noun / verb
umlaut
OOM-lowt/ˈʊmlaʊt/
A two-dot mark above a vowel, or the act of adding it.
The pen adds an umlaut by placing two dots above the vowel.
Etymology
The pieces express a “change of sound.” The name for a vowel modification also names its written signal; the German mark originally took the form of a small e above the vowel.
More examples
- My keyboard has a shortcut for typing umlauts.
- To spell the name correctly, umlaut the u.
- Leaving out the umlaut can change a German word's pronunciation.
Forms
umlaut · umlauts · umlauted · umlauting
Similar words
- diaeresis
- Uses the same dots to mark a separately pronounced vowel.
- diacritic
- Names any pronunciation mark, not specifically a pair of dots.