This article is about the phonology of the German language based on standard German. It deals with current phonology and phonetics as well as with historical developments thereof, including geographical variants (for details, see the articles on History of German and German dialects).
Since German is a pluricentric language, there are a number of different pronunciations of standard German, though they agree in most respects.
Contents |
| front | central | back | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | |||||||
| short | long | short | long | short | long | short | long | |
| close | iː1 | yː1 | uː1 | |||||
| near-close | ɪ | ʏ | ʊ | |||||
| close-mid | eː1 | øː1 | oː1 | |||||
| mid | ə2 | |||||||
| open-mid | ɛ | ɛː3 | œ | ɔ | ||||
| near-open | ɐ2 | |||||||
| open | a | aː | ||||||
The vowels are often analyzed according to a tenseness contrast, /i y u e ø o/ being the tense vowels and /ɪ ʏ ʊ ɛ œ ɔ/ their lax counterparts. Like the English checked vowels, the German lax vowels require to be followed by a consonant, with the notable exception of [ɛː] (which is however absent in many varieties). In order to apply the division into pairs of tense and lax to all German vowels, [a] is sometimes considered the lax counterpart of tense [aː].
In northern German varieties influenced by Low German, long /aː/ is often backed and even slightly rounded ([ɒː]), while short /a/ has a tendency to be pronounced with a strongly fronted quality, almost approaching [æ]. These varieties also consistently lack /ɛː/ and use only /eː/ in its place. Therefore, these varieties could be analysed as lacking contrasting vowel quantity entirely.
The German diphthongs are /a͡ɪ a͡ʊ ɔ͡ʏ/, for instance in Ei /a͡ɪ/ 'egg', Sau /za͡ʊ/ 'sow', neu /nɔ͡ʏ/ 'new'. Occasionally, these are transcribed as /a͡e a͡o ɔ͡ø/. Instead of the transcription /ɔ͡ʏ/, the transcription /ɔ͡ɪ/ is used as well.
Marginally, there are other diphthongs, for instance
and in loanwords, among others, [œɪ̯ ɔʊ̯ ɛɪ̯ o̯a] as in
Usually, these are not counted among the German diphthongs as German speakers often feel they are distinct marks of ‘foreign words’ (Fremdwörter).
In the varieties where speakers vocalize /r/ to [ɐ] in the syllable coda (see below), a diphthong ending in [ɐ̯] may be formed with virtually every vowel, for instance in Tor [tʰoːɐ̯] 'gate' or in Würde [ˈvʏɐ̯də] 'dignity'.
With approximately 25 phonemes, the German consonant system exhibits an average number of consonants in comparison with other languages. One of the more noteworthy ones is the unusual affricate /p͡f/.[1]
| Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p b | t d | k ɡ | ʔ1 | ||||
| Affricate2a | p͡f | t͡s | t͡ʃ d͡ʒ2 | |||||
| Fricative | f v3 | s z | ʃ ʒ2 | ç4 | x4 | ʁ5 | h | |
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ6 | |||||
| Approximant | l | j | ||||||
| Trill | r5 | ʀ5 |
The voiceless stops /p/, /t/, /k/ are aspirated except when preceded by a sibilant. The obstruents /b d ɡ z ʒ/ are voiceless [b̥ d̥ ɡ̊ z̥ ʒ̊] in the Southern varieties.
The term ich-Laut refers to the voiceless palatal fricative [ç], the term ach-Laut to the voiceless velar fricative [x]. In German, these two sounds are allophones occurring in complementary distribution. The allophone [x] occurs after back vowels and /a aː/ (for instance in Buch [buːx] 'book'), the allophone [ç] after front vowels (for instance in ich [ɪç] 'I') and consonants (for instance in Furcht [fʊrçt] 'fear').
In loanwords, pronunciation of potential fricatives in onsets of stressed syllables vary: in the Northern varieties of standard German, it is [ç], while in Southern varieties, it is [kʰ], and in Western varieties, it is [ʃ] (for instance in China: [ˈçiːna] vs. [ˈkʰiːna] vs. [ˈʃiːna]).
The diminutive suffix -chen is always pronounced with an ich-Laut [-çən].[5] Usually, this ending triggers umlaut (compare for instance Hund 'dog' to Hündchen 'little dog'), so theoretically, it could only occur after front vowels. However, in some comparatively recent coinings, there is no longer an umlaut, for instance in the word Frauchen [ˈfra͡ʊçən] 'mistress (of a dog)' (a diminutive of Frau 'woman'), so that a back vowel is followed by [ç], even though normally it would be followed by a [x], as in rauchen [ˈraʊxən] 'to smoke'. This exception to the allophonic distribution is considered by some to be an effect of the morphemic boundary. However, many phoneticians believe that this is an example of phonemicization, where erstwhile allophones undergo a split into separate phonemes.
The allophonic distribution of [ç] after front vowels and [x] after other vowels is also found in other languages, such as Scots, in the pronunciation of light. However, it is by no means inevitable: Dutch, Yiddish, and many Southern German dialects retain [x] in all positions. It is thus reasonable to assume that Old High German ih, the ancestor of modern ich, was pronounced with [x] rather than [ç]. And while it is impossible to know for certain whether Old English words such as niht (modern night) were pronounced with [x] or [ç], [ç] is likely (see Old English phonology#Consonant allophones).
Despite the phonetic history, the complementary distribution of [ç] and [x] in modern Standard German is better described as backing of /ç/ after a back vowel, rather than fronting of /x/ after a front vowel, because [ç] is used in onsets (Chemie [çemiː]) and after consonants (Molch [mɔlç]), and is thus the underlying form of the phoneme.
According to Kohler,[6] the German ach-Laut is further differentiated into two allophones, [x] and [χ]: [x] occurs after /uː oː/ (for instance in Buch [buːx] 'book') and [χ] after /a aː/ (for instance in Bach [baχ] 'brook'), while either [x] or [χ] may occur after /ʊ ɔ a͡ʊ/, with [χ] predominating.
Various German consonants occur in pairs at the same place of articulation and in the same manner of articulation, namely the pairs /p-b/, /t-d/, /k-ɡ/, /s-z/, /ʃ-ʒ/. These pairs are often called fortis-lenis pairs, since describing them as voiced/voiceless pairs is inadequate. With certain qualifications, /t͡ʃ-d͡ʒ, f-v/ are also considered fortis-lenis pairs.
The fortis plosives /p, t, k/ are aspirated in most varieties (exceptions include Bavarian-Austrian varieties). The aspiration is strongest in the onset of a stressed syllable (such as Taler [tʰaːlər]), weaker in the onset of an unstressed syllable (such as Vater [faːtʰər]), and weakest in the syllable coda (such as in Saat [zaːtʰ]).
The lenis consonants /b, d, ɡ, z, ʒ/ are voiceless in most southern varieties of German. For clarity, they are often transcribed as [b̥, d̥, ɡ̊, z̥, ʒ̊]. The nature of the phonetic difference between the voiceless lenis consonants and the similarly voiceless fortis consonants is controversial. It is generally described as a difference in articulatory force, and occasionally as a difference in articulatory length; for the most part, it is assumed that one of these characteristics implies the other.
In most varieties of German, the opposition between fortis and lenis is neutralized in the syllable coda, due to terminal devoicing (Auslautverhärtung). A few southern varieties of German, such as Swiss German, present an exception to this.
In various central and southern varieties, the opposition between fortis and lenis is also neutralized in the syllable onset; sometimes just in the onset of stressed syllables, sometimes in all cases.
The pair /f-v/ is not considered a fortis-lenis pair, but a simple voiceless-voiced pair, as /v/ remains voiced in all varieties, including the Southern varieties that devoice the lenes. Generally, the southern /v/ is realized as the voiced approximant [ʋ]. However there are southern varieties which differentiate between a fortis /f/ (such as in sträflich [ˈʃtrɛːflɪç] from Middle High German stræflich) and a lenis /f/ ([v̥], such as in höflich [ˈhøːv̥lɪç] from Middle High German hovelîch); this is analogous to the opposition of fortis /s/ ([s]) and lenis [z̥].
Stress in German usually falls on the first syllable, with the following exceptions:
Moreover, German makes a distinction in stress between separable prefixes (stress on prefix) and inseparable prefixes (stress on root) in verbs and words derived from such verbs. Therefore:
A merger found mostly in Northern accents of German is that of /ɛː/ (spelled ä, äh) with /eː/ (spelled e, ee, or eh). Some speakers merge the two everywhere, some distinguish them everywhere, others keep /ɛː/ distinct only in conditional forms of strong verbs (for example they distinguish ich gäbe 'I would give' vs. ich gebe 'I give', but not Bären 'bears' vs. Beeren 'berries').
Another common merger is that of /ɡ/ at the end of a syllable with /ç/ or respectively /x/, for instance Krieg [ˈkʁiːç], but Kriege [ˈkʁiːɡə]. This pronunciation is frequent all over Central and Northern Germany. At least in Northern Germany this can be considered a substrate of Low German, where the G was a fricative, becomine voiceless in the syllable coda, as it is common in Dutch, Low German and German. Only in one case, in the grammatical ending -ig (which corresponds to English -y), this pronunciation is prescribed by the Siebs standard, for instance wichtig [ˈvɪçtɪç]. The merger occurs neither in Austro-Bavarian and Alemannic German nor in the corresponding varieties of standard German.
Many speakers do not distinguish the affricate pf from the simple fricative f in the beginning of a word. The verb (er) fährt '(he) travels' and the noun Pferd 'horse' are then equally pronounced [fɛɐt]. This occurs especially in regions where pf does not originally occur in the local dialects, i.e. Northern and Western Germany. Some speakers even avoid pf in the middle or ending of a word, replacing it by a both labialized and aspirated version of [p], whereby Tropfen 'drop' sounds like [tʁɔpʰʷn]
In everyday speech, also of educated people, many more mergers occur, some of which are universal and some of which are typical for certain regions or dialect backgrounds. Overall, there is a strong tendency to reduction and contraction. For example, long vowels may be shortened, consonant clusters may be simplified, short e in the ending of a word may be dropped in some positions, and the suffix -en may be contracted with preceding consonants, e.g. [ham] for haben [haːbən].
The Middle High German vowels [ei] and [iː] developed into the modern Standard German diphthong [ai], and [ou] and [uː] developed into [au]. For example, Middle High German heiz and wîz ('hot' and 'white') became Standard German heiß and weiß. In other dialects, the Middle High German vowels developed differently: Bavarian hoaß and weiß, Ripuarian heeß and wieß, Swiss German heiss and wiiss, Yiddish "heys" and "vays".
The Middle High German diphthongs [iə] and [uə] became the modern Standard German long vowels [iː] and [uː] after the Middle High German long vowels changed to diphthongs. In most Upper German dialects, the diphthongs are retained. A remnant of their former diphthong character is shown when [iː] continues to be written ie in German (as in Liebe).
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