I was perusing my new German grammar book from 1930 that I got for Christmas, and I was interested to see some rules for German pronunciation whereof I had been theretofore unaware, and others whereon I had not been totally clear. Note that these are not definitive, and cannot represent the pronunciation of all German speakers.

  1. At the beginning of a syllable g is pronounced /g/ (voiced velar plosive)
  2. Between the vowels (i, e, ie, ä, &c.), g is pronounced /ʝ/ (voiced palatal fricative)
  3. Between the vowels (u, o, a, &c.), g is pronounced /ɣ/ (voiced velar fricative).
  4. At the end of a syllable after the vowels(i, e, ie, ä, &c.), g is pronounced /ç/ (voiceless palatal fricative).
  5. At the end of a syllable after the vowels (u, o, a, &c.), g is pronounced /x/ (voiceless velar fricative).
  6. At the end of a syllable after the vowels(i, e, ie, ä, &c.), ch is pronounced /ç/ (voiceless palatal fricative).
  7. At the end of a syllable after the vowels(u, o, a, &c.), ch is pronounced /x/ (voiceless velar fricative).
  8. At the end of a syllable, b, d & g are pronounced voiceless (b->p, d->t); see above for information on g.
  9. Before and between vowels, r is pronunced /ʁ/ (voiced uvular fricative); it is important to note that some southern speakers pronounce it /r/ (voiced alveolar trill), and that this is regarded as acceptable; it should also be noted that many pronunciation guides prescribe /ʀ/ (voiced uvular trill), but this is highly erroneous. Only a few languages make this sound (some of the Semitic ones do, I believe); in German, there is no actual trilling going on in the back of the throat.
  10. After a vowel, r is often reduced to /ɐ̯/ (non-syllabic near open central).
  11. The diphthong ei is best represented as /aɪ̯/ (a diphthong of an unrounded open front vowel and an unrounded near close front vowel).
  12. The diphthong eu is best represented as /ɔʏ̯/ (a diphthong of a rounded open-mid back vowel and a rounded near close front vowel).

As an example, the following is the first paragraph of my translation of The Polar Express:


Am Heiligabend vor vielen Jahren lag ich im Bette. Ich raschelte nicht die Bettücher. Ich atmete langsam und ruhig. Ich hörte nach einem Geräusche—einem Geräusche, das mir ein Freund sagte, daß ich nie hören würde—des Santas läutende Schlittenglocken.

Now, here is my phonetic transcription*:

ʔam ˌhaɪ̯lɪçˈʔaːbn̩t foːɐ̯ ˈfi:lən ˈjaːʁən lax ʔɪç ʔɪm ˈbɛtə

ʔɪç ˈʁaʃl̩tə niçt diː ˈbetˌtyːçɐ. ʔɪç ˈʔaːtˌmɛtə ˈlaŋzaːm ʔʊnt ˈʁuːɪç

ʔɪç ˈhøːɐ̯tə naːx ˈʔaɪ̯nəm gəˈʁɔʏ̯ʃə ˈaɪ̯nəm gəˈʁɔʏ̯ʃə das miːɐ̯ ʔaɪ̯n fʁɔʏ̯nt ˈzaxte das ʔɪç niː ˈhøːʁən ˈvʏʁdə dɛs zantəz lɔʏ̯tn̩də ˈʃlɪtn̩ˌglɔkən

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* To see how these different characters sound, visit The International Phonetic Alphabet Sound Illustrations page.