Help:IPA/Dutch Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Dutch

This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Dutch on Wikipedia.

It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Dutch in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing consensus on the talk page first.

For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

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The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Dutch pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

See Dutch phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Dutch as well as dialectal variations not represented here.

Most audios are from three different speakers : NL1^ⓘ is from the Randstad region (Utrecht, Netherlands), NL2^ⓘ is more conservative than "1" and BE1^ⓘ is from the Brabantine region (Antwerp, Belgium).

Consonants
IPA	Examples	English approximation
b	bit^ⓘ	bit
d	dik^ⓘ	duck
f	fit^ⓘ^[a], hoofdvak^ⓘ	fit
ɣ	git^ⓘ, gaan^ⓘ^[a]	between again (but without touching the roof of the mouth) and hue
ɦ	hit^ⓘ^[a], gehoopt^ⓘ	behind
j	jas^ⓘ	yes
k	kit^ⓘ, cabaret^ⓘ	skit, (utterance-final, kit)
l	lid^ⓘ, schil^ⓘ	lit, li'l (distinctly pronounced)
m	mist^ⓘ, kwam^ⓘ^[b]	mist, qualm
n	nest^ⓘ, man^ⓘ^[b]	nest, douane, gone
ŋ	lang^ⓘ^[b]	long, bang
p	pit^ⓘ, heb^ⓘ^[c]	spit, (utterance-final: pit)
r	rit^ⓘ, ver^ⓘ^[d]	guttural R
r	rib^ⓘ, gras^ⓘ^[d]	"American" atom
s	sok^ⓘ^[a], hoofdzaak^ⓘ	between soup and shoop (retracted) (N), sip (B)
t	tip^ⓘ, lid^ⓘ^[c]	stip, (utterance-final: tip)
v	vit^ⓘ^[a], hoofden^ⓘ	vid
ʋ	wit^ⓘ, twee^ⓘ^[e]	like looser very (N), very without the tongue (B)
x	acht^ⓘ^[a], wig^ⓘ^[c]	SE loch, almost "strong" kit
z	zeep^ⓘ^[a], hoosden^ⓘ	between zoop and jupe (retracted) (N), zip (B)
Marginal consonants
dʑ	Giovanni^ⓘ, jungle^ⓘ^[f]	jeep, squidgy
ɡ	goal^ⓘ^[g]	goal
ɱ	omvallen^ⓘ^[b]	symphony
ɲ	oranje^ⓘ, Trijntje^ⓘ^[f]^[b]	somewhat like canyon
ɕ	sjabloon^ⓘ, chef^ⓘ^[f]	sheep, squishy
tɕ	tientje^ⓘ, Tsjechië^ⓘ, check^ⓘ^[f]	cheap, itchy
ʑ	jury^ⓘ^[a]^[f]	gite, Givenchy
ʔ	beëindig^ⓘ [bəˈʔɛindəx], Trijntje Oosterhuis [-ə ˈʔoː-]^[h]	catch in uh-oh!
Stress
ˈ	vóórkomen^ⓘ	as in commandeer /ˌkɒmənˈdɪər/
ˌ	voorkómen^ⓘ	as in commandeer /ˌkɒmənˈdɪər/
Other representations
( )	maken [ˈmaːkə(n)] zelf [zɛl(ə)f]	Optional sound^[i]

Vowels
IPA	Examples	English approximation
Checked vowels^[j]
ɑ	bad^ⓘ	gouache but shorter
ɛ	bed^ⓘ	bet, bed
ɪ	bit^ⓘ	bit, bid
ɔ	bot^ⓘ	'bot, pod generally too open
ʏ	put^ⓘ	SSB good, or a shorter nurse
Free vowels and diphthongs^[j]
aː	baat^ⓘ, ja^ⓘ, baten^ⓘ	"Brit" lad
ɑi	ai^ⓘ	I, price
aːi	saais^ⓘ	size, prize
eː	beet^ⓘ, zee^ⓘ^[k], beter^ⓘ^[k]	GenAm bay (N) SE bay or "flat" Tuesday (B)
ɛi	bijt^ⓘ, ei^ⓘ	"Brit" bait
œy	buit^ⓘ, bui^ⓘ	"Canadian" out, ice
eːu	eeuw^ⓘ	jaywalk
ə	de^ⓘ, beginnen^ⓘ	again
i	biet^ⓘ, drie^ⓘ	beet ~ bid
iu	nieuw^ⓘ	ew!
oː	boot^ⓘ, zo^ⓘ^[k], grote^ⓘ^[k]	bowl (N), story (B)
øː	beu^ⓘ^[k], neus^ⓘ	"Brit" nurse
ɔi	hoi^ⓘ	hoi, choice
oːi	nooit^ⓘ	noise
ʌu	bouwt^ⓘ, oud^ⓘ, nauw^ⓘ	out, Mao (N), no (B)
u	boet^ⓘ, toe^ⓘ	Boole
ui	groei^ⓘ	booyah; Gruyère
y	fuut^ⓘ, q^ⓘ	SE food
yu	duw^ⓘ	cue; pew
Marginal vowels
ɑː	cast^ⓘ^[l]	father
ɑ̃ː	genre^ⓘ^[l]	croissant
ɛː	scène^ⓘ^[m]	BrE square
ɛ̃ː	hautain^ⓘ^[l]	doyen
iː	analyse^ⓘ^[n], nier^ⓘ, bier^ⓘ	beer, FR pire
ɔː	roze^ⓘ^[l]^[o]	thought
ɔ̃ː	chanson^ⓘ^[l]	montage
œː	freule^ⓘ^[l]	fur
uː	cruise^ⓘ^[n], boer^ⓘ, boert^ⓘ	fuel, FR pour
yː	centrifuge^ⓘ^[n], kuur^ⓘ, buur^ⓘ	fugue, FR pure

Notes

^ a b c d e f g h Generally, the southern varieties preserve the /f/–/v/, /x/–/ɣ/ and /s/–/z/ contrasts.[1][2] Southern /x/, /ɣ/ may be also somewhat more front, i.e. post-palatal ([ˈneː.ʝ̠ə]).[2] In the north, these are far less stable: most speakers merge /x/ and /ɣ/ into a post-velar [x̠] ([ɑx̠]) or uvular [χ] ([ɑχt]);[1][2] most Netherlandic Standard Dutch speakers lack a consistent /f/–/v/ contrast.[2] In some accents, e.g. Amsterdam, /s/ and /z/ are also not distinguished.[2] /zj/ [ʑ] often joins this neutralization by merging with /sj/ [ɕ]. In some accents, /ɦ/ is also devoiced to [h]. See also Hard and soft G in Dutch.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e /n/ assimilates to the place of articulation of the following consonant: before bilabials, it is [m] (merging with /m/), before labiodentals, it is [ɱ] (also merging with /m/, which is labiodental in this position), before palatals, it is [ɲ] (merging with /nj/), whereas before velars, it is [ŋ] (merging with /ŋ/). In phrases, /n/ alone is affected, as in in Parijs [ɪm paːˈrɛis] 'in Paris', whereas /m/ stays bilabial even before labiodentals (Booij (1999:64–5), Collins & Mees (2003:214–5)).
^ ^a ^b ^c Dutch devoices all obstruents at the ends of words (e.g. a final /d/ becomes [t]). This is partly reflected in the spelling: the voiced ‹z› in plural huizen ('houses') becomes huis ('house') in singular, and duiven ('doves') becomes duif ('dove'). The other cases are always written with the voiced consonant, even though a devoiced one is actually pronounced: the voiced ‹d› in plural baarden [ˈbaːrdə(n)] ('beards') is retained in the singular spelling baard ('beard'), but pronounced as /baːrt/; and plural ribben /ˈrɪbə(n)/ ('ribs') has singular rib, pronounced as [rɪp]. Because of assimilation, often the initial consonant of the next word is also devoiced, e.g. het vee ('the cattle') is [ɦət ˈfeː]
^ a b The realization of the /r/ phoneme varies considerably from dialect to dialect. In "standard" Dutch, /r/ is realized as coronal rhotics [r~ɾ~r̝̊] or various post-velar continuants regrouped under the uvular trill [ʀ]. In the syllable coda, a velar bunched approximant [ɹ̈] is very common in the Netherlands, e.g. Nederlanders ('Dutchmen') [ˈneɪ.dəɹ̈ˌlɑn.dəɹθ̠].
^ The realization of the /ʋ/ phoneme varies considerably from the Northern to the Southern and Belgium dialects of the Dutch language. In the north of the Netherlands, it is a labiodental approximant [ʋ], or even a voiced labiodental fricative [v]. In the south of the Netherlands and in Belgium, it is pronounced as a bilabial approximant [β̞] (as it also is in the Hasselt and Maastricht dialects), and Standard Surinamese Dutch uses the labiovelar approximant [w].
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e The alveolo-palatal affricates [tɕ] and [dʑ], the fricatives [ɕ] and [ʑ], and the nasal [ɲ] are allophones of the sequences /tj/, /dj/, /sj/, /zj/ and /nj/. [dʑ] and [ʑ] occur only in loanwords. [ɲ] also occurs as an allophone of /n/ before /tj/ (realized as [tɕ]).
^ /ɡ/ is not a native phoneme of Dutch and only occurs in loanwords, like goal or when /k/ is voiced, like in zakdoek [ˈzɑɡduk].
^ The glottal stop [ʔ] is indicated sparingly in Dutch transcriptions on Wikipedia: it is mandatorily inserted between [aː] and [ə] and a syllable-initial vowel, both within words and at word boundaries. Often, it is also inserted before phrase-initial vowels and before any word-initial vowel. This is not indicated in most of our transcriptions.
^ After the schwa, the final /n/ is frequently elided, so that maken is often pronounced [ˈmaːkə], especially in non-prevocalic environments. The nasal may be retained before vowels, yielding a linking /n/. An intrusive /n/ may also occur, as in the phrase red je 't? [ˈrɛtɕənət]. In stems ending in /ən/ (such as teken [ˈteːkən] 'I draw') and in the indefinite article een /ən/ the nasal is always retained, except when it is degeminated, but when an additional /ən/ is added to the stem (yielding the infinitive form or the present tense plural form), it behaves regularly, as in tekenen [ˈteːkənə(n)] 'to draw' or 'we/you/they draw'. Furthermore, an epenthetic schwa can be inserted between /l/ or /r/ and /m, p, k, f, x/ (in the case of /r/ alone also /n/) within the same morpheme. This is found in all types of Dutch, standard or otherwise. However, in Standard Dutch, it is limited to non-prevocalic clusters. In dialects, it can be generalized to all environments and it can also apply to the sequence /rɣ/, so that morgen 'morning', pronounced [ˈmɔrɣə(n)] in Standard Dutch, is pronounced [ˈmɔrəɣə(n)].^[3]
^ ^a ^b The "checked" vowels /ɑ/, /ɛ/, /ɪ/, /ɔ/, and /ʏ/ occur only in closed syllables, while their "free" counterparts /aː/, /eː/, /i/, /oː/, and /y/, as well as the other vowels, can occur in both open and closed syllables.
^ a b c d e For most speakers of Netherlandic Standard Dutch, the long close-mid vowels /eː/, /øː/ and /oː/ are realised as slightly closing diphthongs [eɪ], [øʏ] and [oʊ], unless they precede /r/ within the same syllable.[4][5] The closing diphthongs also appear in certain Belgian dialects, e.g. the one of Bruges, but not in Belgian Standard Dutch. See Dutch phonology#Monophthongs for more details.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Found in loanwords.
^ Mainly found in loanwords.
^ a b c Found in loanwords as a separate phoneme, and as an allophone of its shorter counterpart before /r/ in both native and non-native words, just as other free vowels. Compare auditively schaar 'shear', with schaats 'skate'
^ In Belgium, /ɔː/ tends to be pronounced the same as /oː/.

References

Citations

^ ^a ^b Gussenhoven (1999), p. 74.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Collins & Mees (2003), p. 48.
^ Collins & Mees (2003), pp. 197, 201, 216–7.
^ Gussenhoven (1999), p. 76.
^ Collins & Mees (2003), pp. 133–4.

Sources

Booij, Geert (1999). The Phonology of Dutch. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-823869-X.
Collins, Beverley; Mees, Inger M. (2003), The Phonetics of English and Dutch, Fifth Revised Edition (PDF), ISBN 9004103406
Gussenhoven, Carlos (1999), "Dutch", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, pp. 74–77, ISBN 0-521-65236-7

External links

Nederlands woordenboek

[voiceless-voiced-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Generally, the southern varieties preserve the /f/–/v/, /x/–/ɣ/ and /s/–/z/ contrasts.^[1]^[2] Southern /x/, /ɣ/ may be also somewhat more front, i.e. post-palatal ([ˈneː.ʝ̠ə]^ⓘ).^[2] In the north, these are far less stable: most speakers merge /x/ and /ɣ/ into a post-velar [x̠] ([ɑx̠]^ⓘ) or uvular [χ] ([ɑχt]^ⓘ);^[1]^[2] most Netherlandic Standard Dutch speakers lack a consistent /f/–/v/ contrast.^[2] In some accents, e.g. Amsterdam, /s/ and /z/ are also not distinguished.^[2] /zj/ [ʑ] often joins this neutralization by merging with /sj/ [ɕ]. In some accents, /ɦ/ is also devoiced to [h]. See also Hard and soft G in Dutch.

[nasalassimilation-4] /n/ assimilates to the place of articulation of the following consonant: before bilabials, it is [m] (merging with /m/), before labiodentals, it is [ɱ] (also merging with /m/, which is labiodental in this position), before palatals, it is [ɲ] (merging with /nj/), whereas before velars, it is [ŋ] (merging with /ŋ/). In phrases, /n/ alone is affected, as in in Parijs [ɪm paːˈrɛis] 'in Paris', whereas /m/ stays bilabial even before labiodentals (Booij (1999:64–5), Collins & Mees (2003:214–5)).

[devoicing-5] Dutch devoices all obstruents at the ends of words (e.g. a final /d/ becomes [t]). This is partly reflected in the spelling: the voiced ‹z› in plural huizen ('houses') becomes huis ('house') in singular, and duiven ('doves') becomes duif ('dove'). The other cases are always written with the voiced consonant, even though a devoiced one is actually pronounced: the voiced ‹d› in plural baarden [ˈbaːrdə(n)] ('beards') is retained in the singular spelling baard ('beard'), but pronounced as /baːrt/; and plural ribben /ˈrɪbə(n)/ ('ribs') has singular rib, pronounced as [rɪp]. Because of assimilation, often the initial consonant of the next word is also devoiced, e.g. het vee ('the cattle') is [ɦət ˈfeː]

[r-6] The realization of the /r/ phoneme varies considerably from dialect to dialect. In "standard" Dutch, /r/ is realized as coronal rhotics [r~ɾ~r̝̊] or various post-velar continuants regrouped under the uvular trill [ʀ]. In the syllable coda, a velar bunched approximant [ɹ̈] is very common in the Netherlands, e.g. Nederlanders ('Dutchmen') [ˈneɪ.dəɹ̈ˌlɑn.dəɹθ̠]^ⓘ.

[w-7] The realization of the /ʋ/ phoneme varies considerably from the Northern to the Southern and Belgium dialects of the Dutch language. In the north of the Netherlands, it is a labiodental approximant [ʋ], or even a voiced labiodental fricative [v]. In the south of the Netherlands and in Belgium, it is pronounced as a bilabial approximant [β̞] (as it also is in the Hasselt and Maastricht dialects), and Standard Surinamese Dutch uses the labiovelar approximant [w].

[palatal-8] The alveolo-palatal affricates [tɕ] and [dʑ], the fricatives [ɕ] and [ʑ], and the nasal [ɲ] are allophones of the sequences /tj/, /dj/, /sj/, /zj/ and /nj/. [dʑ] and [ʑ] occur only in loanwords. [ɲ] also occurs as an allophone of /n/ before /tj/ (realized as [tɕ]).

[g-9] /ɡ/ is not a native phoneme of Dutch and only occurs in loanwords, like goal or when /k/ is voiced, like in zakdoek [ˈzɑɡduk].

[glottal_stop-10] The glottal stop [ʔ] is indicated sparingly in Dutch transcriptions on Wikipedia: it is mandatorily inserted between [aː] and [ə] and a syllable-initial vowel, both within words and at word boundaries. Often, it is also inserted before phrase-initial vowels and before any word-initial vowel. This is not indicated in most of our transcriptions.

[optional_sounds-12] After the schwa, the final /n/ is frequently elided, so that maken is often pronounced [ˈmaːkə], especially in non-prevocalic environments. The nasal may be retained before vowels, yielding a linking /n/. An intrusive /n/ may also occur, as in the phrase red je 't? [ˈrɛtɕənət]. In stems ending in /ən/ (such as teken [ˈteːkən] 'I draw') and in the indefinite article een /ən/ the nasal is always retained, except when it is degeminated, but when an additional /ən/ is added to the stem (yielding the infinitive form or the present tense plural form), it behaves regularly, as in tekenen [ˈteːkənə(n)] 'to draw' or 'we/you/they draw'. Furthermore, an epenthetic schwa can be inserted between /l/ or /r/ and /m, p, k, f, x/ (in the case of /r/ alone also /n/) within the same morpheme. This is found in all types of Dutch, standard or otherwise. However, in Standard Dutch, it is limited to non-prevocalic clusters. In dialects, it can be generalized to all environments and it can also apply to the sequence /rɣ/, so that morgen 'morning', pronounced [ˈmɔrɣə(n)] in Standard Dutch, is pronounced [ˈmɔrəɣə(n)].^[3]

[checked_free-13] The "checked" vowels /ɑ/, /ɛ/, /ɪ/, /ɔ/, and /ʏ/ occur only in closed syllables, while their "free" counterparts /aː/, /eː/, /i/, /oː/, and /y/, as well as the other vowels, can occur in both open and closed syllables.

[mid_vowels-16] For most speakers of Netherlandic Standard Dutch, the long close-mid vowels /eː/, /øː/ and /oː/ are realised as slightly closing diphthongs [eɪ]^ⓘ, [øʏ]^ⓘ and [oʊ]^ⓘ, unless they precede /r/ within the same syllable.^[4]^[5] The closing diphthongs also appear in certain Belgian dialects, e.g. the one of Bruges, but not in Belgian Standard Dutch. See Dutch phonology#Monophthongs for more details.

[non-native_vowels-17] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Found in loanwords.

[open-mid_front-18] Mainly found in loanwords.

[pre-r-19] Found in loanwords as a separate phoneme, and as an allophone of its shorter counterpart before /r/ in both native and non-native words, just as other free vowels. Compare auditively schaar^ⓘ 'shear', with schaats^ⓘ 'skate'

[open-mid_back-20] In Belgium, /ɔː/ tends to be pronounced the same as /oː/.

[FOOTNOTEGussenhoven199974-2] Gussenhoven (1999), p. 74.

[FOOTNOTECollinsMees200348-3] Collins & Mees (2003), p. 48.

[FOOTNOTECollinsMees2003197,_201,_216–7-11] Collins & Mees (2003), pp. 197, 201, 216–7.

[FOOTNOTEGussenhoven199976-14] Gussenhoven (1999), p. 76.

[FOOTNOTECollinsMees2003133–4-15] Collins & Mees (2003), pp. 133–4.

[a]

[b]

[c]

[d]

[e]

[f]

[g]

[h]

[i]

[j]

[k]

[l]

[m]

[n]

[o]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

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