[DCRM-L] [External] Re: Transcription of German superscript "o"

Thu Dec 4 12:35:00 MST 2025

As a former germanist, I would say that Dylan is very right to suggest that “o” over a “u” should not be considered an umlaut - the two situations he mentions are quite common, and I don’t recollect ever seeing o-over-u as signalling ü.

In this case, I’d think “uo” diphthong is most likely.

John Lancaster

> On Dec 4, 2025, at 1:46 PM, Lewis, Dylan via DCRM-L <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> I do not have a solution for OCLC because I've found it difficult to work with when using less common diacritics, so I am eagerly following this conversation.
> 
> I would, however, suggest that the u be represented with a superscript Roman o instead of rendering it as an umlaut, as Karen suggested. It would take a bit of research to truly determine if an umlaut's function was meant there, as a u with a superscript o can mean several things in sixteenth-century German (some dialects used it as a graphematic distinction between u and n, other dialects used it to signal a /uo/ diphthong separate from /ue/). I think it's actually more likely it was not intended to be read as an umlaut, so we should not assume it was meant to be one.
> 
> Please do let me know if a solution is found regarding the superscript character not in OCLC's menu! 
> Best,
> Dylan
> 
> ❡ Dylan Lewis (he/him <https://pronouns.org/he-him>)
> Rare Book Librarian
> Andrew W. Mellon Junior Fellow in Critical Bibliography
> Stuart A. Rose Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Book Library
> Emory University
> Libraries.emory.edu/rose <http://libraries.emory.edu/rose>
> 
> <Outlook-pa42n144.png>
> From: DCRM-L <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu> on behalf of Karen Attar via DCRM-L <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
> Sent: Thursday, December 4, 2025 12:00 PM
> To: DCRM Users' Group <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
> Cc: Karen Attar <karen.attar at london.ac.uk>
> Subject: [External] Re: [DCRM-L] Transcription of German superscript "o"
>  
> Hi Calli,
>  
> The superscript “o” is clearly meant to function as an umlaut. It’s interesting that there’s a letter u with a superscript character above it in the place of an umlaut in one instance, though mostly u has a regular umlaut above it where required.
>  
> We are moving in the direction of transcribing letters as they are meant to be (e.g. vv where there is a slight space between the two letters v is now transcribed as w). Under those circumstances, lacking technical power to transcribe the superscript o, if I were in this dilemma I would transcribe as ö, and add a note about how the umlauts are represented on the title page.
>  
> I do not actually enter things on OCLC, so if somebody from the US answers your email, follow what they say, not what I say.
>  
> Best wishes,
> Karen
>  
> Dr Karen Attar
> Curator of Rare Books and University Art
> Senate House Library, University of London
> Senate House
> Malet St
> London WC1E 7HU
> Tel. 020 7862 8472
>  
> https://research.london.ac.uk/search/fellow/516/dr-karen-attar/
>  
>  
>  
> From: DCRM-L <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu> On Behalf Of Calli Neumann via DCRM-L
> Sent: 04 December 2025 16:18
> To: dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu
> Cc: Calli Neumann <CNeumann at getty.edu>
> Subject: [DCRM-L] Transcription of German superscript "o"
>  
> Hello,
>  
> I'm cataloging disbound leaves of a German book from 1556, which is digitized here <https://www.google.com/books/edition/New_gro%C3%9F_distillier_Buch_wolgegr%C3%BCndter/-nhVAAAAcAAJ?hl=en>  <https://www.google.com/books/edition/New_gro%C3%9F_distillier_Buch_wolgegr%C3%BCndter/-nhVAAAAcAAJ?hl=en>in Google Books.
>  
> My question is about the superscript "o" in "Buch" in the title.  The example in the table of Early Letterforms & Symbols shows that the letter should be transcribed with the superscript character ("můss").  The same example also appears in a wonderful post from the Folger here <https://www.folger.edu/blogs/collation/brevigraphs/>: "In German ... it really is a superscript o, a medieval superscript letter diacritic."  There is a footnote that says this should not confused with the ring diacritic ("overring"), and that "Combining Latin Small Letter o" is Unicode U+0366.
>  
> Assuming I'm on the right track, how should this be entered in OCLC?  There is only a ring in the diacritics and special characters menu.  Unsure whether I can copy & paste a "u" with the Unicode character indicated above, and it does not look right pasted in Connexion.
>  
> Thank you!
>  
> Calli
>  
> Calli Neumann
> Cataloging Librarian
> Getty Research Institute
> (310) 440 7499  |  getty.edu <http://www.getty.edu/>
> 
> <image001.png>
>  
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