Linguata
German Pronunciation
Stress
In general the stress in German falls on the first syllable: ich sage (I say), der Bahnhof (station). There are some important exceptions:
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Foreign imports retain their original stress: dasMenü (menu, set meal), die Nation (nation) |
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Inseparable prefixes move the stress to the following syllable: sprechen (to speak), versprechen (to promise); schließen (to close), entschließen (to decide). There are ten inseparable prefixes: be- ge- emp- ent- er- ver- zer- and miß- hinter- wider- . |
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Double particles : these are words consisting of two indeclinable words such as adverbs or prepositions. These are stressed on the second syllable e.g. herunter (down), herauf (upwards). |
This stress pattern is retained within complex words. Complex words are common in German which tends to build larger words by putting shorter ones together. When you come across compound words you need to recognize their building blocks in order to get stress and pronunciation right, because both are affected. The component words have to be kept separate when the words are spoken, and some consonants behave differently according to whether their position is at the beginning or end of a word. So der Handschuh (glove) sounds <hunt shoe> with both Hand and Schuh retaining a separate identity. The ‘d’ sounds like an English ‘t’ because it comes at the end of the word – it retains this ‘t’ sound whether Hand stands on its own or forms part of a compound word. A similar change, i.e. from ‘voiced’ to ‘voiceless’, affects the German ‘b’, which sounds like an English ‘p’ at the end of a word.
Listen to das Rindfleisch (beef) and das Kalbfleisch (veal) in Linguata Words to do with food. Meat.
The tables below list some of the important sounds in German with English equivalents:
Consonants
German
Example
English equivalent
b
b in final position*
Ball
Kalbfleisch
as English ‘b’.
as English ‘p’
d
d in final position*
Danke
(thanks)
Rindfleisch
as English ‘d’
as English ‘t’
g
final
-g
final –ig
Garten
(garden) gegen (against) Berg (mountain)
König
(king)
as ‘g’ in ‘garden’
as English ’k‘
like –ich
in German Ich (see below)
h-
-h
vorher
(before)
zehn
(ten)
sounded initially (see remarks above about compound words), but not sounded after a vowel
-ch after a,o,u,au
-ch after other vowels
doch
(yet)
Dächer, welcher, Ich
As in Scottish ’loch’
A softer sound towards the front of the mouth – listen to Linguata. Key words and phrases. 1
sch
Schiff
(ship)
As ‘sh- in ‘ship
tsch
Deutsch
As ‘tch‘ in ‘fetch’
r- (initial)
-r (final)
rund
(round)
hier
(here)
Scottish ‘r’ or ‘throaty’ French ‘r’
Not emphasized/swallowed
s- (initial), before vowels
-s (final)
-sz/ß (beta s, ligature beta)
sein
(to be)
Haus
(house)
Straße
(street)
As ‘z’ in ‘fanzine’
As ‘se’ in ‘house’
As ‘ss’ in ‘stress’
v
Vogel
(bird)
As ‘f’ in ‘finch’
w
Wasser
(water)
As ‘v’ in ‘van’
y: words from ancient Greek
typisch
(typical) psycho-
Pronounce as ü (see below)
*
See note above on
stress pattern
Vowels
In general German vowels have English equivalents, but are ‘tighter’ i.e. they do not slide into diphthongs. Listen to Bruder and Vater in Linguata Family and note how the ‘u’ and ‘a’ retain their ‘purity’.
Three vowels, a o u, can be modified by an umlaut as ä ö ü. This has the effect of bringing their sounds higher and further forward in the mouth. Listen, for example, to:
Können wir frühstücken? Can we have breakfast? Linguata: At the restaurant. 1
and
der Käse (cheese) and das Hähnchen (chicken) in Linguata. Food. 1
The distinction between long and short is important. Indicators of long vowel sounds are:
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Double vowels : |
Paar (pair) Tee (tea) Boot (boat) |
like ‘par’ with a long ‘ah’ and a trilled ‘r’ like ‘tay’ without the slide into a ‘y’ like ‘o’ in ‘bought’ |
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-ie- |
Knie (knee) |
like ‘ee’ in ‘knee’ |
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Single vowel followed by ‘h’ |
zahlen (to pay) |
‘zah’ like ‘tsa’ of ‘tsar’ |
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Monosyllables ending in a vowel |
da (there) |
like ‘aa’ in ‘baa’ |
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Monosyllables ending in one consonant |
Bad (bath), gut (good) |
like ‘aa’ and ‘oo’. Note that -i is always short in these situations, e.g. ich bin (I am) |
Short vowels occur when a stressed vowel precedes a double consonant, and usually before two or more consonants, unless an r is involved. Compare Wetter (weather) and Herbst (autumn) in Linguata. Weather and seasons. As in English, ‘r’ tends to lengthen a preceding vowel.
Diphthongs
These are combinations of two different vowels:
-au
faul
(lazy)
‘-ow’ in ‘how’
-äu*
and -eu
Säure
(acid) Freund (friend)
‘-oy’ in ‘boy’.
-ai
and –ei
Mai
(May), Wein (wine)
‘-i’ in ‘mine
(-ie
Wien
(Vienna)
Acts as a single long vowel. See table above)
* Listen to kohlensäurehaltig (sparkling) and nicht schäumend (still) in Linguata Drinks. 1
Recommended Reading and Sources
A Skeleton German Grammar (Blackie and Sons, London, 1902) by Prof. H.G.Atkins (hard to come by but well worth looking for).
Section on German pronunciation in BBCh2g2
