see|Umlaut
English
wikipedia|Umlaut (diacritic)
Etymology
G. Umlaut < um (around) + Laut (sound).

Noun
en-noun

1. w:Germanic umlaut|Germanic umlaut, a phonological phenomenon where an earlier vowel takes on the quality of a second vowel. Mildly formative in Modern German by analogy, present in English only as irregular fossils.
2. A partial assimilation of a vowel.
3. A vowel so assimilated.
4. orthography: The diacritical mark ( ¨ ) placed over a vowel to indicate such assimilation.

Usage notes
Although this symbol has the same form as the diaeresis/dieresis, it has as a different function and so in standard and technical usage these two terms are not interchangeable.
When spelling a German word out loud, one can say �(vowel) umlaut� or �umlauted vowel�. e.g. �oh umlaut� or �umlauted oh� mean �an �o� with an umlaut over it� (ö).

Synonyms
trema

Translations

trans-top|partial assimilation of a vowel
trans-mid
trans-bottom

trans-top|vowel so assimilated
trans-mid
trans-bottom

trans-top|diacritical mark
German: Umlaut m
trans-mid
Slovak: dve bodky f (3)
trans-bottom

Verb
en-verb

1. To place an umlaut over a vowel.

Derived terms
heavy metal umlaut

See also
diaeresis, dieresis

de:umlaut
es:umlaut
fa:umlaut
ru:umlaut
vi:umlaut
tr:umlaut
zh:umlaut

• 2007-12-11 04:13 - Stephen G. Brown - /* English */

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