Posted by The alphabet of any language is the first step to learning it. It serves as its bedrock. The German alphabet is closely related to that of English but with some addition. The letters are similar but sound differently. Most interesting is the addition of the four extra letters which makes it a total of 30. Find out more…
| Content in this post |
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| 1. Definition of the Alphabet 2. How to pronounce the letters of the german Alphabet 3. German phonetics; vowels and consonants 4. Monophthongs 5. Diphthongs 6. Triphthongs 7. Tetraphthongs 8. Tips on how to pronounce a german word correctly |
From the definition of the Oxford dictionary, the alphabet is a characterized set of letters and/or symbols in a fixed order that is used to represent the basic set of speech sounds of any language. German language has one alphabet that is comprised of 30 character or letters.
The German or Deutsch alphabet is closely related to that of English. It has 26 similar characters or letters with that of English, together with 4 additional characters called umlaut and Ligatur which are not found in the English alphabet. This gives a total of 30 letters. The three umlauts are typically obtained from the plain letters but with two dots above it. The ligature which is also called scharfes s is often used in english as ss. The letters are shown below.
| Aa/a:/–ah Dd/deɪ/–day Gg/geɪ/–gay Jj/jɔt/–yot Mm/em/ Pp/peɪ/–pay Ss/es/ Vv/faʊ/–fow Yy/ʊɛːpsilɔːn/–upsilon Ää/ei/–ay | Bb/beɪ/–bay Ee/ə/–eh Hh/ha:/–hah Kk/kɑː/–kah Nn/en/ Qq/kʊ/–koo Tt/teɪ/–tay Ww/veɪ/–vay Zz/tset/ Öö/ʊɜː/–or | Cc/tseɪ/–tsay Ff/ef/ Ii/i:/–ee Ll/el/ Oo/əʊ/–oh Rr/ɜː/–err Uu/uː/–who Xx/ɪks/–eeks ß/eset/ Üü/ijuː/–eew |
As seen in the illustration above, the pronunciation of the German alphabet has been simplified in two ways — the layman’s way and the oral transcription for a better understanding.
Since pronunciation is a very important part of any language, German in particular has an intriguing layout. As a matter of fact, it is much simpler than English 🤷♀️. I say this because German is a straight forward language. The rules are straight, simple and very easy to follow unlike English.
To pronounce in German, a distinct knowledge of two things is required;
- The letters/ characters of the alphabet
- The sounds/ phonetics of the alphabet
The letters of the alphabet are just the patterns or characters of the alphabet that aid spelling and writing. Each of the 30 letters are divided into two groups – vowel and consonant based on the individual sound they produce. This individual sound is what is necessary for pronouncing a German word and must never be mistaken for the name of the letter that produces it even though some names of some German letters are the same as the sounds they produce.
**Note that the names of the letters are used for spelling out a word while the sounds are used for pronunciation.
Phonetics of the German alphabet
Phonetics is the sound produced by the letters of the alphabet which is necessary for pronunciation and speaking. The phonetics of the German alphabet is divided into four groups;
- Monophthong
- Diphthong
- Triphthong
- Tetraphthong
Monophthongs in German
A Monophthong is the sound produced by a single letter of the alphabet. There are two subgroups of this sound;
- Vowels/ Vokale
- Consonants/ Konsonanten
Vokale (vowel sounds)
Vowel sounds are those that are made with ease and without obstruction of the vocal cord. Each one of the vowels can be long or short depending on the position of the stress and the consonants that precede and succeed them.
One beautiful thing about the German vowels is that they have the same sounds as the name of the letters. This makes the difference in English. To perfectly master the sounds in German is to perfectly master the letters of the alphabet. There are nine letters in German alphabet that produce these sounds as described below.
| German sounds | As pronounced in English | German examples | Transcription in English |
|---|---|---|---|
| /a/ | ah | Apfel | /ap-fel/ |
| /ä/ | ay | Getränk | /Gə-treiŋk/ |
| /e/ 1. Always 2. Directly before l, m, n | ey eh | Egge Elefant, Empfang, Verben | /əg-gə/ /elə-fant/, /em-ŋfaŋ/, /vɛː-ben/ |
| /i/ | ee | Igel | /i-gel/ |
| /o/ | oo | Obst | /əʊbst/ |
| /ö/ | oer | Öffentlichkeit | /ʊɜːf-fent-liʃ-kait/ |
| /u/ 1. Always 2. Directly after q- | who v | Pulver Bequem, Quasi | /pul-vɛː/ /bək-vəm/, /kva-zi:/ |
| /ü/ | eew | Überall | /iju:-bɛː-al/ |
| /y/ | ooe | Hygiene | /hʊɛː-giə-nə/ |
Konsonanten (consonant sounds)
Consonant sounds are produced when the vocal tract is closed thereby preventing the free flow of air. In simpler terms, they are every other sound in the German alphabet that is not a vowel.
The German alphabet has 21 consonants. Unlike the vowels, the consonants produce sounds that are different from the names of the letters. Nevertheless, it is the sound produced that is used for pronunciation. Below are the consonant sounds in German;
| German sounds | As pronounced in English | German examples | Transcription in English |
|---|---|---|---|
| /b/ 1. At the beginning of a word/syllable 2. At the end of a word/syllable | b p | Bett, Beschreibung Betrieb, Beobachtung | /bet/, /bei-ʃrai-buŋ/ /bə-tri:p/, /bə-əʊp-ak-tuŋ/ |
| /c/ | k | Calvados | /kal-va-dəʊz/ |
| /d/ 1. At the beginning of a word or syllable 2. At the end of a word or syllable | d t | Dorf, Bäder Hund, Landkarte | /dɔ:f/, /bei-dɛː/ /hunt/, /lant-ka:-tə/ |
| /f/ | f | Fisch, Strafe | /fiʃ/, /ʃtra-fə/ |
| /g/ 1. At the beginning of word or syllable 2. At the end of a word or syllable 3. Before -e at the end of Latin words 4. Directly after -i- at the end of a word. | g k j shh | Garten Betrag Garage Ledig, Honig, Käfig | /ga:-ten/ /be-trak/ /ga-ra-dʒə/ /lə-diʃ/, /həʊ-niʃ/, /kei-fiʃ/ |
| /h/ | h | Hacke, Behebung | /ha:-kə/, /bei-hei-buŋ/ |
| /j/ | y | Jacke, Bejahung | /ja-kei/, /bei-ja:-uŋ/ |
| /k/ | k | Kabel, Tabak | /ka-bel/, /ta-bak/ |
| /l/ | l | Lampe | /lam-pei/ |
| /m/ | m | Mann | /manŋ/ |
| /n/ | n | Nagel | /na-gel/ |
| /p/ | p | Papier | /pa-pi-jɛː/ |
| /q/ | k | Queue | /ku/ |
| /r/ | r | Regen | /rei-gen/ |
| /s/ 1. In single form 2. In double form 3. After -ch- 4. Before -p or -t 5. Before -z | z ssss ssss shh ts | Salz Wasser Sechs, Wechsel Start, Anspruch Szenen | /zalts/ /va-sɛː/ /zeks/, /vek-sel/ /ʃta:t/, /an-ʃpruckh/ /tsei-nen/ |
| /t/ 1. Always 2. Foreign words that contain -tion or -tive | t ts | Tiger Initiative, Informationen | /ti-gɛː/ /i-ni-tsi:a-ti-və/, /in-fɔ:-ma-tsiɔn-en/ |
| /v/ 1. Always 2. In Latin/ foreign words | f v | Vater, Vogel November, Video | /fa-tɛː/, /fəʊ-gel/ /nəʊ-vem-bɛː/, /vi-di-əʊ/ |
| /w/ | v | Wand, Welt | /vant/, /velt/ |
| /x/ | iks | X-Beine | /iks-bai-nə/ |
| /z/ | ts | Zie-ge | /tsi:-gə/ |
| /ß/ | ssss | Grüß, Fußball | /grijuːs/, /fuːs-ba:l/ |
Diphthongs in German
A Diphthong is the combination of two sounds which blend together to become one unique new sound. These sounds combination can be between two vowels or two consonants or even a vowel to a consonant. The diphthongs in German are described below.
| German sounds | As pronounced in English | German examples | Transcription in English |
|---|---|---|---|
| /ei/, /ai/ and /ay/ | eye | Reis, Bay-ern, Rain | /raɪz/, /baɪ-ɛːn/, /raɪn/ |
| /eu/ and /äu/ | oy | Eu-ro, Käu-fer | /ɔɪ-rəʊ/, /kɔɪ-fɛː/ |
| /au/ | ow | Blau | /blaʊ/ |
| /ie/ 1. Within a word or syllable 2. As a Monophthong at the end of a word | ee ee-eh | Tief Familie | /ti:f/ /fa-mi-liə/ |
| /er/ and /är/ | air | Bär | /bɛː/ |
| /sp/ | shhp | Spaß, Sprach | /ʃpa:s/, /ʃpra:kh/ |
| /st/ | shht | Stark, Stau-ung | /ʃta:k/, /ʃtaʊ-uŋ/ |
| /th/ | dt | The-ma, Ryth-mus | /dti:-ma/, /rʊɛdt-muz/ |
| /ss/ | ssss | Schloss, Wa-sser | /ʃləʊs/, /va-sɛː/ |
| /pf/ | ngf | Topf, Pferd | /təʊŋf/, /ŋfɛːt/ |
| /ng/ | ng | Wohnung, Sendung | /wəʊ-nuŋ/, /zeɪn-duŋ/ |
| /ck/ | k | Zucker, Wecker | /tsu-kɛː/, /və-kɛː/ |
| /ch/ 1. Directly after a, o, u or au 2. Directly before s and z 3. Before or after other letters | kh k shh (short) | Bauch, Buch Sechs, Wech-seln Ich, Licht, Milch, Mich, Reich, Feucht | /baʊkh/, /bukh/ /zəks/, /vəkseln/ /ɪʃ/, /lɪʃt/, /mɪlʃ/, /mɪʃ/, /raɪʃ/, /fɔɪʃt/ |
Triphthongs in German
A Triphthong is the combination of three sounds as one unique sound. German language has just one of this sound which is /sch/ and it’s a combination of three consonant sounds. See guide on how to pronounce these sounds below.
| German sounds | As pronounced in English | German examples | Transcription in English |
|---|---|---|---|
| /sch/ | shh (long) | Schu-le, Schnei-den, Schlaf | /ʃuː-leɪ/, /ʃnaɪ-den/, /ʃla:f/ |
Tetraphthongs in German
This is a combination of four sounds which blend together as one new original sound. There are two of this sound in German; /dsch/ and /tsch/.
| German sounds | Contrasting English sound | German examples | English transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
| /dsch/ | j | Dschun-gel, O-ran-ge | /dʒun-gl/, /əʊ- raŋ-dʒei/ |
| /tsch/ | tshh | Deutsch | /dɔɪtʃ/ |
Pronunciation Rules in German
After learning the alphabet correctly, it is very important to note the fundamental rule of pronouncing a German word;
The sound of every letter, most especially the vowels must be pronounced out individually except it is a diphthong, triphthong or tetraphthong.
What this means is that if you have for instance the English word “meat” which consists of four letters, the four sounds of the four letters must sound out. In this instance, “meat” would be pronounced as “ME–AT” (mi-ah-t) if it were a German word or a word with a series of vowels e.g “Meier”, “Feier”, “Beeilen” etc. You pick out the possible German diphthong and monophthong and pronouns each individually. Hence, “Meier” is blendly pronounced as “Mei-e-r”.
Practice;
Try to pronounce the following English words assuming they are pronounced by German speakers.
| English words | As pronounced would be pronounced by a german speaker |
|---|---|
| Radio Information jug single break | rah-di-o in-for-mah-tsion yuk zink-le bre-ahk |
| Summary |
|---|
| 1. “s” can be pronounced in four ways in German (sss, z, ts, shh) based on different conditions. 2. “ss” and “ß” both have the same fluent “sssss” sound but are used under different circumstances. This is how they are distinguished; “ss” is used when preceding vowel sound is a short one e.g “Schloss” while “ß” is used when the preceding vowel is a long one e.g “Grüß”. 3. “t” is usually pronounced as “t” but in borrowed English or Latin words, it becomes “ts” e.g “Isolation” and “initiative” is pronounced as “ee-zoh-lah-tsion” and “ee-neat-siah-tea-veh respectively. 4. Some borrowed words with “v” are pronounced as “v” instead of “f” e.g video, verb, november etc. |