Umlaut Phonological Processes: A Challenge to Rechtschreibung in German

Abstract

The inconsistency in the umlaut placements within German lexical items causes learners of German outside the shores of Germany a great deal of pain. The learners see its mastery and applications as a Herculean task. Rechtschreibung on its own part fails to handle the Germann umlaut phonological processes, though it takes the responsibility of stipulating how German lexical items should appear in texts (cf. Stang und von Heyl 2006; Stang und Dudenredaktion 2010; Stock 2007). This write-up sets out to describe the umlaut phonological process with a view to unraveling its complexity. It also argues via the Generative Framework that the German umlaut, which has a phonemic effect can easily be learnt, because their placements can become suspicious on account of the presence of certain vowels. Consequently, it suggests that the inconsistency noticeable in the umlaut placement should be regularized, especially in relation to the German adjectives that end in ...lich, ...ig and ...isch.