View source for Ö

{{short description|Latin letter O with diaeresis}}
{{distinguish|ة}}

{{More citations needed|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox grapheme
| letter = Ö ö
| language = [[German language|German]]
| image = Latin letter O with diaeresis.svg
| imageclass = skin-invert-image
| script = [[Latin script]]
| name = O with Diaeresis
| fam1 = [[oe (digraph)|OE oe]]
| fam2 = [[Œ|Œ œ]]
| phonemes = {{flex list|[{{IPA link|œ}}]|[{{IPA link|ɔ̃}}]|[{{IPA link|ø}}]}}
| unicode = U+00D6, U+00F6
| direction = Left to right
| type = alphabet
| typedesc = ic
| fam3 = [[Oͤ]] [[oͤ]]
| equivalents = oe
| number = ASCII-8 / ALT Code(s): 246 (ö), 214 (Ö)
}}

'''Ö''', or '''ö''', is a character that represents either a letter from several extended Latin alphabets, or the letter "[[O (letter)|o]]" modified with an [[Umlaut (diacritic)|umlaut]] or [[diaeresis (diacritic)|diaeresis]]. Ö, or ö, is a variant of the letter [[O]]. In many languages, the letter "ö", or the "o" modified with an [[Umlaut (diacritic)|umlaut]], is used to denote the [[close-mid|close-]] or [[open-mid]] front rounded vowels {{IPAblink|ø|audio=yes}} or {{IPAblink|œ|audio=yes}}; compare the vowel in "g<u>i</u>rl", which in these languages phonetically could be written: /görl/. In languages without such vowels, the character is known as an "[[o]] with [[Diaeresis (diacritic)|diaeresis]]" and denotes a syllable break, wherein its pronunciation remains an unmodified {{IPAblink|o}}.

== ''O''-umlaut ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2016}}
[[File:Boundary stone on the Demeljoch - 1.jpg|thumb|right|The letter ''Ö'', standing for ''Österreich'', i.e. Austria, on a [[boundary stone]] at the [[German-Austrian border]]]] 
The letter ''o'' with [[Umlaut (diacritic)|umlaut]] (''ö''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Linguapsych |url=https://linguapsych.com/german-umlaut/ |access-date=2023-11-18 |website=linguapsych.com}}</ref>) appears in the [[German alphabet]]. It represents the umlauted form of ''o'', resulting in {{IPAblink|œ}} or {{IPAblink|ø}}. The letter is often [[collation|collated]] together with ''o'' in the German alphabet, but there are exceptions which collate it like ''oe'' or ''OE''. The letter also occurs in some languages that have adopted German names or spellings, but it is not normally a part of those alphabets. In Danish and Norwegian, ''ö'' was previously used in place of ''ø'' in older texts to distinguish between [[Vowel#Height|open and closed]] ö-sounds. It is also used when confusion with other symbols could occur, on maps for instance. The Danish/Norwegian ''[[ø]]'' is, like the German/Swedish ''ö'', a development of ''[[Œ|oe]]'' and can be compared with the French ''[[œ]]''.
In other languages that do not have the letter as part of the regular alphabet or in limited [[character set]]s such as [[ASCII]], ''o''-umlaut is frequently replaced with the [[digraph (orthography)|digraph]] ''oe''. For example,  German {{lang|de|hören}} (hear/listen) can be easily recognized even if spelled {{lang|de|hoeren}}.

== ''Ö'' in other languages ==
The letter ''ö'' also occurs in two other [[Germanic languages]]: [[Swedish language|Swedish]] and [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]], but it is regarded there as a separate letter, not as an orthographic variation of the letter ''o''. Apart from Germanic languages, it occurs in the [[Uralic languages]] such as [[Finnish alphabet|Finnish]], [[Karelian language|Karelian]], [[Veps language|Veps]], [[Estonian alphabet|Estonian]], [[Southern Sami language#Writing system|Southern Sami]], and [[Hungarian alphabet|Hungarian]], in the [[Turkic languages]] such as [[Azeri alphabet|Azeri]], [[Turkish alphabet|Turkish]], [[Turkmen alphabet|Turkmen]], [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]] ([[Uyghur Latin Yéziqi|Latin script]]), [[Crimean Tatar language|Crimean Tatar]], [[Kazakh language|Kazakh]], and in the [[Uto-Aztecan languages|Uto-Aztecan language]] [[Hopi language|Hopi]], where it represents the [[vowel]] sounds {{IPA|[ø, œ]}}. Its name in [[Finnish language|Finnish]], [[Swedish language|Swedish]], [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]], [[Estonian language|Estonian]], [[Azeri alphabet|Azeri]], [[Turkish alphabet|Turkish]], [[Turkmen alphabet|Turkmen]], [[Uyghur Latin Yéziqi|Uyghur]], [[Crimean Tatar language|Crimean Tatar]], [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]], [[Votic language|Votic]] and [[Volapük]] is ''Öö'' {{IPA|[øː]}}, not "O with two dots" since {{IPA|/ø/}} is not a variant of the vowel {{IPA|/o/}} but a distinct phoneme.

In mountain dialects of [[Emilian dialect|Emilian]], it is used to represent {{IPA|[ø]}}, e.g. ''tött'' {{IPA|[tøtː]}} "all".

In the [[Dutch language]], {{angbr|ö}} appears only as O-diaeresis - see below. The sound {{IPA|/øː/}} is spelled with the digraph {{angbr|eu}}, as in {{lang|nl|deur}} {{IPA|/døːr/}} 'door'. In the Dutch-based orthographies of [[Low Saxon]], [[Limburgish]] and [[Ripuarian language|Ripuarian]], {{angbr|ö}} is used only for the short {{IPA|/œ/}} (as in [[Maastrichtian Limburgish|Maastrichtian]] {{lang|li|bös}} {{IPA|/bœs/}} 'bus'), whereas the long {{IPA|/œː/}} (lowered to {{IPA|/ɶː/}} in Maastricht) and {{IPA|/øː/}} are typically written unambiguously with {{angbr|äö}} (since it is often an umlauted form of {{angbr|ao}}, {{IPA|/ɔː/}} in IPA) and {{angbr|eu}}, the latter following the Standard Dutch spelling. The example words (in Maastrichtian) are {{lang|li|väöl}} {{IPA|/vɶːl/}} 'a lot' and {{lang|li|beuk}} {{IPA|/bøːk/}} 'beech'. The short close-mid {{IPA|/ø/}} (which instead can be transcribed in IPA with {{angbr IPA|ʏ}}) tends to be spelled with {{angbr|u}} (as in Maastrichtian {{lang|li|stum}} {{IPA|/støm/}} 'voice'), but this can also be used for {{IPA|/y(ː)/}} in open syllables, again following the Standard Dutch spelling. On the German side of the border, {{angbr|ö}} can be used for any of the {{IPA|/œ, œː, ø, øː/}} (thus {{lang|li|Bös(s), vö(h)l, Stömm, Bö(h)k}}), whereas {{IPA|/y(ː)/}} is always written distinctly, as {{angbr|ü(h)}}. {{angbr|u}} is never used for any of the aforementioned front vowels; instead, it denotes the [[close back rounded vowel]] {{IPA|/u(ː)/}}, as in Standard German. The length is usually disambiguated by doubling the following consonant (which denotes the short {{IPA|/œ, ø/}}), not doubling it or adding a silent {{angbr|h}} after {{angbr|ö}} (both denoting the long {{IPA|/œː, øː/}}). The exact height normally remains ambiguous, but the open-mid {{IPA|/œ(ː)/}} can be disambiguated by adding a [[grave accent]] above {{angbr|ö}}, as in {{angbr|ö̀}} (thus {{lang|li|bö̀ss, vö̀(h)l}}), similarly to some [[Swiss German]] orthographies. This is not the usual practice, not least because the diacritics end up stacked on top of one another.

In certain languages, the letter ''ö'' cannot be written as "oe" because [[minimal pair]]s exist between ''ö'' and ''oe'' (and also with ''oo'', ''öö'' and ''öe''), as in Finnish ''eläinkö'' "animal?" (interrogative) vs. ''eläinkoe'' "animal test" (cf. [[Germanic umlaut]]). If the character ''ö'' is unavailable, ''o'' is substituted and context is relied upon for inference of the intended meaning. In Volapük, ''ö'' can be written as ''oy'', but never as ''oe''. In the aforementioned Dutch-based orthographies of Low Saxon, Limburgish and Ripuarian, {{angbr|ö}} also cannot be written with {{angbr|oe}} because the latter denotes the close back {{IPA|/u(ː)/}}, as in Standard Dutch. Thus, Maastrichtian {{lang|li|bös}} {{IPA|/bœs/}} 'bus' cannot be spelled *{{lang|li|boes}} because it is not pronounced *{{IPA|/buːs/}} (cf. {{lang|li|moes}} {{IPA|/muːs˦/}} 'mouse'). The German-based orthographies, in which {{IPA|/u(ː)/}} is always spelled {{angbr|u(h)}}, have no such limitation. In those, {{angbr|oe}} is read as identical with {{angbr|ö}}, same as in Standard German.

In [[Romagnol dialect|Romagnol]], ''ö'' is used to represent {{IPA|[ɔə~ɔː]}}, e.g. ''cöt'' {{IPA|[kɔət~kɔːt]}} "cooked".

In the [[Seneca language]], ''ö'' is used to represent {{IPA|[ɔ̃]}}, a back mid rounded nasalized vowel.

In Swedish, the letter ''ö'' is also used as the one-letter word for an [[island]], which is not to be mixed with the actual letter. ''Ö'' in this sense is also a Swedish-language surname.<ref>{{cite web | title = Rikulla on Suomen lyhyin sukunimi – nimenmuutokselle perusteet äidin suvussa | trans-title = Riku has the shortest surname in Finland – grounds for name change in his mother's family | last = Turunen | first = Petri  | work = Ilta-Sanomat | date = 4 September 2016 | access-date = 2016-09-04 | url = https://www.is.fi/kotimaa/art-2000001253854.html | language = fi  }}</ref>

In the [[Seri language]], ''ö'' indicates the [[labialization]] of the previous consonant, e.g. ''cöihiin'' {{IPA| /kʷiˈɁiin/}} "[[sanderling]]".

=== Alphabetical position ===
In some alphabets it is [[collation|collated]] as an independent letter, sometimes by placing it at or near the end of the alphabet, such as after ''[[Z]]'', ''[[Å]]'' and ''[[Ä]]'' in Swedish and Finnish, after ''[[Ý]]'', (''[[Z]]''), ''[[Þ]]'' and  ''[[Æ]]''  in Icelandic, and after ''[[V]]'', (''[[W]]''), ''[[Õ]]'' and ''[[Ä]]'' in Estonian (thus fulfilling the place of [[omega]], for example in the Finnish expression ''aasta ööhön'' "from A to Z", literally "from A to Ö". However, in Hungarian, and in the [[Turkish alphabet]] and other [[Turkic alphabets (disambiguation)|Turkic alphabets]] that have ''ö'', it is an independent letter between ''o'' and ''p''.

== ''O''-diaeresis ==

''O'' with [[diaeresis (diacritic)|diaeresis]] occurs in several languages that use diaereses. In these languages the letter represents the fact that this ''o'' is the start of a new syllable (e.g. in the [[Dutch language|Dutch]]/[[Afrikaans]] word {{lang|nl|coöperatief}} [cooperative]), instead of the general ''oo'' (e.g. In the [[Dutch language|Dutch]] word {{lang|nl|doorn}} [thorn]) .

=== In English ===
{{see also|Diaeresis (diacritic)#English|English terms with diacritical marks}}
Some writers and publications, such as ''[[The New Yorker]]'', use it in English words such as ''zoölogy'' and ''coöperate'' to indicate that the second vowel is pronounced separately. It is also employed in names such as ''[[Laocoön]]'', [[Coös County]], and the [[constellation]] ''[[Boötes]]''. This is also done in Dutch.

== Usage in phonetic alphabets ==
[[File:Latin letter O with diaeresis.svg|class=skin-invert-image|alt=The letter Ö, or ö.|thumb|The letter Ö]]
In the [[Rheinische Dokumenta]], a phonetic alphabet for many [[West Central German]], the [[Low Rhenish]], and few related [[vernacular]] languages, ''ö'' represents the [[close-mid front rounded vowel]] with the [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] notation {{IPA|[ø]}}. The [[open-mid front rounded vowel]] {{IPA|[œ]}} is transcribed as {{angbr|ö}} with an ''{{lang|pl|[[ogonek]]}}'' below, thus {{angbr|ǫ̈}}.

The [[Uralic phonetic alphabet]] uses {{angle bracket|Ö}} as in Finnish to denote the front vowel {{IPA|[ø]}}.

== Typography ==
[[File:O containing E ligature.jpg|thumb|Unusual form of the ''Œ'' or ''Ö'' ligature, with a small ''E'' inside the ''O''. From an inscription in the crypt of [[Cologne Cathedral|Cologne (''Köln'') Cathedral.]]]]
Historically{{when|date=May 2013}}<!-- And in what languages?--> ''O''-diaeresis was written as an ''o'' with two dots above the letter. O-umlaut was written as an ''o'' with a small ''e'' written above in cursive old German (Gothic) script (Oͤ oͤ): this tiny ''e'' is represented by two vertical bars connected by a slanted line, which then degenerated to two vertical bars in early modern [[handwriting]]s. In most later handwriting, these bars in turn nearly became dots. The origin of the letter ''ö'' was a similar [[Ligature (typography)|ligature]] for the [[Oe (digraph)|digraph OE]]: ''e'' was written above ''o'' and degenerated into two small dots.{{citation needed|date=May 2013}}

In some inscriptions and [[display typeface]]s, ''ö'' may be seen represented as an ''o'' with a small letter ''e'' inside.

In [[modern typography]] there was insufficient space on [[typewriter]]s and later [[computer keyboard]]s to allow for both an O-with-dots (also representing ''ö'') and an ''o''-with-bars{{Clarify|date=December 2024}}. Since they looked nearly identical, the two glyphs were combined, which was also done in computer [[character encoding]]s such as [[ISO 8859-1]]. As a result, there was no way to differentiate between the different characters.

Other alphabets containing ''o''-diaeresis include the [[Welsh alphabet]].

Other alphabets containing ''o''-umlaut include: the [[Turkmen alphabet]] (for the vowel [ø]), the [[Azerbaijani alphabet]] (for the vowel [œ]), the [[Yapese alphabet]] (for [œ]), the [[Luxembourgish alphabet]] (when writing loanwords from Standard German), the [[Slovenian alphabet]] (when writing loanwords from German, Hungarian and Turkish), and the [[Dinka alphabet]]. The [[Hungarian alphabet]] contains both ''ö'' and ''ő'': ''double acute o'' is the longer pair of ''ö''. See [[double acute accent]].<gallery>
</gallery>

==In Unicode==
The character has the Unicode [[codepoint]]s
* {{unichar|00D6}}
* {{unichar|00F6}}

== See also ==
* [[Diaeresis (diacritic)]]
* [[O with diaeresis (Cyrillic)]]
* [[Ø]], the character used in some Nordic languages for similar sounds
* [[Metal umlaut]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{wiktionary|ö}}
* [http://www.istro-romanian.net/alphabet.html The IstroRomanians in Croatia: Alphabet]
* [http://www2.hhs.se/isa/Swedish/chap9.htm Introduction to Swedish by Urban Sikeborg, Stockholm (1997-98)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312181708/http://www2.hhs.se/isa/swedish/chap9.htm |date=2007-03-12 }}

{{Latin script}}
{{Swedish language}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:O}}
[[Category:Latin letters with diacritics|O umlaut]]
[[Category:Phonetic transcription symbols|O umlaut]]
[[Category:Vowel letters]]