-ö-

A form of -o- — A linking vowel inserted interconsonantally between two morphemes, to ease pronunciation, without contributing to the meaning. It frequently joins words or combining forms of Ancient Greek or Classical Latin origin in the classical compounds of New Latin and international scientific vocabulary, but it can also be used to join modern terms and even abbreviations, either formally or informally.

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Meanings

interfix
  1. alternativearchaicnonstandardraresometimesAlternative spelling of -o-; used to clarify that the O sound should be pronounced distinctly and not as an OO sound.

Origin

From the old practice, which comes from French, of using the diaeresis accent to communicate vowel hiatus, i.e. to clarify that a vowel is to be spoken separately rather than joined with or influenced by the sounds before it; for example, Chloë is to be read as CLOH-EY, not CLEE (i.e. an oe as in Oedipus); and the ae in aëroport is not spoken as that in archaeology.

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Cite this entry
APA

-ö-. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-%C3%B6-

MLA

“-ö-.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-%C3%B6-. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “-ö-,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-%C3%B6-.

Source: -ö- on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.