History:

          The German language derives from ancient Gothic. Many sounds of the Anglo-Saxon and Old English, once pronounced, have disappeared. 

          Because of the horrors of the German occupation of Europe in World War Two and of the Holocaust, there are often negative archetypes associated with the German accent.​

 

Characteristics:         

• Non-rhotic: drop the final "r" and the "r" before another consonant. For South German/Austrian accents use a trilled "r" with one tap

• Final voiced consonants shift to voiceless 

  • "b" becomes "p"

  • "d" becomes "t"

  • "dg" becomes "ch"

  • "g" becomes "k"

  • "v" becomes "f"

  • "z" becomes "s"

• Initial "w" shifts to "v"

• Initial "s" sometimes shifts to "z"

• Dark liquid l (as in "pull"): in Standard High German is similar to the French "l" 

• For "TH/th" substitute "d/t" for South German

• Substitute the lengthened pure vowel "o:" for the diphthong "O"; the lengthened vowel "e:" for the diphthong "ay"

• In South German/Austrian diphthongize vowels, especially before "r." In the German spoken in Vienna, for example, "A" shifts to "aw" and before "R" to a diphthongizes "awe" and this carries over into English: Substitute "aw" for "A" in words like father (occasionally) and diphthongize "aw" before "R" in words like of course

• Substitute "e" for "a" in a heavy or medium accent

• Use the vowel system for British RP

• To create a light German accent, follow the advice about shifting final voiced consonants to voiceless consonants.    

• The stress is often on the first syllable, but with words beginning in prefixes such as "ge," are often stressed on the second syllable.   ​

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RECORDED REHEARSAL TRACK: ROBERT BLUMENFELD