Proto-Germanic/Pronunciation

Welcome to the pronunciation lesson of Proto-Germanic! Consonants Bilabial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Plain Labial Nasal m⟨m⟩ n⟨n⟩ Stop Unvoiced p⟨p⟩ t⟨t⟩ k⟨k⟩ kʷ⟨kw⟩ Voiced b⟨b⟩ d⟨d⟩ ɡ⟨g⟩ ɡʷ⟨gw⟩ Fricative Unvoiced ɸ⟨f⟩ θ⟨þ⟩ s⟨s⟩ x⟨h⟩ xʷ⟨hw⟩ Voiced z⟨z⟩ Approximants j⟨j⟩ w⟨w⟩ Lateral l⟨l⟩ Trill r⟨r⟩ In some positions, voiced stops /b/, /d/, and /ɡ/ are pronounced as [β], [ð], and [ɣ] instead: in intervocalic positions; in word-initial positions in the case of /ɡ/ [ɣ]; and sometimes after /r/ in the case of /d/ [ð], varying with its stop allophone. /n/ before velar stops /k/ and /ɡ/ (both of which can be labialized) is pronounced as /ŋ/. With */g/, there is rather significant evidence the base sound was actually */ɣ/, with an allophone [g], and the same goes for the labialized form. Vowels + Oral vowels Type Front Back short long overlong short long overlong Close i⟨i⟩ iː⟨ī⟩ u⟨u⟩ uː⟨ū⟩ Mid e⟨e⟩ eː⟨ē²⟩ eːː ~ æːː⟨ê⟩ oː⟨ō⟩ oːː⟨ô⟩ Open æː⟨ē¹⟩ ɑ⟨a⟩ ɑː⟨ā⟩+ Nasal vowels Type Front Back short long short long Close ĩ⟨į⟩ ĩː⟨į̄⟩ ũ⟨ų⟩ ũː⟨ų̄⟩ Mid õː⟨ǭ⟩ Open ɑ̃⟨ą⟩ ɑ̃ː⟨ą̄⟩ /æ/ might have also have been */ɛ/, but it is unknown which, it is thought */ɛ/ is the older pronunciation and it shifted towards */æ/ in late Proto-Germanic, explaining why it became /a/ in most descendant languages, but became /e(ː)/ in Gothic.