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

The dots in Noel aren't umlauts, they're diaeresis (diaereses?). An umlaut
changes the quality of the vowel, whereas a diaeresis merely signals that
the vowel is to be pronounced separately rather than as part of a diphthong,
which would be the default pronunciation otherwise. Tolkien does it simply
because a final e in English is silent, whereas in elvish it isn't.
Mike
> [I still prefer the Native form, Nowel. And for
> what it may be worth, I don't put an umlaut on
> Noel either.]
>
> Padraic.
>
>
>
> =====
> - Nos côsez yen fin xristianós et trancouil
>
> - Côsez-el a Ddon!
>
> --
>
> Ill Bethisad --
> <http://www.geocities.com/elemtilas/ill_bethisad>
>
>
> Come visit The World! --
> <http://www.geocities.com/hawessos/>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> .

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