Phonetics of German

Introduction

The subfield of linguistics known as phonetics deals with the sounds of human speech. There are three branches of phonetics: articulatory phonetics, which is concerned with how the human vocal tract produces speech sounds; acoustic phonetics, which investigates the physical properties of the sound waves produced when we speak; and auditory phonetics, which deals with the way that speech sounds are perceived by listeners. This discussion of German phonetics focuses on the articulatory characteristics of the sounds of German.

Speech sounds are produced when an airstream is put into motion. In German, as in most languages, speech sounds are produced by pushing air from the lungs out of the body through the vocal tract. A diagram of the vocal tract is provided in Figure 1.1. To produce the different sounds of a language, the airstream is modified in various ways by manipulating the larynx (voice box), the velum (soft palate), the tongue, and the lips.

The larynx is made up of cartilages and muscle (see Figure 1.2). The vocal cords, two pairs of folds of muscle and ligament, are attached to the inner sides of the thyroid cartilage (the Adam's apple) at the front of the larynx and to the two arytenoid cartilages at the back of the larynx. The lower pair of folds can be spread apart or brought together by movement of the arytenoid cartilages.