1.THEWORDUMLAUTCOMESFROMONEOFTHEBROTHERSGRIMM.

JacobGrimmwasnotonlyacollectoroffairytales(alongwithhisbrotherWilhelm),butalsooneofthe
mostfamouslinguistsever.In1819hedescribedasoundchangeprocessthataffectedthehistorical
developmentofGerman.Hecalleditumlautfromum(around)+laut(sound).

2.UMLAUTISORIGINALLYTHENAMEFORASPECIFICKINDOFVOWEL
MUTATION.
Technically,umlautdoesntrefertothedots,buttotheprocesswhere,historically,avowelgotpulled
intoadifferentpositionbecauseofinfluencefromanother,upcomingvowel.

3.MIMICKINGTHATMUTATIONPROCESSISAGREATWAYTOLEARNTO
PRONOUNCETHEUMLAUT.
Trythis:makeausound(anoo).Nowimaginetheresanisound(anee)comingup.Keepyourlips
completelyfrozeninupositionwhileyoutrytosayeewiththerestofyourmouth.Youshouldfeelthe
bodyofyourtonguemoveforwardandupinyourmouth.Holdthatusoundwithyourlipsthough!Good.
Thatsan.
Notworking?Tryingpingingbackandforth:ooeeooeeooeeooeenowfreezeyourtongue
positionineeandonlymoveyourlipsbacktooo.
(Startwithahforandohfor.)

4.ENGLISHWASALSOAFFECTEDBYTHEUMLAUTMUTATION.
Everwonderwhythepluralofmouseismice?Blameumlaut.Way,waybackinatimebeforeEnglish
hadbranchedofffromotherGermaniclanguages,pluralswereformedwithaniending.Somouse
wasmus,andmicewasmusi.Thatpluralipulledtheuforwardintoumlaut.Later,theipluralending
disappearedandawholebunchofothersoundchangeshappened,butweareleftwiththeechoofthat
mutatedvowelinmouse/mice,aswellasinfoot/feet,tooth/teeth,andotherirregularpairs.

5.UMLAUTSWERENTALWAYSWRITTENASDOTSABOVEAVOWEL.
SincetheMiddleAges,umlautedvowelshavebeenindicatedinvariouswaysinGerman.Beforethe
twodotversionbecamethestandardinthe19thcentury,itwasusuallywrittenasatinyeabovethe
vowel,likeso:

Itisstillsometimeswrittenwithanenexttothevowel,forexample,MuenchenforMnchen,orschoen
forschn.

6.NOTALLUMLAUTSAREUMLAUTS.
Werathercasuallyuseumlauttomeantwolittledotsabovealetter,butnotalllittledotsareumlauts.
Themarkthatpreventstwoadjacentvowelsfromcombiningintoonesyllableiscalledadiaeresisor
trema.YouseeitinFrench(nave,Chlo,Nol)andinthepagesoftheNewYorker(coperate,
relection).InSpanishitindicatesthattheushouldbepronouncedinthecombinationguwhichis
usuallypronouncedasgalone.Sigueisseegaybutpingeispingway.

7.HOWDOYOUALPHABETIZEUMLAUTEDVOWELS?DEPENDSONTHE
LANGUAGE.
InGerman,theumlautisignoredforalphabetizationpurposes,exceptwhenitcomestolistsofnames.
Then,,,andaretreatedlikeue,oe,andae,respectively,sothatvariationsonthesamename
(Mller,Mueller)willbegroupedtogether.InSwedishandFinnishtheumlautedvowelscomeattheend
ofthealphabet(X,Y,Z,,,).InHungarianandTurkishtheumlautedvowelsfollowtheirnon
umlautedcounterparts.

8.INGERMANY,ABIGMACUSEDTOBEABIGMC.
AndtheFiletoFishwastheFishmc.ThespellingwiththeumlautactuallygetsGermanspeakersa
littleclosertotheEnglishpronunciationofMac.Butin2007McDonaldstookawaytheumlauts,and
nowGermanshavetogetboringolBigMacsliketherestofus.

9.EPJRJESTELMLLISTYTTMTTMYYDELLNSKNKHN
ThisFinnishword,accordingtotheGuinnessBookofRecords,isthelongestnoncompoundwordin
theworld.With12umlautedletters,itisprobablythewordwiththemostumlautsaswell.Itmeans
somethinglikequestionablethisthingbeingdoubtfulitsnonunsytematization.Finnsdontevenreally
understandit.Buttheycanjustaswellgetfiveumlautsinanormalwordlikekntj(translators).The
longestrunofconsecutiveumlautscomesfromEstonian:jrmeanstheedgeoftheice.

10.ANARTIFICIALLANGUAGEFULLOFUMLAUTSBECAMEHUGELY
POPULARINTHE1880S.
AGermanpriestnamedJohannSchleyerinventedauniversallanguagehecalledVolapk.Itwasbased
onsimplifiedEuropeanrootsandwasmeanttobelogicalandeasytolearn.Itwaschockfullofumlauts:
lovewaslf,smilewassml,andspeakwaspk.Manypeopledidlearnit,andby1889therewere
over200Volapkclubsaroundtheworldand25Volapkjournals.Evenpeoplewhodidntlearnithad
heardofit.Butsupportersthoughtitwouldhaveabetterchanceofsucceedinginternationallyifitlostthe
umlauts.Schleyerrefused.Hesaidthatalanguagewithoutumlautssoundsmonotonous,harsh,and
boring.Infightingoverumlautsandotherproposedreformsledtoaschismand,ultimately,tothedecline
ofVolapk.

11.HEAVYMETALUMLAUTSDONTLOOKSOHEAVYMETALTOUMLAUT
USERS.
BeginningwithBlueysterCultintheearly'70s,heavymetalbandsstartedusingtheumlauttosignala
badasshardrockattitude.ToAmericanstheumlauthadaharsh,TeutoniclooktoitandMtleyCre,
Motrhead,Queensrche,anddozensofotherbands(listedontheMetalUmlautWikipediapage)tried

toimpartalittlegothicscarinessthroughrandomlyscatteredpairsofdots.Thedotsdidnthavequitethe
sameeffectinumlautusingcountries,wheretheumlautsignifiesvowelqualitiesofsoftness,highness,
lightnessandroundedness.