PRONUNCIATION. like the English n: Nacht, night. like the English o in so: øder, or. It is made long by doubling it or by inserting h. Moos, moss; Sohn, son. like the English p: Papier, paper. is never used without u and has the sound of k: Quelle, spring. is pronounced with greater force and shrillness than in English Ruhe, rest. like the English z: Seeland, Zeeland; Stunde, hour; Sprache, language; not Schtunde, Schprache, as the f before t and p is pronounced in the south of Germany, especially in Suabia, now Würtemberg; weisen, to show, not weißen, to white-wash; der weise Mann, the wise man; not der weiße Mann, the white man. like the English t, but before ion like ts: Tempel, temple; Nation, nation; Tag, day; not Dag, as the Lower Saxons pronounce the t. like oo in boot: as, gut, good. like f: Vater, father. W w veh like v Weichsel, Vistula. ch like ee in English: Ysop, hyssop. like ts: Zahl, number. Ch ch tseh-hah like k at the beginning of words of Greek or Latin origin: Christ, Christian; and before s in simple and primitive words: Wachs, wax; wachsen, to grow; in ks sch words borrowed from the French like sh: Charlotte, Chicane; in the middle or at the end of words like an aspirated k, by touching the palate with the middle of the tongue and breathing or aspirating as is done in pronouncing h: Tochter, daughter; Dach, roof. like x, if the & belongs to the same root: Wachs, wax; but if the 8, following, is an inflection, or belongs to a following syllable, the chis pronounced separately: des Kochs, wachsam. Sch sch ess-tseh-hah like sh, as: Schah, treasure, Schnee, snow; not Snee, as it is pronounced by the Lower Saxons, who omit the h after s. When the letters do not belong to the same syllable, the th ph pf ps ᏚᏃ Yhth teh-hah PRONUNCIATION. final 8 is used, as: Gläschen, little glass. Th th teh-hah like t: Thräne, tear. Bhph peh-hah like f: Phantaste, fancy. Pf pf peh-eff Pfund, pound. have sounds in which each letter is heard. Bi pi peh-ess Bath, lett. B ess-tsett sounds sharp like the English 8 in son: Fuß, PRONUNCIATION OF THE COMPOUND OR MODIFIED VOWELS. PRONUNCIATION. Aeä like a in fame, hare; Sage, saw. De ö in like the French eu in jeune, peu; Löwe, lion; lösen, to ransom, to solve; not lesen to read as it is pronounced in some provinces. like the French u in flûte; müde, tired; Thür, door; not Thier, animal, as it is pronounced in some provinces, where the ü is pronounced as ie. a little broader than i in kite: Kaiser, emperor. Ei ei like y in my; mein, my. ie like ee in bee: Biene. Au au An au like ou in house, Haus. Handwriting. Print. Eu eu PRONUNCIATION. not quite so broad as the English oi: Leute, people; Freude, joy, not Freide, as the eu is pronounced in some provinces. Ann an Acu äu like oi in cloister: Häute, skins, läuten, ring, not leiten, to guide. Obs.-1. Vowels are long when preceding h in the same syllable: Jahr, year; and in general short before a double consonant: Jammer, lamentation. 2. The r which the English are very apt to pronounce after a final e, especially when the next word begins with a vowel, must be avoided as ich geher aus, instead of ich gehe aus, I go out. 3. In German all the letters are pronounced, the h only at the beginning of a syllable. 4. The accent lies, with very few exceptions, on the principal syllable, which is usually the radical syllable of every word : Gebet, prayer; geben, to give. 5. Foreign words derived from Latin, Greek or French, have the accent usually on the last syllable: Advokat, Student, Philologie, Paris, Organ, Musik. 6. In compound substantives and adjectives the accent lies on the first syllable: Rathhaus, Hausfrau, Dampfschiff. 7. Foreign words, which terminate in e, er, or, have usually the accent on the last syllable: Major, Professor. 8. The prefixes be, ge, er, ver, zer and the final syllables er, en, chen, tel, fel, ig, zig are without any accent: vergeben, to forgive; besehen, to look at; Mädchen, girl; Räthsel, riddle. 9. The prefixes miß and un and the foreign suffixes ei, ieren, ie, abel, are accented: Mißgunst, envy; ungesund, unhealthy; Magie, magic; respectabel, respectable. |