Help:IPA/Alemannic German

The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Swabian, Low Alemannic, High Alemannic and Highest Alemannic German pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Alemannic German on Wikipedia.

It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Alemannic German in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing consensus on the talk page first.

For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

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H:IPA-GSWH:IPA-GSW

Notes:

No Alemannic dialect uses all of the sounds described in this guide.
Each example word is tagged with the name of the dialect from which it comes.
The majority of the example words are from the Zurich dialect.
Most Alemannic dialects are not written very often, and thus do not have official spellings. For the sake of consistency, this guide uses the Swiss German spelling convention proposed by Dieth & Schmid-Cadalbert (1986).^[1]

See Bernese German phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of one of the Alemannic dialects.

More information Consonants, IPA ...

Consonants
IPA	Examples	Closest equivalent
b̥	Huube [ˈhuːb̥ə] 'bonnet' (ZH)^[2]	bare
ç	Kicha [ˈkʰɪça] 'kitchen' (Upper Swabian)	hew^[3]
d̥	Lade [ˈlɒd̥ə] 'store' (ZH)^[2]	dart
f	offe [ˈofə] 'open' (VS)	foot
fː	offe [ˈofːə] 'open' (BE)	staff function
ɡ̊	haage [ˈhɒːɡ̊ə] 'fence in' (ZH)^[2]	go
ɣ̊	mache [ˈmɒɣ̊ə] 'to make' (ZH)^[2]^[4]	Scottish loch
ʁ̥	mache [ˈmɒʁ̥ə] 'to make' (ZH)^[2]^[4]	Scottish loch
h	Hand [hɒnd̥] 'hand' (ZH)	hat
j	Jaar [jɒːr] 'year' (ZH)	you
k	Egge [ˈekə] 'edge' (BS)	scan
kː	Egge [ˈɛkːə] 'edge' (BE)	scan
kʰ	Kind [kʰind̥] 'child' (BS)^[5]	cone
kx	hocke [ˈhokxə] 'sit' (ZH)^[4]	Broad cockney cake
qχ	hocke [ˈhoqχə] 'sit' (ZH)^[4]	Broad cockney cake
l	maale [ˈmɒːlə] 'to paint' (ZH)	lover
lː	Müller [ˈmylːər] 'miller' (ZH)	real life
ɫ	Wält [ˈʋæɫt] 'world' (Saanenland)	build
ɫː	alli [ˈaɫːi] 'all' (Saanenland)	real life
m	zaame [ˈtsɒːmə] 'tame' (ZH)	mood
mː	Hammer [ˈhamːər] 'hammer' (BE)	film-maker
n	zaane [ˈtsɒːnə] 'to teethe' (ZH)	noon
nː	Sunne [ˈz̥ʊnːə] 'sun' (BE)	cleanness
ŋ	Zange [ˈtsɒŋə] 'pliers' (ZH)	ring
ŋː	Zange [ˈtsaŋːə] 'pliers' (BE)	ring, but longer
p	huupe [ˈhuːpə] 'to hoot' (BS)	span
pː	öppe [ˈœpːə] 'around' (BE)	span
pʰ	Pack [pʰɒkx] 'parcel' (ZH)^[5]	pole
pf	Soipfe [ˈz̥oi̯pfə] 'soap' (ZH)	cupfull
r	faare [ˈv̥ɒːrə] 'to drive' (ZH)^[6]	American water
rː	cheerren [ˈxeːrːən] 'to sweep' (Haslital)^[6]	Italian burro
ʀ	faare [ˈv̥ɒːʀə] 'to drive' (ZH)^[6]	French frere or Northumbrian burr
ʁ	faare [ˈv̥ɒːʁə] 'to drive' (ZH)^[6]	French frere or Northumbrian burr
ʁ̥	besser [ˈb̥esʁ̥] 'better' (BS)^[6]	Scottish loch
ʕ	ändard [ˈend̥aʕd̥] 'changes' (SWG)^[7]	RP ahead, but with pharynx constricted
s	hasse [ˈhɑsə] 'to hate' (VS)	soon
sː	hasse [ˈhasːə] 'to hate' (BE)	class size
ʃ	tüüsche [ˈtyːʃə] 'to exchange' (VS)	ship
ʃː	Äsche [ˈæʃːə] 'ash' (BE)	cash shortage
t	Latte [ˈlɑtə] 'lath' (BS)	stand
tː	Latte [ˈlatːə] 'lath' (BE)	stand
tʰ	Thee [tʰeː] 'tea' (ZH)^[5]	too
ts	butze [ˈb̥utsə] 'to clean' (ZH)	cats
tʃ	tätsche [ˈtætʃə] 'to clap' (ZH)	chip
v̥	Ofe [ˈov̥ə] 'oven' (ZH)^[2]	foot
ʋ	Wand [ʋɒnd̥] 'wall' (ZH)	between wine and vine
ʋː	niww [niʋː] 'new' (Haslital)	between wine and vine
w	Giel [ɡ̊iə̯w] 'boy' (BE)^[8]	wine
wː	Balle [ˈb̥awːə] 'ball' (BE)^[9]	roughly like bowwow
x	Chatz [ˈxɑts] 'cat' (Simmental)^[4]	Scottish loch
xː	lache [ˈlaxːə] 'to laugh' (Simmental)^[4]	Scottish loch, but longer
χ	Chatz [ˈχɑts] 'cat' (BE)^[4]	Scottish loch
χː	lache [ˈlaχːə] 'to laugh' (BE)^[4]	Scottish loch, but longer
z̥	Hase [ˈhɒz̥ə] 'hares' (ZH)^[2]	soon
ʒ̊	nuusche [ˈnuːʒ̊ə] 'to rummage' (ZH)^[2]	ship

Vowels
IPA	Examples	Closest equivalent
a	Affe [ˈafːə] 'apes' (SG)^[10]	between bat and art
aː	schlaaffe [ˈʒ̊laːfə] 'to sleep' (SG)^[10]	between bad and father
ɑ	Affe [ˈɑfːə] 'apes' (BE)^[10]	art
ɑː	schlaaffe [ˈʒ̊lɑːfə] 'to sleep' (BE)^[10]	father
ɒ	Mane [ˈmɒnə] 'men' (ZH)^[10]	Somewhat like art, but with the lips rounded
ɒː	maane [ˈmɒːnə] 'to remind' (ZH)^[10]	Somewhat like father, but with the lips rounded
æ	gäll [ɡ̊æl] 'isn't it?' (ZH)	bat
æː	gääl [ɡ̊æːl] 'yellow' (ZH)	bad
e	Bett [ˈb̥et] 'bed' (ZH)	Scottish late
eː	deene [ˈd̥eːnə] 'stretch' (ZH)	Scottish day
ɛ	Hèr [hɛr] 'mister' (ZH)	bet
ɛː	hèèr [hɛːr] 'from' (ZH)	fairy
ə	schwèche [ˈʒ̊ʋɛxə] 'to weaken' (ZH)^[11]	about
i	sibe [ˈz̥ib̥ə] 'seven' (ZH)	leaf
iː	siibe [ˈz̥iːb̥ə] 'to sieve' (ZH)	leave
ɪ	Rìtter [ˈrɪtər] 'knight' (BE)	kit
ɪː	Rììs [rɪːz̥] 'giant' (BE)	kid
ɔ	Òfe [ˈɔv̥ə] 'oven' (BE)	off
ɔː	Gòòfe [ˈɡ̊ɔːv̥ə] 'kids' (BE)	dog
o	hole [ˈholə] 'to fetch' (ZH)	story (short)
oː	hool [hoːl] 'hollow' (ZH)	more (long)
ø	Böge [ˈb̥øɡ̊ə] 'sheets of paper' (ZH)	Somewhat like nurse
œ	Blö̀ff [b̥lœf] 'bluff' (ZH)	Somewhat like nurse
øː	Böögge [ˈb̥øːkə] 'fools' (ZH)	Somewhat like fur
œː	tö̀ö̀rfe [ˈtœːrfə] 'to be allowed to' (ZH)	Somewhat like fur
u	Bruch [b̥rux] 'break' (ZH)	pool (short)
uː	Bruuch [b̥ruːɣ̊] 'custom' (ZH)	pool (long)
ʉː	Muus [mʉːs] 'mouse' (BS)^[12]	snooze (some dialects)^[13]
ʊ	Schùtt [ʒ̊ʊt] 'debris' (BE)	foot
ʊː	Brùùch [b̥rʊːɣ̊] 'break' (BE)	good
y	Füli [ˈv̥yli] 'pen' (ZH)	Somewhat like cute
ʏ	hǜtt [hʏt] 'today' (BE)	Somewhat like cute
yː	Füüli [ˈv̥yːli] 'laziness' (ZH)	Somewhat like feud
ʏː	Tǜǜre [ˈtʏːrə] 'door' (BE)	Somewhat like feud

Diphthong offsets
IPA	Examples	English approximation
a̯	nia [nia̯] 'never' (SWG)	roughly like ear
æ̯	niä [niæ̯] 'never' (UR)
ə̯	nie [niə̯] 'never' (ZH)
i̯	frei [v̥rei̯] 'free' (ZH)	The y-like ending in day
o̯	Chüo [xyo̯] 'cow' (VS)	The w-like ending in go
u̯	äu [æu̯] 'also' (ZH)	The w-like ending in go
y̯	vlöüge [ˈv̥lœy̯ɡ̊ə] 'to fly' (Saanenland)	Roughly like the w-like ending in go

Suprasegmentals
IPA	Examples	Explanation
ˈ	deene [ˈd̥eːnə] 'stretch' (ZH)	Primary stress, as in deer /ˈdɪər/
ˌ	Hèrdöpfel [ˈhɛrˌd̥øpfəl] 'potato' (ZH)	Secondary stress, as in commandeer /ˌkɒmənˈdɪər/

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