The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents German language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles.
See German phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of German.
| Consonants | | IPA | Examples | English approximation | | b | Ball | ball | | ç | ich | hue | | d | dann | den | | f | Fass | fast | | ɡ | Gast | guest | | h | hat | hat | | j | ja | yard | | k | kalt | kick | | l | Last | last | | m | Mast | mast | | n | Naht | not | | ŋ | lang | long | | p | Pakt | pack | | pf | Pfahl | p + f | | ʁ | Rast[1] | like a French r | | s | Hast | fast | | ʃ | schal | shall | | t | Tal | tall | | ts | Zahl | cats | | tʃ | Matsch | match | | v | was | vast | | x | Bach | as Scottish loch | | z | Hase | hose | | ʔ | beamtet[2]
([bəˈʔamtət]) | the catch in uh-oh! | | Non-native consonants | | ð | Motherboard[3] | as in English | | dʒ | Dschungel | jungle | | ɹ | Rockband[4] | as in English | | w | Walkman[5] | as in English | | θ | Thread[6] | as in English | | ʒ | Genie | beige, Zsa Zsa | | Stress | | ˈ | Bahnhofstraße
(/ˈbaːnhoːfˌʃtʁaːsə/) | as in ˈbattleˌship | | ˌ | | | Vowels | | IPA | Examples | | stressed and unstressed | | a | hat | | aː | bahn | | aɪ | weit | | aʊ | Haut | | eː | Beet | | ɛ | hätte | | ɛː | wähle[7] | | iː | viel | | ɪ | bist | | oː | Boot | | ɔ | Post | | ɔʏ | Heu | | øː | Öl | | œ | göttlich | | uː | Hut | | ʊ | Putz | | yː | Rübe | | ʏ | füllt | | unstressed only | | ɐ | Ober | | ə | halte | | Non-native vowels | | e | Methan | | i | vital | | o | Moral | | ø | Ökonom | | u | kulant | | y | Psychologe | | ã | Pensee[8] | | ãː | Gourmand[8] | | ɛ̃ | timbrieren[9] | | ɛ̃ː | Teint[9] | | ɔ̃ | Fondue[10] | | ɔ̃ː | Fond[10] | | œ̃ | Lundist[11] | | œ̃ː | Parfum[11] | | Marginal vowels | | ɔː | Walkman[12] | | ʌ | Motherboard[13] | | | Semivowels | | IPA | Examples | | ɐ̯ | Uhr | | i̯ | Studie | | u̯ | aktuell | |
- ^ Occasionally transcribed as [r] or [ʀ], which correspond to the value of r in some (mainly Southern) varieties.
- ^ Often not indicated at the beginning of a word, although all apparently vowel-initial words in German actually begin with [ʔ].
- ^ Many German speakers replace [ð] with [z].
- ^ Many German speakers replace [ɹ] with [ʁ].
- ^ Many German speakers replace [w] with [v].
- ^ Many German speakers replace [θ] with [s].
- ^ Often replaced by [eː]
- ^ a b Sometimes replaced by [aŋ].
- ^ a b Sometimes replaced by [ɛŋ].
- ^ a b Sometimes replaced by [ɔŋ].
- ^ a b Sometimes replaced by [œŋ].
- ^ Many German speakers replace [ɔː] with [ɔ] or [oː].
- ^ Many German speakers replace [ʌ] with [a].
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