German Pronunciation – 4stepstofluency

This page has 2 primary uses:-

Use it as a reference page to learn the IPA symbols of the German language.
Use it to familiarize yourself with the sounds of the German language if you’re just beginning your studies.

Consonants
IPA	Examples	Listen	English approximation
b	Ball	▸	ball
ç	durch, ich	▸	hue
d	dann	▸	done
f	Fass, Vogel	▸	fuss
ɡ	Gast	▸	guest
h	hat	▸	hut
j	ja	▸	yard
k	kalt	▸	cold
l	Last	▸	last
m	Mast	▸	must
n	Naht	▸	not
ŋ	lang	▸	long
p	Pakt	▸	puck
pf	Pfahl	▸	cupfull
ʀ	rast	▸	red (Northumbrian Burr)
s	Hast	▸	fast
ʃ	schal, Stein	▸	shall
t	Tal	▸	tall
ts	Zahl	▸	cats
tʃ	Matsch	▸	match
v	was	▸	vanish
x	Bach	▸	loch (Scottish English)
z	Hase	▸	hose
ʔ	beamtet ([bəˈʔamtət])	▸	the glottal stop in uh-oh!
Non-native consonants
dʒ	Dschungel	▸	jungle
ʒ	Genie	▸	pleasure
Stress
ˈ	Bahnhofstraße ([ˈbaːnhoːfˌʃtʁaːsə])	▸	as in battleship /ˈbætəlˌʃɪp/
ˌ	Bahnhofstraße	▸	Secondary Stress

Vowels
IPA	Examples	Listen	English approximation
Monophthongs
a	Dach	▸	bra (but shorter)
aː	Bahn	▸	bra
eː	Beet	▸	feet
ɛ	hätte, Bett,	▸	bed
ɛː	wähle	▸	says
iː	viel	▸	feel
ɪ	bist	▸	sit
oː	Boot	▸	roughly like law (British English)
ɔ	Post	▸	cost
øː	Öl	▸	roughly like hurt
œ	göttlich	▸	roughly like hurt
uː	Hut	▸	true
ʊ	Putz	▸	took
yː	Rübe	▸	roughly like few
ʏ	füllt	▸	much like the above but shorter
Diphthongs
aɪ	weit	▸	tie
aʊ	Haut	▸	how
ɔʏ	Heu, Räuber	▸	roughly like boy
Reduced vowels
ɐ	Ober	▸	fun
ə	halte	▸	comma (when pronounced without stress)
Semivowels
ɐ̯	Uhr	▸	comma
i̯	Studie	▸	studio
u̯	aktuell	▸	actual
Non-native vowels
e	Methan	▸	(short [eː])
i	vital	▸	city (short [iː])
o	Moral	▸	(short [oː])
ø	Ökonom	▸	(short [øː])
u	kulant	▸	(short [uː])
y	Psychologie	▸	(short [yː])

These tables represent standard German pronunciation but there are a few minor regional variations.

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