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German phonology describes the Phonology of Standard German . Since German is a Pluricentric Language , there are a number of different pronunciations of standard German which however agree in most respects. VOWELS #Short occur only in unstressed syllables of Loanwords , for instance in ''Psych'''o'''m'''e'''trie'' 'psychometry'. They are usually considered complementary Allophone s together with their long counterparts which cannot occur in unstressed syllables. #The Schwa occurs only in unstressed syllables, for instance in ''besetzen'' 'occupy'. It is often considered a complementary allophone together with which cannot occur in unstressed syllables. If a Sonorant follows in the Syllable Coda , the schwa often disappears so that the sonorant becomes syllabic, for instance ''Kiss'''en''''' 'pillow', ''Es'''el''''' 'donkey', ''bess'''er''''' 'better'. Note that the syllabic is realized as in many varieties, for instance ''bess'''er''''' 'better'. #The long Open-mid Front Unrounded Vowel is merged with the Close-mid Front Unrounded Vowel in many varieties of standard German. #The open vowels and are free allophones together with and . The vowels are often analyzed according to a Tenseness contrast, being the tense vowels and their lax counterparts. Like the English Checked Vowel s, the German lax vowels require to be followed by a consonant, with the notable exception of (which is however absent in many varieties). In order to apply the division into pairs of tense and lax to all German vowels, is sometimes considered the lax counterpart of tense . DIPHTHONGS The German diphthongs are , for instance in ''Ei'' 'egg', ''S'''au''''' 'sow', ''n'''eu''''' 'new', ''S'''äu'''le'' 'column'. Occasionally, they are transcribed as . Marginally, there occur some more diphthongs, for instance in Interjection s such as ''pfui'' , and in Loanword s, among others, as in ''F'''euille'''ton'' , ''H'''o'''mep'''a'''ge'' , ''Cr'''oi'''ssant'' . It is debated whether such diphthongs should be considered phonemes of the German language or not. In the varieties where vowelizes to in the syllable coda (see below), a diphthong ending in may be formed with virtually every vowel. CONSONANTS With approximately 25 phonemes, the German consonant system exhibits an average number of consonants in comparison with other languages. One of the more noteworthy ones is the unusual Affricate /p͡f/. #In the northern varieties, occurs before word stems with initial vowel. It is often not considered a phoneme, but an optional boundary mark of word stems. # and occur only in words of foreign origin. In certain varieties, they are replaced by and altogether. # and are complementary allophones after front vowels and back vowels. For a more detailed analysis see below at ''ich-Laut'' And ''ach-Laut'' . #, and are free allophones of each other. is used only in Southern varieties. In the Syllable Coda , the allophone is used in many varieties, except in the South-West. #According to some analysis, is an allophone of {Link without Title} after /a aː/ and according to some also after . The voiceless stops , , are Aspirated except when preceded by a sibiliant. The obstruents are voiceless in the Southern varieties. ''Ich-Laut'' and ''ach-Laut'' The term ich-Laut ‘I-sound’ refers to the Voiceless Palatal Fricative , the term '''ach-Laut''' ‘alas-sound’ to the Voiceless Velar Fricative . In German, these two sounds are Allophone s. The allophone occurs after back vowels and (for instance in ''Buch'' ‘book’), the allophone after front vowels (for instance in ''ich'' ‘I’) and consonants (for instance in ''Furcht'' ‘fear’) (Kohler 1977, 1990; Wiese 1996: 210). In the onset of stressed syllables ( Loanword s only), the pronunciation varies: In the Northern varieties of standard German, it is , in Southern varieties, it is (for instance in ''China'': vs. ). The '', where erstwhile allophones undergo a split into separate phonemes. An allophonic distribution of after front vowels and after other vowels is a common one, and can be heard also in , many Southern German dialects, as well as Yiddish , which comes from one of them, retain in all positions. It is thus reasonable to assume that Old High German ''ih'', the ancestor of modern ''ich'', was pronounced with rather than . And while it is impossible to know for certain whether Old English words such as ''niht'' (modern ''night'') were pronounced with or , is likely (see Old English Phonology#Consonant Allophones ). According to certain analysis, the German ''ach-Laut'' is further differentiated into two allophones, and . Some say that [x occurs after (for instance in ''Buch'' ‘book’) and after (for instance in ''Bach'' ‘brook’), others say that [x] occurs after and after . Fortis-Lenis Pairs Various German consonants occur in pairs at the same place of articulation and in the same manner of articulation, namely the pairs /p-b/, /t-d/, /k-g/, /s-z/, //. These pairs are often called fortis-lenis pairs, since describing them as voiced/voiceless pairs is inadequate. With certain qualifications, /, f-v/ are also considered fortis-lenis pairs. The fortis plosives /p, t, k/ are aspirated in most varieties (exceptions include Bavarian-Austrian varieties). The aspiration is strongest in the onset of a stressed syllable (such as Taler weaker in the onset of an unstressed syllable (such as Vater [ ), and weakest in the syllable coda (such as in Saat []). The lenis consonants // are voiceless in most southern varieties of German. For clarity, they are often transcribed as {Link without Title} . The nature of the phonetic difference between the voiceless lenis consonants and the similarly voiceless fortis consonants is controversial. It is generally described as a difference in articulatory force, and occasionally as a difference in articulatory length; for the most part, it is assumed that one of these characteristics implies the other. In most varieties of German, the opposition between fortis and lenis is nullified in the syllable coda, due to terminal devoicing (Auslautverhärtung). A few southern varieties of German, such as Swiss German, present an exception to this. In various central and southern varieties, the opposition between fortis and lenis is also nullified in the syllable onset; sometimes just in the onset of stressed syllables, sometimes in all cases. The pair /f-v/ is not considered a fortis-lenis pair, as /v/ remains voiced in all varieties, included the Southern varieties that devoice the lenes. Generally, the southern /v/ is realized as the voiced Approximant However there are southern varieties which differentiate between a fortis /f/ (such as in sträflich [ from Middle High German stræflich) and a lenis /f/ ( such as in höflich [ from Middle High German hovelîch); this is analogous to the opposition of fortis /s/ ( and lenis [ . STRESS The first syllable of German words receives Stress , with the following exceptions:
HISTORICAL SOUND CHANGES The Middle High German vowel pairs and have merged to and respectively in modern standard German, although many dialects retain the distinction. For example, while ''heiß'' 'hot' (MHG ''heiz'') and ''Eis'' 'ice' (MHG ''îs'') rhyme in the Standard Language , they do not in the Austro-Bavarian dialects (''hoaß''/''äis'') and in the Alemannic German dialects (''heiß''/''iis''), nor in the Yiddish Language (''heys''/''ayz''), also a descendant of Middle High German. PHONEMIC MERGERS A merger found in many accents of German is that of (spelled ''ä(h)'') with (spelled ''e'', ''ee'', or ''eh''). Some speakers merge the two everywhere, some distinguish them everywhere, others keep distinct only in Conditional forms of Strong Verb s (for example they distinguish ''ich gäbe'' 'I would give' vs. ''ich gebe'' 'I give', but not ''Bären'' 'bears' vs. ''Beeren'' 'berries'). Another common merger is that of at the end of a syllable with (after a front vowel) or, less commonly, (after a back vowel or ). In the case of the ending ''-ig'', this pronunciation is prescribed by the Siebs standard, for instance ''wichtig'' . The merger occurs neither in Austro-Bavarian German and Alemannic German nor in the corresponding varieties of standard German. REFERENCES
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