vikipeediya:IPA for German

The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents German language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles.

See German phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of German.

Consonants
IPA Examples English approximation
b Ball[1] ball
ç ich, durch hue
d dann[1] done
f Fass, Vogel fuss,
ɡ Gast[1] guest
h hat hut
j ja yard
k kalt cold
l Last last
m Mast must
n Naht not
ŋ lang long
p Pakt pack
pf Pfahl p + f
ʁ Rast[2] like a French R
ʀ like a French trilled R
r like an Italian R
s Hast fast
ʃ schal, Stein shall
t Tal tall
ts Zahl cats
tʃ Matsch match
v was vast
x Bach[3] loch (Scottish)
z Hase[1] hose
ʔ beamtet[4]
([bəaaˈaaʔaaamtəaat])		 the glottal stop in uh-oh!
Non-native consonants
dʒ Dschungel[1] jungle
ʒ Genie[1] beige, Zsa Zsa
Stress
ˈ Bahnhofstraßae
([ˈaabaːaanhoːaafˌaaʃaatʁaaaːaasə])		 as in ˈaabattleˌaaship
ˌ
Vowels
IPA Examples English approximation
Monophthongs
a Dach bra (but shorter)
aː Bahn bra
eː Beet face
ɛ Bett, hätte bed
ɛaaː wäahle[5] as above but longer; like RP English bared
iː viel meet
ɪ bist sit
oː Boot bone
ɔ Post caught (but shorter)
øaaː Öl somewhat like hurl; French deux
œ göttlich somewhat like hurt; French sœur
uː Hut true
ʊ Putz took
yː Rübe French rue
ʏ füllt somewhat like the above
Diphthongs
aɪ weit tie
aʊ Haut how
ɔaaʏ Heu, Räauber boy
Reduced vowels
ɐ Ober[2] fun
ə halte comma
Semivowels
ɐaa̯ Uhr[2] fun
i̯ Studie studio
u̯ aktuell actual
Non-native vowels
e Methan (short [eː])
i vital city (short [iː])
o Moral (short [oː])
ø Ökonom (short [øaaː])
u kulant (short [uː])
y Psychologie (short [yː])
ã Pensee[6] (nasalized [a])
ãaː Gourmand[6] (long nasalized [a])
ɛaã timbrieren[6] (nasalized [ɛ])
ɛaãaaː Teint[6] (long nasalized [ɛ])
ɔaã Fondue[6] (nasalized [ɔ])
ɔaãaaː Fond[6] (long nasalized)
œaã Lundist[6] (nasalized [œ])
œaãaaː Parfum[6] (long nasalized [œ])

Notes

  1. ↑ a aa i E u oo The German lenis consonants [b d ɡ z ʒ dʒ] are often pronounced without voice as [b̥ d̥ ɡaå z̥ ʒaå d̥aaʒaå]. In Southern German, the voiceless pronunciation prevails.
  2. ↑ a aa i Pronunciation of /r/ in German varies according to region and speaker. While older prescriptive pronunciation dictionaries allowed only [r], this pronunciation is nowadays found mainly in Switzerland, Bavaria and Austria, while in other regions the uvular pronunciation prevails, with the allophones [ʁ] and [ʀ]. In many regions except for Switzerland, the /r/ in the syllable coda is vocalized to [ɐaa̯] after long vowels or after all vowels, and /əaar/ is pronounced as [ɐ]
  3. ↑ /x/ is realized as a uvular fricative [χ] after /a/, /aː/, and often /ʊ/, /ɔ/, and /aʊ/.
  4. ↑ In many varieties of German except for Swiss Standard German, all initial vowels are preceded by [ʔ].
  5. ↑ [ɛaaː] is often replaced by [eː].
  6. ↑ a aa i E u oo A ai Nasal vowels are sometimes replaced by the corresponding short oral vowel and the velar nasal [ŋ]: [aŋ, ɛaaŋ, ɔaaŋ, œaaŋ].

Bibliography

  • Duden 6: Das Aussprachewöarterbuch (3d edition, 1990, ISBN 3-411-20916-X).
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