2923: Dieresis Dec 22, 2024

The diacritical mark known as the dieresis, represented as two dots placed over a vowel (e.g., ü), serves to indicate that the vowel should be pronounced separately from an adjacent vowel rather than forming a diphthong or being silent. Its history traces back to Ancient Greek and Latin, where it was used similarly to aid pronunciation and syllable division where there were difference in stress or pauses. In modern usage, the dieresis persists in various languages such as German and French, where it alters the pronunciation of vowels, distinguishes between homophones, or clarifies syllabic stress. Beyond its phonetic function, the dieresis occasionally appears in poetic or archaic contexts to maintain the original pronunciation of borrowed words or names, though it occasionally is used in cases of clarifying prefixed, like coöp, instead of ‘coop’, though these can also be solved with a hyphen (co-op).