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accent marks
What do the 2 dots over the "e" in Zoe stand for?
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Zoe, i'm called Zoe too, but i've never bothered with the accent dot things, apparently they enhance the 'e' and someone once told me that without them my name should just be pronounced 'zo' but since there are no accents in the english alphabet I just ignore them.
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The little dots stand for the sad fact that without them, people who should know better have been known to pronounce Zoe (and indeed Chloe) to rhyme with Joe.
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Yep!
The need to use "them two points" arises from the fact that the letter eta (ç) is usually transcribed as an "e" in English -- leading to confusion in pronounciation...
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Those are an accent mark called a "diaresis" (or "umlaut" in German, where it's most frequently used).The mark is used in this case to indicate that the "e" in Zoe is pronounced (i.e., "Zoh-ee" instead of "Zoh").Diaresis can be avoided in many instances by drinking only bottled water and avoiding the consumption of local produce.
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Hi Pavlos,ë is no Umlaut because the sound is still an e-sound with those ¨ above. "Umlaut" means "change of sound":
a -> ä
o -> ö
u -> üRegards, Satu
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Satu, I've got a proposition for ya...I won't call a diaresis an umlaut if you won't call me Pavlos. Deal?Actually, my calling a diaresis an umlaut was simply a clumsy attempt at teaching "Diacritical Marks 101". Many semi-educated native English speakers recognize an umlaut as "them two little dots", even if they're not sure what it does in German or elsewhere. "Diaresis", however, is a pretty rare and obscure term in English-language conversation, at least in the American South.Your point is quite valid and I shouldn't have muddied the waters with an incorrect reference to umlauts.Regards,Da.
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Oooooops, SORRY, Daividh!!Please forgive me, Daividh!! I have NO IDEA why I wrote Pavlos instead of Daividh... I'm really sorry!Well, I understood that you just took the "Umlaut"-term to describe these ¨ points... I just love languages and grammar and things like that (even if my ENGLISH grammar is still quite poor :( ...), so I couldn't stop myself from being teaching again. No offence please! It's just fun!Hope to "see" you again, soon!
Satu
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"You callin' ME Daividh?
You callin' ME Daividh?
You callin' ME Daividh?"
(Delivered in a diuretic DeNiroesque fashion)
:P
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No way, Pavlos! No way, Pavlos! No way, Pavlos!I will try hard not to mix up your names again. Maybe I should start to call both Daividh and you for Dailos or Pavvidh to avoid that mistake? ;PSætü
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Only is you use a diaeresis -- err..- umlaut on the a :P
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