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Pronunciation two dots above a letter12/13/2023 ![]() ![]() Where The New Yorker writes coöperate, other publications prefer co-operate, especially outside the United States. In some cases, the diaeresis is replaced by the hyphen. The diaeresis is considered obsolete by most authorities in the English language. The diaeresis tells you not to combine the two vowel sounds and pronounce the word as one syllable that sounds like “knave.”Įssentially, the diaeresis tells you “hey, this vowel is pronounced separately from the other one.” It is occasionally used on vowels that stand on their own to point out that they should be pronounced even though logic might say they shouldn’t, as in the surname Brontë. When you pronounce it, you can clearly hear how it’s divided into two parts- na- and -ive. (It’s important to note, that diaeresis is also a poetic break in verse however, we aren’t going to cover that usage here.) Diacritical marks are added to letters to indicate that there is something unusual about the way they are pronounced.Ī diaeresis is used when you have two vowels next to one another that should be pronounced as separate syllables instead jumbled together as a diphthong. The diaeresis-also spelled “dieresis”-is a type of sign that’s called a diacritic. The New Yorker is one of the rare publications that still use the diaeresis sign.īut what is this sign? Does it make sense to use it? And why does it appear so often in the names of hard rock and heavy metal bands, from Blue Öyster Cult to Motörhead? What Is the Diaeresis? Hang on, what exactly do you call those two little dots? A diaeresis. And there are the words like “coöperate” and “reëlect,” which are written with two tiny dots over the second o and the second e. ![]() ![]() There are the double consonants where you don’t expect them, as in the word “travelled.” There’s the spelling out of numbers, even the really long ones. Sure, it’s a go-to when you’re looking to read high-quality writing, but the magazine’s style is full of peculiarities. ![]()
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