umlaut
English edit
Etymology edit
From German Umlaut in the 19th century, from um- or um (“around, re-, trans-”) + Laut (“sound”), from Old High German hlūt. More at umb, loud.
Pronunciation edit
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈʊm.laʊt/, /ˈʌm.laʊt/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈʊm.laʊt/, /ˈum.laʊt/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -aʊt
Noun edit
umlaut (plural umlauts or umlaute)
- (linguistics) An assimilatory process whereby a vowel is pronounced more like a following vocoid that is separated by one or more consonants.
- (linguistics) The umlaut process (as above) that occurred historically in Germanic languages whereby back vowels became front vowels when followed by syllable containing a front vocoid (e.g. Germanic lūsiz > Old English lȳs(i) > Modern English lice).
- (linguistics) A vowel so assimilated.
- (orthography) The diacritical mark ( ¨ ) placed over a vowel when it indicates a (rounded) front vowel
- (informal, orthography) A diaeresis.
- "Naïve" takes an umlaut because it is pronounced as two syllables.
Usage notes edit
- Although this symbol has the same form as the diaeresis/dieresis, it has a different function and so in standard and technical usage these two terms are not interchangeable. The term for the diacritic mark, as opposed to its function, is trema.
- When spelling a German word out loud, one can say “(vowel) umlaut” or “umlauted (vowel)”. e.g. “o umlaut” or “umlauted o” (ö). (German practice is to say “o Umlaut”, or more commonly to pronounce the letters, so the name of "Ö" is [øː], just as "A" is [aː] and "B" is [beː].) In the North of Germany, "ä" and "e" are pronounced identically; therefore, one would tend to say "a Umlaut" to avoid confusion.
- In alphabetic orders, "ä, ö, ü" are treated as "a, o, u" or "ae, oe, ue" in German (so the word lügen comes directly after or before the word lugen). In other languages, such as Swedish, the umlaut letters may have their own position in the alphabet.
- The usual English plural is umlauts, but the form umlaute (after the German) has seen some use. It is quite rare, however.
Synonyms edit
- (orthography): trema
- (linguistics): vowel mutation
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
partial assimilation of a vowel
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vowel so assimilated
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diacritical mark
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Verb edit
umlaut (third-person singular simple present umlauts, present participle umlauting, simple past and past participle umlauted)
- (transitive) To place an umlaut over (a vowel).
- (linguistics, transitive) To modify (a word) so that an umlaut is required in it.
- an umlauting vowel
See also edit
Anagrams edit
Dutch edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
umlaut m (plural umlauten)
Derived terms edit
Finnish edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
umlaut
- umlaut (the diacritical mark ( ¨ ) placed over various vowels: a > ä, o > ö or u > ü in German and some closely related languages)
Declension edit
| Inflection of umlaut (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | umlaut | umlautit | ||
| genitive | umlautin | umlautien | ||
| partitive | umlautia | umlauteja | ||
| illative | umlautiin | umlauteihin | ||
| singular | plural | |||
| nominative | umlaut | umlautit | ||
| accusative | nom. | umlaut | umlautit | |
| gen. | umlautin | |||
| genitive | umlautin | umlautien | ||
| partitive | umlautia | umlauteja | ||
| inessive | umlautissa | umlauteissa | ||
| elative | umlautista | umlauteista | ||
| illative | umlautiin | umlauteihin | ||
| adessive | umlautilla | umlauteilla | ||
| ablative | umlautilta | umlauteilta | ||
| allative | umlautille | umlauteille | ||
| essive | umlautina | umlauteina | ||
| translative | umlautiksi | umlauteiksi | ||
| abessive | umlautitta | umlauteitta | ||
| instructive | — | umlautein | ||
| comitative | See the possessive forms below. | |||
Hypernyms edit
Anagrams edit
Manx edit
Etymology edit
Noun edit
umlaut m (genitive singular umlaut, plural umlautyn)
Polish edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
umlaut m inan
- (phonology) umlaut (the partial assimilation of vowels in some Germanic languages)
- umlaut (diacritical mark)
Declension edit
Declension of umlaut
Further reading edit
- umlaut in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Portuguese edit
Noun edit
umlaut m (plural umlauts)
- (linguistics) umlaut (the partial assimilation of a vowel in Germanic languages)
- (orthography) umlaut (the diacritical mark ¨ used to indicate such assimilation)
Romanian edit
Etymology edit
Noun edit
umlaut n (uncountable)
Declension edit
declension of umlaut (singular only)
| singular | ||
|---|---|---|
| n gender | indefinite articulation | definite articulation |
| nominative/accusative | (un) umlaut | umlautul |
| genitive/dative | (unui) umlaut | umlautului |
| vocative | umlautule | |