Johanna, "Zoo" is a really great example of the vowel. I used moose, because I pucker my lips out more--making a better German sound--moving from the m to the oo's--than I do with zoo. I think it must a dialect thing. I speak Hessish--a dialect for which I am often teased. I only used the example of "utter," because that is how I have heard some Americans pronounce the word when the haven't heard it before. I wish I had a better linguistics background, Thanks, Liz --- On Thu, 6/12/08, Johanna Rubba <[log in to unmask]> wrote: From: Johanna Rubba <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: "Über"-use To: [log in to unmask] Date: Thursday, June 12, 2008, 7:17 PM A minor correction to Liz's post: the 'u' of 'uber' would be pronounced 'oo' like 'zoo' without the umlaut. We see this in words like 'Fuss' (foot) and names like 'Huber' (in German). With the umlaut, it is in fact the same sound as the French 'u', which is an English 'ee' sound pronounced with the lips rounded. We don't have this sound in English, but the way most Americans pronounce 'zoo' and similar words is actually pretty close to the German 'u' with umlaut. (Oh, the umlaut is the two little dots above a vowel.) If a 'u' precedes a double consonant in German, it is pronounced like the 'oo' of 'book', as in 'Mutter' (mother). To my recollection, German does not have a vowel like that of 'utter'. Dr. Johanna Rubba, Ph. D. Associate Professor, Linguistics Linguistics Minor Advisor English Dept. Cal Poly State University San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 Ofc. tel. : 805-756-2184 Dept. tel.: 805-756-2596 Dept. fax: 805-756-6374 E-mail: [log in to unmask] URL: cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/