Combining Latin Small Letter E

It usually marks an e above the preceding vowel. In historical German, aͤ, oͤ, and uͤ usually represent older spellings behind modern ä, ö, and ü. In Middle High German material, related raised letters can instead mark a diphthong or a spelling distinction, so read the surrounding word before expanding the mark.

The mark's documented setting is medieval Germanic manuscript practice. In the 15th century, a raised e over or after a vowel was used in German spelling; the two-dot umlaut form had emerged by the 18th century. The raised e keeps the older spelling visible instead of replacing it with a modern letter.

In edited historical texts, aͤ may be kept to reflect the source or converted to a modern reading when its meaning is clear. The superscript-letter family remained in use in some languages into the 19th century. Today this is specialist notation for historical texts, not ordinary conversational writing.

How do I type ͤ?

Type the base letter first, then U+0364. For uͤ, enter u followed by ͤ; the mark attaches to the preceding letter.

If the mark sits in the wrong place, the font's shaping may be responsible. A historical-text font may position it better. When OpenType placement interferes, inserting invisible U+034F before the mark can help.

For text conversion, process aͤ, oͤ, and uͤ as sequences before converting them to ä, ö, and ü. A diplomatic transcription—a version that preserves the source's spelling—may need to retain the original sequence.