/ˈʊmlaʊt/ If you've ever studied German, you've seen an umlaut. It's a mark that looks like two dots over a letter, and it signifies a shift in pronunciation.
The “ä” indicates a change in the sound of the letter "a" that makes it sound similar to the English "eh" sound, as in "bed" or "head." It's a common mistake to mispronounce the “ä” like a common “e” even among native German speakers.
U-umlaut. A glyph, U with umlaut, appears in the German alphabet. It represents the umlauted form of u, which results in [yː] when long and [ʏ] when short. The letter is collated together with U, or as UE. In languages that have adopted German names or spellings, such as Swedish, the letter also occurs.
– “ü” as in müde is like a Scottish person saying “grew” Make the sound “ee” as in “cheese” and then make your lips into an “o” shape. – “ö” as in blöd is like an English person saying “burn” Make the sound “a” as in the word “may” and then make your lips into an “o” shape.
The letter Ö, standing for Österreich, i.e. Austria, on a boundary stone at the German-Austrian border. The letter o with umlaut (ö) appears in the German alphabet. It represents the umlauted form of o, resulting in [œ] or [ø].
The Diaeresis in Spanish (ü) This symbol – two dots above a letter – is called a diaeresis (pronounced “die heiresses”). Sometimes people call it an umlaut, but technically, an umlaut and a diaeresis aren't the same thing, despite looking identical.
The German letter ß is a ligature and is also called a “scharfes s” (sharp s). But it's simpler than it sounds–it actually just means “ss”. The best thing about this letter? It sounds exactly like the “s” sound in English!
The u is pronounced as in “do” or “through”, and the ü is more of an ue sound, where the speaker shapes their mouth for a u sound, then says an “ee”. For non-native German speakers, the difference between the u sound and the ü sound can be difficult to hear and pronounce.
'Die Katze' means the male or female cat in German. Der Kater means tomcat and can be used to describe a certain type of male cat…or a hangover.
Ë does not occur in the official German alphabet. However, a diaeresis above e in German occurs in a few proper names and ethnonyms, such as Ferdinand Piëch, Bernhard Hoëcker, Alëuten, Niuë. Occasionally, a diaeresis may be used in some well-known names, such as Italiën, which is usually written as Italien.
Why Does ß Mean “Double S” in German? In German, the letter ß is known as the eszett or scharfes (sharp) S. It's a special character, similar to the German umlaut you're probably used to seeing by now. But unlike those two dots above “a,” “o” or “u,” the eszett is written as a capital B-shaped character with a tail: ß.
Properly speaking, only German and Hungarian words have these two dots over a vowel to indicate a change in sound (as in doppelgänger and über), but loosely, people sometimes refer to its twin, the dieresis (as in naïve) as an umlaut. The word is German and means "change of sound," from um, "about," and laut, "sound."
The German Umlaut (“diaeresis” in English)
The two dots sometimes placed over the German vowels a, o, and u are known as an Umlaut. The umlauted vowels ä, ö and ü (and their capitalized equivalents Ä, Ö, Ü) are actually a shortened form for ae, oe and ue respectively.
The Letter Ä With Two Dots Is an Umlaut. If you've ever wondered what those two dots above an “ä” are about, they're generally called umlauts. Particularly common in German, they're used to modify the suggested pronunciation of the letter a.
Ö = O-Umlaut
To pronounce “ö” as you should, you need to form your lips as in “o” first, and again imagine somebody pulling on your lips. We can compare it with when you say “her” in English. The sound between the letters “h” and “r” is the sound you need.
The Swedish letter Ä is pronounced like an English e, as in “get”, while Ö has a longer sound, as in “fur”. Å can be pronounced either long (as in “raw”) or short (as in “hot”). The consonants B, D, F, H, L, M, N, P, R, T, V and X have a similar pronunciation as in English.
To be able to pronounce many of our words here in Norway you really should master these three vowels. The good news is that if you learn them they can also be used in Denmark and Sweden. All though in Sweden the Æ looks like Ä, and the Ø looks like Ö. But they are pronounced the same way.