Questions tagged [phonetics]
relating to the study and systematic classification of speech sounds
56
questions
-3
votes
3
answers
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What is the origin of "depperter"
On the surface, the Austrian appellative Depperter, adj. bist' deppert?, also Upper German appellative Du Depp “You idiot” may be correlated with zerdeppern “to break pots etc.”.
Pfeifer traces two ...
3
votes
2
answers
184
views
PONS online - Warum ändert sich die IPA Lautschrift zwischen Sprachen?
Ich hätte eine Frage für all jene die mit der online Version des PONS Wörterbuches vertraut sind:
Warum ändert sich die IPA Transkription je nach dem welche Übersetzungssprache ich auswähle?
Im Rahmen ...
2
votes
2
answers
210
views
Pronunciation of a in standard Austrian German
After listening to some Austrian German I have noticed that 'a' sometimes is pronounced /o̞/, e.g. the word "sagst" is pronounced /so̞gst/ instead of /sɑgst/ as it would be in Standard ...
0
votes
1
answer
157
views
How do you write Pelé phonetically in German?
I was hearing the news in German and the recently deceased soccer player Pelé (Edson Arantes do Nascimento) was mentioned.
I want to know how his name is written phonetically in German. I'm used to ...
2
votes
1
answer
272
views
Which is the most used version of German?
For UK there is Received Pronunciation, for the US there is General American. How can I find the most used version of a language, especially German? I don't know what to search exactly.
Is it "...
2
votes
1
answer
277
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Pronunciation of name "Matei" by native German speakers
We are considering naming our son "Matei", however as we live in a German-speaking country, we worry that native speakers of German would pronounce it /ma'tai/, different from the name's ...
0
votes
1
answer
207
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What are the various Swiss dialects for Guten Abend and other day greetings?
Swiss people were heard saying Guten Abend as "Gütte Oppa" in one part of the country. How is the Swiss-German spelling for this actually, and what are the various ways the different Swiss ...
2
votes
2
answers
619
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List of words that demonstrate all German consonant and vowel sounds
Is there a list of words that demonstrates all German consonant and vowel sounds, including the rule that applies and its IPA representation?
For example:
short and long vowels
diphthongs
ending d
...
0
votes
1
answer
241
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Warum das 'e' manchmal wie 'i' klingt
Wenn ein Wort zwei "e" in Silben zusammen hat, wird das erste oft "i",
B.s: verstehen = vastihen ausgesprochen.
Warum? Ist es der Beginn der Trennung der Buchstaben- und Vokallaute ...
-4
votes
1
answer
159
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Does German distinguish between /t͡s/ and /ts/? [closed]
Do you pronounce differently Platsfuehrer and Plazfuehrer?
5
votes
1
answer
495
views
How can I distinguish between close and close-mid long vowels more easily?
I have trouble distinguishing between long close vowels ([i:], [u:] and [ü:]) and close-mid vowels ([e:], [o:] and [ö:]). For example, when I hear a new word (for example, Löwe) I find it hard to tell ...
1
vote
0
answers
155
views
How quickly can German Native Speakers differentiate between the vowels sounds (/e:/ vs. /i:/) at the beginning of a word? [closed]
Does anyone know how quickly German native speakers are able to discriminate between the vowel sounds (/e:/ vs. /i:/) at the beginning of a word e.g. (er ‘he’ vs. ihn ‘him’) upon hearing the vowel ...
1
vote
4
answers
331
views
I need some German middle words p and b minimal pairs
The letters p and b should be in the middle of the words, and please not like this: "tribe" and "tripe", because they pronounced here as the last sound.
7
votes
2
answers
409
views
Why is "doofer" pronounced ['doːvɐ] insead of ['doːfɐ]?
Hearing "Zwei Doofe, ein Gedanke" I could not recognize that [ˈdoːvɐ] refears to doofe (my mind tried to write dowe or dowa, but I didn't think of f first).
Is there any way to guess when f ...
2
votes
1
answer
243
views
Käsearten: Wie spricht man das "ä" in Käse aus?
In dieser Wikipediaseite (Link unten) steht, dass der Laut "ä" in Käse dem Internationalen Phonetischen Alphabet zufolge als /ɛ:/ ausgesprochen werden soll, wie im Französischen "frÈre&...
0
votes
3
answers
208
views
Gibt es eine beispielhafte Beschreibung der im Bayrischen gebräuchlichen internationalen Lautschrift?
Im Bayrischen gibt es einige gebräuchliche Laute, die in der Verschriftlichung nur schwer abbildbar sind.
So zum Beispiel den schon fast klischeehaften Oachkatzlschwoaf, zu dem de.wictionary,org ...
3
votes
1
answer
179
views
What is "Stotterlaut" in the phonetics?
What is "Stotterlaut"? Is this term used in the phonetics? If so, what sound exactly does it indicate? I guess that it might belong to one of the plosive or affricate sounds from the context,...
2
votes
5
answers
261
views
Aus Klängen zusammengesetzte Wörter
Man kann manche Wörter bilden, indem man sie aus den Klängen anderer Wörter zusammensetzt. Hier ein paar Beispiele:
Kreuz + Zunge → Kreuzung
Prinz + Essen → Prinzessin
Uhr + Laub → Urlaub
Dass der ...
1
vote
4
answers
206
views
Pronunciation of Ernst Robert Curtius
I've been reading a book by Ernst Robert Curtius, a 20th. cent. German philologist, and sources online suggest that Curtius is pronounced as "Court-zi-us." I'm wondering where that "z/s" sound after ...
0
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Why is the German "qu" pronounced as "kv"?
Why is the German "qu" pronounced as "kv"? Most of the languages I know of pronounce "qu" as "w" and/or "kw". What's the history behind this oddity?
0
votes
3
answers
252
views
reduction of "das" to "s"
The article das is reduced to s when it's coupled with a preposition in for example ins, ans, fürs. But would it be possible to realise das as s without prepositions in the accusative or nominative ...
4
votes
1
answer
141
views
Rounding of /ɪ/ ending up with an /ʏ/ sound?
I just watched the Italy-Holland game of the women's World Cup on ARD. The commentator, Stephanie Baczyk from Hannover, said Viertelfinale with what to my ears sounded like /ʏ/ so that it was more ...
3
votes
1
answer
267
views
Ist das Tiefschwa allein, oder hat es mit dem Hochschwa ein kleines Brüdɐchen?
Jüngst stoße ich in Beiträgen zu diesem Forum vermehrt auf den Begriff Tiefschwa für den fast offenen Zentralvokal ɐ - also etwa wie das er in Brüderchen.
Der Name Tiefschwa ist zwar von den ...
2
votes
3
answers
320
views
Is there a rule for realizing a-schwa before vowels as [r] at words boundaries?
I know that Standard German pronunciation is strictly governed by rules, i.e. the pronunciation of originally German words are to a large extent predicted. However, I don't know whether there is a ...
1
vote
4
answers
213
views
Sounds change flavour depending on neighbours
Epenthesis phenomenon: an [i] sound within Ahornstraße 2, I hear the word as Ahorn[i]straße 2.
When t followed by Gr as in: Ist da nicht Gräfinger?, I feel like the final t of nicht turns to a ...
5
votes
2
answers
264
views
How far can I rely on 'Akzentverschiebung' rule?
From Intonationsforschungen book I quote:
Die Akzentverschiebung verhindert, dass zwei stark betonte Silben zu nahe beieinander stehen. Das gilt für Wörter ebenso wie für Phrasen. And also: Im Wort ...
3
votes
2
answers
2k
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How is sentence stress in German different than in English?
Content words (i.e. verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs) are stressed in both German and English as opposed to function words (prepositions, pronouns, articles..). However, in English (at least in ...
3
votes
2
answers
201
views
How can I predict the stressed syllable in proper/brand/trademark/foreign nouns?
I often encounter nouns that I hear of for the first time, and I can not determine which syllable to stress. Unfortunately, I can not find most of these nouns in dictionaries to check the stressed ...
4
votes
1
answer
260
views
Should I vocalize non-prevocalic /R/ after short vowels?
I happen to notice that non-prevocalic R could or could not be vocalized (realized as an a-schwa) after short vowels. Examples:
wirken, lernen, hart, Ort, Furcht, durch
Which way is better to ...
5
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Which vowels can be reduced to schwas in informal German?
In American accent, almost all vowels in non-stressed syllables and non-diphthong containing syllables can be reduced to schwas in non-careful everyday speech. Example: In 'easier to understand', 'to' ...
3
votes
2
answers
324
views
Is secondary stress important in German?
Almost every German phonetic book points out the presence of the secondary stress, yet unlike English I do not see most dictionaries including Duden, PONS, Oxford, Larousse among many others refer to ...
3
votes
2
answers
185
views
Which word should I stress in a sentence?
It's said in phonetic books that some word classes are stressed (i.e. lexical words: nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs) and some are not (particles, conjunctions, prepositions, pronouns, auxiliary ...
0
votes
1
answer
368
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German vowel charts with phonetic accuracy [closed]
German vowel charts used in the wikipedia article Standard German phonology do not locate vowels with great details. For example German [e] is a bit higher than the IPA [e] or tense vowel [e:] is not ...
3
votes
1
answer
82
views
Should the vowel also become a bit more open before consonant cluster by conjugation? [closed]
segeln > segle
lesen > lest
Is the e changed from [e] to [ɛ]?
the e in essen and gehen is different.
2
votes
3
answers
292
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Pronunciation of consonants at a word-border
How to pronounce "Was sind …" and other consequence when a final voiceless consonant meets an initial voiced consonant?
When [t] and [z] meet:
Wie alt sind Sie?
nicht sehr
(together as [tsʰ], [...
3
votes
3
answers
5k
views
Automated conversion of German text to IPA
[IPA = Internationales Phonetisches Alphabet]
Does anyone know of a tool like this one that supports German?
For my purposes, the tool need not be free or web-based (though, if not web-based, it at ...
3
votes
6
answers
749
views
How to remember umlauts? (ö and ü) [closed]
[NB: In this question, I use some of the terminology given here.]
I can hear (and produce) the difference between ö and o, and between ü and u, but whatever part of my brain is responsible for ...
5
votes
3
answers
181
views
Gibt es in manchen Dialekte lange Nasale als Phonem?
Diese Frage ist praktisch ein Follow-Up auf diese Frage. Ich kenne mich einigermaßen mit Phonetik und Phonologie aus, und kann ein bisschen Finnisch (wo es Langkonsonanten gibt). Mit diesem Background ...
3
votes
1
answer
15k
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Liste deutscher Minimalpaare
Welche Wort-Paare (und Wort-Gruppen) sind geeignet, die Unterschiedlichkeit von Laut-Paaren in der deutschen Sprache zu belegen?
Definition: Minimalpaar
Ein Minimalpaar ist ein Paar von zwei Wörtern ...
12
votes
2
answers
12k
views
Wie viele Vokale gibt es im Deutschen?
Wie viele verschiedene Vokale lassen sich im gesprochenen Deutsch voneinander unterscheiden?
Ich habe nach der Anzahl der Vokale im gesprochenen Deutsch im Internet gesucht, und habe eine Liste ...
6
votes
1
answer
372
views
Alveolar stops before a syllabic nasal
I’ve noticed that I’ve transferred the English tendency to glottalise a /t/ or /d/ before a syllabic /n/ (think Latin /ˈlat.ɪn/ or /ˈlæt.n̩/ vs. /ˈlæ.ʔn̩/ or kitten /ˈkɪtən/ vs. /ˈkɪ.ʔn̩/) to my ...
2
votes
1
answer
187
views
Phonetischer Unterschied zwischen "sosehr" and "so sehr"
In einer anderen Frage habe ich nach dem Bedeutungsunterschied zwischen sosehr und so sehr gefragt.
Ergänzend dazu interessiert mich, inwiefern die beiden phonetisch einen Unterschied aufweisen.
Wäre ...
6
votes
1
answer
222
views
How are the rules of phonetics/pronunciation named in standard german?
I am searching a scientific term for the pronunciation rules covering the following: The vowel in Stamm is short, but the vowel in Wal is long.
In German, pronunciation is Aussprache, but I am looking ...
0
votes
2
answers
178
views
Can Germans distinguish “iSelf” from “iShelf” by pronunciation?
Would German-speaking people notice the difference of pronunciation between iShelf and iSelf?
29
votes
6
answers
15k
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What makes the German language sound so harsh?
When international friends hear me talking German, they always think I must be really angry and having an argument with somebody.
What are the phonetical explanations for making the German language ...
12
votes
1
answer
3k
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Ear-training with Minimal Pairs?
I came across this article on Minimal Pairs that seemed to perfectly describe the issues I have been having: not being able to clearly differentiate between the different sounds and vowels. The ...
9
votes
3
answers
1k
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Resources for learning how to pronounce German phonemes?
In reading Fluent Forever. The author makes a point of something I had begun to suspect on my own: Learning to hear and correctly pronounce a language will help you learn much faster, because your ...
15
votes
4
answers
2k
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The loanwords of which languages are to be faithfully pronounced when speaking German?
I have the impression that – unlike English (where you say Euler as Yuler, or better yet, bruschetta as [/brʊˈʃɛtə/]), European Spanish (where one pronounces Wi-Fi as guifi) or French (Bounty as buntý)...
9
votes
4
answers
5k
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Sometimes "s" is pronounced [z] Why?
I have seen that many times, a German word is spelled with an s, but it is read like an English z.
Moreover, every time this happens, the Dutch cognate word is spelled with a z. (But not the English ...
5
votes
1
answer
530
views
"Standard" German pronunciation of Spar: [ʃpʰaːɐ] or [ʃpaːɐ]?
I'm reading Modern German Pronunciation, 2nd edition by Christopher Hall and I have a question regarding the /p/. I hold piece of paper directly in front of my lips and first I say the word Paar. I ...