Umlaut

Umlaut may refer to:

Umlaut (linguistics)

In linguistics, umlaut (from German "sound alteration") is a sound change in which a vowel is pronounced more like a following vowel or semivowel. (ö ü) The term umlaut was originally coined in connection with the study of the Germanic languages, except from Gothic, in which the process occurred prominently in the history of many of them (see Germanic umlaut). While the common English plural is umlauts, the correct German plural is Umlaute.

Umlaut is a form of assimilation, the process by which one speech sound is altered to make it more like another adjacent sound. If a word has two vowels, one far back in the mouth and the other far forward, more effort is required to pronounce the word than if the vowels were closer together. Thus, one possible linguistic development is for these two vowels to be drawn closer together.

In the general sense, umlaut is essentially the same as regressive metaphony.

The most commonly seen types of umlaut are the following:

Diaeresis (diacritic)

The diaeresis (/daɪˈɛrᵻsᵻs/, dy-ERR-i-sis; plural: diaereses), also spelled diæresis or dieresis and also known as the trema or the umlaut, is a diacritical mark that consists of two dots ( ¨ ) placed over a letter, usually a vowel. When that letter is an i or a j, the diacritic replaces the tittle: ï.

The diaeresis and the umlaut are diacritics marking two distinct phonological phenomena. The diaeresis represents the phenomenon also known as diaeresis or hiatus in which a vowel letter is not pronounced as part of a digraph or diphthong. The umlaut (/ˈʊmlaʊt/ UUM-lowt), in contrast, indicates a sound shift. These two diacritics originated separately; the diaeresis is considerably older. Nevertheless, in modern computer systems using Unicode, the umlaut and diaeresis diacritics are identical, e.g. U+00E4 ä LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH DIAERESIS (HTML ä · ä) represents both a-umlaut and a-diaeresis.

The same symbol is also used as a diacritic in other cases, distinct from both diaeresis and umlaut. For example, in Albanian and Filipino ë represents a schwa.

Sneaker

Sneaker may refer to:

Sneakers are a type of casual shoes.

Sneakers may also refer to:

See also

Sneaker (band)

Sneaker was a West Coast American rock band, active from 1973 to 1983. The band is best known for its Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 hit single, "More Than Just the Two of Us", from its first album, Sneaker (1981). They also had a minor hit with "Don't Let Me In", a song written by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker from Steely Dan.

Sneaker was composed of Tim Torrance on guitars, Mitch Crane on vocals and guitars, Michael Carey Schneider on vocals and keyboards, Mike Hughes on drums, Michael Cottage on bass guitar, and Jim King on keyboards, synthesizers, and vibes. The band cited as its primary musical influences Steely Dan, The Eagles and The Doobie Brothers. They released 2 studio albums on Handshake Records and Tapes, Sneaker in 1981 (which included their Top 40 hit, "More Than Just the Two of Us") and Loose In The World in 1982. Both albums were produced by Jeff "Skunk" Baxter. In 2001, Cool Sound Records, a Japanese record label, released Early On, a collection of their early recordings and, in 2003, released Footprints In Japan, a 1982 live recording from Osaka & Tokyo, Japan.

Sneakers

Sneakers (also known as athletic shoes, tennis shoes, or trainers) are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise. Sneakers have evolved to be used for casual everyday activities. The term generally describes a type of footwear with a flexible sole made of rubber or synthetic material and an upper part made of leather or synthetic materials. Examples of such shoes include athletic footwear such as: basketball shoes, tennis shoes, cross trainers and other shoes worn for specific sports.

Names and etymology

"Sneakers" is the more common term used in the Northeastern United States and southern Florida. The term is also used in North Carolina. The British English equivalent of "sneaker" in its modern form is "trainer". In some urban areas in the United States, the slang for sneakers is kicks. Other terms include training shoes or trainers (British English), sandshoes, gym boots or joggers (Geordie English in the UK), running shoes, runners or gutties (Canadian English, Australian English, Scottish English and Hiberno-English), sneakers (North American English, Australian English and New Zealand English), tennis shoes (North American English and Australian English), gym shoes, tennies, sports shoes, sneaks, takkies (South African English and Hiberno-English), rubber shoes (Philippine English) or canvers (Nigerian English).