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Phonetic Script - Grouped Consonants

  

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

Script Letter Consonant Type   Examples
           
[ç] ch (soft)
palatal		 voiceless

palatal


fricative		 produced without vibrations of the vocal cords

formed with the middle or back part of the tongue raised against the hard palate

consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together, here: back part of the tongue and hard palate

this phone is articulated after the following vowels, vowel mutations or diphthongs: e, i, ä, ö, ü, ei, ie, eu and äu

it is also articulated in the diminutive syllable -chen and in the word ending -ig though it is written with g at the end		  

sprechen (to speak)
ich (I)
lächeln (to smile)
Köchin f (female cook)
Küche f (kitchen)
Eiche f (oak)
kriechen (to crawl)
Seuche f (epidemic)
Sträucher m pl (shrubs)

Mädchen nt (girl)

zwanzig (twenty)

           
           
[x] ch (hard)
guttural		 voiceless

velar


fricative		 produced without vibrations of the vocal cords

formed with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate (the velum)

consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together, here: back part of the tongue and soft palate

this phone is articulated after the vowels a, o, u and the diphthong au		   acht (eight)
Koch m (male cook)
Kuchen m (cake)
Strauch m (shrub)
           
           
[ʒ] g or j voiced

postalveolar



sibilant fricative		 vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation

formed with the blade of the tongue behind the alveolar ridge, and the front of the tongue bunched up ("domed") at the palate

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

this phone mostly appears in words taken from the French language		   orange (orange)
Garage f (garage)
           
           
[k] ck voiceless

velar


plosive		 produced without vibrations of the vocal cords

formed with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate (the velum)

stop consonant which is formed with the back of the tongue against the soft palate

the vowels which appear in front of ck are always short		   Acker m (field)
Ecke f (corner)
           
           
[ŋ] ng or
n before k		 voiced

velar


nasal		 vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation

formed with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate (the velum)

air is allowed to escape through the nose

either ng or just written n before k		   singen (to sing)
sinken (to sink)
           
           
[f] ph voiceless

labiodental

fricative		 produced without vibrations of the vocal cords

formed with lower lip and upper teeth

consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together, here: lower lip against upper teeth

some words formerly spelled with ph are now spelled with f, eg. Telefon, Xylofon		   Alphabet nt (alphabet)
Philosophie f (philosophy)
           
           
[pf] pf   both letters are spoken   pfeifen (to whistle)
Pfeffer m (pepper)
           
           
[kv] qu   always spoken kv   Qualität f (quality)
Quelle f (source)
       
           
           
[ʃ] sch voiceless

postalveolar



sibilant fricative		 produced without vibrations of the vocal cords

formed with the blade of the tongue behind the alveolar ridge, and the front of the tongue bunched up ("domed") at the palate

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
   schön (beautiful, nice)
Tasche f (bag)
           
           
[ʃp, sp] sp   spoken ʃp at the beginning of a word or syllable   sprechen (to speak)
  spoken sp in the middle or at the end of a word or syllable   Knospe f (bud)
           
           
[ʃt, st] st   spoken ʃt at the beginning of a word or syllable   Stadt f (city)
  spoken st in the middle or at the end of a word or syllable   Ostern nt (Easter)
Gast m (guest)
           
           
[t] th voiceless

alveolar


plosive		 produced without vibrations of the vocal cords

articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge

stop consonant produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract

always spoken t		   Theater nt (theatre)
Thema nt (topic)
           
           
[ts] tz   always spoken ts
the vocals which appear in front of tz are always short		   Katze f (female cat)
Klotz m (block)