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Alphabet & Pronunciation
German alphabet, umlauts, ß, vowel length and key pronunciation rules
Lange vs kurze Vokale
Long vs short vowels
Saat vs satt
Doubled vowel/h = long; double consonant = short preceding vowel
Vokal + h = lang: gehen, Bahn
Vowel + h = long
gayn, bahn
Silent h lengthens the vowel: Sohn, ihn, Uhr
Doppelkonsonant = kurzer Vokal
Double consonant = short vowel
Mutter, kommen, Sonne
Double consonant signals a short preceding vowel
ei vs ie: [ai] vs [ee]
ei vs ie: ai sound vs ee sound
ei=[ai], ie=[ee]
Wein [vain] vs Wien [veen] — opposite of intuition
eu/äu = [oy]
eu/äu = oy sound
oy
neu [noy], Häuser [HOY-zer] — both = oy
r — vokalisiert am Wortende
r — vocalised at word end
Vater=[FAH-ta]
Final -er sounds like [a]: Mutter, besser
Auslautverhärtung: Tag=[tahk]
Final devoicing: day=[tahk]
Tag=[tahk], Hund=[hoont]
Final b/d/g devoice to p/t/k
Knacklaut (glottal stop)
Glottal stop before initial vowels
be-amten, ver-eisen
Each vowel-initial syllable gets a glottal onset
Wortakzent: meist erste Silbe
Word stress: usually first syllable
ARbeit, FENster
Native German words stress the first syllable
Betonung bei Vorsilben: untrennbar vs trennbar
Stress with prefixes: inseparable vs separable
UMfahren vs umFAHREN
Stress distinguishes separable (stressed) from inseparable