Pronunciation of First Person Singular Pronoun in German

The first person singular pronoun in German is ich. It is the pronoun that is used in Standard German. The consonant is a voiceless palatal fricative. However, other pronunciations also exist.

In northern Germany and in Berlin, the pronoun is often pronounced with a /k/. This pronunciation is identical to the pronunciation of the pronoun in Dutch. In Dutch, it is ik.

In Switzerland the pronoun is often pronounced with a velar fricative. In Standard German the velar fricative occurs after back vowels. However, in Swiss German, it also occurs after front vowels.

The pronoun is often pronounced with an alveopalatal fricative in cities such as Cologne and Frankfurt. In this part of Germany, the alveopalatal fricative is often used instead of the palatal fricative. 

Another variant is used in southern Germany and Austria. It is the combination of a glottal stop and high front unrounded vowel. This variant has no word-final consonant.

Though the pronoun ich is used in all of Germany and is considered standard, other variants are used. They are rarely used in written German but are common in spoken German. The variants are especially common in informal situations.