Re: Umlaut

sebb wrote:
> On 14/01/2008, John Douglas Porter <[email protected]> wrote:
>> From the keyboard of Yanick Champoux [12.01.08,18:50]:
>>> *dieresis* or *diæresis   *A diacritical mark (* ¨ *) optionally
>> used in
>>> English, oftentimes replaced by a hyphen. In English, the dieresis
>> is used on
>>> a second identical vowel to indicate a change in pronunciation of
>> that vowel
>>> or indicate it is pronounced in a separate syllable. It is sometimes
>> referred
>>> to as an « umlaut » when used with a single character or in a «
>> diphthong. »
>>> Examples: reëlecting, reëncoding, coöperation, coördination.
> 
> Also naïf and naïve - non-identical vowels.

But isn't that because these two words are straight lifts from French, 
where they have this exact spelling? It's not an English thing in this case.

David