchar(10));
SQL>insert into t values('COOP');
SQL>insert into t values('coop');
SQL>insert into t values('COÖP');
SQL>insert into t values('coöp');
SQL>insert into t values('CO-OP');
SQL>insert into t values('co-op');
SQL>insert into t values('CO OP');
SQL>insert into t values('co op');
SQL>insert into t values('COTE');
SQL>insert into t values('COTÉ');
SQL>insert into t values('CÔTE');
SQL>insert into t values('CÔTÉ');
SQL>insert into t values('cote');
SQL>insert into t values('coté');
SQL>insert into t values('côte');
SQL>insert into t values('côté');
SQL>
SQL>-- Accent and case insensitive search (level 1):
SQL>select word from t where word = 'côte' collate french_1
SQL>order by word collate French_3;
WORD
====
cote
COTE
côte
CÔTE
coté
COTÉ
côté
CÔTÉ
SQL>-- Accent sensitive and case insensitive search (level 2):
SQL>select word from t where word = 'côte' collate french_2
SQL>order by word collate French_3;
WORD
====
côte
CÔTE
SQL>-- Accent and case sensitive search (level 3):
SQL>select word from t where word = 'côte' collate french_3
SQL>order by word collate French_3;
WORD
====
côte
SQL>-- The predefined collations does not ignore punctuation.
SQL>-- Let's define collations that ignore punctuation and
SQL>-- an accent, case, and punctuation sensitive collation (level 4).
SQL>create collation french_1s from french_1 using '[alternate shifted]';
SQL>create collation french_2s from french_2 using '[alternate shifted]';
SQL>create collation french_3s from french_3 using '[alternate shifted]';
SQL>create collation french_4 from french_3s using '[level 4]';
SQL>
SQL>-- Accent and case insensitive search (level 1):
SQL>select word from t where word = 'co-op' collate french_1s
SQL>order by word collate French_4;
WORD
====
co op
co-op
coop
CO OP
CO-OP
COOP
coöp
COÖP
SQL>-- Accent sensitive and case insensitive search (level 2):
SQL>select word from t where word = 'co-op' collate french_2s
SQL>order by word collate French_4;
WORD
====
co op
co-op
coop
CO OP
CO-OP
COOP
SQL>-- Accent and case sensitive search (level 3):
SQL>select word from t where word = 'co-op' collate french_3s
SQL>order by word collate French_4;
WORD
====
co op
co-op
coop
SQL>-- Accent, case, and punctuation sensitive search (level 4):
SQL>select word from t where word = 'co-op' collate french_4
SQL>order by word collate French_4;
WORD
====
co-op