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Table of Contents

About This Tool

This German transcription app uses the Wiktionary German Pronunciation Module to generate phonetic/phonemic transcriptions for German text. IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standardized system for transcribing speech sounds using symbols based on the Latin alphabet. This tool converts German orthography (spelling) into IPA, helping learners, linguists, and developers understand pronunciation. Phonemic transcription represents the abstract sound system (phonemes), while phonetic transcription shows actual speech variations (allophones).

The system uses comprehensive Wiktionary data dumps[1][2][3] as a lexicon to first retrieve phonemic transcriptions from the dictionary (Wiktionary only has phonemic German pronunciations). When a word is not found in the lexicon, it falls back to generating transcriptions using the pronunciation module's rule-based approach.

Dialects & Limitations

Phonemic vs Phonetic

Quick Reference (Glossary)

Phoneme
The smallest unit of sound in a language that distinguishes meaning (e.g., /p/ vs. /b/ in English "pat" vs. "bat").
Allophone
A variant pronunciation of a phoneme that doesn't change meaning (e.g., aspirated [pʰ] vs. unaspirated [p]).
Diphthong
A gliding vowel sound where the tongue changes position during articulation (e.g., /aʊ̯/ in "au").
Glottal Stop
A sound made by closing the glottis, represented as ʔ, often at word boundaries.
Aspiration
A puff of air after voiceless consonants, represented as ʰ (e.g., [pʰ]).
Syllable Boundary
A marker (.) showing where syllables divide, affecting vowel length.
Component Boundary
Markers like ⁀ (between prefixes/components) or ‿ (before suffixes) used internally for processing.
Devoicing
The process of making voiced consonants voiceless at word ends (e.g., "Tag" → /taːk/).
Schwa
A neutral vowel sound ə, common in unstressed syllables.
Umlaut
German diacritics (ä, ö, ü) changing vowel quality (e.g., "Haus" /haʊ̯s/ vs. "Häuser" /ˈhɔɪ̯zɐ/).
Geminate
Doubled consonants, often from assimilation (e.g., "kommen" /ˈkɔmən/ with single m).
Onset
The initial consonant(s) of a syllable (e.g., "p" in "pat").
Coda
The final consonant(s) of a syllable (e.g., "t" in "pat").
Nasalization
Adding nasal quality to vowels, often from nearby nasals (e.g., in French loanwords).
Syllabic Consonant
A consonant acting as a syllable nucleus (e.g., n̩ in "anden").
Voicing Assimilation
Consonants changing voicing to match neighbors (e.g., devoicing in clusters).
NFD
Unicode Normalization Form Decomposed: Technical process to break down accented characters for processing.
Ach-Laut
The "ach sound" /x/, a voiceless velar fricative occurring after back vowels (a, o, u) and diphthongs (au), e.g., "ach" /ax/, "Buch" /buːx/, "doch" /dɔx/. Distinguished from the Ich-Laut.
Ich-Laut
The "ich sound" /ç/, a voiceless palatal fricative occurring after front vowels (e, i, ä, ö, ü, ei, eu) and consonants, e.g., "ich" /ɪç/, "echt" /ɛçt/, "durch" /dʊʁç/, "König" /ˈkøːnɪç/.
Auslautverhärtung
Final devoicing: The process where voiced consonants (b, d, g, v, z) become voiceless (p, t, k, f, s) at the end of words or syllables. E.g., "Tag" /taːk/, "ab" /ap/, "Rad" /ʁaːt/.
Fugen-s
Interfix "-s-" inserted between compound components for euphony, e.g., "Wirtschaftswissenschaft" /ˈvɪʁʃaftˌvɪsənʃaft/ (economics), "Arbeitslosigkeit" /ˈaʁbaɪ̯t͡sˌloːzɪçkaɪ̯t/ (unemployment).
Tie-Balken
The combining tie bar (◌͡◌) used in IPA to indicate affricates, showing that two segments form a single phonological unit, e.g., /t͡s/, /p͡f/, /t͡ʃ/.
Doppelpunkt
The length mark /ː/ in IPA indicating a long vowel or geminate consonant, e.g., /aː/, /iː/, /uː/ vs. short /a/, /ɪ/, /ʊ/.
Hiatus
The occurrence of two vowel sounds in adjacent syllables without an intervening consonant, often resolved by inserting a glide (j or w), e.g., "Familie" /faˈmiːli̯ə/ with glide /j/.
Glide (Nonsyllabic)
A transitional sound between a vowel and another vowel, represented as /j/ (palatal) or /w/ (labiovelar), often shown with inverted breve below /i̯/, /u̯/. E.g., "mein" /maɪ̯n/.
Velar Nasal
The /ŋ/ sound in "sing" or "Bank", produced with back of tongue against soft palate. In German, occurs in "ng" and "nk" clusters.
Syllabic Nasal
A nasal consonant serving as syllable nucleus without a vowel, marked with subscript line /n̩/, /m̩/, /ŋ̍/, e.g., "leben" /ˈleːbn̩/ in rapid speech.
R-Vocalization
Process where postvocalic /r/ becomes a vowel-like semivowel /ɐ̯/ or merges with preceding vowel, e.g., "Vater" /ˈfaːtɐ/, "Tier" /tiːɐ̯/ (phonetic [ˈtiːɐ̯]).
Affricate
A complex consonant beginning as a stop and releasing as a fricative with same place of articulation, e.g., /t͡s/ (z), /t͡ʃ/ (tsch), /p͡f/ (pf).
Umlaut (Phonological)
Vowel fronting or raising triggered by suffixes, historically */i/, */j/ in following syllable. Orthographic umlauts (ä, ö, ü) mark these mutations: /a/→/ɛ/, /o/→/œ/, /u/→/ʏ/.
Morpheme Boundary
A position between meaningful units (prefix-root, root-suffix) where phonological rules may apply differently, marked with ⁀ (component) or ‿ (suffix) in internal notation.
Foot Boundary
A prosodic unit boundary, often marked by punctuation or pauses in running speech, shown as | in some notations.
Unreleased Stop
A stop consonant where the closure is held without audible release, marked with special symbol /p̚/, /t̚/, /k̚/, common before another stop or in clusters.
Regressive Devoicing
Assimilation where a voiced consonant becomes voiceless when preceded by a voiceless consonant, marked with ring below /b̥/, /d̥/, /ɡ̊/ in phonetic notation.

How to Read IPA Symbols

This table helps you understand the IPA symbols used in German transcriptions. For each symbol, we provide approximate English equivalents where possible.

Vowel Symbols

IPA Example English Approximation Notes
/aː/ Vater "father" Long, like "ah"
/a/ alle "cup" (UK) Short, more open
/eː/ See "say" (without glide) Pure vowel, no /j/ at end
/ɛ/ Bett "bed" Short and open
/iː/ ihn "see" (without glide) Pure long /i/
/ɪ/ bitte "sit" Short and lax
/oː/ so "go" (without glide) Pure vowel, no /w/ at end
/ɔ/ offen "law" (UK) Short and open
/uː/ du "food" (without glide) Pure long /u/
/ʊ/ und "put" Short and lax
/ɛː/ wären "bear" (without r-coloring) Rare, only in ä spelling
/øː/ schön No English equivalent Lips rounded like /o/, tongue like /e/
/œ/ öffnen No English equivalent Short version of /øː/
/yː/ über No English equivalent Lips rounded like /u/, tongue like /i/
/ʏ/ fünf No English equivalent Short version of /yː/
/ə/ bitte (final) "about" Schwa, reduced vowel
/ɐ/ besser "sofa" Reduced, slightly r-colored

Consonant Symbols

IPA Example English Approximation Notes
/ç/ ich "huge" (stronger) Ich-Laut, after front vowels
/x/ ach Scottish "loch" Ach-Laut, after back vowels
/ʁ/ rot French "r" Uvular, not alveolar like English
/ɐ̯/ Vater Schwa with slight r-color R-vocalization in coda
/ʃ/ Schule "shoe" In sch-, also sp-/st- at morpheme start
/ʒ/ Journal "measure" Rare, mostly in loanwords
/t͡s/ Zeit "cats" Affricate, no separate /t/ and /s/
/p͡f/ Pferd No English equivalent Labial affricate, starts both lips
/t͡ʃ/ deutsch "church" Voiceless postalveolar affricate
/d͡ʒ/ Jazz "judge" Rare, loanwords only
/ŋ/ lang "sing" Velar nasal, never /ŋɡ/
/n̩/ leben "button" (fast speech) Syllabic nasal, acts as vowel
/ʔ/ alle Cockney "bottle" Glottal stop, before initial vowels
/ʰ/ Paar Puff of air after p Aspiration marker, phonetic only

Diacritical Marks

Symbol Name Meaning Example
ˈ Primary stress Main emphasis in word /ˈʃuːlə/ (SCHU-le)
ˌ Secondary stress Weaker emphasis /ˈvɪʁʃaftˌvɪsənʃaft/
ː Length mark Vowel is long /aː/ vs /a/
̩ Syllabic Consonant is syllable nucleus /n̩/ in "le-ben"
̯ Non-syllabic Glide (part of diphthong) /aɪ̯/, /aʊ̯/
͡ Tie bar Affricate (single unit) /t͡s/, /p͡f/
̥ Voiceless Normally voiced sound devoiced /b̥/ after /p/
̚ Unreleased Stop held without release /p̚/ before /t/

Interactive Features

Multiple Pronunciation Variants

For some languages (including German), words may have multiple valid transcriptions:

When multiple variants exist, click the word to cycle through them. The currently selected variant will be used for PDF/CSV export.

German Pronunciation Guide

This guide explains the fundamental rules of German pronunciation. German has a relatively regular spelling-to-sound correspondence compared to English. Understanding these patterns will help you read IPA transcriptions and improve your pronunciation.

Vowel Length & Quality

One of the most important aspects of German pronunciation is vowel length. German distinguishes between long and short vowels, and this distinction can change meaning.

Long Vowels

Vowels are pronounced long in these contexts:

Short Vowels

Vowels are pronounced short in these contexts:

The Pairing Principle

German vowels come in long-short pairs with slightly different quality:

Letter Long IPA Short IPA Long Example Short Example
a /aː/ /a/ Vater /ˈfaːtɐ/ alle /ˈalə/
e /eː/ /ɛ/ See /zeː/ Bett /bɛt/
i /iː/ /ɪ/ ihn /iːn/ bitte /ˈbɪtə/
o /oː/ /ɔ/ so /zoː/ offen /ˈɔfən/
u /uː/ /ʊ/ du /duː/ und /ʊnt/
ä /ɛː/ /ɛ/ wären /ˈvɛːʁən/ Hände /ˈhɛndə/
ö /øː/ /œ/ schön /ʃøːn/ öffnen /ˈœfnən/
ü /yː/ /ʏ/ über /ˈyːbɐ/ fünf /fʏnf/

Minimal Pairs: When Length Changes Meaning

German uses vowel length to distinguish word meanings. These minimal pairs differ by only one sound (long vs short vowel):

Long Vowel IPA Meaning Short Vowel IPA Meaning
Staat /ʃtaːt/ state Stadt /ʃtat/ city
Beet /beːt/ flower bed Bett /bɛt/ bed
Hieb /hiːp/ blow, hit hip /hɪp/ hip (anatomy)
Ofen /ˈoːfən/ stove, oven offen /ˈɔfən/ open
Hut /huːt/ hat Hutt /hʊt/ notch (technical)
wäre /ˈvɛːʁə/ would be Werre /ˈvɛʁə/ electoral assembly

Note: Some pairs differ only in vowel quality, not just length. Native speakers rely on these distinctions, so accurate transcription matters for comprehension.

How to Pronounce German Umlauts (ä, ö, ü)

Umlauts represent fronted or rounded vowel sounds that don't exist in English. Understanding them is crucial for correct German pronunciation.

Ä (A-Umlaut)

Two variants:

Ö (O-Umlaut)

Lips rounded, tongue position like 'e'. Start with 'e' and round lips:

Ü (U-Umlaut)

Lips rounded, tongue position like 'i'. Start with 'i' and round lips:

The Two CH Sounds in German: Ich-Laut vs Ach-Laut

The letter combination 'ch' has two completely different pronunciations depending on the preceding vowel. This is one of the most distinctive features of German.

Ach-Laut (After Back Vowels)

Pronounced as /x/ — a voiceless velar fricative (like Scottish "loch"):

Ich-Laut (After Front Vowels)

Pronounced as /ç/ — a voiceless palatal fricative (like "huge" in English but stronger):

S Pronunciation Rules: When S Sounds Like Z or SH

The letter 's' has three different pronunciations in German depending on its position.

S as /z/ (Voiced)

Like English 'z' in "zoo":

S as /s/ (Voiceless)

Like English 's' in "see":

S as /ʃ/ (SH Sound)

Like English 'sh':

Final Devoicing (Auslautverhärtung)

A crucial rule: voiced consonants (b, d, g, v, z) become voiceless (p, t, k, f, s) at the end of words or syllables.

Spelling Final Position Intervocalic Example Word IPA
b /p/ /b/ ab /ap/
d /t/ /d/ Tag, Rad /taːk/, /ʁaːt/
g /k/ /ɡ/ Tag, weg /taːk/, /vɛk/
v /f/ /f/ (always) Vater /ˈfaːtɐ/
z /s/ /t͡s/ z.B. (at end) /t͡s/ in Zeit, /s/ if final

Consonant Rules

German consonants follow predictable patterns. Understanding these helps avoid common pronunciation mistakes.

Plosives (p, t, k, b, d, g)

German plosives are pronounced clearly with full closure:

Affricates (Complex Consonants)

German has three affricates — sounds that begin as a stop and release as a fricative:

Spelling IPA Example Description
pf /p͡f/ Pferd /ˈp͡feːʁt/ Like "p" + "f" combined
z, tz /t͡s/ Zeit /t͡saɪ̯t/ Like "ts" in "cats"
tsch /t͡ʃ/ deutsch /ˈdɔʏ̯t͡ʃ/ Like "ch" in "match"

Liquids (l, r)

Nasals (m, n, ng)

German Diphthongs: Pronouncing au, ei, eu/äu

Diphthongs are gliding vowel sounds where the tongue moves from one position to another within the same syllable.

Spelling IPA Description Examples
au /aʊ̯/ Like "ow" in "cow" Haus /haʊ̯s/, auf /aʊ̯f/
ei, ai /aɪ̯/ Like "eye" mein /maɪ̯n/, Mai /maɪ̯/
eu, äu /ɔʏ̯/ Like "oy" in "boy" but with rounded lips neu /nɔʏ̯/, Häuser /ˈhɔʏ̯zɐ/

Stress Patterns in German Words

Word stress in German follows predictable patterns with some exceptions.

Primary Stress Rules

Secondary Stress in Compounds

Long compound words often have secondary stress on later components:

Nasal Consonants: NG and NK Sounds

The velar nasal /ŋ/ (like "ng" in "sing") appears in specific contexts.

NG Pronunciation

NK Pronunciation

R Pronunciation in German

The letter 'r' has multiple realizations depending on position and dialect.

Standard Pronunciation (Uvular R)

Glottal Stops in German

Glottal stops /ʔ/ are inserted before initial vowels and at morpheme boundaries.

Where Glottal Stops Appear

Comprehensive Spelling-to-IPA Mapping

This section provides a complete mapping of German spelling (orthography) to pronunciation (IPA). These tables reflect the actual rules used by our transcription engine to determine how letters change their sound based on their surrounding context.

1. Vowels (Monophthongs)

German vowels change their quality and length based on whether they are in an open syllable (ending in a vowel) or a closed syllable (ending in consonants). An h after a vowel always makes it long.

Letter IPA (Long) Example (Long) IPA (Short) Example (Short)
a /aː/ Vater /ˈfaːtɐ/ /a/ alle /ˈalə/
e /eː/ See /zeː/ /ɛ/ Bett /bɛt/
i /iː/ ihn /iːn/ /ɪ/ bitte /ˈbɪtə/
o /oː/ so /zoː/ /ɔ/ offen /ˈɔfən/
u /uː/ du /duː/ /ʊ/ und /ʊnt/
ä /ɛː/ wären /ˈvɛːʁən/ /ɛ/ Hände /ˈhɛndə/
ö /øː/ schön /ʃøːn/ /œ/ öffnen /ˈœfnən/
ü /yː/ über /ˈyːbɐ/ /ʏ/ fünf /fʏnf/

2. Diphthongs & Vocalic R

Spelling IPA Context / Rule Example
au /aʊ̯/ Always Haus /haʊ̯s/
ei, ai /aɪ̯/ Always mein /maɪ̯n/, Mai /maɪ̯/
eu, äu /ɔʏ̯/ Always neu /nɔʏ̯/, Häuser /ˈhɔʏ̯zɐ/
ie /iː/ Standard German pronunciation Liebe /ˈliːbə/
er /ɐ/ At the end of a syllable or word besser /ˈbɛsɐ/
e /ə/ Unstressed, often word-final or in prefixes (ge-, be-) bitte /ˈbɪtə/

3. Complex Consonants & Digraphs

Spelling IPA Context / Rule Example
sch /ʃ/ Always Schule /ˈʃuːlə/
tsch /t͡ʃ/ Always deutsch /dɔʏ̯t͡ʃ/
dsch /d͡ʒ/ Loanwords Dschungel /ˈd͡ʒʊŋəl/
z, tz, ts /t͡s/ Always Zeit /t͡saɪ̯t/, Katze /ˈkat͡sə/
qu /kv/ Always Qual /kvaːl/
chs /ks/ When part of the same stem Fuchs /fʊks/
pf /p͡f/ Always Apfel /ˈʔap͡fəl/
dt /t/ Always Stadt /ʃtat/
ph /f/ Greek loanwords Physik /fyˈziːk/
ß /s/ After long vowels and diphthongs groß /ɡʁoːs/

4. Context-Dependent Consonants

These letters change their pronunciation dramatically depending on the surrounding letters or their position in a word.

Spelling IPA Condition Example
s /z/ Before a vowel or between vowels Sonne /ˈzɔnə/
/ʃ/ Initial position before p or t Spiel /ʃpiːl/
/s/ Word-final or before voiceless consonants Haus /haʊ̯s/
ch /x/ Ach-Laut: After back vowels (a, o, u, au) Buch /buːx/
/ç/ Ich-Laut: After front vowels (e, i, ä, ö, ü), diphthongs (ei, eu), or consonants ich /ɪç/, durch /dʊʁç/
ng /ŋ/ Standard pronunciation lang /laŋ/
/ŋɡ/ In some specific loanwords (e.g., before vowels) Tango /ˈtaŋɡo/
nk /ŋk/ Always Bank /baŋk/
ig /ɪç/ At the end of a word or syllable König /ˈkøːnɪç/
/ɪɡ/ When followed by a vowel (e.g., in plural) Könige /ˈkøːnɪɡə/
h /h/ At the beginning of a word or syllable Hund /hʊnt/
/ː/ After a vowel (Dehnungs-h), makes the vowel long fahren /ˈfaːʁən/
Silent In clusters like th, rh, gh Theater /teˈaːtɐ/

5. The Letter "Y" (Foreign & Loanwords)

The letter y has complex rules since it mostly appears in words of foreign origin. The transcription engine handles it based on its environment.

Position / Rule IPA Example
Initial position, followed by a vowel /j/ Yoga /ˈjoːɡa/
Word-final or suffix, after a consonant /i/ Hobby /ˈhɔbi/
As part of a diphthong (ay, oy, ey) /aɪ̯/, /ɔɪ̯/ Bayern /ˈbaɪ̯ɐn/, Meyer /ˈmaɪ̯ɐ/
Between consonants or stressed /y/, /ʏ/ symmetrisch /zʏˈmeːtʁɪʃ/

6. Final Devoicing (Auslautverhärtung)

Voiced consonants automatically become unvoiced (hardened) when they appear at the end of a syllable or word, or before a voiceless consonant.

Spelling Underlying Sound Changes to (IPA) Example
b /b/ /p/ ab /ap/, Herbst /hɛʁpst/
d /d/ /t/ Rad /ʁaːt/, Mädchen /ˈmɛːtçən/
g /ɡ/ /k/ Tag /taːk/, sagt /zaːkt/
v /v/ /f/ motivisch /moˈtiːvɪʃ/ → Motiv /moˈtiːf/

7. French & Italian Sounds (Loanwords)

The system also recognizes specific graphemes from commonly integrated French and Italian loanwords.

Spelling IPA Language Origin Example
cci / cce /t͡ʃ/ Italian Cappuccino /kapʊˈt͡ʃiːno/
c / cc /k/ Italian/English (before a/o/u) Broccoli /ˈbʁɔkoli/
en / an /ã/ French (Nasal) Restaurant /ʁɛstoˈʁɑ̃ː/
on /õ/ French (Nasal) Chanson /ʃɑ̃ˈsɔ̃/

Implementation Details (for Developers)

  1. Canonicalization and Splitting: Text is decomposed into Unicode NFD form, spaces are normalized, punctuation is handled, and text is split into words.
  2. Component Analysis: Words are analyzed for automatic prefix and suffix recognition.
  3. Stress Assignment: Default primary and secondary stresses are assigned to appropriate syllables, with special handling for compound words and affixes.

Additional Key Processes

Lexicon Lookup

Before rule-based processing, the system checks comprehensive Wiktionary data dumps (Kaikki.org) for exact word matches. Supports ~700,000+ common German words with pre-existing phonemic IPA transcriptions. If found, uses the dictionary entry for accuracy; otherwise, falls back to rule-based generation.

Unicode Decomposition

Decomposes ä/ö/ü/ç to base + diaeresis/cedilla for processing.

Internal Notation (Intermediate Forms)

The processing pipeline uses intermediate symbols that are not part of final IPA output. These markers help track word structure during rule application:

Symbol Name Purpose Stage
⁀ Component boundary Separates compound components/prefixes After component analysis
‿ Suffix boundary Marks morpheme boundary before suffixes After component analysis
ʃʃ Geminate fricative Intermediate form of /ʃ/, later reduced Early symbol conversion
ʧʧ Geminate affricate Intermediate form of /t͡ʃ/, later reduced Early symbol conversion
ŋŋ Geminate nasal Intermediate form of /ŋ/, later reduced Nasal generation

Important: These symbols appear in intermediate processing tables shown in documentation but are never present in final IPA output. The "Geminate Elimination" stage removes duplicate consonants, and boundary markers are stripped before output.

2. Nasal Consonant Generation

Generates velar nasal ŋ from 'ng' and 'nk'.

Rule Example Input Output Description
ngu + V → ŋgu ngu + a ŋgu Preserve g in ungu
ng + V + stress → ŋ.g sing + en zɪŋ.ən Separate g if stressed
ng → ŋŋ lang laŋŋ Velar nasal
nk → ŋk sink zɪŋk Velar nasal before k

3. 'c' Handling

Rule Example Output
cci → ʧʧ acci aʧʧi
ck → kk back bakk
c + non-h → ʦ cent ʦɛnt

4. 'y' Processing

Complex rules for 'y' based on position and context.

Context Example Output
Initial y + V y + a j
Initial y + C y + p ʏ
Final y after C by ɪ
y after C (other) typ ʏ
ay/oy (no following vowel) ay aɪ̯
ay/oy (with following vowel/stress) ayer aɪ̯
ey (no following vowel) ey aɪ̯
ey (with following vowel/stress) eyer aɪ̯
y after V boya j

5. Diphthong Formation

Digraph Output Example
äu/eu ɔɪ̯ euro → ɔɪ̯ʁo
au aʊ̯ haus → haʊ̯s
ai/ei aɪ̯ ei → aɪ̯
ie iː liebe → liːbə
Doubled vowels ː aa → aː

6. Consonant Clusters with 'h'

Cluster Output Example
ph/th/kh etc. Remove h phone → foːnə
ch (ach-laut) x ach → ax
ch (ich-laut) ç ich → ɪç

7. 'h' Handling

'h' indicates lengthening or is pronounced.

Context Output
h between vowels (stressed) Preserved as h
h between vowels (unstressed) Lengthens vowel
h after vowel ː before stress marks

8. French/English Sounds

Input Output
e + I/U ɛɪ̯/ɛʊ̯
ẽ/ö̃ ɛ̃/œ̃

9. 's' Processing

Context Output
s after vowels/voiced z
bs/ds before stress bz/dz
⁀s([pt]) ⁀ʃ

10. Hiatus 'i'/'u'

Input Output
C + i/u + V C i̯/u̯ V

11. Syllable Division

Divides words into syllables, adjusting for onsets.

12. 'e' to Schwa

Context Output
e in open syllables before r + stress ə
e after stress with specific clusters ə

13. Vowel Shortening

Context Output
i before g/gn ɪ
u before m/s ʊ

14. Vowel Lengthening and Quality

Complex rules: stressed open → long, unstressed open → close, before C → short open.

15. Syllable-final 'er'

Input Output
er ɐ

16. Geminate Elimination

Removes duplicate consonants.

17. Devoicing

Context Output
Final voiced C Voiceless
ɪg ɪç

18. Glottal Stops

Context Output
Vowel boundaries ʔ

19. Final Conversions

Symbol IPA
I ɪ̯
U ʊ̯
ʧʧ t͡ʃ
pf p͡f

Phonetic Transcription Process

The phonetic transcription (apply_phonetic_rules) adds allophonic details to the phonemic output.

Rule Example Description
Glottal stops at word start ⁀⁀a → ⁀⁀ʔa Mandatory glottal stop before initial vowel
Unreleased stops p before b → p̚ Unreleased before homorganic voiced
Syllabic nasals ən → n̩ ə + nasal becomes syllabic
R-vocalization Vːʁ → Vɐ̯ Coda r becomes semivowel
Aspiration p/t/k before V/ʁ/l → pʰ/tʰ/kʰ Voiceless stops aspirated before vowels/resonants
Regressive devoicing bdg after unvoiced → b̥ d̥ g̊ Voiced consonants devoiced after unvoiced

Example Transformations

Input Transformation IPA Result
sch Digraph conversion ʃʃ
au Diphthong formation aʊ̯
ng Nasal generation ŋ
ie Diphthong/long vowel iː
ch (after a/o/u) Ach-laut x
ch (after e/i) Ich-laut ç

Common Issues & Limitations

Known Transcription Problems

This table shows known issues where the automatic transcription may be incorrect:

Input System Output Correct IPA Cause What to Do
Abenteuer /apˈbɛntɔɪ̯ɐ/ /ˈaːbəntɔɪ̯ɐ/ False prefix detection (ab-) Check Wiktionary; report if incorrect
anhand /ˈanhant/ /anˈhant/ Missing glottal stop between components Use phonetic mode; check stress position
Ingrid /ˈɪŋɡʁiːt/ /ˈɪŋɡʁɪt/ Vowel length rule (long in open syllable) Verify with Wiktionary; known limitation
Abakus /ˈapakʊs/ /ˈabakʊs/ False prefix detection Foreign words may need manual correction
Animation /ˈanimat͡si̯oːn/ /animaˈt͡si̯oːn/ False prefix detection (an-) Check Wiktionary for stress pattern
Familie /faˈmiːliːə/ /faˈmiːli̯ə/ Wrong syllable division (li-ə vs li̯ə) Known bug; check phonetic mode output
Uhudler /ˈuːudlɐ/ /ˈuːhudlɐ/ h treated as vowel lengthening marker Proper names may need verification
Yves /yːf/ /iːf/ Y interpreted as German /y/ not French /i/ Foreign names often transcribed incorrectly
Myanmar /ˈmyːanmaːʁ/ /ˈmi̯anmaːʁ/ y in hiatus position Foreign place names; verify externally
Adlatus /ˈadlaːtʊs/ /ˈatlaːtʊs/ Syllable division (dl vs tl) Latin loans; check Wiktionary

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