---
name: text-to-speech-symbols-de-de
title: German symbols
description: The service supports the following symbols for German.
last-updated: 2023-03-23
---

> ## Documentation Index
> The table of contents for this documentation set is at https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/text-to-speech?format=markdown
> The index for all IBM Cloud docs is at: https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use these files to discover more information as needed.

# German symbols
{: #deSymbols}

The service supports the following symbols for German.

## Regular vowels
{: #deRegularVowels}

| SPR symbol | IPA symbol | IPA Unicode | Example words |
|:----------:|:----------:|:-----------:|---------------|
| i | i  \n   \n iː | 0069  \n   \n 0069+02D0 | l**ie**ben, T**i**tel, t**ie**f |
| I | ɪ | 026A | b**i**tte, T**i**sch, L**i**cht |
| e | e  \n   \n eː | 0065  \n   \n 0065+02D0 | g**e**ben, **Eh**re, S**ee** |
| E | ɛ | 025B | tr**e**ffen, G**e**ld, k**ä**mmen |
| 'E:' | ɛː | 025B+02D0 | K**ä**se, M**ä**dchen, w**ä**gen |
| a | aː  \n   \n ɑ | 0061+02D0  \n   \n 0251 | H**aa**r, h**a**ben, f**a**hren |
| A | a | 0061 | l**a**ssen, m**a**tt, **A**pfel |
| u | u  \n   \n uː | 0075  \n   \n 0075+02D0 | g**u**t, **Uh**r, **U**we |
| U | ʊ | 028A | H**u**nd, Fl**u**ss, M**u**tter |
| o | o  \n   \n oː | 006F  \n   \n 006F+02D0 | **O**ber, **oh**ne, B**oo**t |
| O | ɔ | 0254 | K**o**pf, St**o**pp |
| y | y  \n   \n yː | 0079  \n   \n 0079+02D0 | B**ü**cher, f**üh**len, T**ü**r, k**ü**hn |
| Y | ʏ | 028F | f**ü**nf, f**ü**llen, K**ü**nstler |
| 'oe' | ø  \n   \n øː | 00F8  \n   \n 00F8+02D0 | L**ö**we, h**ö**ren, S**öh**ne |
| 'OE' | œ  \n   \n ɶ | 0153  \n   \n 0276 | k**ö**nnen, h**ö**lzern, **ö**stlich |
{: caption="Regular vowels (German)"}

## Diphthongs
{: #deDiphthongs}

| SPR symbol | IPA symbol | IPA Unicode | Example words |
|:----------:|:----------:|:-----------:|---------------|
| 'aj' | ai  \n   \n aɪ | 0061+0069  \n   \n 0061+026A | h**ei**m, W**ai**se, M**ai** |
| 'aw' | au  \n   \n aʊ | 0061+0075  \n   \n 0061+028A | H**au**s, M**au**l, Fr**au** |
| 'oj' | ɔi  \n   \n ɔy  \n   \n ɔɪ  \n   \n ɔʏ | 0254+0069  \n   \n 0254+0079  \n   \n 0254+026A  \n   \n 0254+028F | h**eu**te, Geb**äu**de, H**äu**ser |
{: caption="Diphthongs (German)"}

## Nasalized vowels
{: #deNasalizedVowels}

Nasalized vowels in German occur mostly in foreign loan words.

| SPR symbol | IPA symbol | IPA Unicode | Example words |
|:----------:|:----------:|:-----------:|---------------|
| 'a~' | ã  \n   \n ɐ̃ | 0061+0303  \n   \n 0250+0303 | Ch**an**ce |
| 'E~' | ẽ  \n   \n ɛ̃ | 0065+0303  \n   \n 025B+0303 | T**ein**t |
| 'o~' | õ  \n   \n ɔ̃ | 006F+0303  \n   \n 0254+0303 | Pard**on** |
| 'oe~' | ø̃  \n   \n œ̃ | 00F8+0303  \n   \n 0153+0303 | Parf**um** |
{: caption="Nasalized vowels (German)"}

## Reduced vowels
{: #deReducedVowels}

| SPR symbol | IPA symbol | IPA Unicode | Example words |
|:----------:|:----------:|:-----------:|---------------|
| @ | ə  \n   \n ɵ  \n   \n ɘ | 0259  \n   \n 0275  \n   \n 0258 | bitt**e**, Kam**e**ra, Bod**e**n |
{: caption="Reduced vowels (German)"}

## Consonants
{: #deConsonants}

| SPR symbol | IPA symbol | IPA Unicode | Example words |
|:----------:|:----------:|:-----------:|---------------|
| b | b | 0062 | **B**oden, **B**ett, o**b**en |
| C | tʃ  \n   \n tʃ | 0074+0283  \n   \n 02A7 | deuts**ch**, **Ch**ile, **C**ello |
| d | d  \n   \n ð ^**1**^ | 0064  \n   \n 00F0 | **d**unkel, kin**d**isch, Hel**d**en |
| f | f | 0066 | **f**ast, ho**ff**en, **V**ater |
| g | g  \n   \n ɡ  \n   \n ɣ | 0067  \n   \n 0261  \n   \n 0263 | **g**eben, **g**rau, Ta**g**e |
| G | ŋ | 014B | Fi**ng**er, lä**ng**s, Anfa**ng** |
| h | h  \n   \n ɦ | 0068  \n   \n 0266 | **h**och, **H**and, A**h**orn |
| j | j  \n   \n ʝ | 006A  \n   \n 029D | **J**unge, **j**a, **J**ahr, Minister**i**um |
| J | dʒ  \n   \n ʤ | 0064+0292  \n   \n 02A4 | **J**ob, **Dsch**ungel |
| k | k | 006B | **K**atze, E**ck**e, S**k**ulptur, la**g**, **q**uitt |
| l | l | 006C | **l**esen, fa**ll**en, Pu**l**t |
| m | m | 006D | **M**ann, ko**mm**en, Ate**m** |
| n | n | 006E | **N**acht, kö**nn**en, Ki**n**d |
| p | p | 0070 | **P**apier, Li**pp**e, Gra**b** |
| P | pf | 0070+0066 | **Pf**lanze, Stum**pf**en |
| r | r  \n   \n ɹ  \n   \n ʀ  \n   \n ʁ  \n   \n ɾ | 0072  \n   \n 0279  \n   \n 0280  \n   \n 0281  \n   \n 027E | **R**ad, füh**r**en |
| R | ɐ  \n   \n ʌ  \n   \n ɚ  \n   \n ɝ | 0250  \n   \n 028C  \n   \n 025A  \n   \n 025D | Wied**er**, üb**er** |
| s | s | 0073 | Ma**ß**, la**ss**en, La**s**t, H**au**s |
| S | ʃ | 0283 | **sch**on, **s**pielen, **S**til, wä**sch**t |
| t | t | 0074 | **T**ag, bi**tt**e, Ra**d** |
| T | ts  \n   \n ʦ  \n   \n θ ^**2**^ | 0074+0073  \n   \n 02A6  \n   \n 03B8 | **Z**auber, Poli**z**ei, Glan**z** |
| v | v | 0076 | **W**agen, **v**iskös, **V**olum, o**v**al |
| w | w  \n   \n ʋ | 0077  \n   \n 028B | Ed**u**ard, akt**u**ell, Jan**u**ar |
| x | x  \n   \n χ | 0078  \n   \n 03C7 | Bu**ch**, Ba**ch**, Wo**ch**en |
| X | ç | 00E7 | i**ch**, **Ch**emie, Kel**ch**, man**ch**er |
| z | z | 007A | **S**ee, **S**atz, le**s**en |
| Z | ʒ | 0292 | Gara**g**e, **G**enie |
| ? (glottal stop) | ʔ | 0294 | **e**r**o**bern (IPA `ʔɛɐˈʔoːbɐn`)  \n **e**rinnern (IPA `ʔɛɐˈʁɪnɐn`) |
{: caption="Consonants (German)"}

**Notes:**

1.  The IPA symbol `ð` (IPA Unicode `00F0`) occurs only in loanwords from foreign languages, mostly English (for example, *The New York Times*). However, the service realizes that sound as IPA symbol `d` (IPA Unicode `0064`).
1.  The IPA symbol `θ` (IPA Unicode `03B8`) occurs only in loanwords from foreign languages, mostly English (for example, *thriller*). However, the service realizes that sound as IPA symbol `ʦ` (IPA Unicode `02A6`).