Luxembourgish pronunciation for German-speakers
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The pronunciation of Luxembourgish is based on the German one, but there are some differences for the vowels and diphthongs.
We'll talk words of French origin at the end.
VOKALEN / VOWELS
- É and Ë are pronounced like the English E in "get". The exception is EEË, which sounds like the German word "Ehe" (if you don't pronounce the H) and ËEE, which sounds like the EE in "geebnet". In these cases, the diaresis is only used to prevent three Es in a row.
- II is like German IE or English EE.
- A long O or OO is usually open like the English AW in "saw".
- A vowel is only short if it precedes several consonants. The only exceptions are commonly used words such as den (definite article), mat ("with") or net ("not").
- Lengthening H and long Ö only occur in some German loan words.
- The German Ü becomes É in Lux., the short Ö becomes Ë.
DIPHTONGEN / DIPHTHONGS
- AI, AU and EI are like in German.
- ÉI is pronounced like the English AY in "pay".
- ÄI is similar, but with a long Ä instead of a short E.
- OU is similar to the English O in "no". It is basically a long closed O followed by a short U.
- OI is a long open O followed by a short I, thus longer than German EU. This diphthong only exists in a small number of words.
- German EU becomes EI in Lux., ÄU becomes AI.
RËTSCHLAUTER / "SCRATCH SOUNDS"
- ÄE/ÄER/ÄR is an Ä followed by a short A, like the sound of German "Bär" with an A instead of an R sound at the end.
- IE/IER/IR is a long I followed by a short A, like the sound of German "Bier" with an A instead of an R sound at the end.
- UE/UER/UR is an open U followed by a short A, like the sound of German "Schnur" with an A instead of an R sound at the end.
KONSONANTEN / CONSONANTS
- A C preceding E, I and Y is pronounced like an English S in words of French origin.
- A CH as in "ich" is often pronounced like SCH (English SH), but some speakers pronounce it like in German.
- As far as I know, the article d' is always pronounced as T.
- G is pronounced like CH at the end of a word ("Lëtzebuerg"), but like a German J when it precedes EG, EN, ER and ESCH ("Lëtzebuergesch"). When it precedes E or I, it can be pronounced like a French J ("Regierung").
- J is often pronounced like a French J, i.e. like the English S in "measure". In the old Luxembourgish spelling, this sound was written JH.
- QU is pronounced like in English.
- SS is often voiced after a short vowel, thus like an English Z. The letter ß does not exist in Luxembourgish.
- W is pronounced like F at the end of a word or when preceding another consonant. In other cases (e.g. in "schwätzen"), it is sometimes pronounced like in Emglish.
FRANSÉISCHE WIERDER / FRENCH WORDS
A spelling course for Luxembourgish children says:
Mir si jo nët eleng op der Welt, ee Gléck, dofir huele mir aus anere Sprooche Wierder an eis Sprooch op.
Esou hu mir si mat Franséisch, Däitsch, Englesch a Griichesch beräichert.
Verhonze wëlle mir se awer och net: e Gefängnis ass nach ëmmer e Prisong an d'Feierwier sinn nach ëmmer d'Pompjeeën.
Which means:
We're not alone in the world, fortunately, that's why we take words from other languages into our language.
That's how we enriched it with French, German, English and Greek.
But we don't want to spoil it: a prison (German Gefängnis) is still a Prisong (French prison), and the fire brigade (German Feuerwehr) is still the "Pompjeeëen" (French pompiers).
There are words that remain unchanged in their spelling, words with a French stem and words whose origin is no longer visible:
- Barrière, Ministère, Concours, Courage, Trottoir (usually with a Lorraine pronunciation, thus stressed on the third last [antepenultimate] syllable)
- Timber, Ensembel, Décisioun, enquêtéieren, Réunioun, résuméieren, Députéierten (with French nasals and French U, thus "Députéierten" is pronounced "Depütejjerten")
- Jilli, Jelli, Fotell, Wallis, Keess, zerwéieren, Schantjen (with Luxembourgish pronunciation and French J)
And now it's getting weird, because those words form their plural with EN:
Trottoiren, Employéen (male), Employéeëen (female), Clienten (male), Clienteën (female), Camionen
[trottoir = sidewalk, employé(e) = employee, client(e) = client, camion = truck]
In compound words with a silent French E at the end, the latter is written Ë:
Chancëgläichheet, Assurancëwiesen
Understood everything? It's getting worse: French words that also exist in German are written (almost) like in German:
Affär, Aktioun, Aktionär, Büro, Realitéit, Fassad, Sekretär
And last but not least some Luxembourgish specialities:
- German is not the only language, where nouns are capitalized, the same is done in Lux.
- An N (or two) at the end of a word is left out when it does not precede D, H, N, T, Z, a vowel or a punctuation mark. Examples:
- Mir sinn doheem. (We're at home)
- Si si gär doheem. (They like being at home)
- Neen, ech ginn dohin. (No, I'm going there)
- Dohi gi si gär. (They like going there)
- Si lafen a spillen och. (They also run and play)
- Mir wësse vill, si wëssen näischt. (We know a lot, they know nothing)
- Mir spillen haut, si spille mar. (We'll play today, they'll play tomorrow)
- Sometimes a single S is introduced between two words, which also exists in Bavarian:
- Wann s du mech frees... (If you ask me)
- So mir wéini s du gees... (Tell me where you're going)
- Ob s du wëlls... (If you like it)
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