The Deelteken (Diaeresis)

Level 1

The deelteken (¨) means split here. It shows that a vowel starts a new syllable instead of joining the vowel before it: re-ën (rain), vo-ël (bird).

How It Works

Afrikaans spells many sounds with two vowel letters, such as oe, ee and ie. When two vowel letters belong to different syllables, the deelteken goes on the vowel that starts the new syllable:

  • reën (rain) is split re-ën.
  • voël (bird) is split vo-ël. Compare voel (feel), where oe is one sound.
  • geëet (eaten) is ge-eet.

The deelteken appears in three common places:

  • Plurals and other endings. When a g drops out, two vowels can meet: oog → oë (eyes), hoog → hoë (high). The same happens when -e is added to a word that ends in a vowel: knie → knieë (knees), see → seë (seas). No dots are needed where the two letters could not be read as one sound anyway: dag → dae (days).
  • After the prefixes ge- and be-. geëet (eaten), geëis (demanded), beëindig (end). See het + ge-.
  • Inside some words, including many loanwords: reën, voël, reünie (reunion), finansiële (financial).

The deelteken looks like the German umlaut, but it does a different job. It marks where a new syllable starts, not a different vowel.

In a few compounds, a hyphen does this job instead: see-eend (sea duck). See hyphens in compounds. To make a vowel long, Afrikaans uses the kappie instead.

Examples (5)

  1. Dit reën al die hele dag.

    It has been raining all day.

    Word by Word: It rains already the whole day.

    The dots in reën show that the word has two syllables: re-ën.

  2. Die voël sit op die dak.

    The bird is sitting on the roof.

    Word by Word: The bird sits on the roof.

    Voël means bird. Without the dots, voel means feel.

  3. Het jy al geëet?

    Have you eaten yet?

    Word by Word: Have you already eaten?

    The dots show where the prefix ge- ends and eet begins.

  4. Sy het mooi blou oë.

    She has beautiful blue eyes.

    Oog becomes oë in the plural. The g drops out, and the dots keep o and e apart.

  5. Ons stap in die hoë berge.

    We are hiking in the high mountains.

    Word by Word: We walk in the high mountains.

    Hoog becomes hoë before a noun, with the dots on the e.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving out the deelteken, so two vowels join into one sound.

    Die voel sit op die dak.
    Die voël sit op die dak.

    Voel means feel. Only voël, with the dots, means bird.

  • Writing three e letters in a row after ge-.

    Het jy al geeet?
    Het jy al geëet?

    When ge- meets a word that starts with e, the dots show where the new syllable begins.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

The Deelteken (Diaeresis)Level 1

Learn This First

The deelteken shows that two vowels are said separately, so learn the two-letter vowel spellings first.