Pronunciation guide
How to read and say Low German
Letters, sounds and stress from Wikivoyage's Low German phrasebook. Then hear the phrases and practice them, free.
▶ Practice Low German phrasesLow German has some vowel sounds that are not known in many other languages so they may be hard to learn.
Short vowels
- a
- like 'a' in "calm", (but shorter)
- e
- like 'e' in "pen"
- i
- like 'i' in "pin"
- o
- like 'o' in "fork"
- u
- like 'oo' in "too" (but shorter)
- ä
- (Umlaut, transcribed as 'ae') like 'e' in "ten", 'a' in "band"
- ö
- (Umlaut, transcribed as 'oe') like 'i' in "Sir" (not a sound in English)
- ü
- (Umlaut, transcribed as 'ue') like 'ew' in "EWWW (disgust)"
- y
- same as 'ü', but also consonant "j" in words of foreign origin ("Yacht")
Umlauts are usually (but not always) stressed.
Long vowels
- a, aa, ah
- like 'aa' in "Afrikaans"
- e, ee, eh
- like 'a' in "day"
- ie, ieh
- like 'ea' in "sea"
- o, oo, oh
- like 'o' in "ago"
- u, uu, uh
- like 'oo' in "too"
- ä, ää, äh
- somewhat similar to ee, like 'a' in "day" without the 'i' sound at the end
- ö, öö, öh
- similar to 'e' in "mercy"
- ü, üü, üh
- like 'ü' in German "München", but longer
Diphthongs
- au, auh
- like 'ow' in "how"
- ei, eih, ai, aih
- like 'i' in "write"
Consonants
- b
- like 'b' in "bed"
- c
- like 'ts' in "bits" before 'i' and 'e'; like 'k' in "kid" else
- d
- like 'd' in "dog"
- f
- like 'ph' in "phone"
- g
- like 'g' in "go" at the beginning of a word; within a word or at the end of it, 'g' is pronounced either like a kind of mild 'sh' (after e, i, ä, ö and ü) or like a guttural sound similar to Spanish 'jotta'-sound (after a, o, u)
- h
- like 'h' in "help"
- j
- like 'y' in "yoga"
- k
- like 'c' in "cat"
- l
- like 'l' in "love"
- m
- like 'm' in "mother"
- n
- like 'n' in "nice"
- p
- like 'p' in "pig"
- q
- like 'q' in "quest" (always with "u")
- r
- like 'r' in "arm", like 'r' in "feather". Terminal Rs are almost silent but with the hint of an "r" sound. Rs beginning a word or syllable are rolled as in Spanish
- s
- like 'z' in "haze"
- t
- like 't' in "top"
- v
- like 'f' in "father" at the beginning of a word, and like "v" in "victory" elsewhere
- w
- like 'v' in "victory", never like 'wh' in "whisky"
- x
- like 'cks' in "kicks"
- z
- like 'ts' in "bits"
- ß
- usually High German, like 's' in "was"
Other diagraphs
- ch
- either like a kind of mild 'sh' (after e, i, ä, ö and ü) or like a guttural sound similar to Spanish 'jotta'-sound (after a, o, u)
- sch
- like 'sh' in "shell"
- ng
- like both 'ng' in "singing", and 'ng' in "finger" at the end of a word