| umlaut(¨) |
| Definition: A diacritic consisting of a pair of dots placed over a letter. It is used over vowels in German lettering (i.e., ä, ö, and ü). Note: The umlaut is rare in English; however, its frequency of pseudo-use is increasing because of band-naming trends in the Heavy Metal community (see Heavy Metal Umlaut). |
| Example: Chloë (pronounced: 'kloh - ee) |
| Usage:
1. When the vowel is an i, the diacritic replaces the tittle. |
| Etymology: In German it literally means "change of sound" (from um, about + laut, sound). The German term was coined in 1774 by the poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724-1803). However, its modern, phonetic sense was first used 1819 by the linguist Jacob Grimm (1785-1863). The first OED citation for the word in this sense is from 1844. |
| Oxford English Dictionary: The first OED citation for the word in its punctuation sense is from 1938: "The so-called modified vowels are distinguished by the modification mark or umlaut(¨) on the vowel." (H. Faulk Common-Sense German Course 3) |