Standard German

phonology

This article contains phonetic

transcriptions in the International Phonetic
Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide
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distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA
§ Brackets and transcription delimiters.

The phonology of Standard German is

the standard pronunciation or accent of
the German language. It deals with
current phonology and phonetics as well
as with historical developments thereof
as well as the geographical variants and
the influence of German dialects.

While the spelling of German is officially

standardised by an international
organisation (the Council for German
Orthography) the pronunciation has no
official standard and relies on a de facto
standard documented in reference works
such as Deutsches
Aussprachewörterbuch (German
Pronunciation Dictionary) by Eva-Maria
Krech et al.,[1] Duden 6 Das
Aussprachewörterbuch (Duden volume 6,
The Pronunciation Dictionary) by Max
Mangold and the training materials of
radio and television stations such as
Westdeutscher Rundfunk,
Deutschlandfunk, or Schweizer Radio und
Fernsehen. This standardised
pronunciation was invented, rather than
coming from any particular German-
speaking city. But the pronunciation that
Germans usually consider to be closest
to the standard is that of Hanover.[2][3][4][5]
Standard German is sometimes referred
to as Bühnendeutsch (stage German),
but the latter has its own definition and is
slightly different.[6]
Vowels

Monophthongs of standard German,

from Dudenredaktion, Kleiner & Knöbl
(2015:34)

Monophthongs
Monophthong phonemes of Standard German

Front
Central Back
unrounded rounded

short long short long short long short long

Close iː yː uː

Close-mid ɪ eː ʏ øː (ə) ʊ oː

Open-mid ɛ (ɛː) œ (ɐ) ɔ

Open a aː

Some scholars[7] treat /ə/ as an

unstressed allophone of /ɛ/. Likewise,
some scholars[7] treat /ɐ/ as an
allophone of the sequence /ər/ or as a
vocalized variant of /r/. The phonemic
status of /ɛː/ is also debated – see
below.

Notes

Close vowels
/iː/ is close front unrounded
[iː].[8][9][10]

/yː/ is close near-front rounded

[y̠ː].[8][9][10]

/uː/ is close back rounded

[uː].[8][9][10]

/ɪ/ has been variously described

as near-close front unrounded
 [ɪ̟][10] and near-close near-front
unrounded [ɪ].[8][9]

/ʏ/ is near-close near-front

rounded [ʏ].[8][9][10]

/ʊ/ is near-close near-back

rounded [ʊ].[8][9][10]

Mid vowels
/eː/ is close-mid front unrounded
[eː].[8][9][10]
In non-standard accents of
the Low German speaking
area, as well as in some
Bavarian and Austrian
accents it may be pronounced
as a narrow closing diphthong
[eɪ].
/øː/ has been variously described
as close-mid near-front rounded
[ø̠ː][9][10] and mid near-front
rounded [ø̽ː].[8]
In non-standard accents of
the Low German speaking
area, as well as in some
Austrian accents it may be
pronounced as a narrow
closing diphthong [øʏ].

/oː/ is close-mid back rounded

[oː].[8][9][10]
In non-standard accents of
the Low German speaking
area, as well as in some
Austrian accents it may be
 pronounced as a narrow
closing diphthong [oʊ].

/ə/ has been variously described

as mid central unrounded
[ə].[8][9][10] and close-mid central
unrounded [ɘ].[11] It occurs only in
unstressed syllables, for instance
in besetzen [bəˈzɛtsən] ('occupy').
It is often considered a
complementary allophone
together with [ɛ], which only rarely
occurs in unstressed syllables
(e.g. entsetzt). If a sonorant
follows in the syllable coda, the
schwa often disappears so that
the sonorant becomes syllabic, for
instance Kissen [ˈkɪsn̩] ('pillow'),
Esel [ˈeːzl̩] ('donkey'). However,
Standard German spoken in
Luxembourg often lacks syllabic
sonorants under the influence of
Luxembourgish, so that e.g.
setzen ('put') is pronounced
[ˈzɛtsən], rather than [ˈzɛtsn̩].[12][13]

/ɛ/ has been variously described

as mid near-front unrounded [ɛ̽][9]
and open-mid front unrounded
[ɛ].[8][10]

/ɛː/ has been variously described

as mid front unrounded [ɛ̝ː][8] and
open-mid front unrounded [ɛː].[8][9]

/œ/ has been variously described

as open-mid near-front rounded
 [œ̠ ][10] and somewhat lowered
open-mid near-front rounded
[œ̠ ˕].[8][9]

/ɔ/ has been variously described

as somewhat fronted open-mid
back rounded [ɔ̟][9][10] and open-
mid back rounded [ɔ].[8]

Open vowels
/ɐ/ is near-open central unrounded
[ɐ].[8][14] It is a common allophone
of the sequence /ər/ common to
all German-speaking areas but
Switzerland. As schwa /ə/ is never
pronounced here, it may be more
appropriate to interpret [ɐ] as the
vocalised allophone of the
consonant /r/.

/a/ has been variously described

as open front unrounded [a][15] and
open central unrounded
[ä].[8][9][10][16][17] Some scholars[18]
differentiate two short /a/, namely
front /a/ and back /ɑ/.[19] The
latter occurs only in unstressed
open syllables, exactly as /i, y, u, e,
ø, o/.[20]
Standard Austrian
pronunciation of this vowel is
back [ɑ].[21]

Front [a] or even [æ] is a

common realization of /a/ in
 northern German varieties
influenced by Low German.

/aː/ has been variously described

as open central unrounded
[äː][8][9][10][16][17] and open back
unrounded [ɑː].[22] Because of this,
it is sometimes transcribed
/ɑː/.[23]
Back [ɑː] is the Standard
Austrian pronunciation.[21] It
is also a common realization
of /aː/ in northern German
varieties influenced by Low
German (in which it may even
be rounded [ɒː]).
Wiese (1996) notes that "there is a
tendency to neutralize the
distinction between [a(ː)], [aɐ̯], and
[ɐ]. That is, Oda, Radar, and Oder
have final syllables which are
perceptually very similar, and are
nearly or completely identical in
some dialects."[24] He also says
that "outside of a word context, [ɐ]
cannot be distinguished from
[a].[24] (As early as 1847, Verdi's
librettist found it natural, when
adapting a play by Schiller into the
Italian language, to render the
distinctly German name Roller as
Rolla.)
Although there is also a length contrast,
vowels are often analyzed according to a
tenseness contrast, with long /iː, yː, uː, eː,
øː, oː/ being the tense vowels and short
/ɪ, ʏ, ʊ, ɛ, œ, ɔ/ their lax counterparts.
Like the English checked vowels, the
German lax vowels require a following
consonant, with the notable exception of
[ɛː] (which is absent in many varieties, as
discussed below). /a/ is sometimes
considered the lax counterpart of tense
/aː/ in order to maintain this tense/lax
division. Short [i, y, u, e, ø, o] occur in
unstressed syllables of loanwords, for
instance in Psychometrie [psyçomeˈtʁiː]
('psychometry'). They are usually
considered allophones of tense vowels,
which cannot occur in unstressed
syllables (unless in compounds).

Northern German varieties influenced by

Low German could be analyzed as
lacking contrasting vowel quantity
entirely:

/aː/ has a different quality than /a/

(see above).

These varieties also consistently lack

/ɛː/, and use only /eː/ in its place.

Phonemic status of /ɛː/

The long open-mid front unrounded

vowel [ɛː] does not exist in many varieties
of Standard German and is rendered as
the close-mid front unrounded vowel [eː],
so that both Ähre ('ear of grain') and Ehre
('honor') are pronounced [ˈeːʁə] (instead
of "Ähre" being [ˈɛːʁə]) and both Bären
('bears') and Beeren ('berries') are
pronounced [ˈbeːʁən] (instead of Bären
being [ˈbɛːʁən]). However, the disputed
vowel [ɛː] seems much more stable in
other contexts, i.e., not preceding /r/ as
in the examples above. Other relevant
minimal pairs include beten ('pray') –
bäten ('bid, conjunctive'), dehnen
('stretch') – Dänen ('Danes'), Segen
('blessing') – Sägen ('saws, n.'). It has
been debated whether [ɛː] is a distinct
phoneme or even exists, except when
consciously self-censoring speech,[25] for
several reasons:
1. The existence of a phoneme /ɛː/ is
an irregularity in a vowel system
that otherwise has pairs of long and
tense vs. short and lax vowels such
as [oː] vs. [ɔ]. On the other hand,
such irregularities are not ruled out
by any principle.

2. Although some dialects (e.g.

Ripuarian and some Alemannic
dialects) have an opposition of [eː]
vs. [ɛː], there is little agreement
across dialects as to whether
individual lexical items should be
pronounced with [eː] or with [ɛː]. E.g.
South Hessian dialects have /e:/ in
Käse but /ɛː/ in Leben.[26]
3. The use of [ɛː] is a spelling
pronunciation rather than an original
feature of the language.[25] It is an
attempt to "speak as printed"
(sprechen wie gedruckt) and to
differentiate the spellings ⟨e⟩ and
⟨ä⟩ (i.e. speakers attempt to justify
the appearance of ⟨e⟩ and ⟨ä⟩ in
writing by making them distinct in
the spoken language).

4. Speakers with an otherwise fairly

standard idiolect find it rather
difficult to utter longer passages
with [eː] and [ɛː] in the right places.
Such persons apparently have to
picture the spellings of the words in
question, which impedes the flow of
 speech.[25] However, the examples
above with a non-rhotic context for
the disputed vowel distinction
speak against this view.

Diphthongs

Phonemic

Diphthongs of standard German, from

Dudenredaktion, Kleiner & Knöbl
(2015:35)

Ending point

Front Back

Near-close ʊɪ̯

Open-mid ɔʏ̯

Open aɪ̯ aʊ̯

/aɪ̯/ has been variously described as

[äɪ],[8][27] [äe̠][28] and [aɛ].[29]
 /aʊ̯/ has been variously described as
[äʊ],[27] [äʊ̞],[8] [äo̟][28] and [aɔ].[30]

/ɔʏ̯/ has been variously described as

[ɔʏ],[27] [ɔʏ̞],[8] [ɔ̝e̠],[28] [ɔɪ], and [ɔœ].[31]

/ʊɪ̯/ is found only in a handful of

interjections such as pfui [pfʊɪ̯] and hui
[hʊɪ̯], and as an alternative to disyllabic
[uː.ɪ] in words such as ruhig
[ʁʊɪ̯ç].[32][33]

Phonetic

The following usually are not counted

among the German diphthongs as
German speakers often feel they are
distinct marks of "foreign words"
(Fremdwörter). These appear only in
loanwords:
[o̯a], as in Croissant [kʁ̥o̯aˈsɑ̃],
colloquially: [kʁ̥o̯aˈsaŋ].

Many German speakers use [ɛɪ̯] and

[ɔʊ̯] as adaptations of the English
diphthongs /eɪ/ and /oʊ/ in English
loanwords, according to Wiese (1996),
or they replace them with the native
German long vowels /eː/ and /oː/.
Thus, the word okay may be
pronounced [ɔʊ̯ˈkɛɪ̯] or /oːˈkeː/.[34]
However, Mangold (2005) and Krech et
al. (2009) do not recognize these
diphthongs as phonemes, and
prescribe pronunciations with the long
vowels /eː/ and /oː/ instead.
In the varieties where speakers vocalize
/r/ to [ɐ] in the syllable coda, a diphthong
ending in [ɐ̯] may be formed with every
stressable vowel:

German diphthongs ending in [ɐ̯] (part

1), from Kohler (1999:88)

German diphthongs ending in [ɐ̯] (part

2), from Kohler (1999:88)
 Diphthong Example

Phonemically Phonetically IPA Orthography Translation

/ɪr/ [ɪɐ̯] [vɪɐ̯t] wird he/she/it becomes

/iːr/ [iːɐ̯]1 [viːɐ̯] wir we

/ʏr/ [ʏɐ̯] [ˈvʏɐ̯də] Würde dignity

/yːr/ [yːɐ̯]1 [fyːɐ̯] für for

/ʊr/ [ʊɐ̯] [ˈvʊɐ̯də] wurde I/he/she/it became

/uːr/ [uːɐ̯]1 [ˈuːɐ̯laʊ̯p] Urlaub holiday

/ɛr/ [ɛɐ̯] [ɛɐ̯ft] Erft Erft

/ɛːr/ [ɛːɐ̯]1 [bɛːɐ̯] Bär bear

/eːr/ [eːɐ̯]1 [meːɐ̯] mehr more

/œr/ [œɐ̯] [dœɐ̯t] dörrt he/she/it dries

/øːr/ [øːɐ̯]1 [høːɐ̯] hör! (you (sg.)) hear!

/ɔr/ [ɔɐ̯] [ˈnɔɐ̯dn̩] Norden north

/oːr/ [oːɐ̯]1 [toːɐ̯] Tor gate

/ar/ [aɐ̯] [haɐ̯t] hart hard

/aːr/ [aːɐ̯]1 [vaːɐ̯] wahr true

^1 Wiese (1996) notes that the length

contrast is not very stable before non-
prevocalic /r/[35] and that "Meinhold &
Stock (1980:180), following the
pronouncing dictionaries (Mangold
(1990), Krech & Stötzer (1982)) judge
the vowel in Art, Schwert, Fahrt to be
long, while the vowel in Ort, Furcht, hart
is supposed to be short. The factual
basis of this presumed distinction
seems very questionable."[35][36] He
goes on stating that in his own dialect,
there is no length difference in these
words, and that judgements on vowel
length in front of non-prevocalic /r/
which is itself vocalized are
problematic, in particular if /a/
precedes.[35]

According to the "lengthless" analysis,

the aforementioned "long" diphthongs
are analyzed as [iɐ̯], [yɐ̯], [uɐ̯], [ɛɐ̯], [eɐ̯],
[øɐ̯], [oɐ̯] and [aɐ̯]. This makes non-
prevocalic /ar/ and /aːr/ homophonous
as [aɐ̯] or [aː]. Non-prevocalic /ɛr/ and
/ɛːr/ may also merge, but the vowel
chart in Kohler (1999) shows that they
have somewhat different starting
points – mid-centralized open-mid
front [ɛ̽] for the former, open-mid front
[ɛ] for the latter.[14]

Wiese (1996) also states that "laxing

of the vowel is predicted to take place
in shortened vowels; it does indeed
seem to go hand in hand with the
vowel shortening in many cases."[35]
This leads to [iɐ̯], [yɐ̯], [uɐ̯], [eɐ̯], [øɐ̯],
[oɐ̯] being pronounced the same as
[ɪɐ̯], [ʏɐ̯], [ʊɐ̯], [ɛɐ̯], [œɐ̯], [ɔɐ̯]. This
merger is usual in the Standard
Austrian accent, in which e.g. Moor
'bog' is often pronounced [mɔɐ̯]; this, in
contrast with the Standard Northern
variety, also happens intervocalically,
along with the diphthongization of the
laxed vowel to [Vɐ̯], so that e.g. Lehrer
'teacher' is pronounced [ˈlɛɐ̯ʁɐ][37] (the
corresponding Standard Northern
pronunciation is [ˈleːʁɐ]). Another
feature of the Standard Austrian
accent is complete absorption of [ɐ̯] by
the preceding /ɑ, ɑː/, so that e.g. rar
'scarce' is pronounced [ʁɑː].[37]
Consonants

With around 22 to 26 phonemes, the

German consonant system has an
average number of consonants in
comparison with other languages. One of
the more noteworthy ones is the unusual
affricate /pf/.[38]

Post-
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
alveolar

Nasal m n ŋ

Fortis p t k (ʔ)
Plosive
Lenis b d ɡ

Fortis pf ts tʃ
Affricate
Lenis (dʒ)

Fortis f s ʃ ç (x) h
Fricative
Lenis v z (ʒ) j

Liquid l r

/r/ can be uvular, alveolar or even

dental, a consonant or a semivowel,
see below.

/pf/ is bilabial–labiodental [pf], rather

than purely labiodental [p̪ f].[39]

/t, d, l, n/ can be apical alveolar [t̺, d̺, l̺,

n̺],[40][41][42][43] laminal alveolar [t̻, d̻, l̻,
n̻][40][44][45] or laminal denti-alveolar [t̪,
d̪, l̪, n̪].[40][46][47][48] The other possible
pronunciation of /d/ that has been
reported to occur in unstressed
intervocalic positions is retroflex [ɖ].[49]
Austrian German often uses the
laminal denti-alveolar articulation.
/l/ is always clear [l], as in most
Irish English accents. A few
Austrian accents may use a
 velarized [ɫ] instead, but that is
considered non-standard.

In the Standard Austrian variety, /k/

may be affricated to [kx] before front
vowels.[50]

/ts, s, z/ can be laminal alveolar [t̻s̻, s̻,

z̻],[51][52][53] laminal post-dental [t̪s̪, s̪,
z̪][51][53] (i.e. fronted alveolar,
articulated with the blade of the tongue
just behind upper front teeth),[51] or
even apical alveolar [t̺s̺, s̺, z̺].[51][52][53]
Austrian German often uses the post-
dental articulation. /s, z/ are always
strongly fricated.[54]

/tʃ, dʒ, ʃ, ʒ/ are strongly labialized

palato-alveolar sibilants [tʃʷ, dʒʷ, ʃʷ,
ʒʷ].[55][56][57] /ʃ, ʒ/ are fricated more
weakly than /s, z/.[58] There are two
variants of these sounds:
Laminal,[55][57] articulated with the
foremost part of the blade of the
tongue approaching the foremost
part of the hard palate, with the tip
of the tongue resting behind either
upper or lower front teeth.[55]

Apico-laminal,[55][56][57] articulated
with the tip of the tongue
approaching the gums and the
foremost part of the blade
approaching the foremost part of
the hard palate.[55] According to
Morciniec & Prędota (2005), this
variant is used more frequently.[57]
/r/ has a number of possible
realizations:
Voiced apical coronal trill
[r̺],[59][60][61] either alveolar
(articulated with the tip of the
tongue against the alveolar
ridge),[59][60][61] or dental
(articulated with the tip of the
tongue against the back of the
upper front teeth).[59]
Distribution: Common in the
south (Bavaria and many
parts of Switzerland and
Austria), but it is also found in
some speakers in central and
northern Germany, especially
the elderly. It is also one of
 possible realizations of /r/ in
the Standard Austrian accent,
but a more common alveolar
realization is an approximant
[ɹ]. Even more common are
uvular realizations, fricatives
[ʁ ~ χ] and a trill [ʀ].[62]

Voiced uvular trill [ʀ],[59][60][63][64]

which can be realized as voiceless
[ʀ̥] after voiceless consonants (as
in treten).[60] According to Lodge
(2009) it is often a flap [ʀ̆]
intervocalically (as in Ehre).[65]
Distribution: Occurs in some
conservative varieties—most
speakers with a uvular /r/
realize it as a fricative or an
 approximant.[66] It is also one
of possible realizations of /r/
in the Standard Austrian
accent, but it is less common
than a fricative [ʁ ~ χ].[62]

Dorsal continuant, about the

quality of which there is not a
complete agreement:
Krech et al. (2009) describe
two fricative variants, namely
post-palatal [ɣ˖] and velar [ɣ].
The post-palatal variant
appears before and after front
vowels, while the velar variant
is used in all other
positions.[67]
Morciniec & Prędota (2005)
describe it as voiced post-
velar fricative [ʁ̟].[68]

Mangold (2005) and Kohler

(1999) describe it as voiced
uvular fricative [ʁ];[59][69]
Mangold (2005) states
that "with educated
professional radio and TV
announcers, as with
professional actors on
the stage and in film, the
[voiced uvular] fricative
[realization of] /r/ clearly
predominates."[59]
In the Standard
Austrian accent, the
 uvular fricative is
also the most
common realization,
although its voicing
is variable (that is, it
can be either voiced
[ʁ] or voiceless
[χ]).[62]

Kohler (1999) writes that

"the place of articulation
of the consonant varies
from uvular in e.g. rot
('red') to velar in e.g.
treten ('kick'), depending
on back or front vowel
contexts." He also notes
that [ʁ] is devoiced after
 voiceless plosives and
fricatives, especially
those within the same
word, giving the word
treten as an example.
According to this author,
[ʁ] can be reduced to an
approximant in an
intervocalic position.[70]

Ladefoged & Maddieson

(1996) describe it as a uvular
fricative [ʁ] or approximant
[ʁ̞]. The latter is less likely to
occur word-initially.[71]

Distribution: Almost all areas

apart from Bavaria and parts
 of Switzerland.

Near-open central unrounded

vowel [ɐ] is a post-vocalic
allophone of (mostly dorsal)
varieties of /r/. The non-syllabic
variant of it is not always near-
open or central; it is similar to
either [ɑ] or [ə], depending on the
environment.[68]
Distribution: Widespread, but
less common in Switzerland.

The voiceless stops /p/, /t/, /k/ are

aspirated except when preceded by a
sibilant. Many southern dialects do not
aspirate /p t k/, and some northern
ones do so only in a stressed position.
The voiceless affricates /pf/, /ts/, and
/tʃ/ are never aspirated,[72] and neither
are any other consonants besides the
aforementioned /p, t, k/.[72]

The obstruents /b, d, ɡ, z, ʒ, dʒ/ are

voiceless lenis consonants [b̥, d̥, ɡ̊, z̥, ʒ̊,
d̥ʒ̊] in southern varieties. Voiceless
lenis consonants [b̥, d̥, ɡ̊, z̥] continue to
contrast with voiceless fortis
consonants [p, t, k, s]. The section
§ Fortis–lenis pairs covers the issue in
more detail.

In Austria, intervocalic /b, d, ɡ/ can be

lenited to fricatives [β, ð, ɣ].[50][73]

Before and after front vowels (/ɪ, iː, ʏ,

yː, ɛ, ɛː, eː, œ, øː/ and, in varieties that
realize them as front, /a/ and/or /aː/),
the velar consonants /ŋ, k, ɡ/ are
realized as post-palatal [ŋ˖, k̟, ɡ˖].[74][75]
According to Wiese (1996), in a parallel
process, /k, ɡ/ before and after back
vowels (/ʊ, uː, ɔ, oː/ and, in varieties
that realize them as back, /a/ and/or
/aː/) are retracted to post-velar [k̠, ɡ˗] or
even uvular [q, ɢ].[74]

There is no complete agreement about

the nature of /j/; it has been variously
described as:
a fricative [ʝ],[76][77][78]

a fricative which can be fricated

less strongly than [ç],[79]
 a sound variable between a weak
fricative and an approximant,[80]
and

an approximant [j],[69][81] which is

the usual realization in the
Standard Austrian variety.[81]

In many varieties of standard German,

the glottal stop, [ʔ], occurs in careful
speech before word stems that begin
with a vowel and before stressed
vowels word-internally, as in Oase
[ʔo.ʔaː.zə] (twice). It is much more
frequent in northern varieties than in
the south. It is not usually considered a
phoneme. In colloquial and dialectal
speech, [ʔ] is often omitted, especially
when the word beginning with a vowel
is unstressed.

The phonemic status of affricates is

controversial. The majority view
accepts /pf/ and /ts/, but not /tʃ/ or
the non-native /dʒ/; some[82] accept
none, some accept all but /dʒ/, and
some[83] accept all.
Although [tʃ] occurs in native
words, it only appears in historic
clusters of /t/ + /ʃ/ (e.g. deutsch <
OHG diutisc) or in words with
expressive quality (e.g. glitschen,
hutschen). [tʃ] is, however, well-
established in loanwords,
including German toponyms of
 non-Germanic origin (e.g.
Zschopau).

[dʒ] and [ʒ] occur only in words of

foreign origin. In certain varieties,
they are replaced by [tʃ] and [ʃ]
altogether.

[ʋ] is occasionally considered to be an

allophone of /v/, especially in southern
varieties of German.

[ç] and [x] are traditionally regarded as

allophones after front vowels and back
vowels, respectively. For a more
detailed analysis see below at ich-Laut
and ach-Laut. According to some
analyses, [χ] is an allophone of /ç/
after /a, aː/ and according to some
also after /ʊ, ɔ, aʊ̯/.[14][50] However,
according to Moosmüller, Schmid &
Brandstätter (2015), the uvular
allophone is used after /ɔ/ only in the
Standard Austrian variety.[50]

Some phonologists do not posit a

separate phoneme /ŋ/ and use /nɡ/
instead,[84] along with /nk/ instead of
/ŋk/. The phoneme sequence /nɡ/ is
realized as [ŋɡ] when /ɡ/ can start a
valid onset of the next syllable whose
nucleus is a vowel other than
unstressed /ə/, /ɪ/, or /ʊ/. It becomes
[ŋ] otherwise.[85] For example:
Diphthong /dɪfˈtɔnɡ/ [dɪfˈtɔŋ]
 diphthongieren /dɪftɔnˈɡiːʁən/
[ˌdɪftɔŋˈɡiːʁən]

Englisch /ˈɛnɡlɪʃ/ [ˈɛŋlɪʃ]

Anglo /ˈanɡloː/ [ˈaŋɡloː]

Ganges /ˈɡanɡəs/ [ˈɡaŋəs] ~

/ˈɡanɡɛs/ [ˈɡaŋɡɛs]

Ich-Laut and ach-Laut

A map showing the German dialect

area with black/white squares
indicating the Ich-Laut and the Ach-
Laut

Ich-Laut is the voiceless palatal fricative

[ç] (which is found in the word ich [ɪç] 'I'),
and ach-Laut is the voiceless velar
fricative [x] (which is found in the word
ach [ax] the interjection 'oh', 'alas'). Laut
[laʊ̯t] is the German word for 'sound,
phone'. In German, these two sounds are
allophones occurring in complementary
distribution. The allophone [x] occurs
after back vowels and /a aː/ (for instance
in Buch [buːx] 'book'), the allophone [ç]
after front vowels (for instance in mich
[mɪç] 'me/myself') and consonants (for
instance in Furcht [fʊʁçt] 'fear',
manchmal [ˈmançmaːl] 'sometimes'). The
allophone [ç] also appears after
vocalized ⟨r⟩ in superregional variants,
e.g. in Furcht [fʊɐ̯çt] 'fear'. In
southeastern regiolects, the ach-Laut is
commonly used here, yielding [fʊɐ̯xt].
In loanwords, the pronunciation of
potential fricatives in onsets of stressed
syllables varies: in the Northern varieties
of standard German, it is [ç], while in
Southern varieties, it is [k], and in Western
varieties, it is [ʃ] (for instance in China:
[ˈçiːna] vs. [ˈkiːna] vs. [ˈʃiːna]).

The diminutive suffix -chen is always

pronounced with an ich-Laut [-çən].[86]
Usually, this ending triggers umlaut
(compare for instance Hund [hʊnt] 'dog'
to Hündchen [ˈhʏntçn̩] 'little dog'), so
theoretically, it could only occur after
front vowels. However, in some
comparatively recent coinings, there is no
longer an umlaut, for instance in the word
Frauchen [ˈfʀaʊ̯çən] (a diminutive of Frau
'woman'), so that a back vowel is
followed by a [ç], even though normally it
would be followed by a [x], as in rauchen
[ˈʀaʊ̯xən] ('to smoke'). This exception to
the allophonic distribution may be an
effect of the morphemic boundary or an
example of phonemicization, where
erstwhile allophones undergo a split into
separate phonemes.

The allophonic distribution of [ç] after

front vowels and [x] after other vowels is
also found in other languages, such as
Scots, e.g. licht [lɪçt] 'light', dochter
[ˈdɔxtər] 'daughter', and the same
distribution is reconstructed for Middle
English. However, it is by no means
inevitable: Dutch, Yiddish, and many
Southern German dialects retain [x]
(which can be realized as [χ] instead) in
all positions. It is thus reasonable to
assume that Old High German ih, the
ancestor of modern ich, was pronounced
with [x] rather than [ç]. While it is
impossible to know for certain whether
Old English words such as niht (modern
night) were pronounced with [x] or [ç], [ç]
is likely (see Old English phonology).

Despite the phonetic history, the

complementary distribution of [ç] and [x]
in modern Standard German is better
described as backing of /ç/ after a back
vowel, rather than fronting of /x/ after a
front vowel, because [ç] is used in onsets
(Chemie [çeˈmiː] 'chemistry') and after
consonants (Molch [mɔlç] 'newt'), and is
thus the underlying form of the phoneme.

According to Kohler,[87] the German ach-

Laut is further differentiated into two
allophones, [x] and [χ]: [x] occurs after /uː,
oː/ (for instance in Buch [buːx] 'book') and
[χ] after /a, aː/ (for instance in Bach [baχ]
'brook'), while either [x] or [χ] may occur
after /ʊ, ɔ, aʊ̯/, with [χ] predominating.

In Western varieties, there is a strong

tendency to realize /ç/ as unrounded [ʃ]
or [ɕ], and the phoneme may be confused
or merged with /ʃ/ altogether,
secondarily leading to hypercorrection
effects where /ʃ/ is replaced with /ç/, for
instance in Fisch [fɪʃ], which may be
realized as [fɪç].

Within German dialects, a large variation

exists as to the environments which
trigger or prevent one realization or the
other.[88]

Fortis–lenis pairs

Various German consonants occur in

pairs at the same place of articulation
and in the same manner of articulation,
namely the pairs /p–b/, /t–d/, /k–ɡ/,
/s–z/, /ʃ–ʒ/. These pairs are often called
fortis–lenis pairs, since describing them
as voiced–voiceless pairs is inadequate.
With certain qualifications, /tʃ–dʒ/, /f–v/
and /θ–ð/ are also considered fortis–
lenis pairs.

Fortis-lenis distinction for /ʔ, m, n, ŋ, l, r,

h/ is unimportant.[89]

The fortis stops /p, t, k/ are aspirated in

many varieties. The aspiration is
strongest in the onset of a stressed
syllable (such as Taler [ˈtʰaːlɐ] 'thaler'),
weaker in the onset of an unstressed
syllable (such as Vater [ˈfaːtʰɐ] 'father'),
and weakest in the syllable coda (such
as in Saat [zaːtʰ] 'seed'). All fortis
consonants, i.e. /p, t, k, f, θ, s, ʃ, ç, x, pf, ts,
tʃ/[89] are fully voiceless.[90]

The lenis consonants /b, d, ɡ, v, ð, z, ʒ, j, r,

dʒ/[89] range from being weakly voiced to
almost voiceless [b̥, d̥, ɡ̊, v̥, ð̥, z̥, ʒ̊, j̥, r̥, d̥ʒ̊]
after voiceless consonants:[90] Kasbah
[ˈkasb̥a] ('kasbah'), abdanken [ˈapd̥aŋkn̩]
('to resign'), rotgelb [ˈʁoːtɡ̊ɛlp] ('red-
yellow'), Abwurf [ˈapv̥ʊʁf] ('dropping'),
Absicht [ˈapz̥ɪçt] ('intention'), Holzjalousie
[ˈhɔltsʒ̊aluziː] ('wooden jalousie'),
wegjagen [ˈvɛkj̥aːɡn̩] ('to chase away'),
tropfen [ˈtʁ̥ɔpfn̩] ('to drop'), Obstjuice
[ˈoːpstd̥ʒ̊uːs] ('fruit juice'). Mangold (2005)
states that they are "to a large extent
voiced" [b, d, ɡ, v, ð, z, ʒ, j, r, dʒ] in all other
environments,[89] but some studies have
found the stops /b, d, ɡ/ to be voiceless
word/utterance-initially in most dialects
(while still contrasting with /p, t, k/ due to
the aspiration of the latter).[91]

/b, d, ɡ, z, ʒ/ are voiceless in most

southern varieties of German. For clarity,
they are often transcribed as [b̥, d̥, ɡ̊, z̥, ʒ̊].

The nature of the phonetic difference

between the voiceless lenis consonants
and the similarly voiceless fortis
consonants is controversial. It is
generally described as a difference in
articulatory force, and occasionally as a
difference in articulatory length; for the
most part, it is assumed that one of
these characteristics implies the other.

In various central and southern varieties,

the opposition between fortis and lenis is
neutralized in the syllable onset;
sometimes just in the onset of stressed
syllables, sometimes in all cases.

The pair /f–v/ is not considered a fortis–

lenis pair, but a simple voiceless–voiced
pair, as /v/ remains voiced in all varieties,
including the Southern varieties that
devoice the lenes (with however some
exceptions).[92] Generally, the southern
/v/ is realized as the voiced approximant
[ʋ]. However, there are southern varieties
which differentiate between a fortis /f/
(such as in sträflich [ˈʃtrɛːflɪç] 'culpable'
from Middle High German stræflich) and
a lenis /f/ ([v̥], such as in höflich [ˈhøːv̥lɪç]
'polite' from Middle High German
hovelîch); this is analogous to the
opposition of fortis /s/ ([s]) and lenis [z̥].

Coda devoicing

In varieties from Northern Germany, lenis

stops in the syllable coda are realized as
fortis stops. This does not happen in
varieties from Southern Germany, Austria
or Switzerland.[93]

Since the lenis stops /b, d, ɡ/ are

unvoiced or at most variably voiced (as
stated above), this cannot be called
devoicing in the strict sense of the word
because it does not involve the loss of
phonetic voice.[94] More accurately, it can
be called coda fortition or a
neutralization of fortis and lenis sounds
in the coda. Fricatives are truly and
contrastively voiced in Northern
Germany.[95] Therefore, the fricatives
undergo coda devoicing in the strict
sense of the word.[94] It is disputed
whether coda devoicing is due to a
constraint which specifically operates on
syllable codas or whether it arises from
constraints which "protect voicing in
privileged positions".[96]
Coda voicing

As against standard pronunciation rules,

in western varieties including those of
the Rhineland, coda fortis–lenis
neutralization results in voicing rather
than devoicing if the following word
begins with a vowel. For example, mit
uns becomes [mɪd‿ʊns] and darf ich
becomes [daʁv‿ɪʃ]. The same sandhi
phenomenon exists also as a general rule
in the Luxembourgish language.[97]

Stress

In German words there is always one

syllable carrying main stress, with all
other syllables either being unstressed or
carrying a secondary stress. The position
of the main stress syllable has been a
matter of debate. Traditionally, word
stress is seen as falling onto the first
stem syllable. In recent analyses, there is
agreement that main stress is placed
onto one of the last three (stressable)
syllables. Within this three-syllable
window,[98] word stress is put regularly
onto the second-to-last syllable, the
penultimate syllable.[99] However, syllable
quantity may modify this pattern: a heavy
final or prefinal syllable, i.e., one with a
long vowel or with one or more
consonants in the syllable coda, will
usually attract main stress.
 Examples

final stress: Eleˈfant, Krokoˈdil, Kaˈmel

penultimate stress: ˈTurban, ˈKonsul,

ˈBison

antepenultimate stress: ˈPinguin,

ˈRisiko, ˈMonitor

A set of illustrative examples also stems

from Japanese loan words, as these
cannot be borrowed with their stress
patterns (Japanese has a system of pitch
accents, completely different from word
stress in Germanic languages):

final stress: Shoˈgun, Samuˈrai

penultimate stress: Mitsuˈbishi, Ike

ˈbana
 antepenultimate stress: Hiˈroshima,
ˈOsaka

A list of Japanese words in German

reveals that none of the words with four
syllables has initial stress, confirming the
three-syllable-window analysis.

Secondary stresses precede the main

stress if at least two syllables are
present, as in ̩Bib-li- ̩o-the-'ka-rin.

Suffixes, if containing a stressable vowel,

are either stressed (-ei, ion, -al, etc.) or
unstressed (-ung, -heit, -isch, etc.)

In addition, German uses different

stresses for separable prefixes and
inseparable prefixes in verbs and words
derived from such verbs:

Words beginning with be-, ge-, er-, ver-,

zer-, ent-, emp- and a few other
inseparable prefixes are stressed on
the root.

Words beginning with the separable

prefixes ab-, auf-, ein-, vor-, and most
prepositional adverbs are stressed on
the prefix.

Some prefixes, notably über-, unter-,

um-, and durch-, can function as
separable or inseparable prefixes and
are stressed or not accordingly.

A few homographs with such prefixes

exist. They are not perfect
homophones. Consider the word
umschreiben. As ˈum•schreiben
(separable prefix), it means 'to rewrite'
and is pronounced [ˈʊmʃʀaɪ̯bən], with
stress on the first syllable. Its
associated noun, die ˈUmschreibung is
also stressed on the first syllable –
[ˈʊmʃʀaɪ̯bʊŋ]. On the other hand, um
ˈschreiben (inseparable prefix) is
pronounced [ʊmˈʃʀaɪ̯bən], with stress
on the second syllable. This word
means 'to paraphrase', and its
associated noun, die Umˈschreibung is
also stressed on the second syllable –
[ʊmˈʃʀaɪ̯bʊŋ]. Another example is the
word umˈfahren; with stress on the root
([ʊmˈfaːʀən]) it means 'to drive around
 (an obstacle in the street)', and with
stress on the prefix ([ˈʊmfaːʀən]) it
means 'to run down/over' or 'to knock
down'.

Acquisition

General

Like all infants, German infants go

through a babbling stage in the early
phases of phonological acquisition,
during which they produce the sounds
they will later use in their first words.[100]
Phoneme inventories begin with stops,
nasals, and vowels; (contrasting) short
vowels and liquids appear next, followed
by fricatives and affricates, and finally all
other consonants and consonant
clusters.[101] Children begin to produce
protowords near the end of their first
year. These words do not approximate
adult forms, yet have a specific and
consistent meaning.[100] Early word
productions are phonetically simple and
usually follow the syllable structure CV or
CVC, although this generalization has
been challenged.[102] The first vowels
produced are /ə/, /a/, and /aː/, followed
by /e/, /i/, and /ɛ/, with rounded vowels
emerging last.[101] German children often
use phonological processes to simplify
their early word production.[101] For
example, they may delete an unstressed
syllable (Schokolade 'chocolate'
pronounced [ˈlaːdə]),[101] or replace a
fricative with a corresponding stop (Dach
[dax] 'roof' pronounced [dak]).[103] One
case study found that a 17-month-old
child acquiring German replaced the
voiceless velar fricative [x] with the
nearest available continuant [h], or
deleted it altogether (Buch [buːx] 'book'
pronounced [buh] or [buː]).[104]

Prosodically, children prefer bisyllabic

words with the pattern strong – weak
over monosyllabic words.
Vowel space development

In 2009, Lintfert examined the

development of vowel space of German
speakers in their first three years of life.
During the babbling stage, vowel
distribution has no clear pattern.
However, stressed and unstressed
vowels already show different
distributions in the vowel space. Once
word production begins, stressed vowels
expand in the vowel space, while the F1 –
F2 vowel space of unstressed vowels
becomes more centralized. The majority
of infants are then capable of stable
production of F1.[105] The variability of
formant frequencies among individuals
decreases with age.[106] After 24 months,
infants expand their vowel space
individually at different rates. However, if
the parents' utterances possess a well-
defined vowel space, their children
produce clearly distinguished vowel
classes earlier.[107] By about three years
old, children command the production of
all vowels, and they attempt to produce
the four cardinal vowels, /y/, /i/, /u/ and
/a/, at the extreme limits of the F1–F2
vowel space (i.e., the height and
backness of the vowels are made
extreme by the infants).[106]
Nasals

The acquisition of nasals in German

differs from that of Dutch, a
phonologically closely related
language.[108] German children produce
proportionately more nasals in onset
position (sounds before a vowel in a
syllable) than Dutch children do.[109]
German children, once they reached 16
months, also produced significantly more
nasals in syllables containing schwas,
when compared with Dutch-speaking
children.[110] This may reflect differences
in the languages the children are being
exposed to, although the researchers
claim that the development of nasals
likely cannot be seen apart from the
more general phonological system the
child is developing.[111]

Phonotactic constraints and reading

A 2006 study examined the acquisition of

German in phonologically delayed
children (specifically, issues with fronting
of velars and stopping of fricatives) and
whether they applied phonotactic
constraints to word-initial consonant
clusters containing these modified
consonants.[112] In many cases, the
subjects (mean age = 5.1) avoided
making phonotactic violations, opting
instead for other consonants or clusters
in their speech. This suggests that
phonotactic constraints do apply to the
speech of German children with
phonological delay, at least in the case of
word-initial consonant clusters.[113]
Additional research[114] has also shown
that spelling consistencies seen in
German raise children's phonemic
awareness as they acquire reading skills.

Sound changes

Sound changes and mergers

A merger found mostly in Northern

accents of German is that of /ɛː/ (spelled
⟨ä, äh⟩) with /eː/ (spelled ⟨e⟩, ⟨ee⟩, or
⟨eh⟩). Some speakers merge the two
everywhere, some distinguish them
everywhere, others keep /ɛː/ distinct only
in conditional forms of strong verbs (for
example ich gäbe [ˈɡɛːbə] 'I would give'
vs. ich gebe [ˈɡeːbə] 'I give' are
distinguished, but Bären [ˈbeːʁən] 'bears'
vs. Beeren [ˈbeːʁən] 'berries' are not. The
standard pronunciation of Bären is
[ˈbɛːʁən]).

Another common merger is that of /ɡ/ at

the end of a syllable with [ç] or [x], for
instance Krieg [kʁ̥iːç] ('war'), but Kriege
[ˈkʁ̥iːɡə] ('wars'); er lag [laːx] ('he lay'), but
wir lagen [ˈlaːɡən] ('we lay'). This
pronunciation is frequent all over central
and northern Germany. It is characteristic
of regional languages and dialects,
particularly Low German in the North,
where ⟨g⟩ represents a fricative,
becoming voiceless in the syllable coda,
as is common in German (final-obstruent
devoicing). However common it is, this
pronunciation is considered sub-
standard. Only in one case, in the
grammatical ending -ig (which
corresponds to English -y), the fricative
pronunciation of final ⟨g⟩ is prescribed by
the Siebs standard, for instance wichtig
[ˈvɪçtɪç] ('important'), Wichtigkeit
[ˈvɪçtɪçkaɪt] ('importance'). The merger
occurs neither in Austro-Bavarian and
Alemannic German nor in the
corresponding varieties of Standard
German, and therefore in these regions -
ig is pronounced [ɪɡ̊].

Many speakers do not distinguish the

affricate /pf/ from the simple fricative /f/
in the beginning of a word,[115] in which
case the verb (er) fährt ('[he] travels') and
the noun Pferd ('horse') are both
pronounced [fɛɐ̯t]. This most commonly
occurs in northern and western Germany,
where the local dialects did not originally
have the sound /pf/. Some speakers also
have peculiar pronunciation for /pf/ in
the middle or end of a word, replacing the
[f] in /pf/ with a voiceless bilabial
fricative, i.e. a consonant produced by
pressing air flow through the tensed lips.
Thereby Tropfen ('drop') becomes
[ˈtʁ̥ɔpɸn̩], rather than [ˈtʁ̥ɔpfn̩].

Many speakers who have a vocalization

of /r/ after /a/ merge this combination
with long /aː/ (i.e. /ar/ > *[aɐ] or *[ɑɐ] >
[aː] or [ɑː]). Hereby, Schaf ('sheep') and
scharf ('sharp') can both be pronounced
[ʃaːf] or [ʃɑːf]. This merger does not occur
where /a/ is a front vowel while /aː/ is
realised as a back vowel. Here the words
are kept distinct as [ʃɑːf] ('sheep') and
[ʃaːf] ('sharp').

In umlaut forms, the difference usually

reoccurs: Schäfer [ˈʃɛːfɐ] or [ˈʃeːfɐ] vs.
schärfer [ˈʃɛɐ̯fɐ]. Speakers with this
merger also often use [aːç] (instead of
formally normal /aːx/) where it stems
from original [arç]. The word Archen
('arks') is thus pronounced [ˈaːçn̩], which
makes a minimal pair with Aachen [ˈaːxn̩],
arguably making the difference between
[ç] and [x] phonemic, rather than just
allophonic, for these speakers.

In the standard pronunciation, the vowel

qualities /i/, /ɪ/, /e/, /ɛ/, as well as /u/,
/ʊ/, /o/, /ɔ/, are all still distinguished
even in unstressed syllables. In this latter
case, however, many simplify the system
in various degrees. For some speakers,
this may go so far as to merge all four
into one, hence misspellings by
schoolchildren such as Bräutegam
(instead of Bräutigam) or Portogal
(instead of Portugal).

In everyday speech, more mergers occur,

some of which are universal and some of
which are typical for certain regions or
dialect backgrounds. Overall, there is a
strong tendency of reduction and
contraction. For example, long vowels
may be shortened, consonant clusters
may be simplified, word-final [ə] may be
dropped in some cases, and the suffix -en
may be contracted with preceding
consonants, e.g. [ham] for haben [ˈhaːbən]
('to have').
If the clusters [mp], [lt], [nt], or [ŋk] are
followed by another consonant, the stops
/p/, /t/ and /k/ usually lose their
phonemic status. Thus while the
standard pronunciation distinguishes
ganz [ɡants] ('whole') from Gans [ɡans]
('goose'), as well as er sinkt [zɪŋkt] from
er singt [zɪŋt], the two pairs are
homophones for most speakers. The
commonest practice is to drop the stop
(thus [ɡans], [zɪŋt] for both words), but
some speakers insert the stop where it is
not etymological ([ɡants], [zɪŋkt] for both
words), or they alternate between the two
ways. Only a few speakers retain a
phonemic distinction.
Middle High German

The Middle High German vowels [ei̯] and

[iː] developed into the modern Standard
German diphthong [aɪ̯], whereas [ou̯] and
[uː] developed into [aʊ̯]. For example,
Middle High German heiz /hei̯s/ and wîz
/wiːs/ ('hot' and 'white') became Standard
German heiß /haɪ̯s/ and weiß /vaɪ̯s/. In
some dialects, the Middle High German
vowels have not changed, e.g. Swiss
German heiss /hei̯s/ and wiiss /viːs/,
while in other dialects or languages, the
vowels have changed but the distinction
is kept, e.g. Bavarian hoaß /hɔɐ̯s/ and
weiß /vaɪ̯s/, Ripuarian heeß /heːs/ and
wieß /viːs/ (however the Colognian
dialect has kept the original [ei]
diphthong in heiß), Yiddish ‫ הײס‬heys
/hɛɪ̯s/ and ‫ װַײס‬vays /vaɪ̯s/.

The Middle High German diphthongs [iə̯],

[uə̯] and [yə̯] became the modern
Standard German long vowels [iː], [uː] and
[yː] after the Middle High German long
vowels changed to diphthongs. Most
Upper German dialects retain the
diphthongs. A remnant of their former
diphthong character is shown when [iː]
continues to be written ie in German (as
in Liebe 'love').
Loanwords

German incorporates a significant

number of loanwords from other
languages. Loanwords are often adapted
to German phonology but to varying
degrees, depending on the speaker and
the commonness of the word. /ʒ/ and
/dʒ/ do not occur in native German
words but are common in a number of
French and English loan words. Many
speakers replace them with /ʃ/ and /tʃ/
respectively (especially in Southern
Germany, Austria and Switzerland), so
that Dschungel (from English jungle) can
be pronounced [ˈdʒʊŋl̩] or [ˈtʃʊŋl̩]. Some
speakers in Northern and Western
Germany merge /ʒ/ with /dʒ/, so that
Journalist (phonemically /dʒʊʁnaˈlɪst ~
ʒʊʁnaˈlɪst/) can be pronounced
[ʒʊɐ̯naˈlɪst], [dʒʊɐ̯naˈlɪst] or [ʃʊɐ̯naˈlɪst].
The realization of /ʒ/ as [tʃ], however, is
uncommon.[116]

Loanwords from English

Many English words are used in German,

especially in technology and pop culture.
Some speakers pronounce them similarly
to their native pronunciation, but many
speakers change non-native phonemes
to similar German phonemes (even if
they pronounce them in a rather English
manner in an English-language setting):

English /θ, ð/ are usually pronounced

as in RP or General American; some
speakers replace them with /s/ and /z/
respectively (th-alveolarization) e.g.
Thriller [ˈθʁɪlɐ ~ ˈsʁɪlɐ].

English /ɹ/ can be pronounced the

same as in English, i.e. [ɹ], or as the
corresponding native German /r/ e.g.
Rock [ʀɔk] or [rɔk]. German and
Austrian speakers tend to be variably
rhotic when using English loanwords.

English /w/ is often replaced with

German /v/ e.g. Whisk(e)y [ˈvɪskiː].
word-initial /s/ is often retained
(especially in the South, where word-
initial /s/ is common),[117] but many
speakers replace it with /z/ e.g. Sound
[zaʊ̯nt].

word-initial /st/ and /sp/ are usually

retained, but some speakers
(especially in South Western Germany
and Western Austria) replace them
with /ʃt/ and /ʃp/ e.g. Steak [ʃteɪk] or
[ʃteːk], Spray [ʃpʁeɪ] or [ʃpʁeː].[118]

English /tʃ/ is usually retained, but in

Northern and Western Germany as well
as Luxembourg, it is often replaced
with /ʃ/ e.g. Chips [ʃɪps].[119]
In Northern Standard German, final-
obstruent devoicing is applied to
English loan words just as to other
words e.g. Airbag [ˈɛːɐ̯bɛk], Lord [lɔʁt]
or [lɔɐ̯t], Backstage [ˈbɛksteːtʃ].
However, in Southern Standard
German, in Swiss Standard German
and Austrian Standard German, final-
obstruent devoicing does not occur
and so speakers are more likely to
retain the original pronunciation of
word-final lenes (although realizing
them as fortes may occur because of
confusing English spelling with
pronunciation).

English /eɪ/ and /oʊ/ are often

replaced with /eː/ and /oː/ respectively
e.g. Homepage [ˈhoːmpeːtʃ].

English /æ/ and /ɛ/ are pronounced

the same, as German /ɛ/ (met–mat
merger) e.g. Backup [ˈbɛkap].

English /ɒ/ and /ɔː/ are pronounced

the same, as German /ɔ/ (cot–caught
merger) e.g. Box [bɔks].

English /ʌ/ is usually pronounced as

German /a/ e.g. Cutter [ˈkatɐ].

English /ɜːr/ is usually pronounced as

German /œʁ/ e.g. Shirt [ʃœʁt] or
[ʃœɐ̯t].

English /i/ is pronounced as /iː/

(happy-tensing) e.g. Whisk(e)y [ˈvɪskiː].
Loanwords from French

French loanwords, once very numerous,

have in part been replaced by native
German coinages or more recently
English loanwords. Besides /ʒ/, they can
also contain the characteristic nasal
vowels [ãː], [ɛ̃ː], [œ̃ ː] and [õː] (always long).
However, their status as phonemes is
questionable and they are often resolved
into sequences either of (short) oral
vowel and [ŋ] (in the north), or of (long or
short) oral vowel and [n] or sometimes
[m] (in the south). For example, Ballon
[baˈlõː] ('balloon') may be realized as
[baˈlɔŋ] or [baˈloːn], Parfüm [paʁˈfœ̃ ː]
('perfume') as [paʁˈfœŋ] or [paʁ'fyːm] and
Orange [oˈʁãːʒə] ('orange') as [oˈʁaŋʒə] or
[o'ʁanʒə].

Sample

The sample text is a reading of "The

North Wind and the Sun". The phonemic
transcription treats every instance of [ɐ]
and [ɐ̯] as /ər/ and /r/, respectively. The
phonetic transcription is a fairly narrow
transcription of the educated northern
accent. The speaker transcribed in the
narrow transcription is 62 years old, and
he is reading in a colloquial style.[69]
Aspiration, glottal stops and devoicing of
the lenes after fortes are not transcribed.
The audio file contains the whole fable
and was recorded by a much younger
speaker.

Phonemic transcription

/aɪnst ˈʃtrɪtɛn zɪç ˈnɔrtvɪnt ʊnt ˈzɔnɛ | veːr

fɔn ˈiːnɛn ˈbaɪdɛn voːl deːr ˈʃtɛrkɛrɛ ˈvɛːrɛ |
als aɪn ˈvandɛrɛr | deːr ɪn ˈaɪnɛn ˈvarmɛn
ˈmantɛl gɛˈhʏlt vaːr | dɛs ˈveːgɛs
daˈheːrˌkaːm ‖ ziː ˈvʊrdɛn ˈaɪnɪç | das
ˈdeːrjeːnɪgɛ fyːr deːn ˈʃtɛrkɛrɛn ˈgɛltɛn
ˈzɔltɛ | deːr deːn ˈvandɛrɛr ˈtsvɪŋɛn ˈvʏrdɛ |
ˈzaɪnɛn ˈmantɛl ˈaptsuːˌneːmɛn ‖ deːr
ˈnɔrtvɪnt bliːs mɪt ˈalɛr maçt | ˈaːbɛr jeː
ˈmeːr eːr bliːs | ˈdɛstoː ˈfɛstɛr ˈhʏltɛ zɪç deːr
ˈvandɛrɛr ɪn ˈzaɪnɛn ˈmantɛl aɪn ‖ ˈɛntlɪç
gaːp deːr ˈnɔrtvɪnt deːn kampf aʊf ‖ nuːn
ɛrˈvɛrmtɛ diː ˈzɔnɛ diː lʊft mɪt ˈiːrɛn
ˈfrɔɪntlɪçɛn ˈʃtraːlɛn | ʊnt ʃoːn naːç
ˈveːnɪgɛn aʊgɛnˈblɪkɛn tsoːk deːr ˈvandɛrɛr
ˈzaɪnɛn ˈmantɛl aʊs ‖ daː ˈmʊstɛ deːr
ˈnɔrtvɪnt ˈtsuːgeːbɛn | das diː ˈzɔnɛ fɔn
ˈiːnɛn ˈbaɪdɛn deːr ˈʃtɛrkɛrɛ vaːr/

The North Wind and the Sun

0:32
Traditional fable

Problems playing this file? See media help.

Phonetic transcription

[aɪns ˈʃtʁɪtn̩ zɪç ˈnɔɐ̯tvɪnt ʊntˈz̥ɔnə | veːɐ̯

fɔn ˈiːnː ˈbaɪdn̩ voːl deːɐ̯ ˈʃtɛɐ̯kəʁə ˈvɛːʁə |
als aɪn ˈvandəʁɐ | deːɐ̯ ɪn ˈaɪnː ˈvaːɐ̯mn̩
ˈmantl̩gəˈhʏlt vaːɐ̯ | dəs ˈveːgəs
daˈheːɐ̯kaːm ‖ ziː ˈvʊɐ̯dn̩ ˈaɪnɪç | das
ˈdeːɐ̯jeːnɪgə fʏɐ̯ deːn ˈʃtɛɐ̯kəʁən ˈgɛltn̩
ˈzɔltə | deːɐ̯ deːn ˈvandəʁɐ ˈtsvɪŋ̍ ˈvʏɐ̯də |
ˈzaɪnː ˈmantl̩ˈaptsʊˌneːmː ‖ deːɐ̯ ˈnɔɐ̯tvɪnt
bliːs mɪt ˈalɐ maxt | ˈaːbɐ jeˈmeːɐ̯ eːɐ̯ bliːs |
ˈdɛsto ˈfɛstɐ ˈhʏltə zɪç deːɐ̯ ˈvandəʁɐ ɪn
ˈzaɪnː ˈmantl̩aɪn ‖ ˈɛntlɪç gaːp deːɐ̯
ˈnɔɐ̯tvɪnt deːn kampf aʊf ‖ nuːn ɛɐ̯ˈvɛɐ̯mtə
diː ˈzɔnə diː lʊft mɪt ˈiːɐ̯n̩ ˈfʁɔɪntlɪçn̩
ˈʃtʁaːln̩ | ʊnt ʃoːnaːx ˈveːnɪgŋ̍ aʊgŋ̍ˈblɪkŋ̍
tsoːk deːɐ̯ ˈvandəʁɐ ˈzaɪnː ˈmantl̩aʊs ‖ daː
ˈmʊstə deːɐ̯ ˈnɔɐ̯tvɪnt ˈtsuːgeːbm̩ | das diː
ˈzɔnə fɔn ˈiːnː ˈbaɪdn̩ deːɐ̯ ˈʃtɛɐ̯kəʁə
vaːɐ̯][120]
Orthographic version

Einst stritten sich Nordwind und Sonne,

wer von ihnen beiden wohl der Stärkere
wäre, als ein Wanderer, der in einen
warmen Mantel gehüllt war, des Weges
daherkam. Sie wurden einig, daß
derjenige für den Stärkeren gelten sollte,
der den Wanderer zwingen würde, seinen
Mantel abzunehmen. Der Nordwind blies
mit aller Macht, aber je mehr er blies,
desto fester hüllte sich der Wanderer in
seinen Mantel ein. Endlich gab der
Nordwind den Kampf auf. Nun erwärmte
die Sonne die Luft mit ihren freundlichen
Strahlen, und schon nach wenigen
Augenblicken zog der Wanderer seinen
Mantel aus. Da mußte der Nordwind
zugeben, daß die Sonne von ihnen beiden
der Stärkere war.[121]

See also

German orthography

Notes

1. Pages 1-2 of the book (Deutsches

Aussprachewörterbuch) discuss die
Standardaussprache, die Gegenstand
dieses Wörterbuches ist (the standard
pronunciation which is the topic of this
dictionary). It also mentions Da sich das
Deutsche zu einer plurizentrischen
Sprache entwickelt hat, bildeten sich
jeweils eigene Standardvarietäten (und
 damit Standardaussprachen) (German
has developed into a pluricentric
language separate standard varieties
(and hence standard pronunciations)),
but refers to these standards as
regionale und soziolektale Varianten
(regional and sociolectal variants).

2. Drösser, Christoph (14 June 2000).

"Angeblich sprechen die Hannoveraner
das reinste - sprich dialektfreieste -
Deutsch und kommen dem
Hochdeutschen am nächsten.
Stimmt's?" (https://www.zeit.de/stimmt
s/2000/200024_stimmts_hannover) .
Die Zeit. "Stimmt."
3. "Reflections on Diglossia" (http://faculty.
ce.berkeley.edu/coby/essays/refdigl.ht
m) . "In northern Germany, it appears
that in Hanover – perhaps because of
the presence of the electoral (later royal)
court – a parastandard High German
was spoken by the 18th century as well,
at least among the educated, with the
curious result that Hanover speech –
though non-native – became the model
of German pronunciation on the stage
(Bühnendeutsch), since everywhere else
in Germany dialects were still spoken by
everyone. Other capitals (Berlin, Dresden,
Munich, Vienna) eventually developed
their own Umgangssprachen, but the
Hanover model remained the ideal."
4. "Reading Heinrich Heine" (https://the-ey
e.eu/public/WorldTracker.org/College%2
0Books/Cambridge%20University%20Pre
ss/0521863996.Cambridge.University.Pr
ess.Reading.Heinrich.Heine.Apr.2007.pd
f) (PDF). "He spoke the dialect of
Hanover, where – as also in the vicinity
to the south of this city – German is
pronounced best."
5. "Nicht das beste Hochdeutsch in
Hannover" (http://www.haz.de/Nachricht
en/Kultur/Uebersicht/Nicht-das-beste-H
ochdeutsch-in-Hannover) . 7 August
2013. "In Hannover wird zweifellos ein
Deutsch gesprochen, das sehr nah an
der nationalen Aussprachenorm liegt.
Aber das gilt auch für andere
norddeutsche Städte wie Kiel, Münster
oder Rostock. Hannover hat da keine
Sonderstellung."

6. Differences include the pronunciation of

the endings -er, -en, and -em.

7. See the discussions in Wiese (1996:16–

17) and Staffeldt (2010:passim)

8. See the vowel charts in Mangold

(2005:37).

9. Kohler (1999:87)
10. Lodge (2009:87)

11. "John Wells's phonetic blog: ɘ" (http://ph

onetic-blog.blogspot.com/2009/06/blog
-post.html) . 3 June 2009. Retrieved
28 January 2016.

12. Gilles & Trouvain (2013), pp. 70–71.

13. Dudenredaktion, Kleiner & Knöbl (2015),

p. 39.

14. Kohler (1999:88)

15. Wierzbicka & Rynkowska (1992:413)

16. Wiese (1996:8)

17. Krech et al. (2009:24)

18. E.g. Wierzbicka & Rynkowska (1992)

19. Wierzbicka & Rynkowska (1992:412).

Authors state that /ɑ/ can be realized as
Polish /a/, i.e. central [ä].
20. Wierzbicka & Rynkowska (1992:412–
415)

21. Moosmüller, Schmid & Brandstätter

(2015:342–344)

22. Wierzbicka & Rynkowska (1992:412)

23. e.g. by Lodge (2009:86–89) (without

length marks, i.e. as /ɑ/—the vowel chart
on page 87 places /a/ and /ɑ/ in the
same open central position [ä]),
Morciniec & Prędota (2005) (without
length marks, i.e. as /ɑ/) and Wierzbicka
& Rynkowska (1992).

24. Wiese (1996:254)

25. von Polenz (2000:151, 175)

26. Südhessisches Wörterbuch online (http

s://www.lagis-hessen.de/de/subjects/gs
form/sn/shwb)
27. Source: Wiese (1996:11, 14). On the
page 14, the author states that /aɪ̯/, /aʊ̯/
and /ɔʏ̯/ are of the same quality as
vowels of which they consist. On the
page 8, he states that /a/ is low central.

28. See vowel chart in Kohler (1999:87).

Despite their true ending points, Kohler
still transcribes them as /aɪ̯ aʊ̯ ɔɪ̯/, i.e.
with higher offsets than those actually
have.

29. Source: Krech et al. (2009:72). Authors

do not provide a vowel chart. Rather,
they state rather vaguely that "the
diphthong [aɛ̯] is a monosyllabic
compound consisting of the unrounded
open vowel [a] and the unrounded mid
front vowel [ɛ]."
30. Source: Krech et al. (2009:72–73).
Authors do not provide a vowel chart.
Rather, they state rather vaguely that "the
diphthong [aɔ̯] is a monosyllabic
compound consisting of the unrounded
open vowel [a] and the rounded mid back
vowel [ɔ]."

31. Krech et al. (2009:73). Authors do not

provide a vowel chart. Rather, they state
rather vaguely that "the diphthong [ɔœ̯ ] is
a monosyllabic compound consisting of
the rounded mid back vowel [ɔ] and the
rounded mid front vowel [œ]."

32. Dudenredaktion, Kleiner & Knöbl (2015),

p. 34.

33. Krech et al. (2009), p. 26.

34. Wiese (1996:12)

35. Wiese (1996:198)

36. Also supported by Tröster-Mutz
(2011:20).

37. Moosmüller, Schmid & Brandstätter

(2015:342)

38. For a detailed discussion of the German

consonants from a synchronic and
diachronic point of view, see Cercignani
(1979).

39. Mangold (2005:45)

40. Mangold (2005:47, 49)

41. Krech et al. (2009:94, 96). According to

this source, only /l, n/ can be apical
alveolar.

42. Morciniec & Prędota (2005:51–52, 84).

According to this source, only /t, n/ can
be apical alveolar.
43. See the x-ray tracing of /l/ in Ladefoged
& Maddieson (1996:184), based on data
from Wängler (1961).

44. Krech et al. (2009:90, 94, 96)

45. Morciniec & Prędota (2005:51–52, 84).

According to this source, only /t, n/ can
be laminal alveolar.

46. Krech et al. (2009:90). According to this

source, only /t, d/ can be laminal denti-
alveolar.

47. Morciniec & Prędota (2005:51–52, 59,

78, 84)

48. See the x-ray tracing of /t/ in Ladefoged

& Maddieson (1996:184), based on data
from Wängler (1961).

49. Hamann & Fuchs (2010:14–24)

50. Moosmüller, Schmid & Brandstätter
(2015:341)

51. Mangold (2005:50, 52)

52. Krech et al. (2009:79–80). This source

talks only about /s, z/.

53. Morciniec & Prędota (2005:65, 75) This

source talks only about /s, z/.

54. Mangold (2005:50)

55. Mangold (2005:51–52)

56. Krech et al. (2009:51–52)

57. Morciniec & Prędota (2005:67, 76)

58. Mangold (2005:51)

59. Mangold (2005:53)

60. Krech et al. (2009:86)

61. Morciniec & Prędota (2005:79)

62. Moosmüller, Schmid & Brandstätter
(2015:341–342): "SAG features a wide
variety of realizations of the trill. In
approximately the past 40 years, the
pronunciation norm has changed from
an alveolar to a uvular trill. The latter is
mostly pronounced as a fricative, either
voiced or voiceless. Alveolar trills are
still in use, mostly pronounced as an
approximant.

63. Morciniec & Prędota (2005:80)

64. Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:225, 229)

65. Lodge (2009:46)

66. Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:225)

67. Krech et al. (2009:74, 85)

68. Morciniec & Prędota (2005:81)

69. Kohler (1999:86)

70. Kohler (1999:86–87)

71. Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:225,

233–234)

72. Mangold (2005:52)

73. Moosmüller (2007:6)

74. Wiese (1996:271)

75. Krech et al. (2009:49, 92, 97)

76. Krech et al. (2009:83–84)

77. Morciniec & Prędota (2005:77–78). The

authors transcribe it /j/, i.e. as an
approximant.

78. Wiese (1996:12). The author transcribes

it /j/, i.e. as an approximant.

79. Mangold (2005:51). The author

transcribes it /j/, i.e. as an approximant.

80. Hall (2003:48). The author transcribes it

/j/, i.e. as an approximant.
81. Moosmüller, Schmid & Brandstätter
(2015:340). The authors transcribe it as
/j/, i.e. as an approximant.

82. e.g. Kohler (1990)

83. e.g. Wiese (1996)

84. Graefen, Gabriele; Liedke, Martina

(2012). Germanistische
Sprachwissenschaft: Deutsch als Erst-,
Zweit- oder Fremdsprache (https://book
s.google.com/books?id=bLeeDQAAQBA
J&pg=PA217) (in German) (2nd,
revised ed.). Tübingen: A. Franke.
ISBN 9783825284916.

85. Wiese, Richard (2000). The Phonology of

German. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
pp. 218–234.

86. Wiese (1996:217)

87. Kohler (1977) and Kohler (1990), as cited
in Wiese (1996:210)

88. Hall (2022), pp. 455ff.

89. Mangold (2005:56)

90. Mangold (2005:55)

91. Jessen & Ringen (2002:190)

92. [v] written v can devoice in nearly every

place once the word has become
common; w is devoiced in Möwe, Löwe.
On the other hand, the keeping to the
variety is so standard that doof [doːf]
induced the writing "(der) doofe" even
though the standard pronunciation of the
latter word is [ˈdoːvə]

93. See Ammon et al. (2004, p. LVII).

94. Beckman, Jessen & Ringen (2009:233)

95. In Southern Germany, Austria or
Switzerland there is no phonetic voice in
fricatives either, see Ammon et al. (2004,
p. LVII).

96. Beckman, Jessen & Ringen (2009:264–

265)

97. "Lautstruktur des Luxemburgischen –

Wortübergreifende Phänomene" (http://i
nfolux.uni.lu/phonetik/lautstruktur-des-lu
xemburgischen/wortuebergreifende-pha
enomene/) . Retrieved 2013-05-15.

98. Vennemann, Theo (1986). Neuere

Entwicklungen in der Phonologie (in
German). Berlin: de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-
010980-8.
 99. Wiese, Richard (2000). The Phonology of
German (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford
University Press. pp. 276–287.
ISBN 0198299508.

100. Meibauer et al. (2007:261)

101. Meibauer et al. (2007:263)

102. Grijzenhout & Joppen (1998:1)

103. Meibauer et al. (2007:264)

104. Grijzenhout & Joppen (1998:12)

105. Lintfert (2010:159)

106. Lintfert (2010:138)

107. Lintfert (2010:160)

108. Altvater-Mackensen & Fikkert (2007:14)

109. Altvater-Mackensen & Fikkert (2007:16)

110. Altvater-Mackensen & Fikkert (2007:19)

111. Altvater-Mackensen & Fikkert (2007:23)

112. Ott, van de Vijver & Höhle (2006:323)

113. Ott, van de Vijver & Höhle (2006:331)

114. Goswami, Ziegler & Richardson

(2005:362)

115. Krech et al. (2009:108)

116. "ZhimAnlaut < AADG < TWiki" (http://pro

wiki.ids-mannheim.de/bin/view/AADG/Z
himAnlaut) . Prowiki.ids-mannheim.de.
2016-04-27. Retrieved 2022-03-20.

117. "SimAnlaut < AADG < TWiki" (http://prowi

ki.ids-mannheim.de/bin/view/AADG/Sim
Anlaut) . prowiki.ids-mannheim.de.
Retrieved 7 April 2018.

118. "SteakSprayStSp < AADG < TWiki" (http://

prowiki.ids-mannheim.de/bin/view/AAD
G/SteakSprayStSp) . prowiki.ids-
mannheim.de. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
119. "ChipsCh < AADG < TWiki" (http://prowik
i.ids-mannheim.de/bin/view/AADG/Chip
sCh) . prowiki.ids-mannheim.de.
Retrieved 7 April 2018.

120. Source: Kohler (1999:88). In the original

transcription the vowel length is not
indicated, apart from where it is
phonemic—that is, for the pairs /a/–/aː/
and /ɛ/–/ɛː/.

121. Kohler (1999:89)

References

Altvater-Mackensen, N.; Fikkert, P. (2007),

"On the acquisition of nasals in Dutch and
German", Linguistics in the Netherlands, 24:
14–24, doi:10.1075/avt.24.04alt (https://do
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Further reading

Canepari, Luciano (2014), German

Pronunciation & Accents (1st ed.), Munich:
LINCOM, ISBN 978-3862885626
Odom, William; Schollum, Benno (1997),
German for Singers (2nd ed.), New York:
Schirmer Books, ISBN 978-0028646015

Rues, Beate; Redecker, Beate; Koch, Evelyn;

Wallraff, Uta; Simpson, Adrian P. (2007),
Phonetische Transkription des Deutschen
(in German) (1st ed.), Narr, ISBN 978-
3823362913

Siebs, Theodor (1969), Deutsche

Aussprache (https://archive.org/details/de
utscheaussprac00sieb) (19th ed.), Berlin:
Walter de Gruyter, ISBN 978-3110003253

Wielki słownik niemiecko-polski (1st ed.),

Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 2014 [2010],
ISBN 978-83-01-16182-8
External links

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