English-German Cognates
English-German Vowel Sound Shifts

Also see Introduction to Sound Shifts and Consonant Sound Shifts

German-English sound shifts for vowels are less predictable than those for consonants, but we present a chart of typical vowel sound shifts here because they can also show the relationship between many cognates.

BACK > English-German Cognates (A)

Sound/Spelling Vowel Shifts
Between German and English Cognates

Deutsch	English	Beispiele/Examples
a	au	lachen - laugh > L schlachten - slaughter
a	ea	schwach - weak Waffe - weapon
a	i	Macht - might Nacht - night > N
a	o	alt - old Kamm - comb falten - fold > F
ä	e	Ägypten - Egypt > E Äquator - equator > E
au	ou	laut - loud Maus - mouse sauer - sour
e	ea	Feder - feather Herz - heart > H heben - heave (lift)
e	i	geben - give leben - live
ei	i	beißen - bite reißen - rip
ei	o	beide - both Heim - home Stein - stone
ie	ee	Bier - beer > B Knie - knee
ie	o	Liebe - love > L vierzig - forty
o	ea	Ost - east tot - dead
u	oo	Buch - book > B Blut - blood > B Fuß - foot Schule - school
u	ou	jung - young Pfund - pound > P

MORE > Consonant Sound Shifts

BACK > Cognates - A - English-German cognates

COGNATES
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I
J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q
R | S | T | U | V | W | XYZ

German in English > You Already Know German

ALSO > False Cognates (false friends)

MORE > English-German Glossaries on many topics
MORE > Confusing Words and Expressions in German

German Newsletters
Our free online German course.

German for Beginners
Our free online German course.

German Chat

OUR GERMAN FORUMS

Recent Discussions Geschichte a. d. 19. Jahrhundert (2)Vielfaeltigkeitder ReligionenCould someone please check this for me?

Recent Discussions Jeff & DominiqueRandy & RaphaelSabya & Robin