DIAERESIS

dieresis, diaeresis

(noun) a diacritical mark (two dots) placed over a vowel to indicate that it does not form a diphthong with an adjacent vowel

Source: WordNet® 3.1

---

Etymology

Noun

diaeresis (plural diaereses)

(orthography) A diacritic ( ¨ ) placed over a vowel letter (especially the second of two consecutive ones) indicating that it is sounded separately, usually forming a distinct syllable, as in the English words naïve, Noël and Brontë, the French haïr and the Dutch ruïne.

Synonym: trema

Coordinate term: umlaut

(linguistics, prosody) Distraction; the separation of a vowel, often a diphthong, into two distinct syllables.

(prosody) A natural break in rhythm when a word ends at the end of a metrical foot, in a line of verse.

(linguistics, prosody) Hiatus; the occurrence of separate vowel sounds in adjacent syllables without an intervening consonant.

Usage notes

• The umlaut is an often visually identical diacritic which alters the sound of a single vowel (as in German schön). Properly speaking, the terms diaeresis and umlaut are not interchangeable, though speakers frequently use the term umlaut to refer to a diaeresis.

Anagrams

• side raise

Source: Wiktionary

---

Di*ær"e*sis, Di*er"e*sis, n.; pl. Diæreses or Diereses. Etym: [L. diaeresis, Gr. Heresy.]

1. (Gram.)

Definition: The separation or resolution of one syllable into two; -- the opposite of synæresis.

2. A mark consisting of two dots [..], placed over the second of two adjacent vowels, to denote that they are to be pronounced as distinct letters; as, coöperate, aërial.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

---

Do you know this game?

Wordscapes is a popular word game consistently in the top charts of both Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The Android version has more than 10 million installs. This guide will help you get more coins in less than two minutes of playing the game. Continue reading Wordscapes: Get More Coins