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 additional letters. Even though 26 of the letters are similar in characterization, they sound differently. Find out more…
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| 1. Definition of the Alphabet 2. The letters of the alphabet with transcription 3. Classifications of the German alphabet 4. The vowels of German alphabet 5. How the German vowels sound in English 6. The consonants of German alphabets 7. How the German consonants sound in English |
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 characters or letters.
The German language or Deutsch has just one alphabet which is closely related to that of English. It is characterized with 26 similar letters with that of English, together with 4 additional letters which are not found in the English alphabet of which three are called umlaut and one called Ligatur. 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 German Alphabet with English Transcription
| Aa/a:/–ah Dd/dei/–day Gg/gei/–gay Jj/jɔt/–yot Mm/emm/ Pp/pei/–pay Ss/es/ Vv/faʊ/–fow Yy/ʊɛːpsilɔːn/–upsilon Ää/ei/–ay | Bb/bei/–bay Ee/ə/–eh Hh/ha:/–hah Kk/kɑː/–kah Nn/enn/ Qq/kʊ/–koo Tt/tei/–tay Ww/vei/–vay Zz/tset/ Öö/ʊɜː/–orr | Cc/tsei/–tsay Ff/ef/ Ii/i:/–ee Ll/el/ Oo/əʊ/–oh Rr/ɜː/–err Uu/uː/–who Xx/iks/–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.
Classification of the letters of the alphabet
The letters of the alphabet are classified into two groups of sounds- vowels and consonants– based on either the free flow or the obstruction of air. These individual vowel and consonant letters make sounds called Monophthong and can combine with each other in twos, threes and fours in what is referred to as Diphthong, Triphthong and Tetraphthong respectively.
The vowels of the German alphabet
Vowel sounds are those that are made with ease and without obstruction of the vocal cord. Monophthong sounds can be a long or short vowel 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 as to perfectly master the letters in German is to perfectly master their sounds. There are nine letters in German alphabet that produce these sounds as described below;
How German Vowels would sound like with English transcription
| 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/ | uoe | Hygiene | /hʊɛː-giən-ə/ |
The consonants of the German alphabet
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;
How German consonants sound like with English Transcription
| 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/ |
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