5 ms·

I don't think English has letters with multiple dots above them.

retrac 3y ago
It does. The English I was taught in school, includes the diaeresis as part of the writing system. Words like coördinate, reëngage, Boötes, are spelled as I just spelled them. I don't adhere to it. It is old-fashioned, even a bit archaic. But it is still the preferred spelling in some style guides, and it is still used in some publications.
- lovich 3y ago
  It’s used to signal when you have a pair of the same letters but the second has a different pronunciation. So “deer” has two e’s but no umlaut because they make the same sound but “coördinate” has the umlaut since the second o is a new sound. I personally like them and wish they would come back if only as a small push back against the horrific ambiguity that is the English language
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  - meepmorp 3y ago
    > It’s used to signal when you have a pair of the same letters but the second has a different pronunciation. That's a somewhat naïve take.
  - simiones 3y ago
    As far as I understand, it's actually used to indicate a hiatus instead of a diphtong. E.g. naïvety is meant to indicate that aï are part of different syllables and shouldn't be pronounced in the same syllable, just like the oö in coördinate.
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- rob74 3y ago
  The catch is that the diaeresis in Türkiye does something completely different that the diaeresis you mentioned, so actually it would be less confusing if English didn't have it at all. ...then again, even some Germans are using the diaeresis for this purpose, such as this guy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Ho%C3%ABcker https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Ho%C3%ABcker - and you can't blame him, because usually "oe" is a transliteration of "ö", and then his name would mean "hump" (as in camel's hump).
- crazygringo 3y ago
  Where did you go to school, if you don't mind me asking? I didn't realize that was ever something that was taught -- I'm curious if it's a geographic thing? The only place I've ever seen the diaeresis used like that is in the New Yorker.
  - retrac 3y ago
    Ontario, Canada, in the '90s. We weren't required to use it but I do recall a brief lesson on co-operate, cooperate, coöperate, etc. being valid variants.
mkl95 3y ago
naïve
stvltvs 3y ago
It does, but for a different reason, to mark when two vowels are pronounced separately. Like naïve. Not often used, but the New Yorker does.
Symbiote 3y ago
How naïve. But that's the only not-foreign not-name word from the list I've seen written with the ¨ in Britain. I have see Chloë and Zoë written with it too. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:English_terms_spelled_with_%E2%97%8C%CC%88 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:English_terms_spelle...
wahnfrieden 3y ago
never picked up an issue of the new yorker?
- calderknight 3y ago
  I've read them on the internet yes. Good point. Different usage of the dots though.
  - wahnfrieden 3y ago
    the "e" in "karaoke" also has a different usage in english. so what

It does. The English I was taught in school, includes the diaeresis as part of the writing system. Words like coördinate, reëngage, Boötes, are spelled as I just spelled them. I don't adhere to it. It is old-fashioned, even a bit archaic. But it is still the preferred spelling in some style guides, and it is still used in some publications.

lovich 3y ago
It’s used to signal when you have a pair of the same letters but the second has a different pronunciation. So “deer” has two e’s but no umlaut because they make the same sound but “coördinate” has the umlaut since the second o is a new sound. I personally like them and wish they would come back if only as a small push back against the horrific ambiguity that is the English language
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
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  [deleted]
- meepmorp 3y ago
  > It’s used to signal when you have a pair of the same letters but the second has a different pronunciation. That's a somewhat naïve take.
- simiones 3y ago
  As far as I understand, it's actually used to indicate a hiatus instead of a diphtong. E.g. naïvety is meant to indicate that aï are part of different syllables and shouldn't be pronounced in the same syllable, just like the oö in coördinate.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
rob74 3y ago
The catch is that the diaeresis in Türkiye does something completely different that the diaeresis you mentioned, so actually it would be less confusing if English didn't have it at all. ...then again, even some Germans are using the diaeresis for this purpose, such as this guy https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Ho%C3%ABcker https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Ho%C3%ABcker - and you can't blame him, because usually "oe" is a transliteration of "ö", and then his name would mean "hump" (as in camel's hump).
crazygringo 3y ago
Where did you go to school, if you don't mind me asking? I didn't realize that was ever something that was taught -- I'm curious if it's a geographic thing? The only place I've ever seen the diaeresis used like that is in the New Yorker.
- retrac 3y ago
  Ontario, Canada, in the '90s. We weren't required to use it but I do recall a brief lesson on co-operate, cooperate, coöperate, etc. being valid variants.

mkl95 3y ago

naïve

stvltvs 3y ago

It does, but for a different reason, to mark when two vowels are pronounced separately. Like naïve. Not often used, but the New Yorker does.

Symbiote 3y ago

How naïve. But that's the only not-foreign not-name word from the list I've seen written with the ¨ in Britain. I have see Chloë and Zoë written with it too. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:English_terms_spelled_with_%E2%97%8C%CC%88 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:English_terms_spelle...

wahnfrieden 3y ago

never picked up an issue of the new yorker?

calderknight 3y ago
I've read them on the internet yes. Good point. Different usage of the dots though.
- wahnfrieden 3y ago
  the "e" in "karaoke" also has a different usage in english. so what