Pronunciation


This local copy which is for quick reference only doesn't contain sound files. If you want listen pronouncuiation of all listed words you should access original page at http://www.blue.demon.nl/dutch/pronouns.htm

In this text and following lessons we'll use /Word/ to give an example of an English word which contains one more (capitalized) letters which have an approximate pronunciation as the Dutch letters, syllable or word. We'll use (and already have) {word} to denote the English translation of a Dutch word.
The consonants are:

The vowels differ more from the English, and they are so many ways to pronounce them!!
Pffff. To make it more difficult is that the sound of a vowel depends (just  like in English) on the surrounding consonants and other vowels. Two or three adjacent vowels can also form diphthongs, i.e. they makes one sound together.
The vowels are:
The diphthongs are:
The short vowels "a", "e", "o" and "u" are pronounced as the long vowels "aa", "ee", "oo" rsp. "uu" when they are in a so-called 'open' syllable. An open syllable ends with a single consonant and is followed by another vowel.
So examples are: "tAken", "gOdin", "gEven", "Uren".
NOT open syllables are: "lAchen", "wErken", "hEbben", "hEb".
But the "e" is pronounced as a mute "e" when the emphasis (stress) is not on the syllable (more about this in another lesson).
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The "a", "o" and "u" are also pronounced long when the are at the end of a word (or used as a single letter, but then the word would consist of this single letter, and would therefore end with the letter, so what am I getting on about?), like in "ja", "zo" and "nu".
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Finally the letters of the alphabet as promounced:
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A B CD E FG H IJ K LM N OP Q RS T UV W XIJ Y Z

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