Learn German - Lesson 3 - Pronunciation practice:

Stadtbesichtigung


(photo by  digital cat used under terms of Creative Commons license.)
streetcar munich


 

 

 




A. German : b, d, g and p, t, k

1. In most cases the symbols: b, d, g and p, t, k represent the same sounds in German as in English. You probably experience little difficulty therefore in pronouncing the following words:



 

Bahnhof

aber

Pass

(Mappe)

 

danke

oder

Taxe

bitte

ist

gut

sagen

kann

Ecke

Bank

 

b, d, g usually represent what we call voiced sounds: that is, your vocal cords are vibrating when you make these sounds. p, t, k represent what we call voiceless sounds: that is, your vocal cords are not vibrating, and you are actually whispering when you make these sounds.

2. However,  b, d, g also represent the voiceless sounds when they occur at the end of a word or syllable and when they are followed by other voiceless sounds:



 

abheben

"ap-heben"

bleibt

"bleip-t"

hebt ... ab

"hep-t ... ap"

glaubt

"glaup-t"

siebzehn

"siep-zehn"

gibt

"gip-t"

sind

"sin-t"

und

"unt"

Flughafen

"Fluk-hafen"

zeigt

"zeik-t"

Tag

"Tak"

sagt

"sak-t"

 

 

 

This is especially important to realize when considering verb forms. Since there is an alternation between voiced and voiceless endings (-e, -en, -t) many verbs actually have alternate stems which the writing system does not show.



 

bleib-

or

"bleip-"

sag-

or

"sak-"

(bleibe)

 

(bleibt)

(sage)

 

(sagt)

 

B. Pre-vocalic r in clusters.

 

Practice 1.



 

Frau

treffen

Preis

Kraft

Front

Tropfen

Probe

Kreis

Friede

Traum

prima

Krieg

 

 

 

 

schreibe

Strasse

sprechen

 

Schramme

streben

springen

 

Schritt

Strom

Sprung

 

 

As noted in Unit 2 you may find it easier to break up the cluster by inserting a vowel between the initial consonant and the r. This may be more necessary in the following group where the r is voiced. For drei try saying darei for example, and for bringen, baringen, etc.

Practice 2.



 

drei

braun

grau

dringen

bringen

Greis

Adresse

Gebrauch

begraben

bedrohen

verbrennen

ergriffen

 

C. Pre-vocalic r after vowels and initially.

 

Practice 3.



Bahre

Maria

Rat

Zigarre

beraten

reich

Ehre

erreichen

Rind

ihre

gerieben

roh

 

D. The German l.

 

Pronounce English "leap" and "believe". Ask your instructor to pronounce German lieb and belieben. In these words the l sound is almost identical in both languages. Remember of course that the German ie sound is higher and tenser than the English vowel, and this difference is reflected somewhat in the l.

 

Practice 4



 

lied

Loch

beleben

lesen

lösen

Geleit

leider

lud

gelogen

Lack

lügen

beluden

 

Ask your instructor to pronounce German lieb again slowly and repeat it after him as slowly as you can, holding the l for a full second or more. Then say the l alone just the same way. This is the only l sound which occurs in German. It is the same sound before and after vowels. After vowels however it occurs almost as a separate syllable. Now ask your instructor to pronounce German hohl. You will note that this word does not sound like English "hole".

Listen carefully and see if you can distinguish the two syllabIes, the o syllable and the l syllable, as your instructor says hohl again. In the following exercise try to imitate him exactly.

Practice 5.



 

viel

hohl

Wahl

viele

Aale

Ziel

wohl

Zahl

fehle

male

fehl

Pfuhl

Maul

hole

kühle

Mehl

Stuhl

Gaul

Suhle

fühle

 

Practice 6.



 

Wille

will

wild

balle

Ball

bald

helle

hell

hält

solle

soll

Sold