For example, if we say two vowels with one in the front part of the mouth and the other in the far back of the mouth, it will require us to put more effort than if we pronounced them closer together. By trying to pronounce these vowels together, the Germanic language got umlauts.

When did German start using umlauts?

It took place separately in various Germanic languages starting around AD 450 or 500 and affected all of the early languages except Gothic. An example of the resulting vowel alternation is the English plural foot ~ feet (from Proto-Germanic *fōts, pl. *fōtiz).

Where did the German umlaut come from?

The Umlaut In German

It was named by the linguist Jacob Grimm, one of the Grimm Brothers. His “around sound” describes a process of sound-change where a vowel's sound is influenced by another vowel that follows it in the word.