h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

PRONUNCIATION - Part I/The consonants C to G

General: The pronunciation of German consonants is not hard - either in the sense of being a difficult thing to do, or in the sense that it should sound like a machine gun. This is only true in the charicatures by Charlie Chaplin in "the Dictator" or the old Monty Python sketches. Why the old footage of Hitler sounds like this may be due to

a) him being Austrian and putting a lot of effort into sounding German
b) the quality of the recordings
c) the rhetorical techniques needed to get the people believing all that balderdash
d) the fact that the language has "relaxed" due, perhaps to the Allied Occupation which only finished in 1990

anyone who can explain it may do so in this thread !! We aim to cover all aspects of the language, not just the "boring" bits.

So - here are notes on the consonants up to G

B: Is usually the same as in English, very "voiced" with an accompanying noise made back near the throat. So "Bolle's Berliner Bulettenbude" with its alliteration of 4 "B"s is spoken with the whole mouth, lips and throat, which is what makes it so satisfying to say! Try it for a few times in a row!

C: This is pronounced "TS". Except where it is found in conjunction with "K", where it is no different from the English "Black" - for example as in "Backen" (to bake) or Socken (socks). It is always at the end of a syllable, as it would be in English.

When Germans are pronouncing Latin, they also use this "TS" sound for the "C". So Pleni sunt Coeli sounds very different to the English way of pronouncing it, especially as the oe sound is also very different.

D: This is no different from the English at the beginning of a word, but at the end of words, when it is the very last letter, it is hardened to a "T". "Das Fahrrad", (bicycle) or "Das Bad" - the bathroom. Some dialects soften this back to a normal "D" in certain contexts - the spa towns (with their prefix "Bad..." are usually pronounced quite softly "Bad Homburg" "Bad Rappenau". (Look them up on the map - clue: both are very near the Westernmost border.)

F: "F" is really no different from the English. There is, however, the slightly awkward (for English-speakers) "Pf" - which is pronounced exactly as it is written. "Das Pferd" (horse) "Pfingsten" (Whitsun). This is always found at the beginning of words.

G: The same rules apply as in English and French. In general, when followed by an "a", "o" or "u", the letter "G" is hard. In the other cases, it depends on the speaker, the context, the dialect, the origin of the word.

For example there is the word "sich genieren" - to be embarrassed about (or to be embarrassed to) This is from the French and has a "sh" sound for the "g".

Then there are

"generell" (adverb: in general)
"generalisieren" (to generalise)
"General" - Military rank
"Gentechnologie" - Genetic Engineering

all of which are pronounced with a hard G

This is enough for one day, I think!

Bookmarking, sorry about the date change, TC.
Printed & copied out, I'll read it tonight when my son is on the computer..
Thanks!

That's OK - it's not your fault that the date is 2001!!!! Thanks for reminding me!

I'm bookmarking too! Will come back later and really get into this!

, or

I do recommend digesting each day's bit straight away. If you start putting it off, it will get too much and then you give it up. At least just read it, some of it will stick, and you know where to refer later.

It is really good to know that people are interested, and please ask lots of questions (this gives us an idea what to put into the lessons each day). What level are you, Sad Buttercup?

Hi everybody!

TC wrote about the letter "G"

G: The same rules apply as in English and French. In general, when followed by an "a", "o" or "u", the letter "G" is hard. In the other cases, it depends on the speaker, the context, the dialect, the origin of the word.

I totally agree with you and want to add that in Westphalia (that is were I come from) the G often is pronounced like a soft "ch" as for example in "Weg" (way). Several adjectives end on "-ig" and are rather pronounced like "-ich". In some areas (in Hessen?!?) they even pronounce the G like a hard "ch". - I guess there will be a lesson on the "ch"-matter later...

If you go to the area of Berlin you will find people pronouncing the hard "G" as a "J". For example "Jewitter" instead of "Gewitter" (thunder-storm).

Happy New Year!

HP
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Hi - Holle Polle - thanks for adding those. It is important to point out that Germany being so big, it is inevitable that the language will vary from one end to the other. There are influences from all the surrounding countries. The road signs might be written in Czech, Danish, French or Polish, as from the borders but the spoken language changes more gradually as you pass through the different regions.

Well I did about four years of German at school, but school was a LONG time ago. So, um, please don't assume any knowledge from me

, or

That's just about right. You're not exactly starting from scratch, but won't give up when we start talking about the obvious stuff, because you think you're not going to learn anything there.

this seems like a challenge!

i'm american, with three years of french that has been all but lost in the past ten years. i've never even looked at german. i think this will not only be worthwhile, but fun as well, if you can stand a complete german illiterate in your class.

i know you can't compensate for every circumstance, but being american, there are some english words that are pronounced differently here than in england. i don't know how much of a difference that will make, but any considerations you could give this would be appreciated.