Friday, November 21, 2025

German z

 he German z is a voiceless alveolar affricate. In comparison to other Germanic languages, the German affricate also occurs word-initially. It occurs in many words. Here is a list of ten which begin with the German alveolar affricate:

zehn (ten)
Zeit (time)
Ziel (goal)
Zigarette (cigarette)
Zimmer (room)
Zink (zinc)
Zug (train)
zwischen (between)
zwei (two)
zwölf (twelve)

The German z is never pronounced as in English. It is an affricate, and it is always voiceless. The German voiceless alveolar affricate serves to distinguish German from other Germanic languages.

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