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Pronunciation

Phonetic Script

Vowels

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

Script	Letter		Vowel Type						German	English
			Height		Backness		Roundedness
[a:]	a, aa or ah	(long)	open (the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth)		front (the tongue is positioned as far forward as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant)		unrounded (the lips are spread)		Tag	day
									Zahn	tooth
[a]	a	(short)	open (the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth)		front (the tongue is positioned as far forward as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant)		unrounded (the lips are spread)		acht	eight
									Mann	man
[ɐ]	-er	(end of word or syllable) reduced a	near-open (the tongue is positioned similarly to an open vowel, but slightly more constricted)		central (the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel)		rounded (the lips are rounded) or unrounded (the lips are not rounded)		Amerikaner	American
									Computer	computer
[e:]	e, ee or eh	(long)	close-mid (the tongue is positioned halfway between a close vowel and a mid vowel)		front (the tongue is positioned as far forward as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant)		unrounded (the lips are spread)		Eva	female name
									zehn	ten
[ɛ]	e	(short)	open-mid (the tongue is positioned halfway between an open vowel and a mid vowel)		front (the tongue is positioned as far forward as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant)		unrounded (the lips are not rounded)		kennen	to know
									elf	eleven
[ə]	e	(unstressed or toneless e)	mid (the tongue is positioned halfway between a close vowel and an open vowel)		central (the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel)		unrounded (the lips are not rounded)		kommen	to come
									Dame	lady
[i, i:]	i, ie or ih	(long)	close (the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant)		front (the tongue is positioned as far forward as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant)		unrounded (the lips are spread)		ihn	him (acc.)
									sieben	seven
[ɪ]	i	(short)	near-close (the tongue is positioned similarly to a close vowel, but slightly less constricted)		near-front (the tongue is positioned similarly to a front vowel, but slightly further back in the mouth)		unrounded (the lips are not rounded)		ich	I
									Kind	child
[o, o:]	o, oo or oh	(long)	close-mid (the tongue is positioned halfway between a close vowel and a mid vowel)		back (the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant)		rounded (its roundedness is protruded, which means that the corners of the lips are drawn together, and the inner surfaces exposed)		orange	orange
									ohne	without
[ɔ]	o	(short)	open-mid (the tongue is positioned halfway between an open vowel and a mid vowel)		back (the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant)		rounded (the lips are rounded)		Mittwoch	Wednesday
									kommen	to come
[u:]	u, uh	(long)	close (the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant)		back (the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant)		rounded (its roundedness is protruded, which means that the corners of the lips are drawn together, and the inner surfaces exposed)		du	you (familiar)
									Uhland	German poet
[ʊ]	u	(short)	near-close (the tongue is positioned similarly to a close vowel, but slightly less constricted)		near-back (the tongue is positioned as in a back vowel, but slightly further forward in the mouth)		rounded (the lips are rounded)		und	and
									Ulla	female name