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You’re supposed to do that for any word where two consecutive vowels have a syllable break between them instead of forming a dipthong. Of course, most of the ti

by db48x 1y ago

You’re supposed to do that for any word where two consecutive vowels have a syllable break between them instead of forming a dipthong. Of course, most of the time it’s redundant because there’s only one cromulent word anyway and the reader can figure it out quickly enough without the umlaut.

howenterprisey 1y ago
I think "supposed to" is overstating it given that I've only ever seen it used by this one publication. To boot, I wouldn't pronounce the word they use it for, coordination, (in context, "piloting it demanded constant coordination") with a syllable break, either.
- fluxist 1y ago
  The Economist and MIT Technology Review, off the top of my head, use the diaresis as well.
  - thaumasiotes 1y ago
    That is not true of either publication: https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/22/1117294/a-new-atomic-clock-in-space-could-help-us-measure-elevations-on-earth/ https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/22/1117294/a-new-at... > It’s the third-dimensional counterpart to latitude and longitude, says Sanchez, who helps coordinate the standardization effort. https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/12/09/1108076/satellite-reentry-atmospheric-pollution/ https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/12/09/1108076/satellit... > Now, the scientists were poised to catch this reentry as it happened. https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2018/12/11/america-is-friendlier-to-foreigners-than-headlines-suggest https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2018/12/11/america-... > The compact is far from perfect. It is vague about how countries should cooperate on many issues, such as border management and access to public services. The New Yorker is famous for its commitment to unreality on this issue. It's only the New Yorker.
- db48x 1y ago
  It’s true that most Americans are lazy and do not pay sufficient attention in school. Thus the observation of nuances such as this are becoming rarer every day. Do you pronounce the “oo” in “coordination” the same way as you do in “bookkeeper”? Because that is a very weird mispronunciation. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/coordination https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/coordination
deleted 1y ago
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nayuki 1y ago
For this rule, the word I see most often is "naïve". I used to write it that way but now I use the simple spelling of "naive". The diaeresis emphasizes that "naive" does not rhyme with "dive", "five", "hive", "jive", etc.
- thaumasiotes 1y ago
  > The diaeresis emphasizes that "naive" does not rhyme with "dive", "five", "hive", "jive", etc. It can't emphasize that; there's nothing to suggest that "naive" would rhyme with those words. It emphasizes that it doesn't rhyme with "glaive" and "waive"...
dragonwriter 1y ago
Rather than "You're supposed to...", it would be more accurate to say, "It was once a common convention—that has since mostly been abandoned and is retained as a general rule only in a small minority of publications, of which the New Yorker is the most notable—to..."

by db48x 1y ago

howenterprisey 1y ago

I think "supposed to" is overstating it given that I've only ever seen it used by this one publication. To boot, I wouldn't pronounce the word they use it for, coordination, (in context, "piloting it demanded constant coordination") with a syllable break, either.

fluxist 1y ago
The Economist and MIT Technology Review, off the top of my head, use the diaresis as well.
- thaumasiotes 1y ago
  That is not true of either publication: https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/22/1117294/a-new-atomic-clock-in-space-could-help-us-measure-elevations-on-earth/ https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/22/1117294/a-new-at... > It’s the third-dimensional counterpart to latitude and longitude, says Sanchez, who helps coordinate the standardization effort. https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/12/09/1108076/satellite-reentry-atmospheric-pollution/ https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/12/09/1108076/satellit... > Now, the scientists were poised to catch this reentry as it happened. https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2018/12/11/america-is-friendlier-to-foreigners-than-headlines-suggest https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2018/12/11/america-... > The compact is far from perfect. It is vague about how countries should cooperate on many issues, such as border management and access to public services. The New Yorker is famous for its commitment to unreality on this issue. It's only the New Yorker.
db48x 1y ago
It’s true that most Americans are lazy and do not pay sufficient attention in school. Thus the observation of nuances such as this are becoming rarer every day. Do you pronounce the “oo” in “coordination” the same way as you do in “bookkeeper”? Because that is a very weird mispronunciation. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/coordination https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/coordination

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

nayuki 1y ago

For this rule, the word I see most often is "naïve". I used to write it that way but now I use the simple spelling of "naive". The diaeresis emphasizes that "naive" does not rhyme with "dive", "five", "hive", "jive", etc.

thaumasiotes 1y ago
> The diaeresis emphasizes that "naive" does not rhyme with "dive", "five", "hive", "jive", etc. It can't emphasize that; there's nothing to suggest that "naive" would rhyme with those words. It emphasizes that it doesn't rhyme with "glaive" and "waive"...

dragonwriter 1y ago

Rather than "You're supposed to...", it would be more accurate to say, "It was once a common convention—that has since mostly been abandoned and is retained as a general rule only in a small minority of publications, of which the New Yorker is the most notable—to..."