Dutch

Consonants
The plosives are p b t d k (g):

	Symbol		Word			Transcription
	p		pak			pAk
	b		bak			bAk
	t		tak			tAk
	d		dak			dAk
	k		kap			kAp
	g		goal			go:l (only foreign/loan-words)

The fricatives are f v s z x (G) h:

	f		fel			fEl
	v		vel			vEl
	s		sein			sEin
	z		zijn			zEin
	x		toch			tOx
	G		goed			Gut (also xut)
	h		hand			hAnt
	Z		bagage			bAga:Z(@)
	S		show			So:u

The sonorants (nasals, liquids and glides) are m n N l r w j:

	m		met			mEt
	n		net			nEt
	N		bang			bAN
	l		land			lAnt
	r		rand			rAnt
	w		wit			wIt
	j		ja			ja:

Vowels
The Dutch vowels fall into two classes, "checked" (not occurring in a stressed syllable without a following consonant) and "free".

The checked vowels aew I E A O Y @:

	I		pit			pIt
	E		pet			pEt
	A		pat			pAt
	O		pot			pOt
	Y		put			pYt
	@		gemakkelijk		G@"mAk@l@k

The free vowels comprise four monophthongs i y u a:, three "potential diphthongs" e: 2: o:, and three "essential diphthongs" Ei 9y Au, exemplified as follows:

	i		vier			vir
	y		vuur			vyr
	u		voer			vur
	a:		naam			na:m

	e:		veer			ve:r
	2:		deur			d2:r
	o:		voor			vo:r

	Ei		fijn			fEin
	9y		huis			h9ys
	Au		goud			xAut

There are also six vowel sequences which are sometimes described as diphthongs:

	a:i		draai			"dra:i
	o:i		mooi			"mo:i
	ui		roeiboot		"ruibo:t
	iu		nieuw			"niu
	yu		duw			"dyu
	e:u		sneeuw			"sne:u

Several marginal vowel phonemes are only found in loanwords:

	E:		crème			krE:m
	9:		freule			fr9:l@
	O:		roze			rO:z@

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Maintained by J.C. Wells. Created 1995 09 19. Last modified 1996 03 18