German pronunciation: R

From UniLang Wiki

>> languages >> German >> German pronunciation

This is an attempt to writing a tutorial to the pronunciation of the letter R in standard German. The letter has three different pronunciations: as a consonant, as a vowel or as an off-glide for a diphthong.

The vocalic pronunciation

If a word with several syllables ends in -er, those two letters are pronounced as one vowel: [ɐ], which is similar to a short [a].
Note that [ɐ] is not [ə] (schwa)! In German, it is almost always possible to replace [ɐ] with [a] (A) and [ə] with [ɛ] (short E/Ä), but you won't be understood when you say [ə] instead of [ɐ].

Examples: Schwester [ˈʃvɛstɐ], Schüler [ˈʃyːlɐ], Tiger [ˈtʰiːgɐ], Besitzer [bəˈzɪʦɐ]

For English speakers: Forget the way you pronounce -er in words like "mother". Instead, concentrate on the first vowel, the O in "mother". That sounds like a short form of the A in "father", doesn't it? Now use that short A sound at the end of the word, too, saying something like "motha". Yes, just like "gangsta". That's the way it sounds in German.

Pour les francophones : On pourrait dire que la prononciation allemande du R est paresseuse ; on l'oublie souvent. Le nom "Dieter" ne se prononce pas comme « ditère », mais comme les deux premiers mots dans la phrase « Dis ta mère que je ne peux pas venir aujourd'hui » [ˈdiːtʰɐ] ! Autre exemple : Kühler se prononce comme « (ce) cul là ! » [ˈkʰyːlɐ]. C'est tout simple, -er est prononcé comme un A bref.

For speakers of other languages: Just pronounce it as a short A, like the second vowel in "casa".

This applies to all words that end in -er and that have more than one syllable, including compounds and derivations of such words: den Lesern [deːn ˈleːzɐn], Lichterkette [ˈlɪçtɐkʰɛtʰə], Tigerkäfig [ˈtʰiːgɐkʰɛːfɪç]

The consonantal pronunciation

Normally R is a consonant, as in every other language. In some regions of the German speaking countries, the R is trilled (just like in Russian, Italian and Scottish English), but that's not the norm. The standard German R is uvular, as in French. I would say it can be an approximant, a fricative or a trill. Either works, and people understand everything. Just don't trill it too much (except in certain regions)...

Pour les francophones : Le R parisien est entre le R et le CH allemand (dans "Bach", comme le J espagnol). Le R allemand est presque roulé, moins frotté qu'en français. Si t'y arrives pas, ça fait rien ; ton R français est déjà presque parfaitement allemand. ;-)

For speakers of other languages: The German R is pronounced in the throat, which is very difficult if you're not used to it. If you know the [x] sound (Spanish J, Scottish CH, Cyrillic and Greek X, Dutch G/CH), you're quite close. Reduce the friction to a minimum and try to make it almost rolled/trilled. That's it. If it doesn't work, use your normal R. Everyone will understand it, unless R and L are the same sound for you.

Now try to pronounce the following words: Rabe [ˈʀaːbə], Krach [kʀax], Frischfleisch [ˈfʀɪʃflaɪʃ], Strickleiter [ˈʃtʀɪkʰlaɪtʰɐ], Sprung [ʃpʀʊŋ]

The diphthong pronunciation

Just like in British English, R is not pronounced when it comes after a vowel (unless it's the beginning of a separate syllable as in "Waren"). It's not completely dropped, however. Instead, the preceding vowel and the R [ɐ] form a diphthong.

Examples: Schirm [ʃɪ^ɐm], Rohr [ʀo^ɐ], Wörter [ˈvœ^ɐtʰɐ], sterben [ˈʃtɛ^ɐbən]

For English speakers: What is the correct pronunciation of "beer"? It's not like "bee", it it? I imagine that you either say it with a real R at the end [biːɻ] (the same R as in "right") or with a kind of release that transforms the EE sound into something short [biː^ə] (like the A in "another"). The latter variant is quite close to the German pronunciation. If you can make that release vowel sound [�?]-like (remember, that was the first vowel in "mother"), you're done: [biː^ɐ].

For speakers of other languages: Just imagine there was no R, but an A. A very short unstressed A.

Actually this diphthong pronunciation varies a lot. Some people say it's correct to pronounce a real (consonantal) R, but they don't do it in every word. German "stage pronunciation" (the normative standard for theater actors and singers) always rolls the R. In some regions, R is pronounced [x] after a vowel, in others it's not pronounced at all after A (thus "Start" sounds like "Staat" [ʃtaːtʰ]), in some regions the vowel before an R is always long...

>> languages >> German >> German pronunciation