26 



THE POPULAJJ EDUCATOB. 



who aim at the acquisition of the German language without a 

 teacher. 



SECTION I. 



German. 







GERMAN ALPHABET. 

 English. Pronunciation. 

 a ah 

 b bay 

 c tsay 

 d day 



e ey (as in prey) 

 f eff 



3 i i 



3 i j 



X ! k 



S i 1 



ill m m 



9^ n 11 



Do o 



V V P 



O q q 



3t r r 



f (see 21. S) s 



X t t 



11 u u 



33 v 



SB n> w 



X r x 



3) s> y 



3 s z 



hah 



i (as in pique) 



yote 



kah 



ell 



emm 



enn 



oh 



pay 



koo 



err (as in error) 



ess 



tay 



o (as in do) 



Examples. 



ant. 



23ctcn. 

 Scbcr. 



5)ct;ncn. 



geft. 

 eben. 



S^nen. 

 3ota. 



(SUc. 



(Smpor. 



nbe. 



Oftr. 



dual. 



(mctten. 



lien- 



Sfjce. (see 18. 



lifer. 



fow (ow ad in mow) 3$olf. 



vay SDBcfcn. 



ix Sir. 



ipsilon i;ftcm. 



tset 3cttel. 



In German every letter, with the exception sometimes of e 

 aucl fi, is pronounced. (See 3. t, Q. ic, and 18. fy.) 



The printed capitals of i and j, in German, ara in form alike. 



UMLAUTS (12. 2le, etc.) 



DIPHTHONGS. 



at, ait, ei, eti, au, 



a, o, it. 



COMPOUND CONSONANTS. 



cf, f$, ff, fl, fc 

 ck, sch, ss, st, sz, -tz. 



SECTION II. 



SOUNDS OF THE GERMAN LETTERS. 



Sounds of the Vowels. 



1. 21 a = a, as in far, father. Ex., SWavft, market; 2lat, eel; 



23afm, road ; SStatt, leaf ; Sltento, evening. 



2. , c = e, as me, /err?/. Ex., tefcen, to live ; SDtccr, sea ; f;rc, 



honour ; fceffer, better ; SUcffcr, knife. 



3. 3, t = i, as in pique, pin. Ex., mtr, to me ; nut, with ; tfyn, 



him ; ttitter, against ; bitter, bitter. 



4. O, o = o, as in no, door. Ex., Dfcn, stove ; -3JZoo3, moss ; 



Sofyfc, coal ; *J}ort, port ; *Pofl, post-office. 



5. U, u = oo or o, as in poor, do. Ex., 23Iut, blood ; !Du, thou ; 



Itfjr, watch ; ut, hat ; gut, good. 



6. g), t) = i (mostly in words from the Greek). Ex., g)fop, 



hyssop ; <Sttyr, Styx ; Spent, Ypres. 



The sound of a vowel when doubled, is thereby lengthened ; 

 as 2ta(, SReer, 2Roo3 ; followed by a double consonant, the vowels 

 are usually shortened, as JBlatt, S3tett, inn, ott, etc. See, how- 

 ever, 18. &. 



Dissyllables (see vocabulary), unless otherwise noted, are 

 accented on the first ; as Ic&en, @i)te, etc. 



Sounds of the Diphthongs. 



7. 2lt, at (sometimes aj or at)) = as nearly as in aye. Ex., Jlatfer, 

 emperor ; SSatcvti, Bavaria ; CDJai, May. 



8. 2Ut, au = on, as in our. Ex., -au, house ; 2Jiau, mouse ; 



laut, loud ; gatift, fist ; SSraut, bride. 



9. 6't, t\) i or ei, as in fine, eider. Ex., (Stein, stone ; fccin, thy. 



(ie = ie, as in pier, never as in pie. Ex., sic(, etc.) 



10. (Stt, eu = nearly to oi or oy, as in boil, boy. Ex., S9cute, 



booty ; Scute, people ; tyeitcn, to hay. 



11. 2leu, au = nearly to eu. Ex., 2leu|jev|}, extreme; tyattfen, to 



hoard; .Raufer, buyer; SauSlcr, cottager. 



Sounds of the Umlauts (Umtautc). 

 Umlaut signifies changed or modified sour<^- ^he Umlauts 



are produced b^ a union of e with a, c, u (also au) respectively, 

 and the e is expjv^ed by two dots ; thus, a, 6, ft (and au). The 

 capitals 21, D, U, are not much in use, and the student should 

 never make use of them in writing. 



12. ?lc, a, as a, in tap, tack, carry. Ex., 2lcrger, vexation; 3al)K, 



ferry. 



13. Oc, 6, as u in return. Ex., Oct, oil ; CjScbcf, populace ; tittten, 



to kill ; Sti'firc, pipe ; -filter, collier. 



14. lie, u, has the sound of the French u in vu, tribu, dlu. Ex., 



llefcung, practice ; mute, weary ; fufyrcn, to guide. 

 Sounds of tlie Consonants. 



15. 33, fc ; 3), to ; 5, f ;. Jt, f ; M ; 3Jt, m ; 9l,n- %,*; G, q ; X, 



r, are sounded as b, d, f, k, I, m, n, p, q, K, in English. 



16. S, c, before a consonant, at the end of a syllable, or before 



a, o, u in the same syllable, sounds like our corresponding 

 letter in like position. Otherwise it sounds like is. Ex., 

 Scter, cedar ; Gigarre, cigar ; Gtym&al, cymbal ; fpecial, 

 special. 



17. , g, sounds like our g in gild, foggy, etc., but never as in 



yem, gimjer, etc. When preaeded by n in the same 

 syllable, it sounds like our g hard in like position : as in 

 2ltta.ft, anxiety ; ftitgen, to sing ; tnittgcn, to bring ; JRtitgd, 

 ringlet, etc. When g, in the middle or at the end of a 

 syllabic, is preceded by any letter except n, its sound 

 approaches that of the Greek x (pronounced ki), or tho 

 still more guttural ci) (see 26. cf).) : Sag, reqnen, SJIagt, 

 3agt, titiHj(ici), etc. The learner should avoid confounding 

 the pronunciation of iDiagt, 3agt, etc., with that of JOiacfH, 

 3acfyt, etc. 



18. , I;, in the midst and at the end of a syllable is silent, but 



serves to lengthen the preceding vowel. Ex., Icfyrcit, to 

 teach ; rfntc, without ; St;ee, tea. 



19. 3, j, sounds like y consonant. Ex., Satyr, year ; Santtar, 



January ; Jung, young. 



20. 9J, r, is uttered with a trill or vibration of the tongue, and 



with greater stress than our r. Ex., 9?utyr, reed ; JRatf), 

 council ; vcif, ripe. 



21. , f, at the beginning of a syllable followed by a vowel, han 



a sound between that of z and s. Ex., o(m, son ; ftebcti, 

 seven: otherwise it sounds like s; as in aes, gas; Strom 

 stream. Note that at the end of a syllable s is substi- 

 tuted for f ; as above, a, eta. 



22. $, t, sounds like t in tent. Ex., $crt, text. In the position 



where in English t sounds like sh, t has the sound of te. 

 Ex., tatton, station ; Station, nation. 



23. S3, , sounds! like /, as in five. Ex., Skater, father ; wa.cf>en, 



to forgive. It is only in words from the Latin and 

 French that has a sound like that of the German )u 

 (see 24. SB), as in 33cnu8, Venus ; SkrfaUtcS, Versailles, 

 etc. 



24. 2B, to, has a, sound between that of our w and v. Ex., 2BcIt, 



world ; SBafjer, water, etc. 



25. 3, j, sounds like ts. Ex., atj, salt; 3fm, tooth; Sunge, 



tongue ; jcfyn, ten. 



Sounds of the Compound Consonants. 



26. (!),' &), in primitive words, when followed by f, S, has the 



sound of k. Ex., Datfyg, badger; Gd>, o?OcI)fc, ox. But 

 if f, S, be added by derivation, combination, or inflection. 

 I d; has its guttural sound ; as in t;od), nad;, SWacfyt, SBudi, 

 etc. Ex., 9?acf)fclnift (from nod), after, and d;rift, writing) ; 

 lucfyftimen (from tiadj and finncn, to think), etc. In words 

 from the Greek and French, cfy retains its original sound; 

 as in'dfjavafter, character ; G>T;arIatan, charlatan. 



27. cJ), fcf), sounds like sh. Ex., cfntl;, shoe ; @dnjf, ship ; 



fcfjon, already ; Seattle, school. 



28. f (though compounded of f and j) sounds like ff, and is used 



only at the end of a syllable. Ex., SJJaji, measure ; Slufi, 

 river, etc. 



29. fc (though compounded of t and 5) sounds like 5, but, like ft, 



is only employed at the end of a syllable. Ex., @d)U$, 

 $la$, etc. Note that this letter being a double con- 

 sonant, the preceding vowel is thereby shortened. 



To aid in producing the sound of fy, take for experiment the 

 above word fyod; : pronounce I) o precisely like our word ho ; 

 observing to give as full and distinct a breathing of the h at 

 the close as at the beginning ; thus h-o-h = ^o4)- Except when 



