kids encyclopedia robot

Umlaut facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Germanic umlaut on keyboard
A German keyboard, showing the three umlauts

The umlauts are a group of sounds in German. They are written ä, ö, ü (or ae, oe, ue).

Without the diaeresis (the dots) those three letters are said [a], [o], and [u]. But when the dots are put over them, Ä, Ö, and Ü the sounds change to be said like [ɛ], [œ]/[ø] and [y]/[ʏ].

When a word that has umlaut letters with dots is changed into English, the letters are usually written as ae, oe, or ue instead of ä, ö, or ü.

Related pages

kids search engine
Umlaut Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.