Blackwell Reference Online

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[GK δlαíρɛσlς] A diacritic mark of two dots placed over a vowel letter, also referred to as ‘umlaut’, depending on the function it serves. The diaeresis used over the second of two consecutive vowel letters indicates that the Vs are to be pronounced as two syllables rather than a diphthong or long V, e.g. English coördinate , French naïf . Marks of diaeresis for this function occur already in early Greek papyri, being a single or a double dot or, occasionally, an accent mark. In later manuscripts the form is usually a double dot <¨>. As an umlaut, on the other hand, <¨> indicates a change in the vowel quality: for example, in German it is used to mark the Vs [ɛ], [ø] and [y] which originally resulted from a vowel fronting sound change called umlaut (e.g. älter ‘older’, schön ‘beautiful’, über ‘above’). See also diacritic . ... log in or subscribe to read full text