The phonetics of German are relatively easy for more Hindi speakers except for a few sounds that are more nuanced.
| Letter | IPA Pronunciation | Devanagari | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
a (on its own) | /ə/ | अ | |
a (after consonant) | /æ/ | आ | |
ä | /ɛ/ | ऐ | |
tsch | /tʃ/ | च | |
sch (not preceded by t ) | /ʃ/ | श | |
ch (after i, e, ö) | /ç/ | ह | This sound is non-existent in Hindi. Approximate it to /h/ while touching the back of your tongue to the upper palette. |
ch (other cases) | /x/ | ख़ | |
d (end of word) | /t/ | त | For example, kind (child) is pronounced किंत |
d (elsewhere) | /d/ | द | For example, kinder (children) is pronounced किंदर |
eu | /ɔɪ/ | ओ ॅ ए | This sound is not native to Hindi. It is halfway between ओए and औए. |
ei | /aɪ/ | आइ | This is a diphthong. |
e (first vowel) | /iː/ | ई | |
e (middle) | /ɛ/ | ऍ | |
e (end) | /ə/ | अ | Schwa sound |
ie | /iː/ | ई | |
h | /h/ | ह | Acts as a sound extender like the Sanskrit
avagraha ऽ after vowels. Otherwise same as English h (ह) |
j | /j/ | य | Pronunced like English y. |
g (end of word) | /k/ | क | |
g (elsewhere) | /g/ | ग | |
ng | /ŋ/ | ङ | Pronounced like English ng |
r (after vowel) | /ʔ/ | ऽ | Extends the previous sound. |
r (elsewhere) | /ɻ/ | ऋ | English Retroflex r. Or Sanskrit ऋ. |
s (before vowel) | /z/ | ज़ | |
s (before consonant) | /ʃ/ | श | |
s (end of word) | /s/ | स | |
t | /t/ | त | Like Spanish. |
o | /ɔ/ | ऑ | This sound is halfway between मोडल and मौडल. |
ö | /ɜː/ | ऍ | Pronunced like i in bird. This sound is non-existent in pure Hindi. The ऍ is used to denote it these days. |
u | /uː/ | ऊ | |
ü | /yː/ | ऊ (throaty) | Pronounced more in the throat. |
v | /f/ | फ़ | And that’s why Volkswagen is pronounced फ़ोल्क्सवागन. While such consonant clusters might be rare in English, they are common in German. German has f as well, and that’s pronounced like English f too! For English loan words, v is pronounced as /v/. |
w | /v/ | व़ | Like
English /v/ |
y (beginning or end) | /j/ | य | |
y (middle) | /yː/ | ऊ (throaty) | In the middle, it is pronounced same as ü. |
z | /ts/ | त्स | For example, Nazi is pronounced नात्सी |
ß | /sː/ | सऽ | Long s sound. This is the only non-Latin alphabet in German. |