“Stage German is based on the phonetic values of the written language”

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This sentence does not make any sense. For one, the written language is in letters, not in phones. Furthermore, the Bühnendeutsch pronunciation is quite distant from the written language in many respects. Three examples:

  • Doubled consonants are not lengthened, but pronounced exactly the same as single consonants.
  • The final-obstruent devoicing, another feature of Bühnendeutsch that is not yet mentioned in this article, departs from the written language.
  • The [ɪç] pronunciation of the -ig suffix departs from the written language.

The only reason why Bühnendeutsch is perceived to be close to the phonetic values of the written language is because the prestige pronunciation of the written language is based on Bühnendeutsch. That is circular reasoning.

All the features I have mentioned are typical of a Northern German pronunciation, as are other Bühnendeutsch features such as aspiration, the glottal stop, or rounded front vowels. I suggest that we replace the sentence about the phonetic values of the written language by a sentence like the following: “Stage German is mostly based on a Northern pronunciation of Standard German. There are a few exceptions, e.g. the lenition of /ɡ/ is restricted to the ending -ig.” Other exceptions include the adoption of mono-syllable lengthening, or the complete voicing of lenis obstruents. --mach 🙈🙉🙊 21:08, 25 April 2016 (UTC)Reply