Random Language Fact Of The Day

[c9]

The New Yorker uses umlauts on some English words on which I'm not used to seeing them. It's legitimate, just very uncommon, and I thought I'd share.

• reëlection
• coöperated

Comments

[mightycodking.livejournal.com]

This summer I read a book by Will Durant that did just that... it was originally published in 1926 or so, and I chalked it up to that.

He also uses an accent on role, "rôle".

Lastly, some words that are now completely anglicized were italicized in that print, considered to be foreign jargon.

[thespos]

That's odd. I remember learning (at some point, don't ask me when) that one of the distinguishing features of written English was our lack of diacritical marks.

Dutch has umlauts over a second vowel quite a bit, which took a lot of getting used to - but it also helped my pronunciation a lot as I was learning.

And geïntereseerd remains one of my favorite words. :-P ("Interested")

[skeezix1000.livejournal.com]

Given that language evolves, and that proper spelling should have some regard to common usage, it's a really fine line between legitimacy and pretension. In this case, my gut tells me that the New Yorker is just being pretentious.

[jdhorner.livejournal.com]

but i remember back in the day learning that the very examples given by cam above were completely acceptable in helping to distinguish the syllable break.

i'm sure tobin has paragraphs-worth of explanations.

[thespos]

Yes, that is how Dutch uses them.

We must to find Tō'bĭn.

:-)

I'd use my Tobin-Finder, but your penis works better. :-P

[jdhorner.livejournal.com]

ROFL!

it's less of a tobin-finder and more of a tobin-attractor.

[thespos]

LOL! Maybe that's no good, then - he'll be unable to focus on our question.

Put it away. Well, when you can. :-P

[c9.livejournal.com]

Very likely. As language evolves, media outlets need to decide whether they are going to follow the likely trend (simplification, Americanization, slang popularity) or try to fight back against it, possibly pretentiously using older spellings, phrasings, and terminology.

I don't like pretentious writing, but I also am very persnickety about using Canadian spellings. :)

[bonoboboy.livejournal.com]

Makes me wonder about whether or not we're lazy with the English language. So many other languages use all these special marks, and we use ... well, I can't really think of all that many cases where we do use them.

But wow, I can't imagine how much more tedious typing would be with having to add special marks above half the alphabet!

[fiver00.livejournal.com]

Off topic, but what's the story with the Wayves cover?

[iambic-cub.livejournal.com]

Wow - I'm guessing that some editor's suppressed desire to dot her 'i's with hearts and happy faces has resurfaced as uppity umlaut use.

[c9.livejournal.com]

I've asked them like ten times to tell me what should go on it, and nothing yet. They love your cover, but are worried we don't have enough marriage content to make it the cover (despite most magazines having one tiny article as an excuse to run a full-cover shirtless picture of Ashton Kutcher). They might want you to add an inset picture of a New Brunswick woman who just became NDP leader. *shrug* Nothing helpful yet. What's your schedule like for making adjustments: today only, not til Saturday, ...?

[fiver00.livejournal.com]

schedule = really full. I have like no time to devote to this right now. I was really hoping they'd accept it as is... :S

[skeezix1000.livejournal.com]

As I sit on my chesterfield, wearing a toque and eating KD, I commend your honourable stand.