Notes on Pronunciation
Notes on Pronunciation
A. German ng and nk
The English words "singer" and "finger" both contain the same nasal sound, a kind of hum through the nose made with the tongue in the position for g. In the first word the nasal sound occurs alone before the following vowel. In the second word we actually have a cluster of ng plus g. We might write "fing-ger" to represent the sounds more accurately. This cluster never occurs in German; only the nasal sound alone occurs between vowels. Practice the following words with your instructor:
Practice 1
| bringe | Finger | Klingel |
| senge | Hunger | Angel |
| Lunge | Sänger | Bengel |
The English words "bank" and "banker" contain the same nasal sound, but it is followed here by k. We might write "bangk" and "bangker" to represent this cluster more accurately. The same cluster occurs in German, but it is represented in the writing system by both ng and nk. Many speakers pronounce final ng and nk before voiceless consonants as if it were followed by k; other speakers pronounce only a very short nasal sound without the following k. Follow the pronunciation your instructor gives you for these words:
Practice 2
| sinke | Wink | Ring | rings | links |
| lenke | Geschenk | eng | längst | lenkst |
| Funke | Trunk | jung | jüngst | dankst |
| danke | Bank | lang | langsam | tunkst |
B. Final -b, -d and -s
Final stops and spirants are always voiceless in German. There is nothing like English "had" or "beg" or "was". In the writing system the symbols b, d and s indicate sounds which are voiced at the beginning of words and syllables but voiceless at the end of words and syllables.
Practice 3
| Sack | was | Bonn | ob |
| Süden | als | Leibe | Leib |
| also | Hotels | Grabes | Grab |
| Unsinn | preiswert | lobe | Lobgesang |
| Dose | Jod | gut | Bug |
| Bades | Bad | Tage | Tag |
| Süden | Südseite | Sieges | Sieg |
| leide | leidlich | schweige | schweigsam |
Notice also that German, unlike English, may thus have long vowels followed by voiceless consonants.
C. Final -m and -n
English vowels followed by an n or an m tend to be nasalized. There is an anticipation of the nasal consonant during the pronunciation of the vowel. Compare the sounds in English "ban" and "bad" or "on" and "ought", for example, and see if you can hear and feel the difference. The nasalization of vowels does not occur in German in this way. There is, rather, a separation between vowel articulation and articulation of the following m and n. It is almost as if there were two syllables, a vowel syllable and a separate m-syllable or n-syllable with a distinct but very brief hum on the m or n. Practice the following words with your instructor taking care not to nasalize the vowels but to articulate the final nasals separately and distinctly:
Practice 4
| lahm | Plan |
| Lehm | zehn |
| intim | Wien |
| Atom | Lohn |
| Ruhm | Huhn |
D. Unstressed final -en
In normal speech the unstressed ending -en often is not pronounced as a full, separate syllable but only as a hum-like extension of the preceding consonant. The same thing takes place in English when you say "wooden" or "broken" at conversational speed. You leave your tongue in the position for d or k while you open your nose and hum for a split second. By this kind of assimilation final -en in German is actually only an [n], hummed briefly, after d, t or n; after b, p or m it is an [m]; after g, k or ng it is actually a short hum on [ng].
Practice 5
| [-n] | [-m] | [-ng] |
|---|---|---|
| eingeladen | ausgeben | gegen |
| Boden | bleiben | liegen |
| vermieten | Aktenmappen | umgezogen |
| arbeiten | tippen | Wolldecken |
| ihnen | Stehlampen | Socken |
| wohnen | kommen | bringen |
| Strassenbahnen | zusammen | Zeitungen |