Final obstruent devoicing is common in the German of northern Germany and is considered standard. The result is that words such as Rad (wheel) and Rat (advice) are pronounced the same. However, in varieties of southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland, many speakers do not devoice final obstruents.
In the words Archiv (archive), Sand (sand), Tag (day) and Kalb (calf), the final consonants are voiceless in standard German. In regional varieties of southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland, however, they are voiced. This is a significant difference between the German of northern Germany and southern Germany.
Final obstruent devoicing is common in many languages. It occurs in languages such as Catalan, Mongolian, Russian, Polish and Dutch. It also occurs in German. However, in regional varieties of German, final obstruent devoicing does not occur.
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