# The spelling of "naive"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-spelling-of-naive/161313>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 14, 2003, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-spelling-of-naive/161313 "2003-03-14T13:28:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-spelling-of-naive/161313/1 "2003-03-14T13:28:50Z")

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If “naive” is a French word, why is it often spelled with the umlout (sp?), a German “accent” symbol, often placed over the “i”? Is this just because we are ignorant Americans famous for slaughtering foreign words??? - Jinx

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**Author:** ![Geobabe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/geobabe/32/3908_2.png) [@Geobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geobabe)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-spelling-of-naive/161313/2 "2003-03-14T13:37:49Z")

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It’s actually a diaeresis, which is a mark that looks just like an umlaut but is used differently.

From [http://www.m-w.com/:](http://www.m-w.com/:)

> [@](#):
>
> 1 : a mark ¨ placed over a vowel to indicate that the vowel is pronounced in a separate syllable (as in naïve or Brontë)

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**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-spelling-of-naive/161313/3 "2003-03-14T14:26:38Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Geobabe \*  
> \*\*It’s actually a diaeresis, which is a mark that looks just like an umlaut but is used differently.
> 
> From [http://www.m-w.com/:](http://www.m-w.com/:) \*\*

I once upset a Zoë for telling her that as her name was Greek she couldn’t claim to have an umlaut, but, she did have a cute little diaeresis to make up for it.

Bizarrely, she stormed off in a huff. This was a shame, I thought she was höt.