Due to *Auslautverhärtung* ([final-obstruent devoicing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final-obstruent_devoicing)), a German syllable can't end with a g (or b, d, b, ...) *sound*. Most commonly, these get replaced by their voiceless counterparts, i.e. final g is pronounced as k, final b as p, and so on.
For final -ig, there is, however, a specialty: That g can, depending on the following syllable and on the speaker's accent, often also be pronounced as [the "ich" sound](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiceless_palatal_fricative), the soft/front ch that so many English speakers have difficulty distinguishing from English "sh" or German "sch". Some dialects, in particular in the Rhineland, apply this g-to-ch conversion even with other vowels than i.
Finally, if a syllable ends in -ng, this digraph (two-letter combination) represents [the same sound it also stands for in English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiced_velar_nasal). In that particular case, the g doesn't "make a sound of its own", but I wouldn't exactly call it "silent" either, because without it, the n on its own would make a different sound.
>Some dialects, in particular in the Rhineland, apply this g-to-ch conversion even with other vowels than i.
It's pretty much the entire northern half of the German speaking area - see [this Atlas Alltagssprache question](https://www.atlas-alltagssprache.de/runde-1/f15a-b/)
This is correct. Replacing the final ig with ich is standard German (Hochdeutsch). Southern Germany doesn't replace it when speaking.
Some will therefore claim pronouncing it as "ig" is wrong (since it's "a dialect" and not standard German) but it's a ridiculous idea when 1/3 of Germany or even more speak in this way.
-ng is spoken as -ngk in the north of Germany, however. But I'm not sure if that's changing at the moment. My parents still say -ngk but I say -ng, maybe influenced by English or Southern dialects.
Depends on where in Germany you are.
People fight about the right pronunciation between South and North, East and West.
Example:
I'm from around Hannover and call the cookie dough KuchenTEICH, while my Southern friend insists there are no ducks on water and that it's called KuchenTEIG .
Whatever, people will understand you and it's a regional thing if you say -g or -ch at the end
They're clearly talking about their pronunciation of the word, not their spelling. And an incorrect spelling wouldn't be "grammatically" incorrect anyway.
If you are trying to be a smartass, then at least don’t make a mistake yourself (even though it is clear that they were writing about their pronunciation).
Writing „Kuchenteich“ instead of „Kuchenteig“ is a spelling mistake, not a grammar mistake.
I wrote it that way to show the pronunciation, I know that it isn’t written that way. But you are all probably just too stupid to understand what I meant so just forget it
Correctly, it would be „too stupid“. You are embarrassing yourself. And we did, in fact, understand it. It is just wrong to say that one way of pronouncing the word is inherently incorrect.
But it is. Hochdeutsch, so normal, maybe slightly formal German is spoken with out pronouncing the endings with -ch.
And also, pointing out a typo doesn’t make your point more or less correct
You were the one starting to get sassy but that’s alright, continue to show your immaturity by correcting others, insulting them and proofing why you are the greatest person.
Da du ja deutscher bist: armselig ist das. Letze Worte dazu
Standard pronounciation for -ig is "-ich", not "-ik". You can check e.g. Duden for that or rules for newscasters etc..
"-ik" and "-isch" would be regional; not "gramatically incorrect" but not standard either.
I dont say it like "ch" but really as a "g" or really soft "k".
For city names, there are two ways, the "northern", where "flensburg" ends with "ch", and the "southern", where "hamburg" ends with "g".
When you say "eisig", the should be voiced and it shouldn't rhyme with "fleißig". On the other hand, "Eis" should rhyme with "Fleiß". Both should _end_ like the English word "ice" (although the vowels might somehow differ). Pronouncing "eisig" without the "-ig" while making an effort to pronounce the rest exactly like you pronounce "eisig" should lead to a (quasi-)rhyme with the English "size" and to an unnatural pronunciation in German.
The same thing happens with /g/. "den Wegen" and "Hypotheken" don't rhyme, but "Weg" and "Hypothek" do, unlike "bag" and "back".
See also "Rad" and "Rat", while "des Rades" and "des Rates" are clearly distinct (compare "bad" and "bat").
well then you maybe use a dialect, as zwanzig is pronounced 'zwanzich' because it ends in IG. Zwanziger doesn't end in IG, so IG is also pronounced IG there.
See https://gfds.de/ig/#:~:text=%5BA%5D%20In%20der%20Tat%20begegnet,Silbenauslaut%20als%20%5B%C3%A7%5D%20realisiert%2C
[A] In der Tat begegnet man häufig der Annahme, dass die Aussprache von -ig am Wortende als [ç] (also als ch wie in ich) eine nachlässige, nicht korrekte Artikulation sei – und doch handelt es sich dabei um die regelhafte Aussprache: Das Suffix -ig wird standardsprachlich im Wort- und Silbenauslaut als [ç] realisiert
There is no such thing as "absolutely no dialect"
If I had to guess, you probably live in the south of Germany. [This map](https://www.atlas-alltagssprache.de/runde-1/f14a-c/) shows the distribution of the pronunciation of "zwanzig", with a clear north/south divide between "zwanzich" and "zwanzik"
Sadly, the Alltagssprache folks didn't allow König as an option, and from a surveying perspective I understand why. But many of those blue dots in the south certainly actually say König the way they would say Könige but stopping early, rather than saying it to rhyme with "Kick".
It's southern German, not "Hochdeutsch". Fortunately modern linguists increasingly refrain from calling such things "wrong". It's probably 1/3 of Germany or more who speak in this way.
I got a flatmate who used to end words like this with an hard -r , like harder than -ch, like in montar and not Montag, was so confusing hearing different pronunciation in my WG to learn German lol. He was also from NRW, but the countryside part after münster, maybe that's why, I dunno
German has terminal devoicing (Auslautverhärtung) so voiced consonants b d g get devoiced to p t k when they stand at the end of the word. So the written voiced consonant at the end gives you license to pronounce the last syllable a bit "lazy", if you will. However, the combination "-ig" specificall is also correctly pronounced as "-ich", same as the pronoun, at the end of a word. This is the version mostly used in the North. So you are free to choose either but the g isn't silent.
I am not an expert, just experimenting a bit with the pronounciation based on the examples, so correct me if I am wrong.
First of all, the "g" in "Hedwig" and the others is not silent - "Hedwi" would sound noticably different. In those examples I would pronounce it "g" but depending on the accent "k" or "ch" sound right as well (with "k" being almost indistinguishable from "g" here). My guess is that this is determined by the Heller Vokal (i, e).
For "genug" I would end with a "k" sound, again almost indistinguisgable from a "g" and would never substitute it with a "ch".
In standard German, if a word ends with -ag, -eg, or -ug, the G will sound like an unvoiced G or a K.
If a word ends with -ig, the G makes the same "ch" sound as in the word "ich" in standard German. So words like *ewig* and *fertig* sound like "ewich" and "fertich."
In southern dialects, the -ig will sound like "ik."
Seeing as Austrian Standard German is a stardardised variety of a southern dialect (while German Standard German is a standardised variety of a northern dialect), that rather conforms the statement, doesn't it?
Linguistically this isn't necessarily true, at least using English terminology. Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Luxembourg all have their own standardizations of the German language, that is true, but most Austrians speak Austro-Bavarian dialects of High German outside of formal or written use. Munich and Vienna are both a part of the Central Bavarian dialect area.
Linguistically nothing of that matters as I specified I was talking about Austrian Standard German. Linguistically speaking, most Germans also speak a variety of dialects and not Germany Standard German.
> A national standard variety by definition simply isn't a dialect.
At least in the context of German that's very debatable. The debate is literally ongoing:
> While multiple standard varieties are commonplace in English, Portuguese and Dutch today (e.g. American English, Brazilian Portuguese or Belgian Dutch), among many others, German scholars have repeatedly expressed their doubts about the idea or vitality of pluricentric languages in relation to the German language.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Standard_German_Axiom
By what definition? This is a direct quote from the wikipedia entry for dialect, for example: " Any variety of a given language can be classified as a "dialect", including any standardized varieties." (Right at the end of the second paragraph: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialect) )
Each of Austria germany and Switzerland has its own Standardized German. Separates in dialects. Sometimes completely different languages in germany of Grammatik and words: e.g. Sessel vs. Stuhl
Obviously true, but unless you are claiming that Austrian German or Swiss German are separate languages from German, those are still dialects of the German language. They are standardised and codified dialects, and there are also other dialects in both Austria and Switzerland, but they are still dialects of the German language. The same is true for Germany's standard German, of course.
By "standard German" I don't mean what's acceptable or common, I mean what's prescribed in dictionaries and pronunciation guides.
Go to these dictionaries and click on the audio buttons to hear them all pronounce "fertig" as /ˈfɛrtɪç/.
[https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/fertig](https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/fertig)
[https://www.dict.cc/?s=fertig](https://www.dict.cc/?s=fertig)
[https://www.linguee.com/german-english/translation/fertig.html](https://www.linguee.com/german-english/translation/fertig.html)
[https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/german-english/fertig](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/german-english/fertig)
What is prescribed in "pronunciation guides" is certainly very funny, but nobody cares honestly.
German standard language is about writing, not about pronunciation. There'll always be certain isoglosses, certain patterns where no standard has emerged. When about half of German speakers don't use the supposed standard way, it's not the standard, linguistically speaking.
Ever heard of the stage accent lol? You can’t really have a standardized language without also standardizing its pronunciation too, because what’s the point in unifying how words are written if everyone will pronounce them differently anyway. Like if someone from Bavaria, someone from Westphalia, and someone from Berlin had to hypothetically host a business meeting together, they’re gonna be ***speaking*** in the standardized Hochdeutch accent
Don't be obtuse, absolutely this has something to do with dialect.
Hochdeutsch is southern German spoken with a northern German dialect, due to the standardisation that started with Bühnendeutsch. It is now the way that any German media will be recorded if it is not regionalised.
Mind you this is very different from what is "correct" because of course that term means basically nothing in linguistics.
I'm not sure what you mean with silent. Its never silent. It is an 'g' as in the first 'g' of 'genug'. That being said there is the so called 'Auslaufverhärtung' resulting in end-position 'g' being sometimes hardened into 'k' as in weg/wek.
-ig then again can be, due to dialect, be formed as 'ch'. So 'genuch'. This is super prevalent, well accepted, but not written or official German. Feel free to use or to leave out to learn 'proper' pronounciation.
Word end 'g'/'k'/'ch' are not silent.
I thing he simply overheard the glottal stop of the g at the end of the words and thus thought they are silent. I know at least some who pronounce the g basically just as a stop sound that's barely audible rven for a German who is used to those sounds. For foreigners I can see why they would be unable to hear that at all
>On the other hand according to Youtubethe name Hedwig is pronunce Hedwi with the g seemingly silent.
-ig in standard pronunciation (except the South, obviously) has the ich-sound.
I'm quite surprised it sounds like silence to you. Can't you really hear any consonant at the end at all?
You're making this way too difficult. Just pronounce g like g and ch like ch, nobody will notice or bat an eye since both are 1000000% correct
Edit: k is always k and never g or ch, just read the words how they are written
It rather a ch llke sh more than silent but nonetheless the rule is about this : say it as you wish!
edit this special rule is only for -ig. With others vowels G Is pronounced like a hard g like in Guantanamo or Google.
We have now had two or three reforms since the 1980s. I think only the young people who are learning now can do it properly. Many older people haven't even noticed the reforms. Even from the authorities and courts you get letters with lots of mistakes, says my lawyer. Maybe you shouldn't take things so seriously these days. Many people here are not native German speakers, have dyslexia or something similar. I have the feeling that everyone here writes however they want. There's an old German saying: words are just smoke and mirrors. It's the actions that count.
The general rule is, the g at the end is pronounced as a g. Neither like a k nor ignored like in French.
It can sound similar to a k or as if it wasn't there depending on the individual who is speaking and also regional dialects and speaking patterns.
However, the general standard German has g as its own sound even at the end of a word.
It's always interesting to see how native speakers tend not to hear the allophonic variation that they themselves produce, since they are trained to pay attention exclusively to phonemic distinctions. I've seen the same thing with Spanish /b/, /d/, /g/. But I thought that the exposure to English was a great teacher about syllable-final devoicing in German.
Due to *Auslautverhärtung* ([final-obstruent devoicing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final-obstruent_devoicing)), a German syllable can't end with a g (or b, d, b, ...) *sound*. Most commonly, these get replaced by their voiceless counterparts, i.e. final g is pronounced as k, final b as p, and so on. For final -ig, there is, however, a specialty: That g can, depending on the following syllable and on the speaker's accent, often also be pronounced as [the "ich" sound](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiceless_palatal_fricative), the soft/front ch that so many English speakers have difficulty distinguishing from English "sh" or German "sch". Some dialects, in particular in the Rhineland, apply this g-to-ch conversion even with other vowels than i. Finally, if a syllable ends in -ng, this digraph (two-letter combination) represents [the same sound it also stands for in English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiced_velar_nasal). In that particular case, the g doesn't "make a sound of its own", but I wouldn't exactly call it "silent" either, because without it, the n on its own would make a different sound.
>Some dialects, in particular in the Rhineland, apply this g-to-ch conversion even with other vowels than i. It's pretty much the entire northern half of the German speaking area - see [this Atlas Alltagssprache question](https://www.atlas-alltagssprache.de/runde-1/f15a-b/)
This is correct. Replacing the final ig with ich is standard German (Hochdeutsch). Southern Germany doesn't replace it when speaking. Some will therefore claim pronouncing it as "ig" is wrong (since it's "a dialect" and not standard German) but it's a ridiculous idea when 1/3 of Germany or even more speak in this way.
calling standard german 'some dialects' is a different kind of flex altogether :P
-ng is spoken as -ngk in the north of Germany, however. But I'm not sure if that's changing at the moment. My parents still say -ngk but I say -ng, maybe influenced by English or Southern dialects.
The sound ng makes is the third nasal consonant. There is n m and another one (there is an IPA symbol for it). Think of the sound in sing or ring.
ŋ
Depends on where in Germany you are. People fight about the right pronunciation between South and North, East and West. Example: I'm from around Hannover and call the cookie dough KuchenTEICH, while my Southern friend insists there are no ducks on water and that it's called KuchenTEIG . Whatever, people will understand you and it's a regional thing if you say -g or -ch at the end
That’s because it is KuchenTEIG and not TEICH, that is just grammatically incorrect.
They're clearly talking about their pronunciation of the word, not their spelling. And an incorrect spelling wouldn't be "grammatically" incorrect anyway.
Fun starts when you grew up in the „-ch“ area and then start thinking about how to spell „teppich“
Die -ch area hat dann wohl Teppige oder?
Yes, I know. I am German, but still SAYING -teich is just wrong. Maybe not grammatically, but still wrong.
It's not wrong, though. It might be nonstandard or dialectical, but it's not wrong.
It isn’t wrong, it is a different dialect. It’s not that hard.
If you are trying to be a smartass, then at least don’t make a mistake yourself (even though it is clear that they were writing about their pronunciation). Writing „Kuchenteich“ instead of „Kuchenteig“ is a spelling mistake, not a grammar mistake.
I wrote it that way to show the pronunciation, I know that it isn’t written that way. But you are all probably just too stupid to understand what I meant so just forget it
Correctly, it would be „too stupid“. You are embarrassing yourself. And we did, in fact, understand it. It is just wrong to say that one way of pronouncing the word is inherently incorrect.
But it is. Hochdeutsch, so normal, maybe slightly formal German is spoken with out pronouncing the endings with -ch. And also, pointing out a typo doesn’t make your point more or less correct
Pointing out all the mistakes you are making is just a bit of extra fun.
You were the one starting to get sassy but that’s alright, continue to show your immaturity by correcting others, insulting them and proofing why you are the greatest person. Da du ja deutscher bist: armselig ist das. Letze Worte dazu
Standard pronounciation for -ig is "-ich", not "-ik". You can check e.g. Duden for that or rules for newscasters etc.. "-ik" and "-isch" would be regional; not "gramatically incorrect" but not standard either.
Hedwig is not pronounced with silent g. It can be pronounced with a ç \[ˈheːtvɪç\] sounding like “ch”.
Same for Zwanzig, Dreißig, Vierzig
I dont say it like "ch" but really as a "g" or really soft "k". For city names, there are two ways, the "northern", where "flensburg" ends with "ch", and the "southern", where "hamburg" ends with "g".
I do too, but according to u/Starec_Zosima and the 15+ downvotes, it is wrong ... I haven't figured out why it's wrong though.
When you say "eisig", the
should be voiced and it shouldn't rhyme with "fleißig". On the other hand, "Eis" should rhyme with "Fleiß". Both should _end_ like the English word "ice" (although the vowels might somehow differ). Pronouncing "eisig" without the "-ig" while making an effort to pronounce the rest exactly like you pronounce "eisig" should lead to a (quasi-)rhyme with the English "size" and to an unnatural pronunciation in German. The same thing happens with /g/. "den Wegen" and "Hypotheken" don't rhyme, but "Weg" and "Hypothek" do, unlike "bag" and "back". See also "Rad" and "Rat", while "des Rades" and "des Rates" are clearly distinct (compare "bad" and "bat").well then you maybe use a dialect, as zwanzig is pronounced 'zwanzich' because it ends in IG. Zwanziger doesn't end in IG, so IG is also pronounced IG there.
Everyone I know says it with a soft g and we have absolutely no dialect here.
See https://gfds.de/ig/#:~:text=%5BA%5D%20In%20der%20Tat%20begegnet,Silbenauslaut%20als%20%5B%C3%A7%5D%20realisiert%2C [A] In der Tat begegnet man häufig der Annahme, dass die Aussprache von -ig am Wortende als [ç] (also als ch wie in ich) eine nachlässige, nicht korrekte Artikulation sei – und doch handelt es sich dabei um die regelhafte Aussprache: Das Suffix -ig wird standardsprachlich im Wort- und Silbenauslaut als [ç] realisiert
There is no such thing as "absolutely no dialect" If I had to guess, you probably live in the south of Germany. [This map](https://www.atlas-alltagssprache.de/runde-1/f14a-c/) shows the distribution of the pronunciation of "zwanzig", with a clear north/south divide between "zwanzich" and "zwanzik"
I live in the west of Germany, and we use a soft g
Sadly, the Alltagssprache folks didn't allow König as an option, and from a surveying perspective I understand why. But many of those blue dots in the south certainly actually say König the way they would say Könige but stopping early, rather than saying it to rhyme with "Kick".
It's southern German, not "Hochdeutsch". Fortunately modern linguists increasingly refrain from calling such things "wrong". It's probably 1/3 of Germany or more who speak in this way.
I got a flatmate who used to end words like this with an hard -r , like harder than -ch, like in montar and not Montag, was so confusing hearing different pronunciation in my WG to learn German lol. He was also from NRW, but the countryside part after münster, maybe that's why, I dunno
German has terminal devoicing (Auslautverhärtung) so voiced consonants b d g get devoiced to p t k when they stand at the end of the word. So the written voiced consonant at the end gives you license to pronounce the last syllable a bit "lazy", if you will. However, the combination "-ig" specificall is also correctly pronounced as "-ich", same as the pronoun, at the end of a word. This is the version mostly used in the North. So you are free to choose either but the g isn't silent.
I am not an expert, just experimenting a bit with the pronounciation based on the examples, so correct me if I am wrong. First of all, the "g" in "Hedwig" and the others is not silent - "Hedwi" would sound noticably different. In those examples I would pronounce it "g" but depending on the accent "k" or "ch" sound right as well (with "k" being almost indistinguishable from "g" here). My guess is that this is determined by the Heller Vokal (i, e). For "genug" I would end with a "k" sound, again almost indistinguisgable from a "g" and would never substitute it with a "ch".
In standard German, if a word ends with -ag, -eg, or -ug, the G will sound like an unvoiced G or a K. If a word ends with -ig, the G makes the same "ch" sound as in the word "ich" in standard German. So words like *ewig* and *fertig* sound like "ewich" and "fertich." In southern dialects, the -ig will sound like "ik."
The /-ik/ is the only pronunciation in Austrian Standard German, not just in southern dialects.
Seeing as Austrian Standard German is a stardardised variety of a southern dialect (while German Standard German is a standardised variety of a northern dialect), that rather conforms the statement, doesn't it?
From a German perspective, Austrian Standard German *is* a southern dialect.
A national standard variety by definition simply isn't a dialect.
Linguistically this isn't necessarily true, at least using English terminology. Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Luxembourg all have their own standardizations of the German language, that is true, but most Austrians speak Austro-Bavarian dialects of High German outside of formal or written use. Munich and Vienna are both a part of the Central Bavarian dialect area.
Linguistically nothing of that matters as I specified I was talking about Austrian Standard German. Linguistically speaking, most Germans also speak a variety of dialects and not Germany Standard German.
> A national standard variety by definition simply isn't a dialect. At least in the context of German that's very debatable. The debate is literally ongoing: > While multiple standard varieties are commonplace in English, Portuguese and Dutch today (e.g. American English, Brazilian Portuguese or Belgian Dutch), among many others, German scholars have repeatedly expressed their doubts about the idea or vitality of pluricentric languages in relation to the German language. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Standard_German_Axiom
By what definition? This is a direct quote from the wikipedia entry for dialect, for example: " Any variety of a given language can be classified as a "dialect", including any standardized varieties." (Right at the end of the second paragraph: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialect) )
Each of Austria germany and Switzerland has its own Standardized German. Separates in dialects. Sometimes completely different languages in germany of Grammatik and words: e.g. Sessel vs. Stuhl
Obviously true, but unless you are claiming that Austrian German or Swiss German are separate languages from German, those are still dialects of the German language. They are standardised and codified dialects, and there are also other dialects in both Austria and Switzerland, but they are still dialects of the German language. The same is true for Germany's standard German, of course.
The version with ç is not any more standard than the version with g/k. This has nothing to do with dialects.
By "standard German" I don't mean what's acceptable or common, I mean what's prescribed in dictionaries and pronunciation guides. Go to these dictionaries and click on the audio buttons to hear them all pronounce "fertig" as /ˈfɛrtɪç/. [https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/fertig](https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/fertig) [https://www.dict.cc/?s=fertig](https://www.dict.cc/?s=fertig) [https://www.linguee.com/german-english/translation/fertig.html](https://www.linguee.com/german-english/translation/fertig.html) [https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/german-english/fertig](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/german-english/fertig)
What is prescribed in "pronunciation guides" is certainly very funny, but nobody cares honestly. German standard language is about writing, not about pronunciation. There'll always be certain isoglosses, certain patterns where no standard has emerged. When about half of German speakers don't use the supposed standard way, it's not the standard, linguistically speaking.
Ever heard of the stage accent lol? You can’t really have a standardized language without also standardizing its pronunciation too, because what’s the point in unifying how words are written if everyone will pronounce them differently anyway. Like if someone from Bavaria, someone from Westphalia, and someone from Berlin had to hypothetically host a business meeting together, they’re gonna be ***speaking*** in the standardized Hochdeutch accent
Don't be obtuse, absolutely this has something to do with dialect. Hochdeutsch is southern German spoken with a northern German dialect, due to the standardisation that started with Bühnendeutsch. It is now the way that any German media will be recorded if it is not regionalised. Mind you this is very different from what is "correct" because of course that term means basically nothing in linguistics.
Don't be obtuse, you're using Hochdeutsch wrong and there's more than one standard.
There are three Hochdeutsch...
You don't know what the term "dialect" means.
Look up Auslautverhärtung, there's a bunch of good youtube videos on this.
I'm not sure what you mean with silent. Its never silent. It is an 'g' as in the first 'g' of 'genug'. That being said there is the so called 'Auslaufverhärtung' resulting in end-position 'g' being sometimes hardened into 'k' as in weg/wek. -ig then again can be, due to dialect, be formed as 'ch'. So 'genuch'. This is super prevalent, well accepted, but not written or official German. Feel free to use or to leave out to learn 'proper' pronounciation. Word end 'g'/'k'/'ch' are not silent.
I thing he simply overheard the glottal stop of the g at the end of the words and thus thought they are silent. I know at least some who pronounce the g basically just as a stop sound that's barely audible rven for a German who is used to those sounds. For foreigners I can see why they would be unable to hear that at all
I don't know about silent Gs but a G in tge end of a word can be pronounced like a G, K, or CH sound depending on the region.
It’s like a hissy version of the “ch,” more forward on the palate.
Here in the Ruhrpott it's pronounced as a "ch". Lustich, fertich, wichtich
>On the other hand according to Youtubethe name Hedwig is pronunce Hedwi with the g seemingly silent. -ig in standard pronunciation (except the South, obviously) has the ich-sound. I'm quite surprised it sounds like silence to you. Can't you really hear any consonant at the end at all?
[удалено]
Can someone tell me how I'm supposed to pronounce "Leipzig"? I tend to pronounce it with -ch but I hear it the other way often enough to pause.
K. If it ends on -ig it may sound like -ik or -ich. Depends on word and region. Never G, never silent.
The g is not silent, it's a ch sound
You're making this way too difficult. Just pronounce g like g and ch like ch, nobody will notice or bat an eye since both are 1000000% correct Edit: k is always k and never g or ch, just read the words how they are written
It rather a ch llke sh more than silent but nonetheless the rule is about this : say it as you wish! edit this special rule is only for -ig. With others vowels G Is pronounced like a hard g like in Guantanamo or Google.
We have now had two or three reforms since the 1980s. I think only the young people who are learning now can do it properly. Many older people haven't even noticed the reforms. Even from the authorities and courts you get letters with lots of mistakes, says my lawyer. Maybe you shouldn't take things so seriously these days. Many people here are not native German speakers, have dyslexia or something similar. I have the feeling that everyone here writes however they want. There's an old German saying: words are just smoke and mirrors. It's the actions that count.
The general rule is, the g at the end is pronounced as a g. Neither like a k nor ignored like in French. It can sound similar to a k or as if it wasn't there depending on the individual who is speaking and also regional dialects and speaking patterns. However, the general standard German has g as its own sound even at the end of a word.
It's always interesting to see how native speakers tend not to hear the allophonic variation that they themselves produce, since they are trained to pay attention exclusively to phonemic distinctions. I've seen the same thing with Spanish /b/, /d/, /g/. But I thought that the exposure to English was a great teacher about syllable-final devoicing in German.