Pronunciation Guide
- Published September 28, 2013
Short Vowel Sounds
The short vowels are: a, e, i, o, u, ae
The “a” sounds like the “a” in English words such as “father” or “mach” as in mach speed.
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
datt, fatt, vass, hatt, glatt, vatt, an, am.
The “e” sounds like the “e” in English words such as “get” or “set.”
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
bett, gevva, geld, vesha, maydel, bukkel.
The “i” sounds like the “i” in English words such as “fit” or “big.”
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
Bivvel, pikk, bisht, biss, ich, grohsi.
The “o” sounds like the “o” in English words such as “of” or “love.”
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
Gott, hott, shtobb, kobb, lossa, globba.
The “u” sounds like the “u” in the English word “put.”
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
hund, mukk, sunn, butza, dutt, shund.
The “ae” sounds like the “a” in English words such as “rat” or “clap.”
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
daett, maemm, shnaebb, shlaebba.
Long Vowel Sounds
The long vowels are: ay, ee, eiy, oh
The “ay” sounds like the “ay” in English words such as “hay” or “day.”
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
gays, flaysh, kays, ayl, dray, sayna.
The “ee” sounds like the “ee” in English words such as “feet” or “heel.”
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
kee, beebli, fees, veetz, dreeb, shteel.
The “eiy” sounds like the “ei” in English words such as “height” or “feisty.”
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
feiyah, meiya, sheiyah, heiayahra.
The “oh” sounds like the “oh” in English words such as “Kohls” or “coherent.”
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
shohf, broht, roht, bloh, shlohfa, nohch.
Other Vowel Sounds
The other vowels are: au, aw, ei, oo, oi
The “au” sounds like the “au” in English words such as “laundry” or “author.”
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
gaul, drauva, graut, haut, naus, haus.
The “aw” sounds like the “aw” in English words such as “law” or “claw.”
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
haws, glaws, naws, graws, brawf.
One of the differences between Eastern Pennsylvania German and Western Pennsylvania German is the way the vowel “ei” is pronounced.
In Eastern Pennsylvania German, “ei” sounds the same as “eiy.”
In Western Pennsylvania German, the “ei” sounds like the “ei” in English words such as “their” or “heir.”
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
Deitsh, drei, heit, leit, sei, bei.
The “oo” sounds like the “oo” in English words such as “moon” or “spoon.”
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
koo, shtool, goot, hoot, bloot.
The “oi” sounds like the “oi” in English words such as “join” or “void.”
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
oi, hoi, boi, froiya, groiya.
Vowel Glides
The vowel glides are: eah, iah, oah, uah
These vowel glides don’t have an English equivalent, but rather, are a combination of two English sounds.
The “eah” sound combines ă and ah.
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
sheah, beah, deah, leah, eah.
The “iah” sound combines ē and ah.
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
miah, biah, diah, fiah, broviah.
The “oah” sound combines ō and ah.
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
boaht, voahm, goahra, oah, voah.
The “uah” sound combines oo and ah.
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
fuah, shuah, shnuah, naduah, uah.
Unstressed Word Endings
Many words end in “a” or “ah”
These endings are unstressed.
The “a” ending sounds like the “a” ending in English words such as “Florida” or “China.”
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
lanna, shpringa, gukka, havva, nohma.
The “ah” ending sounds like the “ah” in English words such as “ahh” or the aw in “awl.”
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
lannah, vassah, bessah, havvah, viddah.
Consonants
Consonants are the same as English with a few exceptions
If a word begins with “ch” it sounds like the “ch” in English words such as “child” or “chin.”
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
chumba, chekka.
If the “ch” is in the middle or end of a word it sounds like the “h” in English words with extra air.
mach, sach, ich, mich, dach, sich.
The “ng” sounds like the “ng” in English words such as “song” or “ring.”
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
shpringa, fanga, langa, shlang.
In Eastern Pennsylvania German every “r” sounds like the “r” in English.
In Western Pennsylvania German only an “r” at the beginning or end of a word sounds like the “r” in English.
Any “r” in the the middle of a word is rolled like a Spanish “r.”
If you have a hard time rolling your “r” it sounds similar to an English “d.”
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
goahra, veahra, fiahra, keahra.
The “tsh” sound is being replaced from the beginning of words and only used in the middle or end of words.
It sounds like the “tch” in English words such as “hitch” or “clutch.”
It is used in Pennsylvania German words like:
Deitsh, hutsh, vatsha.
The “z” sounds like the “z” in English words such as “pizza” or “pretzel.”
katz, zvay, zeit, butza, zung, zebb.