In a message dated 12/27/2005 3:25:53 A.M. Central Standard Time, wolf.seelentag@swissonline.ch writes: Not all that close to the German ear ;-). Familiennamenbuch lists the following names beginning wit W... and ending with ...müller (I hope the ü = u-umlaut comes across): Wegmüller, Wehrmüller, Weiersmüller, Weihmüller, Weissmüller, Werdmüller, Werthmüller,Wertmüller, Wyssmüller. If you are definitely looking for Swiss ancestors, I guess, Wehrmüller (the r could easily "get lost") or Weihmüller would be your best bets. Best regards - Wolf Could you tell me what each vowel with an umlaut sounds like in German/Swiss? I have HÖSER from Posen and they pronounced it much like "Hay-ser" in English, thus spelling got changed. Is that the general rule for ö? I do know that ß is just a double "s", so sound is "sss". Correct? I have also have KLAESI from CH, but no umlaut found on records... What are the pronunciations of ü ? ö ? ä ? in the native tongue? Thanks, and others may thank you too...I may not be alone in my ignorance :) Regards from Nellie, a 68-yr-old root digger in Texas, where the ground never freezes (expecting 80 degree high today, 26 Dec)

Hello Nellie You wrote : "Could you tell me what each vowel with an umlaut sounds like in German/Swiss? I have HÖSER from Posen and they pronounced it much like "Hay-ser" in English, thus spelling got changed. Is that the general rule for ö? I do know that ß is just a double "s", so sound is "sss". Correct? I have also have KLAESI from CH, but no umlaut found on records... What are the pronunciations of ü ? ö ? ä ? in the native tongue? Thanks, and others may thank you too...I may not be alone in my ignorance" Your KLAESI can also be written KLÄSI because "ae" is similar to "ä" in german. The pronounce is like in n_e_phew or b_e_lt. The most correct pronunciation of "ö" (or "oe") in english would be like in s_u_n or better like in b_u_tter (the phonetic sign is a "v" reversed). Finaly I don't find a word which pronounce can be well attached with the german "ü". I think the closest would be "J_u_piter". Perhaps someone has another rules ! Regards and Happy New Year for all the list William In Geneva where the sky is grey and the air is dry at 0°C)