On Tue, 11 Sep 2007, Robert Holmgren wrote:
** Reply to message from "Patricia M. Godfrey"
on Mon, 10 Sep 2007 13:48:49 -0400
Y diaeresis is rather rare; I think it
is used in Turkish or some of the Balkan languages.
A diaeresis recognizes two adjacent vowels as separate syllables
-- and that's the meaning of the diacritical mark. The English
letter "y" derives from the Dutch "ij" (both vowels. pronounced
ee-ye). Note that y-diaeresis *looks like* cursive "ij" -- no
accident.
Also found in French and Belgian names (e.g., Haÿ-les-Roses, Ysaÿe).
C. Caballero
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