Every distinct sound in German, grouped by family. Tap the speaker on a phoneme to hear it pronounced inside its headline word, then tap any of the three demonstrator words below it to hear the same sound in a different context.
Vowels
Short Vowels
-
/ɪ/
Letters: i
- bitte
- finden
- Winter
-
/ɛ/
Letters: e
- Hemd
- kennen
- Wetter
-
/a/
Letters: a
- Katze
- Tasse
- Lampe
-
/ɔ/
Letters: o
- Sonne
- kommen
- Woche
-
/ʊ/
Letters: u
- Mund
- bunt
- Kunst
-
/ʏ/
Letters: ü (short, e.g. fünf, glücklich, Hütte) — DISTINCT from long /yː/ in müde/kühl
- Hütte
- glücklich
- Mütter
-
/œ/
Letters: ö (short, e.g. zwölf, können, Götter, öffnen) — DISTINCT from long /øː/ in Möbel/hören
- können
- öffnen
- Götter
-
/ə/
Letters: e (unbetont)
- Name
- Tasse
- haben
Long Vowels
-
/iː/
Letters: i
- Biene
- Miete
- Kino
-
/eː/
Letters: e
- Tee
- leben
- reden
-
/aː/
Letters: a
- Name
- haben
- fahren
-
/oː/
Letters: o
- Boot
- rot
- Sohn
-
/uː/
Letters: u
- Buch
- Schule
- Blume
-
/yː/
Letters: ü
- grün
- früh
- müde
-
/øː/
Letters: ö
- böse
- Höhle
- Möbel
Diphthongs
-
/aɪ̯/
Letters: ei, ai
- heiß
- Zeit
- klein
-
/aʊ̯/
Letters: au
- Maus
- Baum
- Auto
-
/ɔʏ̯/
Letters: eu, äu
- Leute
- Häuser
- träumen
Consonants
Plosives
-
/p/
Letters: p
- Puppe
- Apfel
- Lampe
-
/b/
Letters: b
- Bett
- Buch
- Boden
-
/t/
Letters: t
- Tee
- Tisch
- Mitte
-
/d/
Letters: d
- Dose
- baden
- Bruder
-
/k/
Letters: k
- Kind
- kommen
- kalt
-
/g/
Letters: g (syllable-onset only, e.g. gut, Garten, Tag-NOT-final). Word-final g devoices to /k/, so Bug, Tag in citation form are /k/-words
- Garten
- geben
- groß
-
/ʔ/
Letters: (no dedicated letter; pre-vowel onset, e.g. Apfel /ˈʔapfəl/, beachten /bəˈʔaxtn̩/)
- beachten
- Theater
- Idee
Fricatives
-
/f/
Letters: f
- fünf
- Fenster
- Foto
-
/v/
Letters: v, w
- Vase
- Woche
- Vater
-
/z/
Letters: s
- sieben
- Rose
- lesen
-
/s/
Letters: ss, ß, or s-after-consonant/at-end (e.g. Eis, Tasse, Fluss, Wespe). NOT word-initial s before vowel — that is /z/ (Sonne, sehen)
- Tasse
- Fluss
- Wespe
-
/ʃ/
Letters: sch
- Schiff
- schön
- Fisch
-
/x/
Letters: ch (nach a, o, u, au)
- Buch
- doch
- kochen
-
/ç/
Letters: ch (nach i, e, ä, ö, ü, l, n, r)
- Milch
- Licht
- möchte
-
/h/
Letters: h
- heiß
- heute
- Hund
Nasals
-
/m/
Letters: m
- Mutter
- kommen
- Sommer
-
/n/
Letters: n
- Name
- nein
- Sonne
-
/ŋ/
Letters: ng
- Finger
- lang
- Junge
Laterals
-
/l/
Letters: l
- Lied
- laufen
- blau
Vibrants
-
/r/
Letters: r (Zungenspitzen-r)
- Rose
- Bruder
- fahren
-
/ʁ/
Letters: r (Zäpfchen-r)
- Rose
- Brot
- Bruder
Semivowels
-
/j/
Letters: j
- Jahr
- jung
- Jacke
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