Editing Diphthong (section)

=====Standard German=====
Phonemic diphthongs in [[German phonology|German]]:
*{{IPA|/aɪ̯/}} as in {{lang|de|Ei}} 'egg'
*{{IPA|/aʊ̯/}} as in {{lang|de|Maus}} 'mouse'
*{{IPA|/ɔʏ̯/}} as in {{lang|de|neu}} 'new'

In the varieties of German that [[Speech production|vocalize]] the {{IPA|/r/}} in the [[syllable coda]], other diphthongal combinations may occur. These are only phonetic diphthongs, not phonemic diphthongs, since the vocalic pronunciation {{IPA|[ɐ̯]}} alternates with consonantal pronunciations of {{IPA|/r/}} if a vowel follows, cf. {{lang|de|du hörst}} {{IPA|[duː ˈhøːɐ̯st]}} 'you hear' – {{lang|de|ich höre}} {{IPA|[ʔɪç ˈhøːʀə]}} 'I hear'. These phonetic diphthongs may be as follows:
[[File:German ɐ diphthongs chart - part 1.svg|thumb|upright=1.15|German diphthongs ending in {{IPA|[ɐ̯]|cat=no}} (part 1), from {{Harvcoltxt|Kohler|1999|p=88}}]]
[[File:German ɐ diphthongs chart - part 2.svg|thumb|upright=1.15|German diphthongs ending in {{IPA|[ɐ̯]|cat=no}} (part 2), from {{Harvcoltxt|Kohler|1999|p=88}}]]
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! colspan="2" | Diphthong
! colspan="3" | Example
|-
! Phonemically
! Phonetically
! IPA
! Orthography
! Translation
|-
| {{IPA|/iːr/}}
| {{IPA|[iːɐ̯]}}{{ref|1|1}}
| {{IPA|[viːɐ̯]}}
| {{lang|de|wir}}
| we
|-
| {{IPA|/yːr/}}
| {{IPA|[yːɐ̯]}}{{ref|1|1}}
| {{IPA|[fyːɐ̯]}}
| {{lang|de|für}}
| for
|-
| {{IPA|/uːr/}}
| {{IPA|[uːɐ̯]}}{{ref|1|1}}
| {{IPA|[ˈʔuːɐ̯laʊ̯pʰ]}}
| {{lang|de|<u>Ur</u>laub}}
| holiday
|-
| {{IPA|/ɪr/}}
| {{IPA|[ɪɐ̯]}}
| {{IPA|[vɪɐ̯tʰ]}}
| {{lang|de|wird}}
| he/she/it becomes
|-
| {{IPA|/ʏr/}}
| {{IPA|[ʏɐ̯]}}
| {{IPA|[ˈvʏɐ̯də]}}
| {{lang|de|W<u>ür</u>de}}
| dignity
|-
| {{IPA|/ʊr/}}
| {{IPA|[ʊɐ̯]}}
| {{IPA|[ˈvʊɐ̯də]}}
| {{lang|de|w<u>ur</u>de}}
| I/he/she/it became
|-
| {{IPA|/eːr/}}
| {{IPA|[eːɐ̯]}}{{ref|1|1}}
| {{IPA|[meːɐ̯]}}
| {{lang|de|mehr}}
| more
|-
| {{IPA|/øːr/}}
| {{IPA|[øːɐ̯]}}{{ref|1|1}}
| {{IPA|[høːɐ̯]}}
| {{lang|de|hör!}}
| (you) hear!
|-
| {{IPA|/oːr/}}
| {{IPA|[oːɐ̯]}}{{ref|1|1}}
| {{IPA|[tʰoːɐ̯]}}
| {{lang|de|Tor}}
| gate/goal (in football)
|-
| {{IPA|/ɛːr/}}
| {{IPA|[ɛːɐ̯]}}{{ref|1|1}}
| {{IPA|[bɛːɐ̯]}}
| {{lang|de|Bär}}
| bear
|-
| {{IPA|/ɛr/}}
| {{IPA|[ɛɐ̯]}}
| {{IPA|[ʔɛɐ̯ftʰ]}}
| {{lang|de|[[Erft]]}}
| Erft
|-
| {{IPA|/œr/}}
| {{IPA|[œɐ̯]}}
| {{IPA|[dœɐ̯tʰ]}}
| {{lang|de|dörrt}}
| he/she/it dries
|-
| {{IPA|/ɔr/}}
| {{IPA|[ɔɐ̯]}}
| {{IPA|[ˈnɔɐ̯dn̩]}}
| {{lang|de|N<u>or</u>den}}
| north
|-
| {{IPA|/aːr/}}
| {{IPA|[aːɐ̯]}}{{ref|1|1}}
| {{IPA|[vaːɐ̯]}}
| {{lang|de|wahr}}
| true
|-
| {{IPA|/ar/}}
| {{IPA|[aɐ̯]}}
| {{IPA|[haɐ̯tʰ]}}
| {{lang|de|hart}}
| hard
|}

:{{note|1|1}}{{Harvcoltxt|Wiese|1996}} notes that the length contrast is not very stable before non-prevocalic {{IPA|/r/}}<ref name="Wiese198">{{Harvcoltxt|Wiese|1996|p=198}}</ref> and that "{{Harvcoltxt|Meinhold|Stock|1980|p=180}}, following the pronouncing dictionaries ({{Harvcoltxt|Mangold|1990}}, {{Harvcoltxt|Krech|Stötzer|1982}}) judge the vowel in {{lang|de|Art}}, {{lang|de|Schwert}}, {{lang|de|Fahrt}} to be long, while the vowel in {{lang|de|Ort}}, {{lang|de|Furcht}}, {{lang|de|hart}} is supposed to be short. The factual basis of this presumed distinction seems very questionable."<ref name="Wiese198"/><ref>Also supported by {{Harvcoltxt|Tröster-Mutz|2011|p=20}}.</ref> He goes on stating that in his own dialect, there is no length difference in these words, and that judgements on vowel length in front of non-prevocalic {{IPA|/r/}} which is itself vocalized are problematic, in particular if {{IPA|/a/}} precedes.<ref name="Wiese198"/>

:According to the 'lengthless' analysis, the aforementioned 'long' diphthongs are analyzed as {{IPA|[iɐ̯]}}, {{IPA|[yɐ̯]}}, {{IPA|[uɐ̯]}}, {{IPA|[eɐ̯]}}, {{IPA|[øɐ̯]}}, {{IPA|[oɐ̯]}}, {{IPA|[ɛɐ̯]}} and {{IPA|[aɐ̯]}}. This makes non-prevocalic {{IPA|/aːr/}} and {{IPA|/ar/}} homophonous as {{IPA|[aɐ̯]}} or {{IPA|[aː]}}. Non-prevocalic {{IPA|/ɛːr/}} and {{IPA|/ɛr/}} may also merge, but the vowel chart in {{Harvcoltxt|Kohler|1999|p=88}} shows that they have somewhat different starting points.

:{{Harvcoltxt|Wiese|1996}} also states that "laxing of the vowel is predicted to take place in shortened vowels; it does indeed seem to go hand in hand with the vowel shortening in many cases."<ref name="Wiese198"/>