a mark (¨) used over a vowel, especially in German, to indicate a different vowel quality (德语中表示不同元音音质)曲音符号(••) ■[mass noun]the process in Germanic languages by which the quality of a vowel was altered in certain phonetic contexts, resulting for example in the differences between modern German Mann and Männer (日尔曼语系)曲音变化
verb
[with obj.]modify (a form or a sound) by using an umlaut 变(音、形)为曲音
语源
mid 19th cent.: from German Umlaut, from um 'about' + Laut 'sound'