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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Pronouncing Germanic "ie" and "ei" #183993 03/29/2009 1:19 PM Joined: Mar 2009 Posts: 1 Westport MA USA Humanity Hannah stranger Humanity Hannah stranger Joined: Mar 2009 Posts: 1 Westport MA USA In your discussion of the Germanic zweibach or zwiebach, you reported that they came from the same root. In English we have a complicated rule for selecting ie or ei. "'I' before 'e', except after 'c' or in sounding like 'a' as in neighbor and weigh." Clearly there are very different (and complicated) meanings associated with the pronunciation of "ie". I simplified the words of Germanic origin. I pronounce the word making the second vowel long. So I say to myself, "Zweibach is nice, although zwiebach is sweeter." Am I wrong? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Pronouncing Germanic "ie" and "ei" Humanity Hannah #183995 03/29/2009 2:32 PM Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh In German, Zwieback is pronounced /tsvi:bak/. In English, zwieback can be pronounced /swi:bæk/, /zwi:bæk/, /swajbæk/, /zwajbæk/. What many call long vowels in English ā ī ō ū are technically diphthongs /ɛj/, /aj/, /oʊ/, /ju:/, but one of them is a vowel ē: /i:/. (The "rule" you stated for English doesn't work for some words: e.g., weird is /wiɚd/ and /wɪɚd/.) German ei is a diphthong and is pronounced /aj/. Ceci n'est pas un seing. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Pronouncing Germanic "ie" and "ei" Humanity Hannah #183996 03/29/2009 2:33 PM Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Netherlands, the Hague BranShea Carpal Tunnel BranShea Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Netherlands, the Hague Looks like a good mnemonic device to me, seen how we pronounce our neighbour's Zwieback. But even though they bake them zwei times, they never call them Zweiback. If I'd give my amateur phonetics on the word I would say / tsweeback; for zwei /tswhy or tswI. Last edited by BranShea; 03/29/2009 2:43 PM. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary

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