Learn German Phonetics with IPA

study › German

Pronunciation

alphabet

consonants in IPA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzrLZi6fipA

/l/ in English vs in German

/η/: sometime, it is with /g/ sound in English. But g is unvoiced in German.

/∫/: the tongue is a little backward in German compared with English.

/ʔ/: more intense

3 consonant clusters:

/t∫/, Ger., Matsch, meaning mud

/pf/, Pfeil, meaning arrow

/ts/, Zahl, meaning number

3 unique ones:

/ʁ/, use the back of the tongue. E.g., Ratte

/x/, E.g., Bach

/ç/, Licht

vowels

https://youtu.be/kEHfUKJ_yms?si=2GLHVh2g0ZbzV__-

/a:/

/e:/,

/o:/, Boot, boat

In German, Boot stays put in /o:/ sound.

rounded vowels:

/œ/

unaccented vowels: /ə/ and /ɐ/

schwa /ə/, brtween /a:/ and /i/

/ɐ/

3 comibining vowels: diphthongs

Germans tend to go faster to the second vowel.

/œʏ/

spelling systems

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg2NMEONKxk

  1. word stress

quotation mark: ['] = stress the next syllable

compound words: when two words are structed, it keeps origal pattern.

  1. voiced and unvoiced consonants: whether the sound cord is buzzing or not. For example, /s/ vs /z/

    • When consonants are put at the end of the word, it is unvoiced.

      • Hand, /hant/, Engl. hand

    • German compound words: every word element stays the same

    • the tricky thing is not knowing which words are compounds

  2. vowel length

    • short vowels = long consonants

    • short vowels are followed by 2 consonants

    • long vowels are followed by one or fewer consonants or ‘H’