ablaut
pronunciation
How to pronounce ablaut in British English:
UK ['æblaʊt]
How to pronounce ablaut in American English:
US ['æblaʊt]
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- Noun:
- a vowel whose quality or length is changed to indicate linguistic distinctions (such as sing sang sung song)
Word Origin
- ablaut (n.)
- "systematic vowel alteration in the root of a word to indicate shades of meaning or tense," a characteristic of Indo-European languages, 1849, from German Ablaut, literally "off-sound," coined by J.P. Zweigel in 1568 from ab "off" + Laut "sound, tone," from Old High German hlut (see listen). Popularized by Jacob Grimm.