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Pronunciation guide |
Introduction
Want to speed up your understanding of spoken German? Listen out for German words which sound very much like the English equivalents (give or take an ending or two). After all, roughly 50% of English is 'Germanic'!
Browse through the guide for some useful tips.
Then, if you like a systematic, analytical approach, you can really work on your pronunciation:
- capitalising on the similarities in spoken English and German;
- recognising the essential differences.
Examples are taken from the movies.
A strong dialect
Consider 'related' German words as 'dialect' words.
Regional differences mean that vowel sounds can differ from standard pronunciation. Consonant sounds might be slightly different too. Meanings may be similar but not identical and some words and structures may even be completely different.
As an example, in northern English vowels are pronounced much flatter and shorter than in 'standard' Southern English. Small wonder, therefore, when there are different spelling modes and pronunciation for Germanic words such as:
man, book, word
Mann, Buch, Wort
In both languages vowels may be pronounced 'long', as in Buch and Wort, or 'short' as in Mann.
In the box below are some German words - you probably know most of them.Can you:
- give the English equivalents?
- identify the German words containing long and short vowels?
- identify where consonant sounds are related?
Use a dictionary for this task if you like.
Check with the Solution when you're ready.
beide - gesandt - Tochter - Vater - Bett - Pfad - hoch Kuchen - ach - Hund - lachen - das - unter - über
zäh - natürlich - danke - zehn - Mutter - Abend - Wetter
Wasser - machen - komisch - Jahr - Mann - und
Die Blumen stell' ich ins Wasser
Long German vowel sound
both beide father Vater path Pfad high hoch cake Kuchen over über tough zäh naturally natürlich ten zehn evening Abend comical komisch year Jahr
Short German vowel sound
sent gesandt daughter Tochter bed Bett ah ach hound Hund that, the das under unter thank you danke weather Wetter water Wasser man Mann and und
Umlaut
Umlaut = a sound change affecting a, o and u, indicated in the written language by two dots over the vowels.
Essentially, the Umlaut means that the vowels are no longer 'pure'. In the old days such a sound change was represented by writing e or i after the affected vowel, which helps to explain why there's never an Umlaut on an 'e' or an 'i'.
How to pronounce: ä, ö and ü? Here is a rough and ready guide:
Shape your mouth in the way you would do normally to produce the sounds, but try to say: ee instead!
Try this exercise listening to a movie while using the Script to concentrate on words containing an Umlaut.
Eg: listen to the difference between the ü in Übrigens and the u in duzen
Übrigens, wollen wir uns nicht duzen?
1. Consider the effect of the vowels e and i on each other (in the combinations: ei and ie):
Ich nehme ein Bier
2. Fill in the gaps below:
ei sounds like ______ ie sounds like ______
Check your findings with the solution.
ei sounds like eye ie sounds like ee
Consonants
For practical purposes it can be assumed that f, k, m, n, p, t and x are pronounced the same in both languages. What about the rest of the consonants, though?
viel - ich - ach - ja - Sommer - stecken - komisch Wetter - Zimmer - Qualität - Theater
photographieren - gehen - Etage - nächste
Eg: listen to the s and w sounds in the utterance below:
Sehen Sie sich nur das Wetter an!
then fill the gaps in the box:
initial v sounds like ______
ch can sound like the 'h' in huge or the 'ch' in ______
j sounds like ______
s (+ vowel) at the beginning of a word sounds like ______
st at the beginning of a word sounds like ______
sch is pronounced ______
w is pronounced: ______
z is pronounced ______
qu is pronounced ______
ph is pronounced ______
g is pronounced 'soft' in words of foreign origin like the 'g'
in Etage, but normally 'hard' like the 'g' in ______chst is pronounced ______
initial v sounds like English f
ch sounds like the English 'h' in huge
or the 'ch' in Scottish 'Loch Lomond'j sounds like English y
initial s sounds like English z
initial st sounds like English sht
sch is pronounced like English sh
w is pronounced like English v
z is pronounced ts
Cousins
If you enjoy this analytic approach - read on! Consider how sounds relate to each other.
As you've seen above, knowing more about consonant sounds can help you guess the meaning of new words. A reminder:
- The letters of the alphabet are used (alone and in combinations) to represent different sounds. Some consonants are used differently in German, for example, a final 't' sound is represented with 'd' or 'dt'.
- Some English words can be seen as a dialect form of German - they contain sounds which are a 'cousin' of sounds in the corresponding German word/s.
Such 'related' consonant sounds can be considered as 'cousins'. For example, German 'z' is pronounced 'ts' and so it is related to the English use of both 't' and 's'.
Can you allocate the dialect words to an appropriate consonant group? (Some fit more than one group). Highlight the related consonant/s.We've helped by including a few examples and by giving the English equivalent to each word.
beide gesandt Tochter Vater Bett Pfad hoch Kuchen ach Hund lachen das unter über
zäh natürlich danke zehn Mutter Abend Wetter
Wasser machen komisch Jahr Mann und
Consider the following example:
Was machen Sie morgen Abend?
th d dt t tt good / gut both / ______ sent / ______ Path / ______ these / diese father / ______
mother /______ daughter / ______ bed / ______
hound / ______ under / ______ weather / ______
s z ts t that / ______ foot / Fuß daughter / ______ tough / ______ ten / ______ water / ______
p b w f v have / habe four / vier father / ______ over / ______ evening / ______ weather / ______
water / ______
sch ch c ck k g gh h y j
high / ______ cake / ______ book / Buch ah / ach laugh / ______ lucky / glücklich
naturally / ______ sunny / sonnig
yes / ja year / ______ comical / ______
This has been a demanding task! Congratulations if you even attempted it!
Look at the observations below and compare them with your own findings:
th d dt t tt good / gut both / beide sent / gesandt Path / Pfad these / diese father / Vater
mother / Mutter daughter / Tochter bed / Bett
hound / Hund under / unter weather / Wetters z ts t that / das foot / Fuß daughter / Tochter tough / zäh ten / zehn water / Wasser
p b w f v have / habe four / vier father / Vater over / über evening / Abend weather / Wetter
water / Wasser
sch ch c ck k g gh h y j
high / hoch cake / Kuchen book / Buch ah / ach laugh / lachen lucky / glücklich
naturally / natürlich sunny / sonnig
yes / ja year / Jahr comical / komisch
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Copyright ULTRALAB at Anglia Polytechnic University |
