The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents German pronunciations in Wiktionary entries.
See German phonology at Wikipedia for a more thorough look at the sounds of German.
| IPA | Examples | English approximation |
|---|---|---|
| /b/ | Ball | ball |
| /ç/ | ich, durch | hue |
| /d/ | dann | done |
| /d͡ʒ/ | Dschungel | jungle |
| /f/ | Fass, Vogel | fuss |
| /ɡ/ | Gast | guest |
| /h/ | hat | hut |
| /j/ | ja | yard |
| /k/ | kalt, Tag | cold |
| /l/ | Last | last |
| /m/ | Mast | must |
| /n/ | Naht | not |
| /ŋ/ | lang | long |
| /p/ | Pakt, hab | puck |
| /p͡f/ | Pfahl | cupfull |
| /ʁ/ | Rast | like a French R (a voiced uvular fricative) |
| /s/ | Wasser | fast |
| /ʃ/ | Schal, Stein | shall |
| /t/ | Tal | tall |
| /t͡s/ | Zahl | cats |
| /t͡ʃ/ | Matsch | match |
| /v/ | was | vanish |
| /x/: , | Bach | loch (Scottish) |
| /z/ | Hase | hose |
| /ʒ/ | Genie | beige, measure |
| Beamter () |
the glottal stop in uh-oh! | |
| Stress | ||
| ˈ | Bahnhof () |
as in battleship |
| ˌ | ||
| IPA | Examples | English approximation |
|---|---|---|
| Monophthongs | ||
| /a/ | Dach | bra (but shorter) |
| /aː/ | Bahn | bra |
| /eː/ | Beet | face |
| /ɛ/ | Bett, hätte | bed |
| /ɛː/ | wähle | as above but longer; like RP English barely |
| /iː/ | viel | meet |
| /ɪ/ | bist | sit |
| /oː/ | schon, Boot | somewhat like bone |
| /ɔ/ | Post | boss |
| /øː/ | Öl | somewhat like hurl; French deux |
| /œ/ | göttlich | close to hurt or French sœur |
| /uː/ | Hut | true |
| /ʊ/ | Putz | took |
| /yː/ | Rübe | French rue |
| /ʏ/ | füllt | much like the above but shorter |
| Diphthongs | ||
| /aɪ̯/ | weit | tie |
| /aʊ̯/ | Haut | how |
| /ɔɪ̯/ | Heu, Räuber | boy |
| Reduced vowels | ||
| /ɐ/ | Ober | fun |
| /ə/ | halte | comma |
| Semivowels | ||
| /ɐ̯/ | Uhr | uh |
| /i̯/ | Studie | magnolia |
| /u̯/ | aktuell | visual |
| /y̯/ | Libyen | French huit |
| Unstressed full vowels | ||
| /e/ | Methan | (short ) |
| /i/ | vital | city (short ) |
| /o/ | Moral | (short ) |
| /ø/ | Ökonom | (short ) |
| /u/ | kulant | virtue (short ) |
| /y/ | Psychologie | (short ) |