Where does “umlaut” come from?

umlaut (Finnish) comes from German umlaut, from German Laut, from Middle High German lūt, from Old High German lūt, from Proto-West Germanic hlūd, from Proto-Germanic hlūdaz, from Proto-Indo-European ḱlewtos, from Proto-Indo-European ḱlew- — to cover; to incline.

umlaut (Finnish): umlaut (the diacritical mark (¨) placed over various vowels: a > ä, o > ö or u > ü in German and some closely related languages)

Definitions

  1. umlaut (the diacritical mark (¨) placed over various vowels: a > ä, o > ö or u > ü in German and some closely related languages)

Ancestry of “umlaut”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Germanumlautumlaut
2GermanLautsound; noise
3Middle High Germanlūtloud
4Old High Germanlūtloud
5Proto-West Germanichlūdloud; sound
6Proto-Germanichlūdazloud; famous
7Proto-Indo-Europeanḱlewtosheard, famous
8Proto-Indo-Europeanḱlew-to hear
9Proto-Indo-Europeanḱel-to cover; to incline
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ḱel- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European ḱlew- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European ḱlewtos →
umlaut — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer