Posted by The phonetics of every language begins with the pronunciation of their alphabet. In German, the phonetics of the vowels is usually the same as the name they are called but gets modified when they are in a combined form as in diphthong, triphthong and tetraphthong.
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| 1. Definition of phonetics 2. Monophthongs in German 3. Diphthongs in German 4. Triphthongs in German 5. Tetraphthongs in German |
According to Cambridge dictionary, phonetics is the study of sound made by the human voice in speech. The phonetics of the German pronunciation is divided into four groups namely;
- Monophthong
- Diphthong
- Triphthong
- Tetraphthong
Monophthongs of German Phonetics
A Monophthong is the sound produced by a single letter of the alphabet. There are two subgroups of this sound;
- Vowels/ Vokale: They are the letters a, ä, e, i, o, ö, u, ü, y.
- Consonants/ Konsonanten: They are every other letters that are not listed above e.g b, c, d, f etc.
Diphthongs in German
A Diphthong is the combination of two monophthong sounds which blend together to become one unique new sound. This sound combination can be between two vowels or two consonants or even a vowel and a consonant. The diphthongs in German are described below.
| German sounds | As pronounced in English | German examples | Transcription in English |
|---|---|---|---|
| /ei/ /ai/ /ay/ | eye | Reis Rain Bay-ern | /raɪz/ /rai:n/ /bai:-ɛːn/ |
| /eu/ /äu/ | oy | Eu-ro Käu-fer | /ɔɪ-rəʊ/ /kɔɪ-fɛː/ |
| /au/ | ow | Blau | /blaʊ/ |
| /ie/ | ee | Tief, Familie | /ti:f/, /fa-mi-liə/ |
| /er/ /är/ | air | Zucker Bär | /tsu-k /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/ |
| /ts/ | bats | /Tradition/ /Zucker/ | /tsuker/ |
| /ss/ | ssss | Schloss, Wa-sser | /ʃləʊs/, /va-sɛː/ |
| /pf/ | ngf | Topf, Pferd | /təʊŋf/, /ŋfɛːt/ |
| /ng/ | ng | Wohnung, Sendung | /vəʊ-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 | khr 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 monophthong sounds as one unique sound. German language has just one of this sound which is /sch/ and it’s a combination of three consonant letters. 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/ |