3 ms·
I think that the "i" sound like in "wit" does not exist in German. The Germans pronounce "i" like English speakers pronounce "ee".
by dotancohen 3y ago
I think that the "i" sound like in "wit" does not exist in German. The Germans pronounce "i" like English speakers pronounce "ee".
- housecarpenter 3y agoThe "i" sound in "wit" does exist in German and is what is normally indicated by "i" on its own. The long "ee" sound is normally spelt as "ie" in German.
- dotancohen 3y agoThank you.
- jstimpfle 3y agoWe have both, and I'd tend to pronounce "Wirth" similar to "wit" as far as the "i" goes. It's not always clear just from looking at the letter. But some words have explicit cues: There are "stretching consonants" like a-a, a-h, e-e, e-h, i-e, i-h, etc: Aal, Kahn, dehnen, dienen, sühnen, etc. And sometimes the following consonant gets doubled up to indicate a shorter pronunciation, like in "Bitte".
- dotancohen 3y agoThank you.
- CRConrad 3y agoAnd what's the difference? AFAICT it's pretty much exactly the same sound, except in one case it's longer, in the other shorter. Say "bit"... Then say it again, only looonger... And you get "beet". Say "wit", but longer, and you get "wheat".