CHAPTER TWELVE

The Phonemes of German

THE CONSONANTS

At the end of Chapter Eleven it was stated that German has 20 consonant phonemes. In our IPA
transcriptions we have been using 22 different consonant symbols, so two of these must not
represent phonemes in their own right.

When determining the phonemes of a language we are interested in inventory and distribution.
The inventory is the set of phonemes. The distribution is a set of statements about the
environments in which the phonemes can occur, e.g. at any point in a word, only initially, etc., and
the form they take in those environments. With these two factors in mind, let us again list the
consonants of German as we have been transcribing them, this time giving, where possible,
examples with the consonants in word-initial position, in word-medial position (between vowels),
and in word-final position1.

Consonant Initially Medially Finally

[p] passe ['pasə] Raupen ['aυpən] rieb ['i:p]

[b] Bass ['bas] rauben ['aυbən]
[t] Tasse ['tasə] baten ['bɑ:tən] riet ['i:t]
[d] das ['das] baden ['bɑ:dən]
[k ] Kasse ['kasə] Haken ['hɑ:kən] Sieg ['zi:k]
[g ] Gasse ['gasə] Hagen ['hɑ:gən]
[f] fasse ['fasə] Höfe ['hø:fə] reif ['af]
[v ] was ['vas] Löwe ['lø:və]
[s ] reißen ['asən] Reis ['as]
[z ] Satz ['zats] reisen ['azən]
[ʃ ] Schatz ['ʃats] rauschen ['aυʃən] Rausch ['aυʃ]
[Z ] Genie [Ze'ni:] Rage ['ɑ:Zə]
[ç ] China ['çi:na] reichen ['açən] reich ['aç]
[x ] rauchen ['aυxən] Rauch ['aυx]
[m ] Masse ['masə] hemmen ['hεmən] Ramm ['am]
[n] nasse ['nasə] Hennen ['hεnən] rann ['an]
[ŋ] hängen ['hεŋən] rang ['aŋ]
[l ] lasse ['lasə] Kohle ['ko:lə] will ['vl]
[] Rasse ['asə] bohre ['bo:ə] wirr ['v]
[7ɐ] wir ['vi:7ɐ]
[j ] Jacke ['jakə] Koje ['ko:jə]
[h] hasse ['hasə]

1
This list, with certain minor changes, is taken from Moulton (1962:21).

Chapter 12, p. 55
All consonants are listed in [ ] to indicate that we are not prejudging which are phonemes and
which are allophones of some other phoneme. One obvious thing to look for is gaps, and there are
plenty of them here. We notice, for instance, that [b,d,g,v,z,Z] do not occur word-finally, whereas
[p,t,k,f,s,ʃ] do occur in that position. This might indicate that [b] and [p] are allophones of one
phoneme. This does not turn out to be the case, however, for [b] and [p] are clearly in contrast.
Substituting one for the other changes meaning. Bass = / Pass; Raupen = / rauben. The same is true
of the other voiceless-voiced pairs. None of the voiced obstruents occurs word-finally. This
is simply a rule of German phonology.

One set of gaps has been eliminated. Let us now look at some others. We have already discussed
the complementary distribution of /h/ and /ŋ/. Lack of phonetic similarity rules out grouping
them together.

We are left with the gaps in the distribution of [s] and [z] and with the gaps in the distribution of
[] and [7ɐ].

[s] and [z] are not in contrast initially or finally, but they are in contrast in medial position:
['asən] and ['azən] are a minimal pair - they mean different things. Therefore /s/ and /z/ are
different phonemes, even though both of them have a somewhat strange distribution. /z/ never
occurs finally, but /z/ is a voiced obstruent, and we have already seen that voiced obstruents never
occur finally. /z/ is therefore regular in that respect. /s/ does not occur initially, but occurs
medially, in contrast with /z/, and finally. This is a gap in the distribution of /s/. Such gaps occur,
as we have seen before with voiced obstruents, which do not occur finally. /s/ does not occur
initially, and we must simply record that fact and move on.

[] and [7ɐ ] seem to be in contrast only in word-final position. But a little testing will show that
they are, in fact, never in contrast. The distribution is as follows:

[] occurs 1) initially, 2) medially, 3) finally after lax vowel,

[7ɐ] occurs only after tense vowels when not followed by another vowel.

Furthermore, [7ɐ] alternates with [] in different forms of the same word. For instance, ihr "her"
is ['ʔi:7
ɐ] in a phrase like ihr Buch "her book". But in a phrase like ihre Bücher it is ['ʔi:ə]. Here the
phonetic environments are different. In ['ʔi:7ɐ], [7ɐ] occurs at the end of a word after a tense vowel.
In ['ʔi:ə], [] occurs between vowels. [7ɐ] and [] are therefore in complementary distribution in
that they never occur in the same environment, and therefore they can be grouped together as
allophones of one phoneme, which we can call /r/. We will symbolise the concept of alternation
with the symbol ~ and write [] ~ [7ɐ] to indicate that the two allophones of /r/ alternate with
each other.

The other grouping we can make is [ç] and [x]. These two are in complementary distribution and
therefore never occur in the same environment. Only [ç] occurs initially2. Both occur medially
and finally, but further investigation shows that even in those positions they are not in contrast.
The distribution is as follows:

2
Bear in mind that we are describing North German standard speech. In the South [ç] does not occur initially. China is
pronounced ['ki:na].

Chapter 12, p. 56
 [ç] occurs 1) initially, 2) medially and finally after /i,,y,,e,ε,ε:,ø,û,a,ɔ/, 3) after the consonants
/n,l,r/.

[x] occurs medially and finally only after /ɑ,a,o,ɔ,u,υ/ and /aυ/.

In other words, [x] occurs only after back vowels, and [ç] occurs after front vowels, after
consonants and at the beginnings of words. Put even more simply, [x] occurs after back vowels
and [ç] occurs elsewhere. [x] alternates with [ç] in many pairs of words, typically in noun
singulars and plurals. Loch vs. Löcher is an instance. Loch ['lɔx] ~ Löcher ['lûçɐ]. Bauch ['baυx]
~ Bäuche ['bɔçə]. Buch ['bu:x] ~ Bücher ['by:çɐ]. Dach ['dax] ~ Dächer ['dεçɐ]. This alternation
is a result of the vowel alternations in the noun singulars and plurals.

Now that the consonant sounds of German have been grouped into phonemes, we are in a position
to revise the chart of German consonants given in Figure 8.3. The new chart will include only the
consonant phonemes. This means that the glottal stop, which is always a part of an allophonic
variant of a vowel, will not be included. [ç] is not included, as it is an allophone of /x/, and [7ɐ] is
not included as it is an allophone of /r/.

Apico- Dorso- Dorso- Dorso-

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal

stops
voiceless p t k

voiced b d g

fricatives
voiceless f s ʃ x h
voiced v z Z

nasals m n ŋ

liquids l r

semivowel j

Legend: position of articulation horizontally

manner of articulation (stop = / fricative), nasals, liquids and semivowel vertically
voiced versus voiceless is indicated only for stops and fricatives (i.e. obstruents), since
all nasals, liquids and semivowels are inherently voiced.

Figure 12.1 - Features of articulation of German consonant phonemes

When we describe German consonant phonemes now, we can confine our description to the
features given in this table. /p/ is a voiceless bilabial stop. Whether or not it is aspirated is not
part of its phonemic description but rather of its phonetic description. For a phonemic description
it is necessary to mention only those articulatory features which consistently distinguish a
particular phoneme, in this case /p/, from all other phonemes in the language. /p/ is distinguished
from /b/ by voice, /p/ is distinguished from /t/ and /k/ by place of articulation, /p/ is distinguished

Chapter 12, p. 57
from /f/ by manner of articulation and from /m/ by being oral and not nasal. In phonemic terms
it is not necessary to say more. In a phonetic description we would have to add that the allophone
of /p/ used in word-initial position is aspirated, that the allophone used after /ʃ/ is unaspirated,
and that there is free variation between aspirated, unaspirated and unreleased variants in final
position. Since these variants are automatic and therefore predictable, we need not distinguish
among them and can refer to them collectively as /p/. The same is true of other phonemes.

The distribution of German consonant phonemes

Now that we have determined the consonant inventory of German we can proceed to discuss the
distribution of the various consonant phonemes. A complete discussion would include such
matters as the combinations various consonants can occur in. Combinations of consonants are
called consonant clusters. A complete description of consonant clusters is beyond the scope of
this work. We will be concerned in this section with gaps in the distribution of German consonant
phonemes and with positional variants (allophones). Clusters will be mentioned only insofar as
they involve one of these factors.

Obstruents

The German obstruents (stops and fricatives) occur in neatly matched pairs with two exceptions.
There are three voiceless stops matched by three voiced stops, and there are five voiceless
fricatives, but there are only three voiced fricatives. /x,h/ have no voiced counterparts.

The stops

The voiceless stops /p,t,k/ all share a number of properties. All are aspirated in word initial
position, all are unaspirated after /ʃ/ or /s/. (/p/ and /t/ occur after word-initial clusters with /ʃ/,
e.g. speisen, steigen and /k/ occurs after word-initial clusters with /s/, e.g. Skizze.) In final position
all have three possible allophones - aspirated, unaspirated, unreleased. All alternate with their
voiced counterparts, i.e. /p/ ~ /b/ as /t/ ~ /d/ and /k/ ~ /g/, e.g. /'di:p ~ 'di:bə/, /'pfɑ:t ~
'pfɑ:də/, /'tɑ:k ~ 'tɑ:gə/. There are therefore very good reasons to think of the voiceless stops as
a natural class of phonemes in German.

The voiced stops /b,d,g,/ also share a number of properties. All are unaspirated, none occur in
word-final position, and all alternate, as we have just seen, with their voiceless counterparts
/p,t,k/. They also form a natural class.

The fricatives

The fricatives do not form as neat a picture as the stops. There are three voiceless-voiced pairs:
/f,v/, /s,z/ and /ʃ,Z/. The other two voiceless fricatives, /x/ and /h/, do not have voiced
counterparts.

/f/ alternates with /v/ in words like /'brɑ:f ~ 'brɑ:və/. /s/ alternates with /z/ in words like /'maυs
~ 'mɔzə/.

Chapter 12, p. 58
/s/ and /z/ have somewhat defective distribution. In the North, /s/ occurs initially only in clusters,
e.g. /sk/, i.e. /s/ does not occur initially before vowels3. /z/, being a voiced obstruent, does not
occur finally. /s/ and /z/ therefore contrast only in medial position, but the difference is very real,
as the pair /'rasən/ =/ /'razən/ shows.

/ʃ/ does not alternate with /Z/ in different forms of the same word. This lack of alternation sets
this pair off from the other voiceless-voiced obstruent pairs. The reason for this is historical. /Z/
occurs only in foreign loans, primarily from French, whereas /ʃ/ is a "native" sound. The two
therefore have never occurred in different forms of the same word and hence have never
alternated. /ʃ/, predictably, occurs in all environments. /Z/, being a voiced obstruent, does not
occur finally.

/h/ has strange distribution. It occurs freely initially, e.g. in /'hu:pən/, but it occurs medially only
when immediately followed by a stressed vowel, e.g. /bə'haυptən/. It does not occur finally and
never occurs in combination with another consonant.

/x / and its allophones [x] and [ç] have already been sufficiently discussed. It should perhaps be
mentioned at this point that the distribution of the allophones as described here does not hold in
all varieties of standard German. In Switzerland [x] is typically used after the consonants /l,n,r/
as well as after back vowels, so that the Swiss typically say ['manxə, 'vεlxə] and ['dυx] rather than
['mançə, 'vεlçə, 'dυç], and in Austria [x] is used after /r/, e.g. ['dυx]. This is also the usual pattern
in Bavaria. In the Rhineland [ç] is often pronounced [ʃ] in all positions.

Resonants

Nasals

/m/ and /n/ occur freely initially, medially and finally. /ŋ/ occurs only medially and finally.
Otherwise the nasals are unremarkable, although it is interesting to note that the three nasals have
the same positions of articulation as the stop pairs /p,b/, /t,d/ and /k,g/.

Liquids

Liquids are consonants which are vowel-like. German has two, /l/ and /r/. /r/ has one allophone
which is very unvowel-like, namely [], which is a voiced dorso-uvular fricative. The other
allophone, [7ɐ], is definitely vowel-like.

The lateral /l/ occurs freely initially, medially and finally. Its major interest for us is its phonetic
difference from English /l/, particularly after vowels. Compare the final l sound of English will,
German will.

/r/ has the allophones [] and [7ɐ], which we have already discussed, but their distributional
characteristics will be repeated here. [] occurs initially, e.g. ['ɑ:t], medially before vowel, e.g.
['ʔən], and after lax vowel before consonant or before word boundary, e.g. ['ʔt, 'v]. [7ɐ] occurs
after tense vowel before a word boundary or before a consonant, e.g. ['vi:7ɐ, 'pfe:7ɐt]. This is the

3
Except in a few borrowings like Satin and Safeway.

Chapter 12, p. 59
usual distribution in North German standard speech, although there are a few possible variations
on this theme.

Some speakers also use [ɐ7] after lax vowels before word boundary or consonant so that irrt is ['ʔ7ɐt]
rather than ['ʔt]. This is a pronunciation which speakers of Standard German seem quite happy
to accept. For such speakers [] and [7ɐ] are in free variation in this one environment but in
complementary distribution elsewhere. Many speakers also use a voiceless uvular fricative [χ]
after lax vowel before final voiceless consonant, so that Wirt is ['vχt] rather than ['vt]. This
voiceless [χ] is also accepted quite readily by speakers of the standard. Finally, in the South,
including Bavaria, Austria and Switzerland, /r/ is typically articulated in all positions by tapping
the tip of the tongue (the apex) against the back of the upper teeth. In these varieties [] and [7ɐ]
are not used at all. This dental pronunciation is usually symbolised [ɾ].

There is one final variant of /r/ which we must discuss. This is the final sound of words like Vater
['fɑ:tɐ] and bitter ['btɐ]. We shall see later in this chapter that this is the phonetic (i.e. concrete)
realisation of the phonemic (i.e. abstract) string /ər/ before word boundary or consonant. Further
discussion will be postponed until then.

The semivowel /j/

There is very little work to be done here except to establish that /j/ really is a consonant. It is easy
to find minimal pairs, e.g. /'jakə/ = / /'hakə/; /'ko:jə/ =/ /'ko:lə/. /j/ thus occurs initially and
medially. It does not occur in clusters with other consonants and does not occur finally, unless the
final element of the diphthongs /a, ɔ/ is analysed as /j/.

THE VOWELS

It is now time to examine the vowel phonemes of German in more detail. As with the consonants,
we are interested in inventory and distribution.

The distinctive features of German vowel articulation have already been established. These are
tongue height, tongue position, lip rounding and tenseness. We have also established that the
vowels traditionally referred to as "short", i.e. the lax vowels, are spoken more towards the centre
of the mouth than the vowels traditionally referred to as "long", which are spoken more towards
the periphery of the mouth. This gives us two convenient subsets of vowels. For each of the seven
lax vowels (i.e. for each more centralised vowel) there is a corresponding tense vowel (i.e. a
peripheral vowel). This is a remarkably symmetrical system. In the following list4 minimal pairs
for each tense-lax pair are given in a consistent environment, namely before /lə/.

Stiele ['ʃti:lə] Stille ['ʃtlə]

stehle ['ʃte:lə] Stelle ['ʃtεlə]
Buhle ['bu:lə] Bulle ['bυlə]
Sohle ['zo:lə] solle ['zɔlə]
fühle ['fy:lə] fülle ['flə]
Höhle ['hø:lə] Hölle ['hûlə]
fahle ['fɑ:lə] falle ['falə]

4
This list is taken from Moulton (1962:61).

Chapter 12, p. 60
/i, y, e, ø/ are articulated with the tongue higher and further forward than are /, , ε, û/, and /u,
o/ are articulated with the tongue higher and further back than are /υ, ɔ/. /ɑ/ is articulated with
the tongue lower and with the mouth more open than /a/.

In addition to these fourteen paired vowels there are three diphthongs /a, aυ, ɔ/ and the
unstressed vowels /ə/ and [ɐ]. And there is a long /ε:/, which is prescribed by all of the
pronouncing dictionaries, but which is used irregularly by most speakers of standard German and
not at all by some. We shall have more to say about /ε:/ later, but for now we will merely mention
that this is the vowel one is supposed to use to pronounce what is written ä in such words as spät,
Universität, wären.

The tense vowels are phonetically quite long when stressed, and the lax vowels are phonetically
very short. The long-short distinction is neutralised in unstressed position, where all vowels are
short. The tense-lax distinction is maintained, however, in unstressed position, thus
demonstrating that the phonemic distinction between /i/ and // is tense-lax, while the distinction
long-short is merely phonetic, albeit still very important for those of us who wish to speak German
the way the Germans do.

English vowels and German vowels

It is worthwhile comparing German vowels with Australian vowels at this point, since the systems
are quite different, both phonemically and phonetically. Australian English is usually analysed as
having nineteen stressed vowel phonemes and one unstressed vowel phoneme. The nineteen
stressed vowels are illustrated in the following list of words.

peat, pit, pate, pet, pat, part, pot, bought, boat, put, boot,
Bert, but, bite, bout, Boyd, beer, bear, tour.

English, like German, also has a vowel which occurs only in unstressed syllables, and as in German
the vowel is /ə/. One problem for speakers of Australian English is that there is only the one
vowel which occurs only in unstressed syllables, whereas German has two. This leads many
Australians not to distinguish between bitte and bitter, for instance, using for both the Australian
version of /ə/, which is not phonetically identical with either German vowel.

Something else which causes a problem for Australians, along with most other speakers of English,
is the fact that the phonetic realisation of most vowels in English is a diphthong. This is especially
true of the tense high and mid vowels in words like peat, pate, boot and boat. The corresponding
vowels in German are all long monophthongs which are never diphthongs. Diphthongising these
vowels in German, i.e. pronouncing them as if they were English vowels, leads to a very obvious
and easily detectable foreign accent in German. In addition to this, most of the lax vowels of
English can also be diphthongised, particularly before voiced consonants. All English vowels are
phonetically longer before voiced consonants than before voiceless consonants, e.g. bet, bed; beat,
bead. German lax vowels are always phonetically very short. Substituting English vowels for their
perceived German counterparts again leads to a detectable foreign accent in German.

Vowels before /r/

The Australian vowels in the English words beer, bear and tour are conventionally symbolised /ə/,
/εə/ and /υə/. These three diphthongs often occur before intervocalic /r/ in extended forms, e.g.
['bəri], ['bεərŋ], ['tυərŋ]. I have used [r] here to represent English intervocalic r, which is quite

Chapter 12, p. 61
different from any variety of German /r/. We can establish by comparing Australian English with
other varieties, e.g. Irish English and the English spoken by most North Americans, that, with a
very few exceptions such as Theatre, these three vowels occur before what was until relatively
recently an /r/. English spelling, which proceeds primarily on historical principles, retains -r in
most words which, in Australian English, contain these vowels. Irish English and most varieties
of American English retain the [r]. Given these facts, it is evident that these three vowels in
Australian English developed from earlier sequences of vowel + /r/.

The first elements of these diphthongs are all lower than the first elements of the German [i:r],
[e:r], [u:r] in Bier, der, Uhr. Substituting the Australian vowels /ə/, /εə/ and /υə/ for their German
counterparts results in a detectable mispronunciation and can also lead to confusion.

In English there is a contrast between tense vowels and their lax counterparts only before
intervocalic /r/. Nearer and mirror have /ə/ and // respectively. Mary and merry have /εə/ and
/ε/ respectively. Touring and fury have /υə/ and /υ/ respectively. On the other hand, there is no
contrast in monosyllables in Australian English.

In German, tense and lax vowels contrast before /r/ in all positions. Before intervocalic /r/
German has such contrasts as5:

ihre =
/ irre, zehre =
/ zerre, Haare =
/ harre, bohre =
/ Lorre, Fuhre =
/ murre, führe =
/ Dürre,
höre =
/ dörre.

Before word final /r/ or /r/ + consonant German has such contrasts as:

Wir =/ wirr, Heer =

/ Herr, Haar =
/ Narr, bohrt =
/ Bord, Geburt =
/ Kurt, Tür =
/ dürr,
hört =
/ dörrt.

It is sometimes difficult for Australian students of German to hear the differences between these
vowels. The reason is, of course, the lack of such contrasts in English. Furthermore, the fact that
the first element of the diphthongs /ə/, /εə/ and /υə/ is always lower than the first element of the
German phonemic sequences /ir/, /er/, /ur/ causes German speakers to hear the Australian vowels
as [7ɐ ], [ε7ɐ] and [υ7ɐ] respectively, which are acceptable alternatives in Standard German for [],
[ε] and [υ], but not for /ir, er, ur/. It is thus necessary for Australian students of German to be
aware that German tense and lax vowels contrast in all phonetic environments, whereas English
tense and lax vowels do not.

The vowel /ε:/, spelled ä

In order to discuss this vowel properly, we must first say something about its history. In modern
German, referred to from a historical point of view as New High German, there is a regular
alternation in the spelling system between the sounds spelled with umlauts (ä,ö,ü,äu) and the
corresponding vowels without umlauts (a,o,u,au). This shows up typically in noun singulars and
plurals, e.g. Hand - Hände, Loch - Löcher, Buch - Bücher, Baum - Bäume. These spellings correspond
to regular alternations in the phonemic system between /u,y/, /υ,/ for orthographic u,ü, /o,ø/,
/ɔ,û/ for orthographic o,ö, /aυ,ɔ/ for orthographic au,äu, and, for orthographic a,ä, between /a,ε/
and /ɑ/ and another vowel which is, for some speakers, /e/ and for others /ε:/. In earlier periods

5
Moulton (1962:61).

Chapter 12, p. 62
of German the spelling system was different. There was a lack of symmetry. While there was a
regular spelling alternation between u and ü and o and ö, the vowel which alternated with a was
written e. The grammarians of the 16th to 18th centuries carried out a spelling reform in which
all examples of orthographic e which could historically be traced back to a were rewritten with ä.
That this exercise was not completely successful is indicated by the survival of e in the words
behende "nimble; quick" (related to Hand) and Eltern, which, once one thinks about it, is obviously
related to alt and its comparative älter. Occasionally words were newly written with ä which had
never had any association with a at all, e.g. Bär.

The next stage of the process was that some people began to pronounce this new vowel in a
different way, particularly when it was tense. This “erudite” pronunciation of ä has now been
institutionalised to the point that the major pronouncing dictionaries of German prescribe /ε:/
whenever ä is written and is pronounced long, e.g. in spät, Universität, fährst, etc. In North
Germany the distinction between /e/ and /ε:/ is usually ignored and /e/ is used throughout, so that
spät is ['ʃpe:t], Universität is [ʔunivεzi'te:t], and fährst is ['fe:7ɐst], as opposed to the prescribed
['ʃpε:t, [ʔunivεzi'tε:t] and ['fε:7ɐst]. North Germans use /ε:/ in formal or mock-formal speech and
to indicate the difference between such pairs as wehren and wären, but in everyday informal speech
the vowel is largely unused. In the South, on the other hand, there has always been a difference
between /e/ and /ε:/, but it does not accord with the difference in the orthography. In the South
Leder and Leben, which, according to the pronouncing dictionaries, are supposed to be ['le:dɐ] and
['le:bən], are often pronounced with /ε:/, and zählen, which was rewritten with ä because of its
connection with Zahl, is regularly pronounced ['tse:lən], despite the prescribed ['tsε:lən]. The
reason for these southern pronunciations is that the vowel of zählen was always higher than the
vowel of Leder and Leben, and that distinction has been maintained. In the North, the higher
vowel of zählen and the lower vowel of Leder merged to /e/. Both areas, therefore, pronounce long
ä in a way which is contrary to what is prescribed. This is typical of what happens when people
start basing pronunciation on spelling rather than on history.

In the rest of this discussion, which is based on North German standard speech, I will include this
vowel, but I will put it in ( ) to indicate that it is marginal and is not used by all speakers.

The vowel [ɐ]

The vowel [ɐ] occurs only in unstressed syllables. In this respect it is like /ə/, but whereas /ə/ is
a phoneme, [ɐ] can be shown to be the phonetic realisation of the phonemic sequence /ər/. This
vowel occurs in alternation with phonetic [ə] in inflected forms, e.g. bitter ['btɐ] vs. bittere
['btəə], ich wandere ['vandəə], du wanderst ['vandɐst], Lehrer ['le:ɐ], Lehrerin ['le:ən].

Let us start with the adjectives. Normally when -e /ə/ is added to an adjective stem the final sound
of the stem either remains the same, e.g. bunt ['bυnt], bunte ['bυntə], or it is replaced, if a
consonant, by its voiced counterpart, e.g. lieb ['li:p], liebe ['li:bə]. If the adjective ends in a vowel
the stem remains the same and /ə/ is added directly to the other vowel, e.g. roh ['o:], rohe ['o:ə].
Yet, uniquely, if an adjective ends in [ɐ], that vowel is replaced by a sequence of a (different) vowel
and a consonant, [ə], when the adjective ending is added. The simplest way to analyse this is to
analyse [ɐ] as the phonetic realisation of phonemic /ər/ in these instances. This puts adjectives
which end in [ɐ] in line with all other adjectives. Similar arguments can be put for verb forms and
for feminine nouns derived from masculine nouns. Once we have decided to analyse one set of
occurrences of [ɐ] as /ər/ on the grounds that [ɐ] alternates regularly with [ə], we can analyse all
occurrences of [ɐ] as /ər/, even when there is no alternation, e.g. Vater, as long as there is no
contrary evidence, and there is none.

Chapter 12, p. 63
Vowels in word-initial position

In North German standard speech word-initial vowels are always preceded by a glottal stop [ʔ].
The glottal stop occurs also in compound and derived words at word boundaries, e.g. uralt
['ʔu:7
ɐ"ʔalt], erinnern [ʔε7
ɐ'ʔnɐn]. Otherwise vowels are not preceded by glottal stops. This is obvious
complementary distribution. Thus the simplest analysis is that every German vowel (except /ə/)
has (at least) two allophones, one of which begins with glottal stop and which is used at word
boundaries. The other allophone is used elsewhere.

Distributional Classes

Now that the inventory of German vowels has been settled, we can proceed to the distribution.
We have seen that there is one vowel, /ə/, which occurs only in unstressed syllables. Other vowels
occur both stressed and unstressed, but only /ə/ occurs only unstressed. It therefore forms a
distributional class of its own.

The rest of the vowels of German can be divided into two groups. One group occurs freely at the
ends of words, before other vowels and before consonants. The other group occurs only before
consonants, i.e. the vowels of this group never end words and never occur before other vowels.
Since the latter group must be followed by consonants, we will, following Moulton (1962), call
them checked (German gedeckt) vowels. The group which can end words and occur before other
vowels we will call unchecked (German ungedeckt).

The checked vowels number seven. They are presented in schematised format below, with the
front vowels on the left, back vowels on the right. High, mid and low are indicated by vertical
position. Examples are given to the right of the diagram. The contrast round =
/ unround has been
ignored in this diagram.

,  υ bin, dünn dumm

ε, û ɔ denn, gönnt von

a dann

The checked vowels of Modern Standard German

The checked vowels are identical with the lax vowels.

The unchecked vowels are the tense vowels plus the three diphthongs. These are diagrammed
below, and examples are given in similar format below to show them in their three possible
positions of occurrence.

Chapter 12, p. 64
i, y u
e, ø o
(ε:) ɔ
ɑ a aυ

The unchecked vowels of Modern Standard German

Sie, früh Schuh

See, Bö so
(zäh) Heu
sah Mai Bau

The unchecked vowels in word final position

ziehen, frühe Schuhe

sehen, Höhe hohe
(säen) scheuen
sahen Laien bauen

The unchecked vowels before another vowel

sieht, bemüht Flut

seht, erhöht Boot
(spät) scheut
Draht Leit Haut

The unchecked vowels before a consonant

Chapter 12, p. 65