Das Alphabet ~ The alphabet
The German alphabet, like English, consists of 26 basic letters. However, there are also four? combined letters and four
umlauted forms (an umlaut is the pair of dots placed over certain vowels). The following table includes a listing of all
these letters and a guide to their pronunciation. As in English, letter sounds can differ depending upon where within a word the
letter occurs. The first pronunciation given below (second column) is that in English of the letter (or combination) itself.
Reading down this column and pronouncing the "English" words will recite the alphabet auf Deutsch ("in German"). Note
that letter order is exactly the same as in English, but pronunciation is not for many of the letters. In the list of
pronunciation notes, no entry means essentially "pronounced as in English".
A (ah) Long 'a' as 'a' in 'father' (ah); short 'a' as 'o' in 'come'
B (bay)
C (tsay) See combination letter forms;
whithout a following 'h' like the german z (occurs only at the begin of a word)
D (day) Pronounced like 't' when at the end of a word; slightly more "dental"
E (ay) Long 'e' as 'a' in 'late' (ay); there is no movement in the sound as in the english
equivalent. Short 'e' as 'e' in 'pet'
F (ef)
G (gay)
H (hah) Silent when appearing in the middle of a word
I (ee) Long 'i' as 'e' in 'seen' (ee); short 'i' as 'i' in 'pit'
J (yot) Pronounced like 'y'
K (kah)
L (el) Slightly more "dental"
M (em)
N (en) Slightly more "dental"
O (oh) Long 'o' as 'o' in 'open' (oh), there is no movement in the sound as in the english
equivalent. Short 'o' as 'o' in 'pot'
P (pay)
Q (koo) Pronounced like 'k'; only occurs in the combination 'qu', which is pronounced like
'kv' not like 'kw'
R (air) trilled (see below)
S (ess) Pronounced like 'z' at beginning of a word
T (tay) Slightly more "dental"
U (oo) Long 'u' as 'oo' in 'moon' (oo); short 'u' as 'u' in 'put'
V (fow) Pronounced like 'f' in a few word of germanic origin. In all other cases like 'v'
W (vay) Pronounced like 'v'
X (iks) Pronounced like 'ks'
Y (oopsilon) Pronounced like 'ü' (see below), except in words of English origin, where it is
pronounced like 'i'
Z (tset) Pronounced like 'ts'
umlaut letters
Note that umlauts were originally written as 'ae', 'ie', 'oe', and 'ue'.
Ä (ah-umlaut) Long ä pronounced similar to long e (ay)
Äu (ah-umlaut-oo) Pronounced like 'oi' in 'oil'
Ö (oh-umlaut) No English equivalent sound (see below)
Ü (oo-umlaut) No English equivalent sound (see below)
combined letters
ch (tsay-hah) Pronounced various ways (see Konsonanten sounds below)
ck (tsay-kah)
ß (ess-tset or sharfas ess) Pronounced as the 'ss' in 'less'; see below for uses.
tz (tay-tset)
ie
ei
eu
äu
au
st
sp
sch
ph
pf
qu
...
Audio: OGG (114KB) ~ Das Alphabet oder Das ABC
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Deutsche Aussprache ~ German Pronunciation Guide
Vokale ~ Vowels
German vowels are either long or short, but never drawled as in some English dialects. A simple method of recognizing whether
a vowel is likely to be long or short in a German word is called the Rule of double consonants. If a vowel is
followed by a single consonant — as in haben (have), dir (you,
dat.), Peter (Peter), and schon (already) — the vowel sound is
usually long. If there are two or more consonants following the vowel — as in falsch
(false), elf (eleven), immer (always), and noch
(still) — the vowel sound is usually short. There are some German words that are exceptions to the double
consonant rule: bin, bis, das, es, hat, and was all have short vowel
sounds. It is also the case that the silent 'h' does not count as a consonant and the preceeding vowel is always long.
Ihnen is an example.
This "rule" is applied to the use of 'ss' vs. 'ß' (see below), in that 'ß' is treated as a single consonant. Thus, the vowel
before 'ß' in der Fuß (foot) is long, while that before 'ss' in das Fass (cask) is short.
- au – 'Ah-oo' is prononced like 'ow' in English 'cow'. German examples are blau
(blue) and auch (also see below under ach ~ unique German sounds).
- äu – 'Ah-umlaut-oo' is pronounced like the German eu (ay-oo; see next). In written and
printed German, 'ae' can be an acceptable subsitute for 'ä' if the latter is unavailable.
- eu – 'Ay-oo' is pronounced like 'oi' in English word 'oil'. German examples are
neun (nine) and heute (today).
- ie and ei – 'Ee-ay' has exactly the same sound as a German long 'i'; that is, like the 'ee'
in 'seen'. 'Ay-ee' is pronounced like the 'ei' in 'height'. Note that this appears to be the opposite for these two vowel
combinations in English, where the rule is that the first vowel is long and the second is silent. Consider this word: 'die' — in
German it is pronounced 'dee', in English like 'dye'. The word mein in German is the English 'mine'. In effect, 'ie'
follows the same rule as in English, with the first vowel long (ee in German) and the second vowel silent; 'ei' is the equivalent
sound in German to the English long 'i' as in 'mine'.
Konsonanten ~ Consonants
Most German consonants are pronounced similar to the way they are in English, with exceptions noted in column 3 above. Details
of certain consonant sounds and uses are discussed further here:
- ch – Pronounced like 'k' in many words of Greek origin like Christ or Charakter, but like
'sh' in words of French origin, and 'tch' in words of English origin. The German sechs (six) is pronounced very much
similar to the English 'sex'. See also the discussion of "ich-sound" below.
- d, t, l, and n – These letters are pronounced similarly
in English and German. However, in pronouncing these letters, the German extends his tongue up to the back of the base of the
teeth, creating a more dental sound. As noted above, 'd' is a 'dental d' except at the end of a word, where it
becomes a 'dental t'.
- sch – 'Ess-tsay-hah' is pronounced like 'sh' in German, not 'sk' as in English. German word example:
Schüler (student).
- sp and st – Where the combinations 'ess-pay' or 'ess-tay' appear at the beginning of a word, the 'ess' sound
becomes an 'sh' sound. German examples are spielen (play) and spät (late). An interesting "exception" is a word
like Bleistift (pencil), where the inside 'sti' is pronounced 'shti' — however, this is a compound word from
Blei (lead) and Stift (pen). The letter combination 'sch' is also pronounced as 'sh'.
- ß – The double consonant, 'ess-tset' is widely used in German, but its use is somewhat more restricted in
very modern German. It replaces 'ess-ess' in many words depending upon the preceeding vowel sound. Thus, the vowel before 'ß' in
der Fuß (foot) is long, while that before 'ss' in das Fass (cask) is short. 'ß' appears after diphthongs ('au',
'ei', 'eu') because they are long. In written and printed German, 'ss' can be an acceptable subsitute for 'ß' if the latter is
unavailable. In Switzerland, 'ß' is always written as 'ss'.
Unique German Sounds
There are sounds in the German language that have no real equivalent in the English language. These are discussed here.
- r – German language has two pronunciations for r: The more common is a guttural sound resembling a
fractionated g, as found in Arabic غ or some pronunciations of modern Greek γ. The second
pronounciation is a "rolled" r as in Spanish or Scots. Its use is limited to Switzerland and parts of Southern
Germany.
- ö (oh-umlaut) – The word "umlaut" means "change in sound" and an umlauted 'o' changes to a sound with no
equivalent in English. The 'long ö' is made by first sounding 'oo' as in moon, then pursing the lips as if to whistle, and
changing the sound to 'a' as in 'late'. An example word is schön (beautiful). The 'short ö' sound is
made by first sounding 'oo', pursing the lips, and changing the sound to 'e' as in 'pet. An example word is
zwölf (twelve). If you have problems pronouncing ö, do not replace it by "o" but by "e" (as in elf) like
in many German dialects. In written and printed German, 'oe' can be an acceptable subsitute for 'ö' if the latter is
unavailable.
- ü (oo-umlaut) – As with 'ö', 'oo-umlaut' is a rounded vowel sound with no English equivalent. The 'long ü'
is made by first sounding 'oo' as in moon, then pursing the lips as if to whistle, and changing the sound to 'ee' as in
'seen'. An example word is früh. The 'short ü' sound is made by first sounding 'oo', pursing the lips,
and changing the sound to 'i' as in 'pit. An example word is fünf (five). If you have problems
pronouncing ü, do not replace it by "u" but by "i" (as in fish) like in many German dialects. In written and
printed German, 'ue' can be an acceptable subsitute for 'ü' if the latter is unavailable.
- ach – The letter combination 'ch' as in auch (also) is called the "ach-sound" and resembles a
throat-clearing (guttural) sound. It is used after 'a', 'o', 'u', and 'au'. It is pronounced somewhat like "och" in Loch
Ness (lock, not loke) in its original form. The Hebrew letter ח and the Arabic letter خ as well as continental
Spanish j are pronounced the same as the "ach-sound".
- ich – The "ich-sound" in German is also somewhat gutteral, like a more forceful 'h' in English 'hue',
'huge', or a softer 'ick' with more breath. In the word richtig (right) the 'ich' has this sound as does the final 'ig'.
It is used after 'e', 'i', 'ö', 'ä', 'ü', 'ei', 'eu', 'äu', and at the beginning of words. If you have problems pronouncing
ich, replace with the sound of 'hue' or by 'sh' but never by a hard 'k' (never "ick")! Note: in some areas of Germany,
"ich" is pronounced "ish".
Audio: OGG (37KB) ~ ach, auch, ich, richtig
Syllable Stress
The general rule in German is that words are stressed on the first syllable. However, there are exceptions. Almost all
exceptions are of latin, french, or greek origin. Mostly these are words stressed on the last syllable, as shown by the
following:
Vo=`kal Kon=so=`nant Lek=ti=`on
These words (not stressed on the first syllable) appear in the (Level II and III) lesson vocabularies as
Vokal, Konsonant, Lektion, etc.
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Copyright Laurent Camus (EFL teacher)
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