Editing German language (section)

==Phonology==
[[German phonology]]

===Vowels===

German vowels (excluding diphthongs; see below) come in ''short'' and ''long'' varieties, as detailed in the following table:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! !! A !! Ä !! E !! I !! O !! Ö !! U !! Ü
|-
! short
| /a/ || /ɛ/ || /ɛ/, /ə/ || /ɪ/ || /ɔ/ || /œ/ || /ʊ/ || /ʏ/
|-
! long
| /aː/ || /ɛː/ || /eː/ || /iː/ || /oː/ || /øː/ || /uː/ || /yː/
|}
Short /ɛ/ is realized as [ɛ] in stressed syllables (including [[secondary stress]]), but as [ə] in unstressed syllables. Note that stressed short /ɛ/ can be spelled either with ''e'' or with ''ä'' (''hätte'' 'would have' and ''Kette'' 'chain', for instance, rhyme). In general, the short vowels are open and the long vowels are closed. The one exception is the open /ɛː/ sound of long Ä; in some varieties of standard German, /ɛː/ and /eː/ have merged into [eː], removing this anomaly. In that case, pairs like ''Bären/Beeren'' 'bears/berries' or ''Ähre/Ehre'' 'spike (of wheat)/honour' become homophonous.

In many varieties of standard German, an unstressed /ɛr/ is not pronounced [ər], but vocalised to [ɐ].

Whether any particular vowel letter represents the long or short phoneme is not completely predictable, although the following regularities exist:
* If a vowel (other than ''i'') is at the end of a syllable or followed by a single consonant, it is usually pronounced long (e.g. ''Hof'' [hoːf]).
* If the vowel is followed by a double consonant (e.g. ''ff'', ''ss'' or ''tt''), ''ck'', ''tz'' or a [[consonant cluster]] (e.g. ''st'' or ''nd''), it is nearly always short (e.g. ''hoffen'' [ˈhɔfən]). Double consonants are used only for this function of marking preceding vowels as short; the consonant itself is never pronounced lengthened or doubled, in other words this is not a [[feeding order]] of [[gemination]] and then [[vowel shortening]].
Both of these rules have exceptions (e.g. ''hat'' [hat] 'has' is short despite the first rule; ''Mond'' [moːnt], '[[moon]]' is long despite the second rule). For an ''i'' that is neither in the combination ''ie'' (making it long) nor followed by a double consonant or cluster (making it short), there is no general rule. In some cases, there are regional differences: In central Germany (Hessen), the ''o'' in the [[Noun#Proper nouns and common nouns|proper name]] "Hoffmann" is pronounced long while most other Germans would pronounce it short; the same applies to the ''e'' in the geographical name "Mecklenburg" for people in that region. The word ''Städte'' 'cities', is pronounced with a short vowel [ˈʃtɛtə] by some (Jan Hofer, ARD Television) and with a long vowel [ˈʃtɛːtə] by others (Marietta Slomka, ZDF Television). Finally, a vowel followed by ''ch'' can be short (''Fach'' [fax] 'compartment', ''Küche'' [ˈkʏçe] 'kitchen') or long (''Suche'' [ˈzuːxə] 'search', ''Bücher'' [ˈbyːçər] 'books') almost at random. Thus, ''Lache'' is homographous: (Lache) [laːxe] 'puddle' and (lache) |[laxe]}} 'manner of laughing' (coll.), 'laugh!' (Imp.).

German vowels can form the following digraphs (in writing) and diphthongs (in pronunciation); note that the pronunciation of some of them (ei, äu, eu) is very different from what one would expect when considering the component letters:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! spelling
| ai, ei, ay, ey || au || äu, eu
|-
! pronunciation
| /aɪ̯/ || /aʊ̯/ || /ɔʏ̯/
|}
Additionally, the digraph ''ie'' generally represents the phoneme {{IPA|/iː/}}, which is not a diphthong. In many varieties, an {{IPA|/r/}} at the end of a syllable is vocalised. However, a sequence of a vowel followed by such a vocalised {{IPA|/r/}} is not considered a diphthong: Bär {{IPA|[bɛːɐ̯]}} 'bear', er {{IPA|[eːɐ̯]}} 'he', wir {{IPA|[viːɐ̯]}} 'we', Tor {{IPA|[toːɐ̯]}} 'gate', kurz {{IPA|[kʊɐ̯ts]}} 'short', Wörter {{IPA|[vœɐ̯tɐ]}} 'words'.

In most varieties of standard German, word stems that begin with a vowel are preceded by a [[glottal stop]] {{IPA|[ʔ]}}.

===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]] {{IPA|/p͡f/}}. The consonant inventory of the standard language is shown below.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!
! [[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
! [[Labiodental consonant|Labiodental]]
! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Postalveolar consonant|Postalveolar]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! [[Plosive consonant|Plosive]]
| p&nbsp;&nbsp;b
| 
| t&nbsp;&nbsp;d
| 
| 
| k&nbsp;&nbsp;ɡ
| 
| 
|-
! [[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
| 
| p͡f
| t͡s
| t͡ʃ&nbsp;&nbsp;d͡ʒ
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
! [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
| 
| f&nbsp;&nbsp;v
| s&nbsp;&nbsp;z
| ʃ&nbsp;&nbsp;ʒ
| 
| x
| 
| h
|-
! [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| m
| 
| n
| 
| 
| ŋ
| 
| 
|-
! [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
| 
| 
| l
| 
| j
| 
| 
| 
|-
! [[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
| 
| 
| r
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
|}

*/x/ has two allophones, [x] and [ç], after back and front vowels, respectively.
*/r/ has three allophones in free variation: [r], [ʁ] and [ʀ]. In the [[syllable coda]], the allophone [ɐ] is found in many varieties.
* The voiceless stops /p/, /t/, /k/ are [[aspiration (phonetics)|aspirated]] except when preceded by a [[sibilant]].
* The voiced stops /b/, /d/, /ɡ/ are devoiced to /p/, /t/, /k/, respectively, in word-final position.
* Where a stressed syllable has an initial vowel, it is preceded by [ʔ]. As its presence is predictable from context, [ʔ] is not considered a phoneme.
*/d͡ʒ/ and /ʒ/ occur only in words of foreign origin.

====Consonant spellings====
* '''c''' standing by itself is not a German letter. In borrowed words, it is usually pronounced [t͡s] (before ä, äu, e, i, ö, ü, y) or [k] (before a, o, u, and consonants). The combination '''ck''' is, as in English, used to indicate that the preceding vowel is short.
* '''ch''' occurs most often and is pronounced either [ç] (after ä, ai, äu, e, ei, eu, i, ö, ü and consonants; in the diminutive suffix -chen; and at the beginning of a word) or [x] (after a, au, o, u). '''Ch''' never occurs at the beginning of an originally German word. In borrowed words with initial Ch there is no single agreement on the pronunciation. For example, the word ''"Chemie"'' (chemistry) can be pronounced [keːˈmiː], [çeːˈmiː], or [ʃeːˈmiː] depending on dialect.
* '''dsch''' is pronounced [d͡ʒ] (like ''j'' in ''Jungle'') but appears in a few [[loanwords]] only.
* '''f''' is pronounced [f] as in "''f''ather".
* '''h''' is pronounced [h] as in "''h''ome" at the beginning of a syllable. After a vowel it is silent and only lengthens the vowel (e.g. ''"Reh"'' = [[roe deer]]).
* '''j''' is pronounced [j] in Germanic words (''"Jahr"'' [jaːɐ]). In younger loanwords, it follows more or less the respective languages' pronunciations.
* '''l''' is always pronounced [l], never *[ɫ] (the English "[[dark L]]").
* '''q''' only exists in combination with '''u''' and appears in both Germanic and Latin words (''"quer"''; ''"Qualität"''). The digraph '''qu''' is pronounced [kv].
* '''r''' is usually pronounced in a [[Guttural R|guttural]] fashion (a [[voiced uvular fricative]] [ʁ] or [[uvular trill]] [ʀ]) in front of a vowel or consonant (''"Rasen"'' [ˈʁaːzən]; ''"Burg"'' [buʁk]). In spoken German, however, it is commonly vocalised after a vowel (''"er"'' being pronounced rather like [ˈɛɐ]—''"Burg"'' [buɐk]). In some varieties, the '''r''' is pronounced as a "tongue-tip" ''r'' (the [[alveolar trill]] [r]).
* '''s''' in Germany, is pronounced [z] (as in "''Z''ebra") if it forms the [[syllable onset]] (e.g. Sohn [zoːn]), otherwise [s] (e.g. Bus [bʊs]). In Austria and Switzerland, it is always pronounced [s]. A '''ss''' [s] indicates that the preceding vowel is short. '''st''' and '''sp''' at the beginning of words of German origin are pronounced [ʃt] and [ʃp], respectively.
* '''ß''' (a letter unique to German called "scharfes S" or "[[ß|Eszett]]") was a ligature of a double '''s''' ''and'' of a '''sz''' and is always pronounced {{IPA|[s]}}. Originating in [[Blackletter]] typeface, it traditionally replaced '''ss''' at the end of a syllable (e.g. ''"ich muss"'' → ''"ich muß"''; ''"ich müsste"'' → ''"ich müßte"''); within a word it contrasts with '''ss''' [s] in indicating that the preceding vowel is long (compare ''"in Maßen"'' [in ˈmaːsən] "with moderation" and ''"in Massen"'' |[in ˈmasən]}} "in loads"). The use of '''ß''' has recently been limited by the latest German spelling reform and is no longer used for '''ss''' after a short vowel (e.g. "ich muß" and "ich müßte" were always pronounced with a short U/Ü); Switzerland and Liechtenstein already abolished it in 1934.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mittelschulvorbereitung.ch/index.php?SUBJECT=&actualid=5 |title=Mittelschulvorbereitung Deutsch |publisher=Mittelschulvorbereitung.ch |date= |accessdate=2010-03-15}}</ref>
* '''sch''' is pronounced [ʃ] (like "sh" in "Shine").
* '''tion''' in Latin loanwords is pronounced [tsion].
* '''v''' is pronounced [f] in words of Germanic origin (e.g. ''"Vater"'' [ˈfaːtɐ]) and [v] in most other words (e.g. ''"Vase"'' [ˈvaːzə]).
* '''w''' is pronounced [v] as in "''v''acation" (e.g. ''"was"'' [vas]).
* '''y''' only appears in loanwords and is traditionally considered a vowel.
* '''z''' is always pronounced [t͡s] (e.g. ''"zog"'' [t͡soːk]). A '''tz''' indicates that the preceding vowel is short.

====Consonant shifts====
High German consonant shift

German does not have any [[dental fricative]]s (as English '''th'''). The '''th''' sounds, which the English language still has, survived on the continent up to Old High German and then disappeared in German with the consonant shifts between the 8th and the 10th centuries.<sup>[]</sup> It is sometimes possible to find parallels between English and German by replacing the English '''th''' with '''d''' in German: "Thank" → in German "Dank", "this" and "that" → "dies" and "das", "[[thou]]" (old 2nd person singular pronoun) → "du", "think" → "denken", "thirsty" → "durstig" and many other examples.

Likewise, the '''gh''' in [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] English words, pronounced in several different ways in modern English (as an '''f''', or not at all), can often be linked to German '''ch''': "to laugh" → "lachen", "through" and "thorough" → "durch", "high" → "hoch", "naught" → "nichts", etc.