this post was submitted on 08 Mar 2026
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[–] ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (5 children)

Why is there a ü in the answers?

Edit: Thanks for explaining everyone. I have no idea how I missed that my whole life. I had no idea. It could be because I'm in Western Hemisphere but not sure.

[–] bdonvr@thelemmy.club 37 points 1 day ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (2 children)

Because that's how it's spelled.

Spanish uses ü, although relatively rarely. It signifies that you should pronounce the u and not merge it into nearby vowels.

[–] Slovene@feddit.nl 2 points 15 hours ago (1 children)
[–] bdonvr@thelemmy.club 2 points 12 hours ago

No, that would make you feel embarazada

[–] v_krishna@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 day ago (2 children)

English does the same with most vowels, it's called diaeresis though the only place I commonly see it is in the New Yorker (funnily enough googling what it is called led me to a New Yorker article about it.

[–] bcgm3@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago

Diaeresis? Try Pepto Bismol.

[–] bdonvr@thelemmy.club 14 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I mean at this point it seems that English doesn't do this, but maybe at one point it saw limited use.

Except "naïve", that still happens. But English is nothing if not wildly inconsistent.

[–] CommanderCloon@lemmy.ml 5 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

It's because naïve is a french word

[–] ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 17 hours ago

Oh shit it's in French too? I've been under a rock.

[–] v_krishna@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 day ago

Fair enough point, I also see it in normal English usage for proper nouns but basically nowhere else.

Wikipedia agrees with you (and also calls out the New Yorker vehemently disagrees which I find oddly comforting and hilarious)

In British English this usage has been considered obsolete for many years, and in US English, although it persisted for longer, it is now considered archaic as well.[3] Nevertheless, it is still used by the US magazine The New Yorker.[4]

[–] criticon@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 day ago

In Spanish in the syllables gue and gui the u is silent

When the ü is used it means the the u makes a sound like pingüino, cigüeña, vergüenza, güero, antigüedad, etc.

@bdonvr@thelemmy.club explained it very well in their comment. To add, in Spanish, the letter "g" when followed by either an "i" or an "e" will be pronounced in three different ways depending on whether you add an "u" in between, and if that "u" has a diaeresis on it. If you add the dieresis, it means you have to pronounce the "u". Think of "pingüino" (penguin in english). In order to say the "u" in the word, we add the diaeresis that says the reader that they have to say the "u". In Spanish, "guillotina", "pingüino" and "ginebra" you will read the sillabe with a "g" and an "i" differently on each of those words.

Spanish has tons of grammar rules. It's hard to learn them all, but when you do, it makes extremely easy to know how to say a word when you read it. Even where to put the accent (even if there is no tilde in the word).

[–] Bronx@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Because that changes how it is pronounced

Let's say- Penguin

In spanish it is Pingüino

"Pingüino" is pronounced "pinguino" ("gui" just like in english)

While "pinguino" would be something like "pingeeno"

[–] ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 17 hours ago

That's an easy to understand answer. I got it now! ;)

[–] Chozo@fedia.io 3 points 1 day ago

Because you are smiling at the fünny joke