Re: Umlauts (was Re: Elves and Ill Bethisad)

Costentin Cornomorus wrote:
> And I'm pointing out that in English we have no
> reason to do so. It is no longer just a French
> word - it is an English word.
>
> I'm also pointing out that we do not feel the
> need to use Greek or Latin or any other borrowed
> words "correctly".
Okay, but even by *English* standards, Nöel is wrong!  When the trema is
used in English, it is placed on the second letter, as in Coöperate, not
*cöoperate.  And even that usage is becoming uncommon, co-operate being
the more common spelling.  Normal English orthography simply does not
use diacritics, with the aforementioned use of the
trema/umlaut/whatever, so why write a word with diacritics unless you're
intentionally using a "foreign word" *for it's foreignness*, as opposed
to simply using a foreign-origin word as a nativized term?  And if
you're doing it for that reason, why not spell it as the original
language spells it?  (Assuming it uses the Roman alphabet, that is)

In short, Noël is French, Noel/Nowel(l) is English, Nöel is neither.

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