German letter a. Lesson: German alphabet - German online - Start Deutsch

Great news! On our website there is an opportunity pronunciationthere is any German text. To do this simply highlight German text or word anywhere on our site And Click the "Play" button at the bottom right(white triangle in black circle). You will then hear the text spoken in German. We recommend using this function in the Phrasebook section of our website.

Features of reading consonants:

1) The letter h at the beginning of a word or root is read as an aspirated x: Herz (heart). In the middle and at the end of words, it is not read, but serves to lengthen the previous vowel: fahren (to ride), froh (cheerful, joyful).

2) The letter j is pronounced like y, and in combinations ja and ju the Russian ear hears ya and yu: Jahr (year), Juni (June).

3) The letter I always softens when reading: Blume (flower).

4) The sound r is pronounced by most Germans with a burr: Regen (rain).

5) The letter s before or between vowels is read as z: Sonne (sun), lesen (read).

6) The letter ß is read as s: groß (big).

7) Consonants k,p, t are pronounced with some aspiration: Park (park), Torte (cake), Ko†fer (suitcase).

8) The letter v is pronounced like f: Vater (father). Only in rare cases (most often in borrowed words) is it pronounced as in: Vase (vase).

9) The letter w is read like the Russian sound in: Wort (word).

10) Double consonants are read as single consonants, but at the same time they shorten the vowel in front: Sommer (summer), Mutter (mother).

In German, not every consonant sound has a corresponding letter. In some cases, they resort to letter combinations:

1) The letter combination sp at the beginning of words and roots is read as sp: Sport (sport).

2) The letter combination st at the beginning of words and roots is read as pc: Stern (star).

3) The letter combination ck is read as k: backen (oven).

4) The letter combination chs is read as ks: sechs (six).

5) The letter combination ch is read as x: Buch (book), machen (to do).

6) The letter combination sch is read as sh: Schule (school), Schwester (sister).

7) The letter combination tsch is read as h: deutsch (German).

8) The letter combination qu is read as kv: Quark (cottage cheese).

The German alphabet has specific letters with two dots on top (Umlaut):

1) The letter ä is closest to the Russian e: Mädchen (girl).

2) The letter ö is read approximately like ё: schön (beautiful).

3) The letter ü is read almost like yu: Müll (garbage).

Vowel letter combinations:

1) The letter combination ie is read as long and: Bier (beer).

2) The letter combination ei is read as ay: Heimat (Homeland).

3) The letter combination eu is read as oh: heute (today).\

4) The letter combination äu is read as oh: Bäume (trees).

5) Doubling a vowel indicates the length of the sound: Tee (tea), Paar (pair), Boot (boat).

In some ways, the German language is similar to Russian. In German, voiced consonants at the end of words are also muted during pronunciation, despite possible misunderstandings. So, for example, it is impossible to distinguish a (Rad) wheel from a (Rat) tip by ear.

Features of reading at the ends of words:

1) The ending -er is pronounced rather slurred in some regions of Germany: Kinder (children).

2) At the end of words -ig is read as their: wichtig (important).

Accent Features:

1) The stress in German usually falls on the first syllable: Ausländer (foreigner), aufmachen (open). The exception is words borrowed from other languages: Computer. There are quite a lot of such borrowings in the German language.

2) If a word has an unstressed prefix (be-, ge-, er-, ver-, zer-, ent-, miss-), then the stress shifts to the next syllable: verkaufen (to sell), bekommen (to receive).

3) The suffix -tion (read as tion) always pulls the emphasis onto itself: Kommunikation (communication, connection).

Exercise 1

Practice pronouncing the following words and learn their meanings at the same time:

Strand (beach), Reise (travel), Leute (people), Zeit (time), Frühling (spring), Herbst (autumn), Fleisch (meat), Fisch (fish), Wein (wine), Kaffee (coffee), Zwieback (cracker), Radieschen (radish), richtig (correct), Schule (school), Volk (people)

Julia Grosche, "German for Beginners"

Reading and pronunciation of German words is quite simple and does not cause any difficulties for a Russian speaker. The main thing here is to know a few firm rules for reading German, since in some combinations not all letters are read the same way as they are written. Let's present them in the form of a visual table.

Rules for reading individual German letters and their combinations

In conclusion, it is necessary to note several general points typical for the German language:

all German double consonants convey one sound when read, indicating the brevity of the preceding vowel sound, for example: re nn en - rush, rush;

all doubled German vowels convey one long sound, for example: der Aa l [a:l] - eel;

if the letter h stands after vowels, it is never read, but only indicates the length of the previous vowel; letter h usually heard only at the beginning of a syllable/word, for example: se h r - very (not pronounced), h ier - here (pronounced);

for transmitting Russian letters I, yo, yu the letter uses combinations of German letters ja, jo, ju, for example: Yura - Ju ra, Yasha - Ja scha;

In the German language there are several variants of reading the letter r: at the beginning of words - burry [r], which is pronounced like a long Russian sound [x], but only with the participation of the voice; at the beginning of words, a rolling forelingual [r] is also possible; in the middle of words [r] is noticeably quieter, but quite distinguishable, but at the end the letter r conveys a sound that is completely different from the previous two in its essence, since it is vocalized [α], that is, closer to a vowel sound. Example: der R abe - raven (loud [r]), leh r en - to teach, teach (muffled, but quite distinguishable [r]), der Zuschaue r- spectator (vocalized [α]);

the combination of two or more consonants indicates the shortness of the previous vowel sound, even in cases where these consonants indicate one sound, for example lö sch en - go out, fade, erase;

vowel sounds that appear at the beginning of a root or word are always pronounced much sharper, with a so-called hard attack, for example: der Alter [ `a ltәα], this gives German speech a more abrupt and clear character compared to smooth Russian speech;

all German consonants are hard, all voiced consonants are muffled and pronounced semi-vocally, and at the end of words they are always completely devoiced, for example: der D ie b thief (the consonant d is semi-voiced, and the b at the end of the word is completely muted);

The stress in German words predominantly falls on the first syllable. The exceptions are:

1. words with unstressed prefixes ( be-, ge-, er-, ver-, zer-, ent-, emp-, miss-). In this case, the stress falls on the second syllable;
2. loanwords (der Comp u ter); and the suffix -tion is always stressed and is read with the emphasis falling on O(die Kontribu tio n);
3. some other exceptions (war u m).

In the German alphabet, in modern times, there are 26 stem letters. In addition to them, there are 3 more umlauts (Ä ä, Ö ö, Ü ü) and ligatures (a combination of two letters, in German this is ß). The basis of German is the Latin alphabet.

It may seem that German is similar to other languages ​​based on the Latin alphabet. But the pronunciation of letters in words, sounds, are very different.

To learn German, you first need to memorize the alphabet. This is a very important element in studying foreign language. Find out how to master the German language.

Before you start learning the alphabet (below you will find the alphabet and a video of its pronunciation), remember that umlauts Ää Öö Üü - do not have names, their task is to designate sounds.

Sound Ää:

Sound Öö:

Sound Üü:

Escetome ß - denotes double s (ss). It sounds like the Russian "s". It can only be found at the end or middle of the text. Also, esset is not used in recipes.

This is how the essay sounds:

Alphabet

Pronunciation of letters of the German alphabet

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German alphabet built on the basis of the Latin alphabet with diacritics for vowels ( ä , ö , ü ) and a letter ß , not used in other languages. There are alternative spellings for these letters: ae, oe, ue, ss, but when using them, the uniqueness is lost.

2. Transliteration

Some German letters are transmitted unambiguously into Russian:

3. J

Combinations j + vowel transmitted this way:

At the beginning of a word and after vowels ja → I, jä (je) → e, jo → yo, jo → yo, ju → yu, ju → yu: Jahns → Jens, July → Yule;

After consonants ja → ya, jä (je) → ye, jo → yo, jo → yo, ju (ju)→ yu: Lilje → Lilje.

Before a consonant and at the end of a word j → th.

4. Vowels and their combinations

German diphthongs are transcribed according to the following rules: eu → Ouch, ei → ah, ie → And. A common tradition is to transmit eu (ei) → Hey (to her) today is considered obsolete, although many first and last names are transmitted precisely according to these rules: Reuters → Reuters, Geiger → Geiger.

After vowels e (ä ) → uh, i → th. At the beginning of the word e (ä , ö ) → uh, ü → And.

In other cases, vowels are transmitted by transliteration: a → A, e (ä ) → e, i → And, o → O, ö → e, u → at, ü → yu, y → And.

5. S, C, H

Letter combinations sch, chh, ch, ph, rh, th in transcription are transmitted, respectively: sch → w, chh → xg, ch → X, ph → f, rh → r, th → T.

Combinations tsch, zsch And chs entirely belonging to one syllable are transmitted according to the rules tsch (zsch) → h, chs → ks: Achslach → Akslah, Zschopau → Chopau. Sometimes the components of these letter combinations belong to different syllables, in which case they are transmitted independently: Altschul → Altshul.

Before front vowels ( i, e, in borrowings also y) With → ts: Cilli → Cilli. In other contexts c → To: Carl → Charles.

Before letters p And t at the beginning of a word or part compound word s → w: Spree → Spree. Single before vowels s → h, otherwise s → With.

In the position between a vowel and a consonant (or between a vowel and e) h omitted in transcription. In other positions h → X.

The tradition is to transmit everywhere h → G today it is considered obsolete, but many first and last names are transmitted precisely according to this rule: Tannhauser → Tannhäuser, Heisenberg → Heisenberg.

"Transcriptor" does not know how to divide german words into syllables and compound words into parts.

6. Consonants

Letter combinations gk And tz transmitted according to the rules gk → G, tz → ts.

Doubled ll transmitted differently, depending on the position in the word:

Between vowels ll → ll: Ellerbach → Ellerbach;

At the end of a word and between consonants ll → ll: Tellkoppe → Tellkoppe;

In other positions ll → l or l.

Before vowels l → l, before consonants and at the end of words l → l.

In German names and titles v → f: Volkmar → Volkmar. But in names of foreign origin v can be transmitted through V: Crivitz → Krivitz.

The "transcriptor" always conveys v How f.

7. Double letters

Doubled (long) German vowels are always rendered as one: Klopeinersee → Klopeinersee.

Doubled German consonants are also translated as doubled in transcription if they are located between vowels or at the end of a word. In other positions, doubled German consonants correspond to one consonant letter of the transcription: Blatt → Blatt, Schaffran → Saffron.

Letter combination ck corresponds kk in the position between vowels, otherwise ck → To: Becker → Becker, Dick → Dick.

Alphabet in German: interesting facts and the pronunciation features of each sound! A little history and handy memories! And also about the role of umlauts and eszet! Read about all this in our material

In the beginning there were... runes

The first texts were created by German tribes on the basis of runic writing, for which there was its own alphabet " Futhorc" However, already in the era of feudalism, heterogeneous writing lost all meaning, because it was impossible to communicate in a language built on different alphabets. In the middle of the 8th century, the German alphabet began to acquire familiar Latin forms.

The formation of the alphabet and its specific components

The Latin alphabet, on which German is based, originally consisted of 21 letters.
In the first version, G, J, U, Y, W were missing. Their role was delegated to other letters, for example, “C” was used to indicate the sounds [k] and [g], and “I” included itself as the sound [i], so and [j].

FACT: With the development of languages ​​and alphabet, it became clear that the confusion among the peoples who borrowed Latin was due to the lack of certain sounds. Therefore, the number of letters gradually increased.

A separate achievement of the group of Germanic languages ​​was the letter “W”, included in the alphabet in the 16th century. For a long time, people had to use a combination of two “V” (digraph) in order to more accurately convey the desired sound.

Despite all the adjustments that happened in Latin alphabet, Germanic, Romance, Slavic and Finno-Ugric languages, which adopted Latin for their writing, were still forced to make additional edits to it.

Such as:
digraphs or letter combinations to indicate specific sounds
"th" - in English,
"sch" - in German or
"cz" - in Polish, or for example,
diacritics, which are very common in French(é, è, ê, î, û, ë, ç), they regulate the pronunciation of sounds depending on the sign written along with the letter
umlauts and ligatures (ß)

Let's look at all the letters of the German alphabet and pronunciation options!

There are 26 letters in the German alphabet + 3 umlauts and one ligature (Eszet)

A a [a] / a—der A dler (eagle).
In most cases, “A” is pronounced as a short open sound [a], but in some diphthongs it is pronounced differently. For example, in pairs « ah", "aa" the sound will be longer
—derW ah l (choice), die S ah ne (cream) / der S aa l (hall), das H aa r (hair).
In diphthong "ai" the letter "A" is included in the sound
[ai] as in der M ai(May).
In letter combination « au" the letter "A" makes a sound with "U"
[ау] : die M au s (mouse).

B b / b—das B utter b rot (bread and butter).
At the end of the word it loses its sonority and turns into the sound [p]: gro b(rude).

D d/de—der D elphin (dolphin).
At the end of the word it loses its sonority and turns into the sound [t]: das Lan d(country, land).

F f [ɛf] / ef- die F ahne (flag).

H h /ha—das H u h n (chicken).
In this word, two key features of the letter “h” can be noted at once: it is read like a softened Russian sound
[X] in cases where it is at the beginning of a word before a vowel - das H erz (heart), das H obby (hobby).
AND not pronounced if it is in the middle of a word after a vowel, thus, together with it forms a long sound: die W oh nung (apartment, housing).
Sometimes, for example, in the word haben [х] is pronounced softly. Sounds like breathing into a mirror with your mouth.

Jj/yot – der J oga (yoga).
In combination with "a" and "e" it can be pronounced as a long vowel:
ja (Yes),
jemand , or as short:
die Ja cke (jacket), je tzt (now).

L l [ɛl]/ ale- die L i l ie (lily).
It is read softer than the Russian “l”, the sound is closer to [l’].
The double “l” is pronounced in the same way as the single one, but it is worth remembering that before combinations « LL", "MM", « TT" the vowel will always be pronounced short:der Fa ll(happening).

Nn[ɛn]/en- die N uß (walnut).
Reads like Russian [n].
In combination « ng" pronounced as a nasal “n”, omitting the [g] sound: die Übu ng.

P p/ne—der P firsich (peach).
Reads like a Russian “p”, in combination
with "f" - « pf" pronounced [pf]: die Pf anne (frying pan).
Together with the letter "h" - « ph" forms the sound [f] in borrowed words: die Ph iloso ph ie (philosophy).

R r [ɛr]/ er—das R ad (wheel).
Pronounced as [r] if the letter comes at the beginning or middle of a word before a vowel: b r aun (brown), die K röte (toad).
If « r" at the end of the word das Zimm er(room), then in combinations « ar", « er", « or", « ier", the sound [r] disappears and appears [a]!!!
Including the letter “R” can be found in combination with “h”: das Rh ythmus, in which case it will be pronounced as a simple sound [r].

T t / those—der T eppich (carpet).
It is read as Russian [te], also in the case of the combination « th":das Th ema (topic).
In a combination of consonants « tsch" pronounced like the Russian sound [ch], but a little harder: der Qua tsch(nonsense). At the end of a word in a letter combination « tion" makes the sound [tsyon]: die Lek tion(lecture), die Infek tion(infection).

Vv/fau—der V ulkan (volcano).
IN in words of German origin the letter “v” is read as [fe], and in borrowed words as [ve]: das V erbrechen [ f](crime) / die V illa [ v](villa).
In the middle of a word of foreign origin the letter “v” will be read as [ve]: die Uni v ersität (university), das Sil v ester (New Year's Eve).
Words ending with - ive also include a voiced version of the letter “v”, that is [ve:]: die Perspekt ive(perspective).

X x/x—das X ylophon (xylophone). This letter conveys the sound [ks]: der Te x t (text).

Z z / tset—das Z ebra (zebra).
Pronounced like Russian [ts]: die Z unge (language), die Z eitung (newspaper), die Unterstüt z ung (support).

And now the umlauts:

Ä ä [ɛː] / e- die Ä nderung (change).
The letter characterizes the sound [e]: die Ä pfel (apples).
In position « ah" the sound becomes longer: die Z ah ne (teeth). Diphthong « äu" reads like [ouch]: die H äu ser (at home).

Ö ö [ øː] / * —das Ö l (oil).
There is no direct analogue of the sound [øː], but the closest to it are [ё] and nasal [o]: die L ö sung (decision).

Ü ü / * —der Ü bergang (transition).
The letter conveys a sound that reminds a Russian speaker of something between soft Russian [у] and [у]: die M ü hle (mill).

Ligature Esset

ß [ɛs’t͡sɛt] / es— der Fu ß ball.
Reads like a short [s]: hei ß (hot), ma ß geblich (significant, important).

The role of umlauts in the German language

As we have already written, today the German alphabet contains only 26 Latin letters, but if you have ever encountered a text in German, you could not help but notice signs and letters that are not part of the main structure. The fate of those “left behind” befell umlauts and the ligature “ß”.

Umlauts "ä», « ö" and "ü» have great value in the morphology of the German language: they are involved in changing words

— When the number changes from singular to the plural for nouns “das Wort” - “die Wörter”,
- when changing the degree of comparison of adjectives “kalt” - “kälter”,
- when forming the second and third person forms of strong verbs “fahren” - “fährst / fährt”),
- they also help in writing to distinguish words that sound similar but are spelled differently: “Eltern” - “Älter”.

But despite all this, umlauts are still not included in the main structure of the alphabet, but are designated as additional specific letters.

A similar fate befell German ligature "ß», formed from the Gothic combination of the letters “S” and “Z”.

It is worth noting that “ß” has gone through many reforms: in the 20th century, Switzerland abandoned it, and the Germans themselves often replaced the spelling of “ß” with a double “s”. However, the most significant event in the history of the ligature occurred in 2017, when Germany passed a law according to which “ß” received its own capital variant.

Not a single word in the German language begins with the ligature “ß”, which is why for many centuries it was written only in lowercase. But the problem with the “ß” ligature arose when, for example, it was necessary to write the entire word in capital letters, in the name of an establishment or street designation, then it turned out that all the letters were capital, but “ß” remained small “ STRAßE».

Another confusion reigned in the recording of surnames, which in German passports are written in capital letters and “ss” is used instead of “ß”, and in some other documents variants with the ligature “ß” may be recorded.

Therefore, in 2017, Germany recognized the spelling of the capital “ß”, although there are still enough opponents of this innovation. For example, the famous German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung compared the capital “ß” to a not-so-sightly street lamp.

How to remember the alphabet

To be frank, straight There is no practical need to memorize the alphabet. Another thing is that by memorizing letters in an entertaining form, you will learn to read faster, because the harmony of how the letter looks and how it is pronounced will be imprinted in your head. It is for this purpose that we offer you one of many options for a memory rhyme.

ABCDE and F, wenn ich Teddybären treff,
GHIJK and L, schmuse ich mit Ihnen schnell.
MNOPQ and R, Teddybären lieb ich sehr,
STUVW and X, Teddybär schlaf ein ganz fix,
YZ mit mir in meinem Bett.

You can compose a similar verse for yourself, for example, write words for each letter in a row and learn them in text, or perhaps you can come up with a song: for many students, the alphabet is easier for them with a familiar melody. But you can learn the various subtleties of the sound of diphthongs and consonant combinations only in the process of reading.

Antonina Nikulina, Deutsch Online