Appendix:German pronunciation
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
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
[edit]- ^ 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
[edit]- Duden 6: Das Aussprachewörterbuch (3rd edition, 1990, →ISBN).