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Pronunciation

Phonetic Script

Consonants

Here you learn about the phonetic script used for the German consonants. To listen to the pronunciation, click on the little button in front of the respective word.

Script	Letter	Consonant	Type			German	English
[b]	b	voiced	vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation			blau	blue
		bilabial	formed with both lips			sieben	seven
		plosive	stop consonant produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract
[d]	d	voiced	vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation			Dienstag	Tuesday
		alveolar	articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge			Kinder	children
		plosive	stop consonant produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract
[f]	f or v	voiceless	produced without vibrations of the vocal cords			fünf	five
		labiodental	formed with lower lip and upper teeth			vier	four
		fricative	consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together, here: lower lip against upper teeth
[g]	g	voiced	vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation			gelb	yellow
		velar	formed with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate (the velum)			mögen	to like
		plosive	stop consonant which is formed with the back of the tongue against the soft palate
[h]	h	voiceless	produced without vibrations of the vocal cords			Hamburg	City in Germany
		glottal	consonant which is produced in the glottis			Hütte	hut
		fricative	consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together, here: in the glottis
		only pronounced at the beginning of a word or syllable
[j]	j or y	voiced	vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation			ja	yes
		palatal	formed with the middle or back part of the tongue raised against the hard palate			Yen	yen
		approximant	consonant which is produced by bringing one articulator close to another but without the vocal tract being narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent airstream is produced
[k]	k	voiceless	produced without vibrations of the vocal cords			kommen	to come
		velar	formed with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate (the velum)			Amerikaner	American (male)
		plosive	stop consonant which is formed with the back of the tongue against the soft palate
[l]	l	voiced	vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation			lila	lilac
		alveolar	articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge			alles	everything
		lateral	produced by allowing the airstream to flow over the sides of the tongue, rather than the middle of the tongue
		approximant	consonant which is produced by bringing one articulator close to another but without the vocal tract being narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent airstream is produced
[m]	m	voiced	vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation			Dame	lady
		bilabial	formed with both lips			Samstag	Saturday
		nasal	air is allowed to escape through the nose
[n]	n	voiced	vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation			Kind	child
		alveolar	articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge			kennen	to know
		nasal	air is allowed to escape through the nose
[p]	p	voiceless	produced without vibrations of the vocal cords			pink	pink
		bilabial	formed with both lips			sprechen	to speak
		plosive	stop consonant produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract
[r]	r	voiced	vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation			orange	orange
		uvular	articulated with the back of the tongue against or near the palatine uvula			grün	green
		fricative	consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together, here: back of the tongue and uvula produce a guttural r, which means that the r is rubbed (not rolled) between uvula and back of the tongue
[s]	ß, ss, s	voiceless	produced without vibrations of the vocal cords			bis	until
(sharp s)		alveolar	articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge			alles	everything
		sibilant fricative	produced by directing air flow through a groove in the tongue at the place of articulation and directing it over the sharp edge of the teeth, causing high-frequency turbulence
		letter s pronounced as sharp s under the following conditions: in front of consonants, after voiceless consonants and at the end of a word or syllable
[t]	t	voiceless	produced without vibrations of the vocal cords			rot	red
		alveolar	articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge			Mittwoch	Wednesday
		plosive	stop consonant produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract
[v]	w or v	voiced	vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation			woher	where from
		labiodental	formed with lower lip and upper teeth			violett	purple
		fricative	consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together, here: lower lip against upper teeth
[z]	s	voiced	vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation			rosa	rose-coloured
(soft s)		alveolar	articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge			sein	to be
		fricative	consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together, here: tongue and sharp edge of the teeth
		at the beginning of a word in front of a vowel, between two vowels, between l, m, n, ng, r and a vowel and if there is a similar word form in which an unstressed/toneless e=ə is spoken in front of l, m, n and r