Consonants

 

Consonant Sounds

	Labial	Coronal		Dorsal			Glottal
Plosive	p   b	t   d			k   g	q   G	?
Fricative	f   v	s   z	ʃ   ʒ	ʝ	x	X	h
Nasal	m	n			ŋ	N
Trill		r
Approximant		ɹ l		j

Consonant Phonemes

The 'native' classification by place of articulation for consonant phonemes is close but not quite the same as the categories labial, coronal and dorsal used above. They just differentiate between frontal (teeth & lips) that covers bilabial, labiodental and dental sounds, mid that covers alveolar to palatal sounds and back (throat) that contains velar, uvular and glottal sounds.

Plosives

Phonem	Sounds/Allophones	English example	German example	Remarks
/ p /	[p]
/ t /	[t]
/ k /	[q], [k]
/ b /	[b]
/ d /	[d]
/ g /	[G], [g]

There is no phonemic distinction between the velar und the uvular plosives.



Fricatives:

Phonem	Sounds/Allophones	English example	German example	Remarks
/ f /	[f]
/ s /	[s]
/ sh /	[ʃ]
/ v /	[v]
/ z /	[z]			Süden   [zy:dn]
/ zh /	[ʒ]	mirage   [mɪrɑ:ʒ]
/ kh /	[x], [X]	loch (sc.)  [lɑx]	ach   [ax]	(1)
/ ' /	[h],[?]	heal   [hi:l]	Hose   [hose]	(2)

++There is no phonemic distinction between the velar und the uvular fricatives. In general they tend to sound a bit 'dark' and guttural. ++

++ /'/ is known as the 'wind sound' that can be silent([?]) or not ([h]). It is an important dialect marker between the North and the South. In the North the phonem is usually silent, the glottal stop is heard as short pause not as the 'sound'. In fast speech /'/ becomes [h] to keep the syllable borders intact. In the South the phonem is almost always [h] except at the beginning of a word. (-> Allophones)++



Nasals:

Phonem	Sounds/Allophones	English example	German example	Remarks
/ m /	[m]
/ n /	[n]
/ ng /	[ŋ], [N]

There is no phonemic distinction between the velar and the uvular nasal.



Approximants:

Phonem	Sounds/Allophones	English example	German example	Remarks
/ l /	[l], [ll]
/ r /	[r], [ɹ]
/ j /	[j], [ʝ]	yes   [jes]

The approximants are known as the 'joiner sounds' because only they can form consonant cluster by joining with a plosive or fricative. (-> Phonological Constraints)



Silbic Consonants:

This section is still vague and will be subject to changes.

Phonem	Sounds/Allophones	English example	German example	Remarks
/ mh /	[m:], [hm:]
/ nh /	[n:], [hn:]
/ lh /	[l:]
/ rh /	[r:], [hr:]

Silbic consonants have a particular place in the phonem inventory. They are an exception in the -> Phonological Constraints (they are syllables onto themselves) and function probably only as grammatical marker.