Monday, December 23, 2019

Schwa and Vocalic /r/ in German

German has two similar vowels. One is the schwa and the other the vocalic /r/. The two vowels are sometimes called the light schwa and the dark schwa. The light schwa also occurs in English. The vocalic /r/ is lower and more retracted than the schwa.

Minimal pairs can be formed with the schwa and the vocalic /r/. For example, the word bitte means please and bitter means bitter. The German schwa is very common and occurs in words such as Auge (eye) and Banane (banana). The vocalic /r/ occurs in Bruder (brother) and Schwester (sister).

German has two /r/ sounds. One is the consonantal /r/ in words such as rot (red). The vocalic /r/ occurs in the syllable nucleus in words such as Lehrer (teacher). The vocalic /r/ is lower and more retracted than the schwa of English.


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