Umlaut - Wiktionary

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See also: Umlaut and ümlaut

English

[edit] WOTD – 12 November 2008

Etymology

[edit] The logo of Matthäi, a large construction company in northern Germany. The second a has an umlaut (sense 4) over it.Two umlaut diacritics (sense 4) over the as in two words.Development of the umlaut (sense 4) in German handwriting.

Borrowed from German Umlaut in the 19th century, from um- or um (“around, re-, trans-”) + Laut (“sound”), from Old High German hlūt. More at loud.

Pronunciation

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  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈʊm.laʊt/, /ˈʌmlaʊt/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈʊm.laʊt/, /ˈumlaʊt/
  • Audio (General American):(file)
  • Rhymes: -aʊt
  • Hyphenation: um‧laut

Noun

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umlaut (plural umlauts or umlaute)

  1. (linguistics) An assimilatory process whereby a vowel is pronounced more like a following vocoid that is separated by one or more consonants.
    • 1997, Matthew Piepenburg, Time and the Maiden, →ISBN, page 62:In fits of concealed despair that went unnoticed even by those close enough to touch, Julien cursed the language of umlauts, eszetts, and gerunds.
    • 2008, Roy Blount, Alphabet juice: the energies, gists, and spirits of letters:A tittle is more or less the same thing (the dot over an i, for instance), except that it can be traced back to Medieval Latin for a little mark over or under a letter, such as an accent ague or a cedilla. I don't know whether an umlaut is one or two tittles. Maybe it's a jot and a tittle side by side.
  2. (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).
  3. (linguistics) A vowel so assimilated.
  4. (orthography) The diacritical mark ( ¨ ) placed over a vowel when it indicates a (rounded) front vowel
  5. (informal, orthography) Synonym of diaeresis. "Naïve" takes an umlaut because it is pronounced as two syllables.
    • 2015 April 11, Tovin Lapan, “California birth certificates and accents: O’Connor alright, Ramón and José is not”, in The Guardian‎[1], archived from the original on 4 April 2025:California, like several other states, prohibits the use of diacritical marks or accents on official documents. That means no tilde (~), no accent grave (`), no umlaut (¨) and certainly no cedilla (¸).

Usage notes

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  • Although this symbol has the same form as the diaeresis, 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

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  • (orthography): trema
  • (linguistics): vowel mutation

Derived terms

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  • heavy metal umlaut, metal umlaut
[edit]
  • vowel harmony

Translations

[edit] partial assimilation of a vowel
  • Arabic: مُغَيِّرَة f (muḡayyira)
  • Breton: metafoniezh f
  • Chinese: Mandarin: 元音變音 / 元音变音 (yuányīn biànyīn)
  • Czech: přehláska (cs) f
  • Danish: omlyd c
  • Dutch: umlaut (nl) m
  • Finnish: vokaalinmukaus, umlaut (fi) (in German and closely related languages)
  • French: métaphonie (fr) f
  • Georgian: უმლაუტი (umlauṭi)
  • German: Umlaut (de) m
  • Greek: μεταφωνία f (metafonía)
  • Hungarian: (please verify) hangelváltozás
  • Icelandic: hljóðvarp (is) n
  • Italian: metafonesi f
  • Japanese: ウムラウト (ja) (umurauto)
  • Macedonian: преглас m (preglas)
  • Polish: umlaut (pl) m
  • Portuguese: umlaut m, metafonia (pt) f
  • Russian: умла́ут (ru) m (umláut), умля́ут (ru) (umljáut)
  • Silesian: umlaut m
  • Spanish: metafonía (es) f
  • Swedish: omljud (sv) n
  • Vietnamese: um-lau
  • Welsh: affeithiad m
vowel so assimilated
  • Czech: přehláska (cs) f
  • Estonian: täpitäht
  • Finnish: ääkkönen (fi)
  • German: Halbdoppellaut, Umlaut (de), umgelautet (de)er Vokal (de) m
diacritical mark
  • Arabic: مُغَيِّرَة f (muḡayyira)
  • Belarusian: умля́ўт m (umljáwt)
  • Bulgarian: умла́ут (bg) m (umláut)
  • Chinese: Mandarin: 分音符號 / 分音符号 (fēnyīn fúhào), 分音符 (zh) (fēnyīnfú)
  • Danish: omlyd c
  • Dutch: umlaut (nl) m
  • Esperanto: umlaŭto (eo), surdupunkto
  • Estonian: täpid
  • Finnish: treema (fi)
  • French: tréma (fr)
  • Georgian: უმლაუტი (umlauṭi)
  • German: Umlaut (de) m, Umlautzeichen n
  • Greek: διαλυτικά (el) n pl (dialytiká)
  • Hebrew: אומלאוט
  • Hungarian: tréma (hu), umlaut (hu)
  • Icelandic: tvídepill m
  • Irish: umlabht m
  • Japanese: ウムラウト (ja) (umurauto)
  • Kazakh: умлаут (umlaut)
  • Korean: 움라우트 (umnauteu)
  • Macedonian: преглас m (preglas)
  • Norwegian: Bokmål: omlyd m Nynorsk: omlyd n
  • Polish: umlaut (pl) m
  • Portuguese: umlaut m, trema (pt) m
  • Russian: умла́ут (ru) m (umláut), умля́ут (ru) (umljáut)
  • Slovak: dve bodky pl
  • Spanish: diéresis (es) f
  • Swedish: omljud (sv) n
  • Turkish: umlaut (tr)
  • Ukrainian: умла́ут m (umláut)
  • Vietnamese: dấu um-lau
  • Volapük: vokät (vo)
  • Welsh: didolnod m
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
  • Georgian: (please verify) უმლაუტი (umlauṭi)
  • Latin: (please verify) mutatio vocalis f

Verb

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umlaut (third-person singular simple present umlauts, present participle umlauting, simple past and past participle umlauted)

  1. (transitive) To place an umlaut over (a vowel).
    • 1989, Elizabeth A. Edwards, “A Computer Column for All Seasons”, in Margaret S. Boone, editor, Practicing Anthropology, volume 11, number 2:We kept some of the foreign alphabet symbols such as the accented and umlauted vowels and Greek letters and used the rest of the space for more esoteric linguistic symbols such as "barred-l," and "engma."
  2. (linguistics, transitive) To modify (a word) so that an umlaut is required in it. an umlauting vowel
    • 1980, Frederick B. Agard, The Genealogy of the French Language, published in Contributions to historical linguistics, →ISBN, page 222:These, together with (some) Romansh lects, belong to our West Rhaetian; the /ȫ/ also supported by two lects from the Ticino which by our criteria are NWIt, and by the partially umlauting lects of Lombardy which together with (some) Engadine lects belong to our East Rhaetian.

See also

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  • diaeresis, dieresis

Further reading

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  • umlaut on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

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  • mutual

Dutch

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Etymology

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From German Umlaut.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈum.lɑu̯t/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: um‧laut

Noun

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umlaut m (plural umlauten, no diminutive)

  1. (Germanic grammar) umlaut

Derived terms

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  • umlautsfactor

Finnish

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Etymology

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From German Umlaut.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈumlɑut/, [ˈumlɑ̝ut̪]
  • Rhymes: -umlɑut
  • Syllabification(key): um‧la‧ut
  • Hyphenation(key): um‧la‧ut

Noun

[edit]

umlaut

  1. umlaut (the diacritical mark ( ¨ ) placed over various vowels: a > ä, o > ö or u > ü in German and some closely related languages)

Declension

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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.
Possessive forms of umlaut (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
first-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative umlautini umlautini
accusative nom. umlautini umlautini
gen. umlautini
genitive umlautini umlautieni
partitive umlautiani umlautejani
inessive umlautissani umlauteissani
elative umlautistani umlauteistani
illative umlautiini umlauteihini
adessive umlautillani umlauteillani
ablative umlautiltani umlauteiltani
allative umlautilleni umlauteilleni
essive umlautinani umlauteinani
translative umlautikseni umlauteikseni
abessive umlautittani umlauteittani
instructive — —
comitative — umlauteineni
second-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative umlautisi umlautisi
accusative nom. umlautisi umlautisi
gen. umlautisi
genitive umlautisi umlautiesi
partitive umlautiasi umlautejasi
inessive umlautissasi umlauteissasi
elative umlautistasi umlauteistasi
illative umlautiisi umlauteihisi
adessive umlautillasi umlauteillasi
ablative umlautiltasi umlauteiltasi
allative umlautillesi umlauteillesi
essive umlautinasi umlauteinasi
translative umlautiksesi umlauteiksesi
abessive umlautittasi umlauteittasi
instructive — —
comitative — umlauteinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative umlautimme umlautimme
accusative nom. umlautimme umlautimme
gen. umlautimme
genitive umlautimme umlautiemme
partitive umlautiamme umlautejamme
inessive umlautissamme umlauteissamme
elative umlautistamme umlauteistamme
illative umlautiimme umlauteihimme
adessive umlautillamme umlauteillamme
ablative umlautiltamme umlauteiltamme
allative umlautillemme umlauteillemme
essive umlautinamme umlauteinamme
translative umlautiksemme umlauteiksemme
abessive umlautittamme umlauteittamme
instructive — —
comitative — umlauteinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative umlautinne umlautinne
accusative nom. umlautinne umlautinne
gen. umlautinne
genitive umlautinne umlautienne
partitive umlautianne umlautejanne
inessive umlautissanne umlauteissanne
elative umlautistanne umlauteistanne
illative umlautiinne umlauteihinne
adessive umlautillanne umlauteillanne
ablative umlautiltanne umlauteiltanne
allative umlautillenne umlauteillenne
essive umlautinanne umlauteinanne
translative umlautiksenne umlauteiksenne
abessive umlautittanne umlauteittanne
instructive — —
comitative — umlauteinenne
third-person possessor
singular plural
nominative umlautinsa umlautinsa
accusative nom. umlautinsa umlautinsa
gen. umlautinsa
genitive umlautinsa umlautiensa
partitive umlautiaanumlautiansa umlautejaanumlautejansa
inessive umlautissaanumlautissansa umlauteissaanumlauteissansa
elative umlautistaanumlautistansa umlauteistaanumlauteistansa
illative umlautiinsa umlauteihinsa
adessive umlautillaanumlautillansa umlauteillaanumlauteillansa
ablative umlautiltaanumlautiltansa umlauteiltaanumlauteiltansa
allative umlautilleenumlautillensa umlauteilleenumlauteillensa
essive umlautinaanumlautinansa umlauteinaanumlauteinansa
translative umlautikseenumlautiksensa umlauteikseenumlauteiksensa
abessive umlautittaanumlautittansa umlauteittaanumlauteittansa
instructive — —
comitative — umlauteineenumlauteinensa

Hypernyms

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  • vokaalinmukaus

Anagrams

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  • muulta

Indonesian

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Etymology

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From English umlaut, from German Umlaut in the 19th century, from um- or um (“around, re-, trans-”) + Laut (“sound”).

Pronunciation

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  • (Standard Indonesian) IPA(key): /umˈlaut/ [umˈla.ʊt̪̚]
  • Rhymes: -aut
  • Syllabification: um‧laut

Noun

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umlaut

  1. umlaut (partial assimilation of a vowel)
  2. umlaut (vowel so assimilated)
  3. umlaut (diacritical mark)

See also

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  • ablaut

Further reading

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  • “umlaut”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Polish

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Polish Wikipedia has an article on:umlautWikipedia pl

Etymology

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Borrowed from German Umlaut.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈum.lawt/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -umlawt
  • Syllabification: um‧laut

Noun

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umlaut m inan

  1. (phonology) umlaut (the partial assimilation of vowels in some Germanic languages)
  2. umlaut (diacritical mark)

Declension

[edit] Declension of umlaut
singular plural
nominative umlaut umlauty
genitive umlautu umlautów
dative umlautowi umlautom
accusative umlaut umlauty
instrumental umlautem umlautami
locative umlaucie umlautach
vocative umlaucie umlauty

Further reading

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  • umlaut in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

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Noun

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umlaut m (plural umlauts)

  1. (linguistics) umlaut (the partial assimilation of a vowel in Germanic languages)
  2. (orthography) umlaut (the diacritical mark ¨ used to indicate such assimilation)

Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from German Umlaut.

Noun

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umlaut n (uncountable)

  1. umlaut

Declension

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singular only indefinite definite
nominative-accusative umlaut umlautul
genitive-dative umlaut umlautului
vocative umlautule

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