German vowel pronunciation

a
a stressed before one cons.
|a:|
Vater
|'la:.Ie|
a unstressed before one cons.
|a|
maximal
|na.ksi.'na:l|
aa (generally found stressed)
|a:|
Saal
|za:l|
ah (generally found stressed)
|a:|
Mahl
|na:l|
a before two or more consonants
|a|
Wasser
|'va.se|
ai
|a:e|
Mai
|na:e|
ay (the archaic spelling of -ai) |a:e| Bayern |'ba:e.en|
au
|a:o|
Baum
|ba:on|

stressed before one cons.

|c:|
spt
|]pc:I|
unstressed before one cons.
|c|
Fkulom
|lc.ku.'lo:n|
h (generally found stressed)
|c|
Krhe
|'krc:.o|
before two or more consonants |c| Mnner |'nc.ne|
u
|o:v|
Trume
|'Iro:v.no|
e
e stressed and before one cons.
|e:|
ewig, beten
|'e:.vi| |'be:.Ion|
e unstressed before one cons.
|e|
Etde, Methan
|e.'Iy:.do| |ne.'Ia:n|
ee (generally found stressed)
|e:|
Seele
|'ze:.lo|
eh (generally found stressed)
|e:|
mehr
|ne:e|
e before two or more consonants
|c|
Bett, helfen
|bcI| |'hcl.lon|
e in prefixes other than ge- and be- |c|
vergeht, entgehen,
zerrissen
|lce.'ge:I| |cnI'ge:.on|
|Isce.'ri.son|
e in prefixes ge- and be-
|o|
gesund, behalten
|go.'zonI| |bo.'hal.Ion|
e in unstressed endings
|o|
habe, kommenden
|'ha:.bo| |'ko.non.don|
er in the monosylable er (he)
|e:e|
er
|e:e|
er- in the prefix er-
|ce|
erlangen
|ce.'la.qon|
-er in endings
|e|
aber, verbessern
|'a:.be| |lce.'bc.sen|
ei
|a:e|
ein
|a:en|
ey (old spelling of ei) |a:e| Meyer |'na:e.e|
eu
|o:v| heulen |'ho:v.lon|
i
i stressed before one cons.
|i:|
Bibel
|'bi:.bol|
ih (generally found stressed)
|i:|
ihr
|i:e|
ie stressed
|i:|
Liebe
|'li:.bo|
ie unstressed
|i|
vielleicht
|li.'la:eI|
ieh (generally found stressed)
|i:|
Viehe
|li:.o|
i before two or more consonants
|i|
Kinder, ist
|'kin.de| |isI|
i as an unstressed glide
|]|
Studie, nation
|']Iu:.d]o| |na.'Is]o:n|
-i in the suffixes -in and -nis
|i|
Mllerin, Bildnis
|'nv.lo.rin| |'bilI.nis|
-i in the suffix -ig |i| willig |'vi.li|
-i in the stressed ending -ik
|i:|
Musik
|nu.'zi:k|
-i in the unstressed ending -ik
|i|
Lyrik
|'ly:.rik|
o
o stressed before one cons.
|o:|
Rose, Ton
|'ro:.zo| |Io:n|
o unstressed before one cons.
|o|
moral
|no.'ra:l|
oo (generally found stressed)
|o:|
Moos, Boot
|no:s| |bo:I|
oh (generally found stressed)
|o:|
Sohn, wohl
|zo:n| |vo:l|
o before two or more consonants
|o|
Ort, kommen
|orI| |'ko.non|

stressed before one cons.

|:|
de, hren
|':.do| |'h:.ron|
unstressed before one cons.
||
konom
|.ko.'no:n|
h (generally found stressed)
|:|
Hhe, frhlich
|'h:.o| |'lr:.li|
before two or more consonants
|o|
Gttlich
|'goI:.li|

u
u stressed before one cons. |u:| Blume |'blu:.no|
u unstressed before one cons.
|u|
Musik, Kulant
|nu.'zi:k| |ku.'lanI|
uh (generally found stressed)
|u:|
Stuhl, Uhr
|]Iu:l| |'u:e|
u before two or more consonants
|o|
Mutter, Buch
|'no.Ie| |bu:x|

stressed before one cons.

|y:|
fr, grn
|'ly:e| |gry:n|
h (generally found stressed)
|y:|
fhlen
|'ly:.lon|
before two or more consonants
|v|
Fllen, Glck
|'lv.lon| |glvk|

y
in words of Greek origin, treat as - (common)
y stressed before one cons.
|y:|
Lyrik, Physik
|'ly:.rik| |'ly:.zik|
y unstressed before one cons.
|y|
Mykene
|ny.'ke:.no|
y before two or more consonants |v| Rhythmus |'rvI.nus|
in words non-Greek origin, treat as i (less common)
y |i| Tyrol |Ii.'rol|
German cons. pronunciation
b b
initial or medial in a word element |b| Buch, geben |bu:x| |'ge:.bon|
b
final in a word element |p| Dieb |di:p|
b
before -s or another unvoiced cons. |p| lebst |le:psI|
bb
in the same element |b| Ebbe |'c.bo|
b-b
between two elements |p.b| abbauen |'ap.ba:o.on|

c
c before a front vowel sound |Is| circa |'Isir.ka|
c
before a back vowel sound or cons.
except -h
|k| Caf |ka.'le:|
c in words of Greek origin |k| Chor |'ko:e|
ch
after a front vowel sound or cons.
Ich-Laut
|| ich, welche |i| |'vcl.o|
ch after a back vowel sound - Ach-laut |x| Bach, doch |bax| |dox|
chs within one element |ks| sechs |zcks|
ch-s in separate elements |.s| lieblichsten |'li:p.lis.Ion|
ck including the old spelling of -kk |k| backen |'ba.kon|
d d
initial or medial in a word element |d| Dolch, anders |dol| |'an.des|
d
final in a word element |I| Tod, und |IoI| |onI|
d
before -s or another unvoiced cons. |I| Bands |banIs|
dd
in the same element |d| Widder |'vi.de|
d-d
between two elements |I.d| Rad-dampfer |'ra:I.danp.le|
dt
cons. combination |I| Stadt |]IaI|

f f
|l|
fein, Tafel
|la:en| |'Ia:.lol|
ff |l| Neffe, offen |'nc.lo| |'o.lon|

g
g initial or medial in a word element |g| Gott, fragen |goI| |'lra:.gon|
g final in a word element |k| Tag, Flug-zeug |Ia:k| |'llu:k.Iso:vk|
g before -s or an unvoiced cons. |k| fragst |lra:ksI|
gg in the same element |g| Flagge |'lla.go|
g-g between two elements |k.g| weg-gehen |'vck.ge:.on|
ig when final or before a cons. || Knig, Ewigkeit |'k:.ni| |'e:.vi.ka:eI|
ig before a vowel |ig| Heilige |'ha:e.li.go|
ig
when followed by a syllable with the
|i| sound
|ik| ewiglich |'e:.vik.li|
g in words of French origin || Genie (fr) |e.'ni|

h
h initial in a word or element |h|
Held, Gottheit
|hclI| |'goI.ha:eI|
h
after a vowel in the same syllable silent
Wahn, gehen
|va:n| |'ge:.on|

j
j
in all German words |]|
Jahr, ja
|]a:e| |]a:|
j
in some words of French origin ||
Journalist
|ur.na.'lisI|

k k
|k| Klause, zurck |'kla:o.zo| |Isu.'rvk|
ck
the archaic spelling -kk is seldom
encountered
|k| Bcker, locken |'bc.ke| |'lo.kon|

l l
|l|
loben
|'lo:.bon|
ll
|l|
Wellen, soll
|'vc.lon| |zol|

m m
|n|
Mond, trumen
|nonI| |'Iro:v.non|
mm
|n|
Himmel
|'hi.nol|

n
n
|n|
Wein
|va:en|
nn
|n|
Nonne
|'no.no|
ng in the same element |q| lang, singen |laq| |'zi.qon|
n-g
in separate elements |ng|
hingehen
|'hin.ge:.on|
nk
in the same element |qk|
danken
|'daq.kon|
n-k
in separate elements |n.k|
Anklage
|'an.kla:.go|
p
p
|p|
prosit
|'pro:.ziI|
pp
in the same element |p|
Puppe
|'po.po|
ph
|l|
Phrase
|'lra:.zo|

q qu
always followed by -u |kv|
Quelle
|'kvc.lo|

r
r initial or medial after a cons. |r| Regen, albre |'re:.gon| |'al.bro|
r after open vowels |i c v o a o o| |r| hart |harI|
r
after a closed-long vowel
|a: e: c: y: : u: o: |
|e| Bier, hrt |bi:e| |h:eI|
r between two vowels |r| wre |'vc:.ro|
rr in the same element between vowels |r| sperren |']pc.ron|
rr in the same element not between vowels |r| harrt, Irr-sein |harI| |'ir.za:en|
rr in separate elements |e.r| verraten |lce.'ra:Ion|
r final in prefixes |e| erhabener |ce.'ha:.bo.ne|

s s initial or medial in a word element
|z|
Silber, Absicht
|'zil.be| |'ap.ziI|
s between vowels
|z|
Rose
|'ro:.zo|
s final in a word element
|s|
Glas, lslich
|gla:s| |'l:s.li|
ss, in the same element
|s|
mssen, Ku
|'nv.son| |kos|
s-s
between two elements |s.z|
aussetzen
|'a:os.zc.tson|
sch in the same element
|]|
schnell, Tisch
|]ncl| |Ii]|
s-ch
between two elements |s.|
Huschen
|'ho:vs.on|
sp initial in a word element
|]p|
spielen
|']pi:..lon|
sp in all other cases
|sp|
Knospe
|'knos.po|
st initial in a word element
|]I|
Stein
|]Ia:en|
st in all other cases
|sI|
ist, trsten
|isI| |'Ir:s.Ion|

t
t
|I|
Ton
|Io:n|
tt
in the same or different elements |I|
Mutter
|'no.Ie|
th
in the same element |I|
Thema, Theater
|Ie:.na| |Ie.'a:.Ie|
t-h
in separate elements |I.h|
Rathaus
|'ra:I.ha:os|
ti in the endings -tion, and -tient |Is]|
Nation, Patient
|na.'Is]o:n| |pa.'Is]cnI|
tz
|Is|
Platz, sitzen
|plaIs| |'zi.Ison|

v
v
in all words of German origin, and final
in all foreign words.
|l|
Vater, brav
|'la:.Ie| |bra:l|
v
other positions in foreign words |v|
Vase
|'va:zo|

w w |v| Welt |vclI|

x x
single standard pronunciation
|ks| Hexe |'hc.kso|

z z
single standard pronunciation
|Is| Zimmer, Hertz |'Isi.ne| |hcrIs|
from Lyric Diction for Singers, Vol. II by Bard Suverkrop IPASource, LLC