Pronunciations
Please note that the following pronunciation guide includes many spelling corrections from the text in the libretto. Please reach out with any questions, and let me know if I’ve missed anything you’d like included–I’m happy to make additions.
A few notes on spelling in the “faux”-netics section:
- I’ve represented “ich-laut” (one of sounds represented by <ch> in German) with an underlined ‘sh’. This is made further back on the tongue than English <sh>. Think of a hissing cat, or the sound you make if you pause at the beginning of the word “human”.
- I’ve represented “ach-laut” (the other sound represented by <ch> in German) with ‘kh’. This is made even further back, on the soft palate. This is the sound in Scottish “loch”, or you can think of starting a /k/ sound and then “leaking” some air through the obstruction.
- German is non-rhotic, meaning that it drops final R sounds. Often, this results in a short neutral vowel offglide. For instance, “Herr” may sound a bit like “HEH-uh”. I’ve represented this “missing” R with ‘(r)’.
- I’ve represented nasal vowels in French by underlining them.
Accent Materials
Hello Cast!
If you’ve never worked in an accent other than your own, please see How to Work on an Accent for some tips on practicing this skill.
I am available for one-on-one coaching during student hours. Please feel free to book time here.
Our Accent World
Our play takes place in Berlin in 1929-1930. Historical accents can be difficult for audiences to appreciate, so we will focus on the geographic and cultural aspects of language in our performance more than on pinpoint-specific historical accuracy.
Most of the characters in the play are German, and to evoke a sense of place and differentiate foreign characters such as Sally and Cliff, most actors will be using German accents.
Sally’s background is somewhat mysterious, but she reports that she is from England. We have selected a rather casual and contemporary middle-class British RP accent as a starting place for this character.
Cliff reports he is from Pennsylvania. He can use an American accent.
Herr Schultz is German and Jewish. His German accent may have some Yiddish inflections. It’s certain he speaks German fluently, and he may also speak some Yiddish. Many people know the word “mazel”–how much more Herr Schultz might speak is up to interpretation. There was a vibrant Yiddish cultural scene in Berlin in the 1920s, but the majority of Yiddish speakers in the decades leading up to the Holocaust were situated in Eastern Europe rather than in Germany.
The following accent materials are intended as a jumping-off point for character-building and creative collaboration. The accent model videos provided below were selected because of their suitability for the accent world of the play.
That said, these selections were made prior to casting, and the visible and cultural identities you bring to the table may be important to the story we’re telling as well. If for any reason you would like to work from different sample materials than the ones provided, or if I can better support your creative process, please reach out and I will be happy to work with you to find materials and coaching that suit your needs.
Accent Models
Please note that the following is a YouTube playlist…be sure to check out all the accent model options by clicking on the menu in the top right corner of the player. If the player doesn’t work in your browser, the link is above.
Your listening samples are your best friends if you want to learn an accent solidly. Make sure to spend lots of time listening and speaking back to them!
Accent Features
Non-native accents of English (“L2” accents, e.g. German, Spanish, etc.) tend to have more variation from person to person than accents of native speakers (“L1” accents, e.g. NYC, Australia, etc.) A German person speaking English is aiming for native-like fluency, and although speaking a second language perfectly is difficult, they will get some things right at least some of the time.
This breakdown assumes a British-English language learning environment, so our German accent is non-rhotic (drops final R’s) and uses British vowel sounds as a model. The “errors” in reaching these targets are what “mark” the accent for native English listeners.
Key Consonant Sounds
Final Consonant Devoicing
German has a feature called coda devoicing. This means that certain voiced sounds, like ‘b’, ‘d’, and ‘g’, are pronounced as voiceless sounds, ‘p’, ‘t’, and ‘k’, when they occur at the end of a word or syllable. Here are some examples to make it clear:
- lieb (dear):
- Even though “lieb” ends with a ‘b’, you actually pronounce it with a ‘p’ sound: [liːp].
- Tag (day):
- “Tag” ends with a ‘g’, but it’s pronounced like it ends with a ‘k’ sound: [taːk].
- Abend (evening):
- At the end of “Abend”, the ‘d’ sounds like a ‘t’: [ˈaːbənt].
This change is a regular pattern in German and is something to keep in mind when you’re working on your German-accented English. The pattern will carry over into other voiced sounds as well: /z/, /v/, etc.
The Initial ‘R’ Sound
The German R sound is made with the body of the tongue against the uvula, similar to French. A German speaking English will either retain their native sound or perhaps overdo the English sound in an attempt to “get it right”. If the “back” uvular sound is accessible to you, I recommend that. Otherwise, try making your English R just a little more self-consciously than you actually need to in order to sound like a non-native speaker.
TH-Backing
The German language does not use the dental fricatives represented by ‘th’ in English. This sound can be a difficult coordination for a German speaker, leading to substitution of ‘s’ and ‘z’ or ‘t’ and ‘d’.
The ‘W’ Sound
In German spelling, the letter W indicates a /v/ sound.
A strict substitution of /v/ will often sound fake or corny. Instead, I suggest pronouncing /v/ with the lips reaching forward as if they are trying for /w/ but not quite succeeding.
R-Dropping
Standard German is non-rhotic, and this German accent of English maintains that feature. The R sound is only pronounced when it comes before a vowel sound. In most cases, an R that comes after a vowel will not be pronounced.
Words like NEAR, SQUARE, START, NORTH, CURE, NURSE, and lettER will lose the R sound.
Key Vowel Sounds
Words like TRAP
Many German speakers will pronounce words like TRAP with a open-mid front vowel /ɛ/.
Words like GOAT
This vowel is likely to stick to one steady, close vowel quality (monophthong), rather than shifting positions (diphthong).
Words like FACE
This vowel is likely to stick to one steady, close vowel quality (monophthong), rather than shifting positions (diphthong).
Words like NURSE
This central NURSE vowel in English is acoustically rather close to the German vowel used in words like Köln, schön, möchten, Königin, etc., so a German speaker will often use it. To make this sound, make the sound in General American “dress” /ɛ/ and then, without moving your tongue, round your lips: /œ/
Words like LOT and THOUGHT
These vowels may use more lip rounding than in many American accents (more similar to a British pronunciation).
Prosodic Features
German is a stress-timed language and can be divided into metrical feet like English. Its rhythm is thus similar.
If anything, the German accent may sound heavier, more downward-driving– more trochaic in contrast to the iambic rhythm of native English– due to the fact that many German words (not including those with prefixes) are stressed on the first syllable. A German accent also tends to be rather staccato due to the increased energy of fortis consonants (e.g. unvoiced plosives.)
Accent Models
Please note that the following is a YouTube playlist…be sure to check out all the accent model options by clicking on the menu in the top right corner of the player. If the player doesn’t work in your browser, the link is above.
Your listening samples are your best friends if you want to learn an accent solidly. Make sure to spend lots of time listening and speaking back to them!
Accent Features
A great resource for RP pronunciation is available at https://howjsay.com/. Simply look up the word you want to pronounce and the website will say it for you.
The practice phrases below are borrowed from Eric Armstrong’s Lexical Sets for Actors.
Key Vowel Sounds
Words like BATH (vs. TRAP)
RP makes a distinction between the vowel sound in BATH and the one in TRAP.
- BATH uses a broad ‘ah’ sound
- TRAP sounds very similar to the sound used in most American varieties of English
Careful not to over-generalize the BATH sound to TRAP words. When in doubt, use TRAP (but look it up if you can!)
Additionally, there are some “set jumper” words that are included in the TRAP set in RP: marry, Harry, carry, Carolyn, carriage, Marilyn, Paris, arrow, parapet
Words like GOAT
This vowel uses a more forward starting place than most varieties of American English.
Words like LOT
This vowel uses some lip rounding.
Words like THOUGHT
This sound uses a good deal of lip rounding and some extra length.
More Vowel Sounds: R-Dropping
RP is a non-rhotic accent, meaning that the R sound is only pronounced when it comes before a vowel sound. In most cases, an R that comes after a vowel will not be pronounced.
Linking R
When R precedes a vowel sound occurring in the next word, it “links” across the word boundary, as in:
You’re ͜ r.ideally better ͜ r.off drinking ginger ͜ r.ale later ͜ r.on.
Shibboleths
These particular words are common “tells” if you get them wrong!
can/can’t
“can” is a TRAP word…
…but “can’t” is a BATH word
Mary/merry/marry
These three are homophones in many varieties of American English. They aren’t in this accent!
Accent Models
Please note that the following is a YouTube playlist…be sure to check out all the accent model options by clicking on the menu in the top right corner of the player.
Your listening samples are your best friends if you want to learn an accent solidly. Make sure to spend lots of time listening and speaking back to them!
Content Advisory: Memories and discussion of the Holocaust
Accent Features
The accent features of a German-Yiddish accent will be very similar to a standard German accent, and it is likely that Herr Schultz would be fluent in German even if he did speak Yiddish. The accent breakdown provided under the “German” tab will give you the key features of the accent.
For our purposes, the above recordings might provide additional linguistic/cultural context, and you may note certain prosodic (i.e. musical) features of the speech samples, such as rhythms or inflections, that may provide inspiration for your characterization.