This chapter takes a closer look at sound- and letter-combinations in German involving vowels. Diphthongs, as the name suggests, consist of two vowels, while triphthongs consist of three vowels.

A diphthong is a vocalic double sound. This means that one vowel "merges" with the other. Just think of English words like house (diphthong: [aʊ]), eye (diphthong: [aɪ]), and boy (diphthong: [ɔɪ]). You really should be able to pronounce any and all German words with complete ease… The following are the three diphthongs in German: au, ei/ai, and eu/ä.

Click on the audio symbol to hear the pronunciation of these words. Roll mouse over German text to view English translations.

Diphthong

Phonetic Symbol

Examples

au

[aʊ]

das Haus

die Maus

laufen

ai / ei

[aɪ]

das Einzelkind

Freitag

im Mai

eu / äu

[ɔɪ]

das Neujahr

deutsch

läufst

There is one more diphthong that occurs pretty much in one interjection only: [ʊɪ] as in Pfui! (yuck!)

Note the difference between the 'ie' and the 'ei' sequence! The former is pronounced like the 'e' in the English "even", whereas the latter is pronounced like "I":

IE			EI
lieben			bleiben
die Geliebte			der Freitag
die Schwiegermutter			schweigen
das Genie			langweilig
das Bier			heiraten

Point of interest: You may encounter some dialects in Germany which have a few more diphthongs than the German you have been learning in Deutsch im Blick. For example, High-Bavarian has two additional diphthongs: ua and oa.

Diphthong			Example from High-Bavarian
ua			Bua "Bub" (boy)
oa			zwoa "zwei" (two)

A triphthong is a sound that consists of three vowel sounds and forms exactly one syllable - as you can imagine, the number of triphthongs in standard German is very limited.

Click on the audio symbol to hear the pronunciation of the words. Roll mouse over German text to view English translations.

Triphthong

Phonetic Symbol

Examples

iau / jau

[jaʊ]

Miau

jauchzen

jaulen

aue

[aʊɛ]

klauen

trauen

schauen

aua

[aʊa]

Aua

Triphthongs are scarce in Standard German because they were simplified over time into diphthongs and simple vowels. However, in certain dialects like Styrian (Austrian dialect) or Bernese Swiss German diphthongs and triphthongs appear more often.

Point of interest: There is another subgroup of vowel clusters composed of a diphthong plus a dark schwa (remember Kapitel 4?). They inevitably include an e + and r:

[aɪɒ]			die Eier			die Feier
[ɔɪɒ]			euer			das Feuer
[aʊɒ]			Bauer			sauer			dauern

Finally, here are some fun tongue-twisters for you to practice with!

		Bierbrauer Bauer braut braunes Bier.
		Der Schweizer Schweißer schwitzt und schweißt. Der Schweizer Schwitzer schweißt und schwitzt. Schwitzend schweißt der Schweizer Schweißer.
		Wenn Fliegen hinter Fliegen fliegen, dann fliegen Fliegen Fliegen nach.
		Wenn meine Braut Blaukraut klaut, dann ist sie eine Blaukrautklaubraut.
		Hinter Herbert Hausmanns Hecke hocken heute hundert Hasen
		Weil lustige Leute laufend lachen, lachen lustige Leute auch beim Laufen.
		Mit keiner Kleie und keinem Keim kann kein kleines Korn keimen.
		http://german.about.com/od/pronunciation/a/tonguetwisters.htm http://www.germanteaching.com/ger-ton-con.htm