Thread: German pronounciation

Whenever there is an "ch" sound I have been taught to make it sound more like a "k" sound. For example, in the word ich we were told to say something more like the English expression eek. Though, whenever I listen to German music, listen to sound files online, I hear more of an issh sound as its spelled. My teacher did live 2 years in Austria, could this just be how they say it there, or am i not hearing things right?

There are quite some differences in general between the Austrian variant of German pronounciation and "Hochdeutsch". But there is no such difference in the pronounciation of "ich" (as far as I'm aware of).
The ch-sound seems to be a real problem for persons with English mother tongue. To pronounce "ich" more or less like "eek" is a typical mistake made by Americans / English.
It is hard to describe the correct sound verbally. Perhaps you therefore may want to try the following link where you can hear the correct pronounciation of German words:
http://dict.leo.org/?lang=de

BTW:
Perhaps you may take comfort in the fact that our former chancellor Kohl wasn't able to pronounce "ich" correctly (which earned him a lot of jokes in newspapers and on TV). But his problem was different from your's (he was from a part of Germany where people in general pronounce the ch-sound differently).

Danke

Well, I can pronounce the sound, at least I think I can, but I just do as im taught to do it in class. I guess if I goto Germany someday ill just have to get used to pronouncing it differently.

I learned it as "iksh." I learned it that way from listening to too much Rammstein, though. u_u

I've also heard it pronounced like the "ch" in the german word "nacht" where it is an affricative (that is, the position of your tongue to the roof of your mouth causes friction when air is blown between them, like the English "s" sound) at the back of your mouth. The problem is that the german "ch" has two different pronounciations. It is both the above mentioned affricative after a, e, o, and u, and has the "ksh" sound after i. It also has the English "sh" sound after an s.

I hope that helps and doesn't confuse you even more.

There is various ways of pronouncing the ch sound depending on where exactly you are. Some really make it a rolled affair ( I have trouble with that), Though in some locations it is as you said the k sound.

I'm pretty sure it's "Ik" in Dutch instead of "Ich", like it is in German.

Despite the fact that the letter 'i' is pronounced 'ee' in the alphabet, I've noticed that in many (and maybe as far as most) cases, it's pronounced 'ih' when in a word. Unless in a diphthong, obviously.

No words are coming to mind now that have an 'i' in them where it's pronounced 'ee'...maybe that's because it's 10:45...

As far as the 'ch' thing goes...there are some parts of Germany (like Nordrhein-Westfallen, where I stayed for...2 weeks...) that pronounce 'ch' as 'sch', but in school, we learn it as...similar to Russian x, I guess.

You're right on the "i" thing. The only exception which comes to my mind is the German word "Familie" (meaning "family") which is pronounced "fah-mih-lee-uh" instead of "fah-mih-lee." Other than that, though, the "i" is pretty much always pronounced "ih" unless it is in the diphthong "ei" or "ie" which are pronounced "ah-ee" and "ee" respecitvely.

so ich is pronounced like ish in fish?

Like I said, I've heard it "ish," "iksh," and "ikh" (the 'kh' being like the russian letter 'Х'). It all depends on where you are in Germany and its surounding countries.

I have a mic now. Does anyone know of recording software I can use to record how I am taught to say "ich"?

http://gandalf.hf.ntnu.no:8080/temp/ipa/de

Check this out. Sound samples of pretty much all German sounds.

The sound in <ich> is the unvoiced palatal fricative.

But if you can't pronounce it, don't worry, a <sch> sound will probably suffice. Many Germans can't even pronounce the sound in <ich> themselves any more.

The rules for the <ch> sound are these:

*after i, e,

Here is a sound file. I tryed to pronounce it as close to how she does. Most of my classmates just say "eek" but to me it sounds like she says the last part of it in the back of her throat.

http://masterrussian.net/mforum/download.php?id=32

Sounds right to me. I've included a sound file of myself saying (in my crappy attempt at a native German accent) the words "ich" and "auch". You'll notice that the sound in "ich" is sort of a "ksh" sound, while the sound in "auch" is similar to they way you pronounce the ch in "ich".

I can't get the file. You need to go to view your profile, then look at the file upload thing there. From there copy the link. Sorry, I don't know the "techincal" names for all the steps.

I don't see what you're talking about. I don't see a "file upload" thing anywhere in my profile, except for maybe the avatar upload thing. The file works for me, I don't know what to do.

He probably wants you to write the link of your recording so he can download it, like he did for his.

Oops, my bad!

http://masterrussian.net/mforum/download.php?id=33

Originally Posted by Тостер

Oops, my bad!

http://masterrussian.net/mforum/download.php?id=33

Danke

What I meant by profile is the profile everyone sees, not the edit profile page. If you go to the bottom of the main part of the forums you will see your name, click on it, and it's there.

Vielen Dank!