Umlaut

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  umlaut \um"laut\ ([=oo]m"lout), n. [G., from um about + laut
     sound.] (Philol.)
     The euphonic modification of a root vowel sound by the
     influence of a, u, or especially i, in the syllable which
     formerly followed.
     [1913 Webster]


  
     Note: It is peculiar to the Teutonic languages, and was
           common in Anglo-Saxon. In German the umlauted vowels
           resulting from a, o, u, followed by old i, are written
           [aum], ["o], ["u], or ae, oe, ue; as, m[aum]nner or
           maenner, men, from mann, man. Examples of forms
           resulting from umlaut in English are geese pl. of
           goose, men pl. of man, etc.
           [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  umlaut
       n : a diacritical mark (two dots) placed over a vowel in German
           to indicate a change in sound [syn: {dieresis}, {diaeresis}]