umlauts

Meanings

1. 1nounplural

   The two dots placed over a vowel in German and some other languages to show a change in sound.

   Grammar: This is the plural of 'umlaut'; use 'an umlaut' for one mark and 'umlauts' for more than one.

   Patterns

   • an umlaut over a vowel
   • a word with umlauts

   In German, the word for 'book' is 'Buch', and its plural 'Bücher' has an umlaut.

   She typed the umlauts on her keyboard by holding down the letter key.

   The band's name has two umlauts, which makes it look very heavy metal.

2. 2noununcountabletechnical

   The change in a vowel sound caused by a following vowel, especially in Germanic languages.

   Grammar: This is a technical term in linguistics; it is not used with 'a' or a plural.

   Patterns

   • umlaut in a language
   • the umlaut of a vowel

   Linguists study umlaut to explain why some German plurals change their vowel.

   The umlaut in English 'foot' → 'feet' is a historical example of the same process.

   Her thesis was on umlaut in Old English dialects.

Word forms

Common combinations

put an umlaut on

Can you put an umlaut on the 'o' in 'Köln'?

German umlaut

The German umlaut changes the pronunciation of a, o and u.

two dots

The umlaut looks like two dots over a letter.

type an umlaut

On a Mac you can type an umlaut by pressing Option and U.

Synonyms and how they differ

diaeresis

Use 'diaeresis' when the two dots show that two vowels are pronounced separately, as in 'naïve'; 'umlaut' is the usual word for the German sound change.

accent

An accent is any mark over a letter, including acute and grave accents; an umlaut is specifically two dots.

Word family

umlauted adjective

Describing a vowel that has an umlaut or has undergone umlaut.

Commonly confused: umlauts or accent?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “umlauts”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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