>From the keyboard of Yanick Champoux [12.01.08,18:50]: > *dieresis* or *diæresis *A diacritical mark (* ¨ *) optionally used in > English, oftentimes replaced by a hyphen. In English, the dieresis is used on > a second identical vowel to indicate a change in pronunciation of that vowel > or indicate it is pronounced in a separate syllable. It is sometimes referred > to as an « umlaut » when used with a single character or in a « diphthong. » > Examples: reëlecting, reëncoding, coöperation, coördination.
I want to clarify (only because I myself was confused at first) that an umlaut can be used IN a diphthong, but does not have any function in MAKING a diphthong. For example, the German diphthong "au" becomes "äu" due to umlaut, (or "vowel shifting"). Unless I am mistaken. -- John Douglas Porter ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs