Standard German phonology

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The phonology of Standard German is the standard pronunciation or accent of the German language. It deals with current phonology and phonetics as well as with historical developments thereof as well as the geographical variants and the influence of German dialects.

While the spelling of German is officially standardised by an international organisation (the Council for German Orthography) the pronunciation has no official standard and relies on a de facto standard documented in reference works such as Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch (German Pronunciation Dictionary) by Eva-Maria Krech et al.,^[1] Duden 6 Das Aussprachewörterbuch (Duden volume 6, The Pronunciation Dictionary) by Max Mangold and the training materials of radio and television stations such as Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Deutschlandfunk, or Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen. This standardised pronunciation was invented, rather than coming from any particular German-speaking city. But the pronunciation that Germans usually consider to be closest to the standard is that of Hanover.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] Standard German is sometimes referred to as Bühnendeutsch (stage German), but the latter has its own definition and is slightly different.^[6]

^ Pages 1-2 of the book (Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch) discuss die Standardaussprache, die Gegenstand dieses Wörterbuches ist (the standard pronunciation which is the topic of this dictionary). It also mentions Da sich das Deutsche zu einer plurizentrischen Sprache entwickelt hat, bildeten sich jeweils eigene Standardvarietäten (und damit Standardaussprachen) (German has developed into a pluricentric language separate standard varieties (and hence standard pronunciations)), but refers to these standards as regionale und soziolektale Varianten (regional and sociolectal variants).
^ Drösser, Christoph (14 June 2000). "Angeblich sprechen die Hannoveraner das reinste - sprich dialektfreieste - Deutsch und kommen dem Hochdeutschen am nächsten. Stimmt's?". Die Zeit. Stimmt.
^ "Reflections on Diglossia". In northern Germany, it appears that in Hanover – perhaps because of the presence of the electoral (later royal) court – a parastandard High German was spoken by the 18th century as well, at least among the educated, with the curious result that Hanover speech – though non-native – became the model of German pronunciation on the stage (Bühnendeutsch), since everywhere else in Germany dialects were still spoken by everyone. Other capitals (Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Vienna) eventually developed their own Umgangssprachen, but the Hanover model remained the ideal.
^ "Reading Heinrich Heine" (PDF). He spoke the dialect of Hanover, where – as also in the vicinity to the south of this city – German is pronounced best.
^ "Nicht das beste Hochdeutsch in Hannover". 7 August 2013. In Hannover wird zweifellos ein Deutsch gesprochen, das sehr nah an der nationalen Aussprachenorm liegt. Aber das gilt auch für andere norddeutsche Städte wie Kiel, Münster oder Rostock. Hannover hat da keine Sonderstellung.
^ Differences include the pronunciation of the endings -er, -en, and -em.

[1] Pages 1-2 of the book (Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch) discuss die Standardaussprache, die Gegenstand dieses Wörterbuches ist (the standard pronunciation which is the topic of this dictionary). It also mentions Da sich das Deutsche zu einer plurizentrischen Sprache entwickelt hat, bildeten sich jeweils eigene Standardvarietäten (und damit Standardaussprachen) (German has developed into a pluricentric language separate standard varieties (and hence standard pronunciations)), but refers to these standards as regionale und soziolektale Varianten (regional and sociolectal variants).

[2] Drösser, Christoph (14 June 2000). "Angeblich sprechen die Hannoveraner das reinste - sprich dialektfreieste - Deutsch und kommen dem Hochdeutschen am nächsten. Stimmt's?". Die Zeit. Stimmt.

[3] "Reflections on Diglossia". In northern Germany, it appears that in Hanover – perhaps because of the presence of the electoral (later royal) court – a parastandard High German was spoken by the 18th century as well, at least among the educated, with the curious result that Hanover speech – though non-native – became the model of German pronunciation on the stage (Bühnendeutsch), since everywhere else in Germany dialects were still spoken by everyone. Other capitals (Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Vienna) eventually developed their own Umgangssprachen, but the Hanover model remained the ideal.

[4] "Reading Heinrich Heine" (PDF). He spoke the dialect of Hanover, where – as also in the vicinity to the south of this city – German is pronounced best.

[5] "Nicht das beste Hochdeutsch in Hannover". 7 August 2013. In Hannover wird zweifellos ein Deutsch gesprochen, das sehr nah an der nationalen Aussprachenorm liegt. Aber das gilt auch für andere norddeutsche Städte wie Kiel, Münster oder Rostock. Hannover hat da keine Sonderstellung.

[6] Differences include the pronunciation of the endings -er, -en, and -em.

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