Appendix:German pronunciation
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The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents German pronunciations in Wiktionary entries.
See German phonology at Wikipedia for a more thorough look at the sounds of German.
| IPA | Examples | English approximation |
|---|---|---|
| /b/ | Ball | ball |
| /ç/ | ich, durch | hue |
| /d/ | dann | done |
| /d͡ʒ/ | Dschungel | jungle |
| /f/ | Fass, Vogel | fuss |
| /ɡ/ | Gast | guest |
| /h/ | hat | hut |
| /j/ | ja | yard |
| /k/ | kalt, Tag | cold |
| /l/ | Last | last |
| /m/ | Mast | must |
| /n/ | Naht | not |
| /ŋ/ | lang | long |
| /p/ | Pakt, hab | puck |
| /p͡f/ | Pfahl | cupfull |
| /ʁ/ | Rast | like a French R (a voiced uvular fricative)[1] |
| /s/ | Wasser | fast |
| /ʃ/ | Schal, Stein | shall |
| /t/ | Tal | tall |
| /t͡s/ | Zahl | cats |
| /t͡ʃ/ | Matsch | match |
| /v/ | was | vanish |
| /x/: [x], [χ] | Bach[2] | loch (Scottish) |
| /z/ | Hase[3] | hose |
| /ʒ/ | Genie | beige, measure |
| [ʔ] | Beamter[4] ([bəˈʔamtɐ]) |
the glottal stop in uh-oh! |
| Stress | ||
| ˈ | Bahnhof ([ˈbaːnˌhoːf]) |
as in battleship [ˈbætəlˌʃɪp] |
| ˌ | ||
| IPA | Examples | English approximation |
|---|---|---|
| Monophthongs | ||
| /a/ | Dach | bra (but shorter) |
| /aː/ | Bahn | bra |
| /eː/ | Beet | face |
| /ɛ/ | Bett, hätte | bed |
| /ɛː/ | wähle[5] | as above but longer; like RP English barely |
| /iː/ | viel | meet |
| /ɪ/ | bist | sit |
| /oː/ | schon, Boot | somewhat like bone |
| /ɔ/ | Post | boss |
| /øː/ | Öl | somewhat like hurl; French deux |
| /œ/ | göttlich | close to hurt or French sœur |
| /uː/ | Hut | true |
| /ʊ/ | Putz | took |
| /yː/ | Rübe | French rue |
| /ʏ/ | füllt | much like the above but shorter |
| Diphthongs | ||
| /aɪ̯/ | weit | tie |
| /aʊ̯/ | Haut | how |
| /ɔɪ̯/ | Heu, Räuber[6] | boy |
| Reduced vowels | ||
| /ɐ/[7] | Ober[8] | fun |
| /ə/[9] | halte | comma |
| Semivowels | ||
| /ɐ̯/ | Uhr | uh |
| /i̯/ | Studie | magnolia |
| /u̯/ | aktuell | visual |
| /y̯/ | Libyen | French huit |
| Unstressed full vowels | ||
| /e/ | Methan | (short [eː]) |
| /i/ | vital | city (short [iː]) |
| /o/ | Moral | (short [oː]) |
| /ø/ | Ökonom | (short [øː]) |
| /u/ | kulant | virtue (short [uː]) |
| /y/ | Psychologie | (short [yː]) |
Notes
- ^ In free variation with [ʀ] and also — in Switzerland, Bavaria, and Austria — the voiced alveolar trill [r]. Compare /ɐ/.
- ^ /x/ is realized as a uvular fricative [χ] after [a], [aː], and often [ʊ], [ɔ], and [aʊ].
- ^ Predominantly realized as [z̥] (devoiced) or [s] (voiceless) in southern regions (Switzerland, Bavaria, Austria).
- ^ The presence or absence of [ʔ] is not phonemic. In most standard varieties of German, all initial vowels are preceded by [ʔ]. However, this does not generally hold true for Austrian, southern, and Swiss standard German and most colloquial varieties.
- ^ [ɛː] is often replaced by [eː], chiefly in northern and eastern Germany, and eastern Austria.
- ^ Some references transcribe this diphthong as /ɔʏ/.
- ^ /ɐ/ is often merged into, and hence not distinguished from, [ə], specifically in southern Germany and Austria. The /ɐ/–/a/ merger is true in northern Germany.
- ^ Compare /ʁ/.
- ^ In Austria and Germany, /ə/, before sonorants /l/, /m/, and /n/ in the syllable coda, often disappears so that they become syllabic [l̩], [m̩], and [n̩]. Especially in Austrian, southern, and Swiss standard German, /ə/, representing unstressed e, is alternatively realized as [ɛ] or even within Switzerland, [e].
Bibliography
- Duden 6: Das Aussprachewörterbuch (3rd edition, 1990, →ISBN).