German Linguistics Lectures

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German Linguistics Lectures

• Lecture 11
• German and the Phonetic Alphabet
• Designed by Paul Joyce
• University of Portsmouth
• E-Mail Paul.Joyce_at_port.ac.uk

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11.1 Introduction

• It is important to distinguish between the way in
  which a sound is pronounced and the way it is
  written.
• The alphabet we use when writing German and
  English turns out to be imprecise when it comes
  to describing the sounds of the two languages.

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11.2 Similar sounds, different spellings

• Let us examine the following historically related
  words
• Vater German
• Father English
• Whereas the first sound of each word is spelled
  differently, their pronunciation is nonetheless
  the same.

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11.3 Similar spellings, different sounds

• Now consider the two following words
• Sand German
• Sand English
• This time, the two initial sounds are spelled the
  same, but their pronunciation is different.
• The s in the German Sand is pronounced like the
  z in the English word zoo.

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11.4 International Phonetic Alphabet

• The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) can
  transcribe any of the worlds languages.
• Thus the same sound at the beginning of Vater and
  Father is represented in the IPA by one phonetic
  symbol /f/
• But the initial sounds in Sand and Sand are
  represented by two different symbols /z/ and /s/
  respectively.

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11.5 Phonemes

• The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is made
  up of phonemes.
• A phoneme is defined as the minimal sound unit
  of a language - or in lay persons terms as a
  distinctive sound.
• IPA phonetic symbols that represent phonemes are
  usually written in slanted brackets e.g. /f/,
  /z/ and /s/

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11.6 The benefits of the IPA

• Being able to read the IPA is enormously helpful
  to anyone learning a language.
• Any good German-English dictionary gives not only
  translation and grammatical info about a word,
  but also its pronunciation.
• Hence V?ntilato? shows the different way in
  which the word Ventilator is pronounced in German
  compared to English!

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11.7 The organs of speech
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11.8 Describing German consonants

• 3 pieces of information are used to describe
  German consonants
• Place of articulation (where in the vocal tract
  the sound is produced)
• Manner of articulation (how the air passes
  through the vocal tract)
• Voiced or voiceless?

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11.9 Plosives (stops)

• With plosive consonants, the airstream is stopped
  as it passes through the vocal tract.
• This blockage is very brief.
• The built-up air is soon released, causing a
  small explosion.
• Try saying the following plosives
• Pein, Bein, können, Tag, Dach

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11.10 Bilabial Plosives

• Bilabial sounds involve placing upper and lower
  lips together.
• The phoneme /b/ is voiced i.e. your vocal cords
  vibrate when saying Bein or Ball.
• The phoneme /p/ is unvoiced - i.e. you dont use
  your vocal cords to say Pein or Papier.

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11.11 Alveolar Plosives

• Alveolar sounds are made when the tongues makes
  contact with the alveolar ridge, i.e. the part of
  the mouth immediately above the teeth.
• The phoneme /d/ is voiced i.e. your vocal cords
  vibrate when saying dein or dort.
• The phoneme /t/ is unvoiced - i.e. you dont use
  your vocal cords to say Tisch or Torte.

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11.12 Velar Plosives

• Velar sounds are articulated towards the back of
  the vocal tract in the velum or soft palate.
• The phoneme /g/ is voiced i.e. your vocal cords
  vibrate on saying geht.
• The phoneme /k/ is unvoiced - i.e. you dont use
  your vocal cords to say kaum or kommt.

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11.13 Fricatives

• Fricatives are sounds produced by forcing air
  through a narrow gap in the vocal tract with
  audible friction.
• Try saying the following fricatives
• fein, wein, singen, heiß, Schnee
• New for English-speakers Loch, ich

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11.14 Labio-dental Fricatives

• Labio-dental sounds involve the lips and teeth,
  creating a slight hiss.
• The phoneme /v/ is voiced your vocal cords
  vibrate on saying Wein, Wagen or Klavier.
• The phoneme /f/ is unvoiced. You dont use your
  vocal cords to say fein, Affe - and vier.

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11.15 Alveolar Fricatives

• Alveolar sounds have the tip of the tongue just
  behind the top teeth.
• The phoneme /z/ is voiced i.e. your vocal cords
  vibrate when saying so, lesen or singen.
• The phoneme /s/ is unvoiced - i.e. you dont use
  your vocal cords to say heiß, muss or Szene.
• Note the different ways in which these very
  different phonemes are spelled in German!

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11.16 Palatal-alveolar Fricatives

• Palatal-alveolar sounds find the whole of the
  tongue close to or touching the hard palate.
• The phoneme /?/ is voiced i.e. your vocal cords
  vibrate when saying Genie (or the French loan
  word Etage).
• The phoneme /?/ is unvoiced, i.e. you dont use
  your vocal cords to say schön, Asche or Schnee.

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11.17 Palatal Fricatives

• Palatal fricatives are articulated further back
  in the mouth than palatal-alveolar sounds.
• The phoneme /j/ is voiced i.e. your vocal cords
  vibrate on saying ja, Januar, or even brillant.
• The phoneme /ç/ doesnt occur in English. It is
  the unvoiced sound to be found in words such as
  ich, mich, leicht, Früchte and also in Chemie.

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11.18 Velar Fricatives

• Although often spelled ch, the phoneme /x/ is
  very different to /ç/.
• It is formed towards the back of the vocal tract
  in the soft palate and feels similar to clearing
  your throat.
• The phoneme /x/ is heard in words such as Loch,
  Buch and Lachen.

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11.19 Glottal Fricatives

• The glottis is the gap between the vocal cords.
• The glottal sound /h/ is similar in German and
  English and is found in words such as Haus and
  Gehalt.
• It is different from the glottal stop that occurs
  before German vowels at the beginning of words or
  syllables i.e. twice in the term ein Ei.

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11.20 Affricates

• Affricates are made up of two sounds a fricative
  and a plosive
• There are two German affricates
• The voiceless phoneme /ts/ is found in words like
  zu, Zeit or Tanz.
• This phoneme should not be confused with /z/!
• The voiceless phoneme /pf/ is found in Apfel,
  Pfanne and Pfund.

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11.21 Nasal Consonants

• Nasal consonants are produced when the airstream
  is expelled via the nasal cavity and not the oral
  tract.
• All three German nasals are voiced
• The phoneme /m/ - mein, immer
• The phoneme /n/ - nein, anders
• The hardest nasal to remember is /?/ - Ding,
  jünger, hängen

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11.22 Lateral Consonants

• Lateral consonants are so called because of the
  position of the tongue.
• The tongue curls up to touch the alveolar ridge,
  letting the air escape laterally.
• The only German lateral is /l/
• It is formed with the front of the tongue and
  found in words such as faul, Falle or viel.

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11.23 Rolls or Trills

• Rolls are sounds that are formed when one of the
  organs of speech hits another in quick
  succession.
• This is key to German /r/ sounds, which can also
  be described as voiced uvular fricatives.
• There are many regional differences in the
  formation of this sound that is found in words
  such as rot and Straße.

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11.24 The phoneme /r/ after vowels

• In the speech of many German speakers, such words
  as hier, der, Tür and Wörter have no friction in
  the /r/ sound.
• The result is a diphthong whose second part can
  be represented as /?/.
• Thus hier represented phonetically would be /hi?/
• der /de?/ Tür /ty?/
• Wörter /vœ?t?/

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11.25 Describing German vowels

• Our Roman alphabet is too vague to describe
  English and German vowels.
• For example, e is pronounced very differently
  in the words bed and below.
• The sounds represented by German o differ in
  the words Ofen and Offen.
• Vowel length is a very important factor in
  establishing the German vowel phonemes.

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11.26 The /?/ and /i/ vowel pair

• The phoneme /?/ represents the short vowel sound
  found in ich, Tisch or Mitte.
• The phoneme /i/ represents the long vowel sound
  found in the words viel, ihnen, labil or Ziel.
• Note the many different ways in which this long
  vowel can be written in German.
• The long vowel sound is sometimes written as /i/
  in dictionaries.

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11.27 The /?/ and /e/ vowel pair

• The phoneme /?/ represents the short vowel sound
  found in Bett, Ende or Gäste (note the different
  spellings of this sound!)
• The phoneme /e/ represents the long vowel sound
  found in the words Regel, Schnee or Tee.
• The long vowel sound is sometimes written as /e/
  in dictionaries.

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11.28 The /a/ and /?/ vowel pair

• The phoneme /a/ represents the short vowel sound
  found in Mann, Apfel or Hand.
• The phoneme /?/ represents the long vowel sound
  found in the words Abend, Name or kam.
• The long vowel sound is sometimes written as /a/
  in dictionaries.

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11.29 The /?/ and /o/ vowel pair

• The phoneme /?/ represents the short vowel sound
  found in Stock, offen or Sonne.
• The phoneme /o/ represents the long vowel sound
  found in the words Ofen, ohne or Sohn.
• The long vowel sound is sometimes written as /o/
  in dictionaries.

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11.30 The /?/ and /u/ vowel pair

• The phoneme /?/ represents the short vowel sound
  found in muss, unser or Mutter.
• The phoneme /u/ represents the long vowel sound
  found in the words Urlaub, du or gut.
• The long vowel sound is sometimes written as /u/
  in dictionaries.

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11.31 The /?/ and /y/ vowel pair

• The phoneme /?/ represents the short vowel sound
  found in füllen or hübsch.
• The phoneme /y/ represents the long vowel sound
  found in the words über, Bücher or kühl.
• The long vowel sound is sometimes written as /y/
  in dictionaries.

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11.32 The /œ/ and /ø/ vowel pair

• The phoneme /œ/ represents the short vowel sound
  found in zwölf, öfters or können.
• The phoneme /ø/ represents the long vowel sound
  found in the words schön, Öl or Flöße.
• The long vowel sound is sometimes written as /ø/
  in dictionaries.

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11.33 Quiz short or long vowels

• Ofen ? Offen ?
• füllen ? fühlen ?
• Bieten ? bitten ?
• Stadt ? Staat ?
• Betten ? beten ?
• Spuken ? spucken ?

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11.34 Answers short or long vowels

• Ofen /o/ (long) Offen /?/ (short)
• füllen /?/ (short) fühlen /y/ (long)
• bieten /i/ (long) bitten /?/ (short)
• Stadt /a/ (short) Staat /?/ (long)
• Betten /?/ (short) beten /e/ (long)
• spuken /u/ (long) spucken /?/ (short)

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11.35 The schwa and dark schwa

• Both of these are short vowels.
• The phoneme /?/ (schwa) depicts the unstressed
  neutral vowel sound found in Gebäude and Liebe.
• The phoneme /?/ (dark schwa) represents the
  unstressed vowel sound in the words Besucher,
  Wetter or Lieber.

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11.36 Diphthongs

• The vowels that we have looked at so far consists
  of just one sound.
• They are called monophthongs.
• Diphthongs occur when two vowels merge to form
  one.
• lf you say the 2 vowels separately, you find
  yourself moving from the first vowel to the
  second.

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11.37 Diphthongs

• There are three German diphthongs
• The phoneme /a?/ appears in words such as ein,
  klein or mein.
• /a?/ is found in auf or blau.
• The phoneme /??/ appears in words such as neu,
  deutsch, Geräusch and läuft.
• (The vowels in Schnee and Tee are not therefore
  diphthongs, but the long vowel phoneme /e/)