Hey guys, can anyone tell me how to figure the pronunciation of “ig” at the end of a German word? I had been doing it like “ich” in all cases, but I watched a video where a guy (Rainer Joswig, the Lisp programmer, as it happens) pronounced his name like “ik”.
Have I been doing it wrong, or is this just dialectical?
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Anonymous2009-07-23 16:40
"ig " at the end of a word it is always pronounced as "ich". The way you are doing it is correct and what you heard was, as you already guessed, dialectical. It is very common in Austria where almost everyone (even the speakers in TV and radio who should know better) pronounce it the wrong way as "ig".
In the middle of a word, as you probably already know, it depends on the following letter: before a vowel it is "ig", before a consonant "ich". The only exceptions are the rare cases when there would be several "ich"-sounds in one word (for example ewiglich or königlich). In that cases it is pronounced "ig" even before a consonant.
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Anonymous2009-07-23 16:50
It's mostly a dialectical thing. People in the northern parts of Germany tend to pronounce "ig" as "ich" alot. It's also typical for Hamburgisch.
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Anonymous2009-07-23 18:31
I think "ich" is the dialectical form while "ig" is always acceptable.
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Anonymous2009-07-23 18:32
I think "ich" is the dialectical form while "ig" is always acceptable.
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Anonymous2009-07-23 22:32
>>2,3
So I've stumbled onto a point of minor regional contention? Like color vs. colour?
Whom do I emulate?
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Anonymous2009-07-24 3:43
Well most people pronounce it "ich" in everyday speech, so if you do it like that, it's fine.
Some words like "Honig", "König", etc. just sound really strange when pronounced "ig".
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Anonymous2009-07-24 5:02
>>6
You should always pronounce it "ich". This is standardized and correct german.
Here is a map where you can see the regional distribution:
Green dots are where everyday speech coincides with standardized german. But this is also the area where they often overuse it and even pronounce "Tag" or "Burg" with "ch" which of course is incorrect. So don't believe that there they speak correct german in every situation.
Anyway, for "ig" at the end of a word always use "ich". Even when you are in one of those areas where it is uncommon in everyday speech.
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Anonymous2009-07-24 5:02
>>7
Hessefag here, it sounds just the way it should when pronounced "ig" and I've never seen anyone pronounce it different.
For the "ch" sound, how do you if it is hard or soft?
I know it is dependent on the preceding vowel, but i've heard words like schlecht for example pronounced both ways
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Anonymous2009-07-29 6:51
>>21
I'm not sure if I understood your question and what you mean with hard and soft. To me "ch" sounds pretty much the same in every position and I don't know how one could pronounce "ch" in schlecht in different ways.
But according to the pronounciation rules, there really are two different "ch" sounds. One is spoken at the front of the mouth (like Becher, Recht, Pflicht) and another at the back (like Bach, noch, Tuch). The latter is considered unaesthetic and should rather be pronounced like the former.
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Anonymous2009-07-29 11:36
>>22
jezuz wtf r u even talking about. the ch in becher is a completely different sound than the ch in bach or noch. they have nothing in common.
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Anonymous2009-07-29 11:40
i dont know if there are any rules. i would suggest you just try to emulate native speakers. thats the best way to improve your pronounciation. thats how we do it in japanese also. its alot easier than trying to remember 10.000 pronouciation rules imho.
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Anonymous2009-07-29 14:13
>>22
Becher the sound is besher
noch the sound is nokh
soft more of an sh sound while hard is more of an h sound
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Anonymous2009-07-29 14:15
i think your Lisp programmer has a lisp, although there are many different pronunciations associated with different areas of Germany
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Anonymous2009-07-29 16:00
>>26 i think your Lisp programmer has a lisp
Is that just your way of saying “Surely no one has made this joke yet after five decades”?
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Anonymous2009-07-29 17:46
>>25
Your description is disgusting and basically what every American does wrong.
soft 'ch' is like in between hard 'ch' and sh, that's the only way i can explain it
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Anonymous2009-07-30 6:31
>>29
'ch' in 'noch' is pronounced like the Scottish 'ch' sound in 'loch ness'. 'ch' in 'becher' is pretty much impossible to pronounce for Americans (at least I have yet to meet an American who can pronounce it) so you can just pronounce it as 'sh' as in 'ship'. It's not the same sound at all, but people will understand you just fine.
>>34
You will never be able to properly pronounce it. It's impossible for non-native speakers. Also Americans are known worldwide for their inability to learn foreign languages.
Do you honestly think that? Are you really a fucking moron? If you have a tongue and are a human you are capable of reproducing any sound from any human language
Also i think the main thing with Americans is that they they're preoccupied with sounding silly/stupid when trying to pronounce new sounds. This can be a permanent roadblock to them learning foreign languages, but it doesn't mean they're physically incapable. And not all Americans have this issue of course