DIAERESIS

views updated Jun 11 2018

DIAERESIS, BrE, dieresis AmE. A DIACRITIC consisting of two points set over a vowel, as in ä, ë. In English, it indicates that a vowel that might otherwise be silent is to be sounded (as in Brontë) or that the second vowel of a pair is to be sounded separately (naïve, coöperate). Forms of spelling that might once have had a diaeresis or a hyphen are currently often written and printed without either: Bronte, naive, cooperate.

Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language TOM McARTHUR

diaeresis

views updated Jun 27 2018

di·aer·e·sis • n. variant spelling of dieresis.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

diaeresis

views updated Jun 08 2018

diaeresis (sign ¨ marking) the separation of a vowel from its neighbour. XVII. — late L. — Gr. diaíresis, f. diaireîn divide, f. DIA- + haireîn take.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

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