Diaeresis: the dual dots driving readers dotty

It was the [fifth round of the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee]( and Maitri Kovuru, a fourteen-year-old contestant from Fort Worth, Texas, had just been given her next word: diaeresis. Pronounced “die-heiresses,” the word refers to the two dots sometimes seen over vowel combinations. It’s what keeps the “coop” out of “cooperation,” the “cow” out of “coworker,” and the “reel” out of “reelect.” It lets us know that the “e” in Chloë is not silent and that the “i” in naïve is to be pronounced separately from the “a.” English speakers don’t encounter diaereses often, though they’re used regularly in Dutch, French, and Spanish, among other languages. And, of course, they’re all over The New Yorker, [to many a reader’s annoyance](. [Often confused with the German umlaut]( the diaeresis is generally thought to be obsolete. [The Associated Press advises against using the mark]( altogether as it may confuse readers. According to Fowler’s Modern English Usage, the signs have largely been left out due to the fact that they don’t appear on modern keyboards. Even Mary Norris, a chief copy editor at The New Yorker [admits the symbol is outmoded](. “The fact is that, absent the two dots, most people would not trip over the ‘coop’ in ‘cooperate’ or the ‘reel’ in ‘reelect,’” she writes. Sadly, the diaeresis’ fall from grace doesn’t make the word any easier to spell. Kovuru may have been bested by the diaeresis at the National Spelling Bee, but she walked away with a $500 gift card and an incredible achievement under her belt. Read on to learn how to spell “diaeresis” like a champ and wield those double dots with ease. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( [Quartz Obsession] Diaeresis July 26, 2019 A Tale of Two Dots --------------------------------------------------------------- It was the [fifth round of the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee]( and Maitri Kovuru, a fourteen-year-old contestant from Fort Worth, Texas, had just been given her next word: diaeresis. Pronounced “die-heiresses,” the word refers to the two dots sometimes seen over vowel combinations. It’s what keeps the “coop” out of “cooperation,” the “cow” out of “coworker,” and the “reel” out of “reelect.” It lets us know that the “e” in Chloë is not silent and that the “i” in naïve is to be pronounced separately from the “a.” English speakers don’t encounter diaereses often, though they’re used regularly in Dutch, French, and Spanish, among other languages. And, of course, they’re all over The New Yorker, [to many a reader’s annoyance](. [Often confused with the German umlaut]( the diaeresis is generally thought to be obsolete. [The Associated Press advises against using the mark]( altogether as it may confuse readers. According to Fowler’s Modern English Usage, the signs have largely been left out due to the fact that they don’t appear on modern keyboards. Even Mary Norris, a chief copy editor at The New Yorker [admits the symbol is outmoded](. “The fact is that, absent the two dots, most people would not trip over the ‘coop’ in ‘cooperate’ or the ‘reel’ in ‘reelect,’” she writes. Sadly, the diaeresis’ fall from grace doesn’t make the word any easier to spell. Kovuru may have been bested by the diaeresis at the National Spelling Bee, but she walked away with a $500 gift card and an incredible achievement under her belt. Read on to learn how to spell “diaeresis” like a champ and wield those double dots with ease. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( Giphy By the digits [3 to 1:]( The ratio with which “diaeresis” is favored over the alternate spelling, “dieresis.” [4:]( The number of US states that prohibit the use of diacritical marks, including the diaeresis, in baby names. [7:]( The most familiar diacritical marks: diaeresis, umlaut, tilde, acute accent, grave accent, cedilla, and circumflex. [12:]( The number of umlauts (the diaeresis’ German cousin) in the Finnish word epäjärjestelmällistyttämättömyydellänsäkäänköhän, also the longest non-compound word in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. [200+:]( the number of societies during the late 1800s devoted to Volapük, an umlaut-filled language invented by a German priest. The way we ¨ now (Dis)connecting the dots --------------------------------------------------------------- The New Yorker has a long history with the diaeresis. The magazine debuted in 1925 and put together its first style guide around that same time, which includes a diaeresis over multiple words. Not much has changed since then, but it’s not for a lack of trying, according to copy editor Mary Norris. In her book [Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen]( she tells how the diaeresis narrowly avoided being scrapped from the publication. Norris’ predecessor, [Lu Burke, was not a fan of the diaeresis and relentlessly badgered style editor Hobie Weekes to omit it from the style guide](. “Once, in the elevator, Weekes seemed to be weakening. He told [Burke] he was on the verge of changing that style and would be sending out a memo soon,” Norris writes in her book. “And then he died. This was in 1978. No one has had the nerve to raise the subject since.” That’s not to say that The New Yorker is stubbornly set in its ways. “[Back in the eighties, the editors decided to modernize]( by moving the semicolon outside of the closing quotation mark,” Norris says. To announce the change, a notice was fixed to a newsroom bulletin board. “Adjust your reflexes,” the memo began. Could the diaeresis someday meet the same fate? Only time will tell. Until then, adjust your reflexes. Unsplash/Roman Kraft Brief history [1611:]( The first appearance of the word diaeresis in the English language to describe the two dots indicating that two of the same vowel side-by-side should be pronounced as two separate sounds (e.g. reëvaluate) [1650:]( The word diaeresis began to be used to also signal that vowels should be pronounced separately and not as a diphthong (e.g. aërate). [1819:]( Jacob Grimm of the Brothers Grimm first used the term umlaut (um = around; laut = sound) to describe the sound mutation process in German which also utilizes the double dots and is often mistaken for the diaeresis. [1920s:]( The New Yorker puts together its style guide, which includes diaereses in words like coöperate. [1962:]( The College English Association journal, CEA Critic, published an article titled “Decline and Near Demise of the Diaeresis” in which the author laments the mark’s dwindling usage. [2015:]( In a column for, you guessed it, The New Yorker, memoirist, fiction writer, and playwright Saïd Sayrafiezadeh grumbles over Starbucks baristas’ inability to place the diaeresis in his name. [2017:]( Fox News personality Sean Hannity apologizes to author and Vanity Fair correspondent Gabe Sherman for typing his name as Gäbe in an earlier Tweet Quotable “I once went in to see Ann Goldstein, who is really the chief of this whole [copy] operation and I suggested that maybe that we would consider or rather reconsider the use of—it’s not an umlaut; it’s a diaeresis, above the second ‘o’ in words like coördination and so on. And she looked up at me as if I had suggested, you know, mass death in the office or some horrendous notion. Just the look in her eyes scared me out of the room so fast that I never raised it again.” —David Remnick, editor at The New Yorker, in an [interview with WNYC]( Reuters/Pascal Lauener Pop quiz Which state bans the use of diacritical marks on official documents? MontanaAlaskaMarylandCalifornia Correct. Incorrect. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. Jargon watch [Diphthong:]( A vowel sound formed by two vowels—what the diaeresis is used to distinguish from. [Synaeresis:]( The opposite of diaeresis. [Diaeresis (poetry):]( When the end of a [poetic foot]( “coincides with the end of a word.” [Bucolic diaeresis:]( A poetic diaeresis that falls at the end of the fourth foot in dactylic hexameter. [Diaeresis (philosophy):]( The creation of a taxonomy of ideas or concepts, “a precursor to formal logic.” Have a friend who would enjoy our Obsession with Diaeresis? [ [Forward link to a friend](mailto:?subject=Thought you'd enjoy.&body=Read this Quartz Obsession email – to the email – AP Photo/M. Spencer Green Fun fact! According to the Oxford English Dictionary, [the word “poem”]( was sometimes spelled with a diaeresis during the 14th and 15th centuries. 📚Reading List [“In the Future, Will the English Language Be Full of Accented Characters?”]( Linguist James Harbeck takes a look at how accents have infiltrated the English language and posits the staying power of accented characters in a tech-driven world. [“How Lemmy and Motörhead Gave Metal Its Umlaut”]( A Rolling Stone reporter unearths the origins of heavy metal’s traditional umlaut. [Read the Quartz Öbsession on heavy metal]( Watch this! Just a couple of dots messing around --------------------------------------------------------------- The New Yorker’s own Comma Queen, copy editor Mary Norris gives the lowdown on the diaeresis. take me down this 🐰 hole! The two dots sported by Häagen-Dazs are neither an umlaut or a diaeresis. Atlas Obscura [went on a mission]( to figure out what they’re doing there. Giphy Poll How do you feel about the use of diaereses? [Click here to vote]( They’re unnecessary and outdatedGotta have ‘emDon’t really care either way 💬let's talk! In yesterday’s poll about [Romanov impostors]( 60% of you said you never believed any of them. 🤔 [What did you think of today’s email?](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?cc=&subject=Thoughts%20about%20diaeresis&body=) 💡 [What should we obsess over next?](mailto:obsession%2Bideas@qz.com?cc=&subject=Obsess%20over%20this%20next.&body=) 🎲 [Show me a random Obsession]( Today’s email was written by [Tiffany R. Jansen]( edited by [Whet Moser]( and produced by [Luiz Romero](. The correct answer to the quiz is California. Enjoying the Quartz Obsession? [Send this link]( to a friend! Want to advertise in the Quartz Obsession? Send us an email at ads@qz.com. Not enjoying it? No worries. [Click here]( to unsubscribe. Quartz | 675 Avenue of the Americas, 4th Fl | New York, NY 10011 | United States [Share this email](