Grapheme Data for German written with Latin script
This data applies to the standard High German dialect.
| Grapheme | USV | Phoneme | Status | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <aa> | 0061 0061 | /a/ | uncommon | Saat ‘seed’ | |
| <ah> | 0061 0068 | /a/ | common | mahlen ‘to grind’ | |
| <ai> | 0061 0069 | /ai/ | uncommon | Laib ‘loaf’, Waise ‘orphan’ | |
| <au> | 0061 0075 | /au/ | expected | Hause ‘house’ | |
| <ay> | 0061 0079 | /ai/ | uncommon | Bayerischer ‘Bavarian’ | Mainly used for proper nouns and/or loan words |
| <a> | 0061 | /a/ | common | was ‘what’ | |
| <bb> | 0062 0062 | /b/ | uncommon | Ebbe ‘ebb’, abbrechen ‘abort’ | |
| <b> | 0062 | /b/ | expected | bleiben ‘stay’, Weib ‘woman’ | Pronounced [p] when syllable final |
| <chs> | 0063 0068 0073 | /s/ | uncommon | Wachs ‘wax’ | |
| <ch> | 0063 0068 | /tʃ/ | rare | chillen ‘relax’ | Loan words |
| <ch> | 0063 0068 | /ʃ/ | uncommon | chance ‘chance’ | Loan words |
| <ch> | 0063 0068 | /x/ | expected | machen ‘make’, dich ‘you’ | Pronounced [ɕ] after front vowels and consonants |
| <ch> | 0063 0068 | /k/ | uncommon | Chor ‘chorus’ | Loan words |
| <ck> | 0063 006B | /k/ | common | schicken ‘send’, Acker ‘fields’ | |
| <c> | 0063 | /k/ | uncommon | Café ‘coffee house’ | Loan words |
| <dd> | 0064 0064 | /d/ | uncommon | Paddel ‘paddle’ | |
| <dsch> | 0064 0073 0063 0068 | /dʒ/ | rare | Dschungel ‘jungle’ | Loan words and transliterations |
| <dt> | 0064 0074 | /t/ | common | Stadt ‘city’ | |
| <d> | 0064 | /d/ | expected | deine ‘your’, Hund ‘dog’ | Pronounced [t] when syllable final |
| <ee> | 0065 0065 | /e/ | common | Seele ‘soul’ | |
| <eh> | 0065 0068 | /e/ | common | mehr ‘more’; gehen ‘go’ | |
| <ei> | 0065 0069 | /ai/ | expected | ein ‘one’ | |
| <eu> | 0065 0075 | /oi/ | expected | euch ‘to you’ | |
| <ey> | 0065 0079 | /ai/ | uncommon | Meyer, Speyer | Mainly used for proper nouns and/or loan words |
| <e> | 0065 | /ə/ | common | aber ‘but’, lieben ‘love’ | -er, -en |
| <e> | 0065 | /e/ | expected | wer ‘who’ | |
| <e> | 0065 | /ɛ/ | expected | denn ‘because’; | Before double consonants |
| <ff> | 0066 0066 | /f/ | common | pfiffig ‘smart’ | |
| <f> | 0066 | /f/ | common | Fisch ‘fish’ | |
| <gg> | 0067 0067 | /g/ | rare | Bagger ‘excavator’ | |
| <g> | 0067 | /x/ | common | König ‘king’ | Word-finally after i |
| <g> | 0067 | /g/ | expected | Garten ‘garden’, Tag ‘day’ | Pronounced [k] when syllable final |
| <h> | 0068 | /h/ | expected | Hand ‘hand’ | |
| <ieh> | 0069 0065 0068 | /i/ | uncommon | sieht ‘sees’ | |
| <ie> | 0069 0065 | /i/ | expected | hier ‘here’ | |
| <ih> | 0069 0068 | /i/ | common | ihn ‘him’ | |
| <i> | 0069 | /i/ | uncommon | Maschine ‘machine’ | |
| <i> | 0069 | /ɪ/ | expected | bitte ‘please’ | |
| <j> | 006A | /j/ | expected | Junge ‘boy’ | |
| <k-k> | 006B 002D 006B | /k/ | common | schik-ken ‘send’ | Hyphenated form of ‹ck› |
| <kn> | 006B 006E | /kn/ = /k/ + /n/ | expected | Knochen ‘bone’ | |
| <k> | 006B | /k/ | expected | Kinder ‘children’ | |
| <ll> | 006C 006C | /l/ | common | alle ‘all’ | |
| <l> | 006C | /l/ | expected | Leben ‘life” | |
| <mm> | 006D 006D | /m/ | common | Himmel ‘sky, heaven’ | |
| <m> | 006D | /m/ | expected | mit ‘with’ | |
| <ng> | 006E 0067 | /ŋ/ | expected | fangen ‘to catch’ | |
| <nn> | 006E 006E | /n/ | common | kann ‘can’ | |
| <n> | 006E | /n/ | expected | Nacht ‘night’ | |
| <n> | 006E | /ŋ/ | expected | danke ‘thank you’ | Before ‹k› |
| <oh> | 006F 0068 | /o/ | common | ohne ‘without’ | |
| <o> | 006F | /o/ | expected | Tod ‘death’ | |
| <o> | 006F | /ɔ/ | expected | Gott ‘God’ | |
| <pf> | 0070 0066 | /pf/ = /p/ + /f/ | common | Pferd ‘horse’, Kopf ‘head’ | |
| <ph> | 0070 0068 | /f/ | common | Physik ‘physics’ | Loan words |
| <pp> | 0070 0070 | /p/ | common | Gruppe ‘group’, knapp ‘scarce’ | |
| <p> | 0070 | /p/ | expected | Platz ‘place’ | |
| <qu> | 0071 0075 | /kv/ = /k/ + /v/ | expected | Quelle ‘source’ | |
| <rr> | 0072 0072 | /ɾ/ | common | Herre ‘gentleman’ | |
| <r> | 0072 | /ɾ/ | expected | Recht ‘law’ | |
| <sch> | 0073 0063 0068 | /ʃ/ | expected | Schaf ‘sheep’ | |
| <ss> | 0073 0073 | /s/ | expected | Wasser ‘water’ | |
| <s> | 0073 | /z/ | expected | singen ‘sing’ | Word-initially |
| <s> | 0073 | /s/ | common | das ‘the’, anders ‘different’ | Syllable-final |
| <s> | 0073 | /ʃ/ | common | sprach ‘say’ | Before plosives t and p |
| <th> | 0074 0068 | /t/ | uncommon | Thunfisch ‘tuna’, Mathematik ‘mathematics’ | Mostly for loan words and proper nouns |
| <tsch> | 0074 0073 0063 0068 | /tʃ/ | common | Deutsch ‘German’, Kutsche ‘carriage’ | |
| <tt> | 0074 0074 | /t/ | common | Mutter ‘mother’ | |
| <tz> | 0074 007A | /ts/ | common | Katze ‘cat’ | |
| <t> | 0074 | /ts/ | common | Information ‘information’ | ‹ti› as in -tion, -tiär, -tial, -tiell |
| <t> | 0074 | /t/ | expected | Tier ‘animal’ | |
| <uh> | 0075 0068 | /u/ | common | Uhr ‘clock’ | |
| <u> | 0075 | /u/ | expected | Blut ‘blood’ | |
| <u> | 0075 | /ʊ/ | expected | und ‘and’, Kunst ‘art’ | |
| <v> | 0076 | /v/ | uncommon | Vakuum ‘vacuum’ | In foreign words when not at the end of the word |
| <v> | 0076 | /f/ | common | Vater ‘father’ | |
| <w> | 0077 | /v/ | expected | Wort ‘word’ | |
| <x> | 0078 | /ks/ = /k/ + /s/ | uncommon | Text ‘text’, exzellente ‘excellent’ | Primarily loan words |
| <y> | 0079 | /y/ | uncommon | System ‘system’ | |
| <z> | 007A | /ts/ | expected | Zeit ‘time’ | |
| <ß> | 00DF | /s/ | expected | Straße ‘street’ | Post 1996 spelling reform, ‹ß› at send of syllables and before consonants is usually changed to ‹ss› |
| <äh> | 00E4 0068 | /ɛ/ | common | wählen ‘choose’ | |
| <äu> | 00E4 0075 | /oi/ | uncommon | Bräutigam ‘bridegroom’ | |
| <ä> | 00E4 | /ɛ/ | common | mächtig ‘powerful’ | |
| <öh> | 00F6 0068 | /ø/ | common | gewöhnlich ‘usually’ | |
| <ö> | 00F6 | /ø/ | expected | schön ‘beautiful’ | |
| <üh> | 00FC 0068 | /y/ | common | führen ‘lead’ | |
| <ü> | 00FC | /y/ | expected | Tür ‘door’, Brüder ‘brothers’ |