Editing Germanic umlaut (section)

====Orthography and design history====
[[File:Umlaut Development.png|thumb|right|upright=1|Development of the umlaut (anachronistically lettered in Sütterlin): {{lang|de|schoen}} becomes {{lang|de|schön}} via {{lang|de|schoͤn}} 'beautiful'.]]
The German phonological umlaut is present in the [[Old High German]] period and continues to develop in [[Middle High German]]. From the Middle High German, it was sometimes denoted in written German by adding an {{angbr|e}} to the affected vowel, either after the vowel or, in the small form, above it. This can still be seen in some names: [[Goethe]], [[Goebbels]], [[Staedtler]].{{efn |In medieval manuscripts, other [[Digraph (orthography)|digraphs]] could also be written using superscripts: in {{lang|gmh|bluome}} ("flower"), for example, the {{angbr|o}} was frequently placed above the {{angbr|u}}, although this letter {{angbr|ů}} survives now only in [[Czech alphabet|Czech]]. Compare also the [[Tilde#Diacritical use|development of the tilde]] as a superscript {{angbr|n}}.}}

In [[blackletter]] handwriting, as used in German manuscripts of the later Middle Ages and also in many printed texts of the early modern period, the superscript {{angbr|e}} still had a form that would now be recognisable as an {{angbr|e}}, but in manuscript writing, umlauted vowels could be indicated by two dots since the late medieval period.
<!--This section needs a look, see comment below: "In the [[Kurrent|forms of handwriting]] that emerged in the [[early modern period]] (of which [[Sütterlin]] is the latest and best-known example) the letter {{angle bracket|e}} was composed of two short vertical lines very close together, and the superscript {{angle bracket|e}} looked like two tiny strokes. Even from the 16th century, the handwritten convention of indicating umlaut by two dots placed above the affected vowel is also found in printed texts."-->
<!--derivation from "Kurrent" ''e'' sounds like a plausible explanation of the two dots, but unfortunately this is not only unreferenced but also contradicted by the occasional use of the two dots in the 14th century, long before the development of "Kurrent".-->

Unusual umlaut designs are sometimes also created for graphic design purposes, such as to fit an umlaut into tightly-spaced lines of text.{{sfnp |Hardwig |n.d.}} This may include umlauts placed vertically or inside the body of the letter.{{sfnp |Hardwig |2013}}{{sfnp |Flickr |2015}}{{sfnp |Hardwig |2014}}