As far as I know, there is no German word "uber";' it is "ueber" (the 'ue' being the alternative spelling to the umlauted 'u') . As Liz points out, the umlaut is often dropped in English, but it should not be. Pronouncing (or spelling) "ueber" /eeoober/ as "uber" /oober/ is simply inaccurate German pronunciation based on a misspelled prefix. Linda Di Desidero, Ph.D. Acting Director, Communication Studies & Professional Writing University of Maryland University College 3501 University Boulevard, East Adelphi, MD 20783 ________________________________ From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar on behalf of Johanna Rubba Sent: Thu 6/12/2008 9:17 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: "Über"-use 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/