German [antikvár]

PART I§ I. THE GERMAN ALPHABETSome German books are still to be found with Gothic letters, although modern books and newspapers are printed in Roman type, and German typewriters are fitted with Roman letters. It would be useful, therefore, for the student to familiarize himself with the German alphabet (see pages 12 and 13) after he has worked through this book.Note I.^There are five vowels: a, e, i, o, u, and there are the further combinations ai (ai), au (au), ei (ai), eu (Di), ie (i).Of the above, a, o, u and au may modify, i.e. change their sound. They are then written and pronounced: a (s), o (0 or ce), ii (y), au (oi). The two dots are referred to as the Umlaut, meaning a change of sound.Note 2. There are several digraphs or trigraphs, i.e. groups of two or three consonants with a single sound:ch pronounced 9 or xss pronounced sck ,, ksch ,, Jph f th tN.B.^The following notes in this section refer to the Gothic letters only and should be left until the student has worked through this book. The student should now pass to page 15 and study the section on German pronunciation.Note.^The small round s is used only at the end of a word, even if this word is the first part of a compound word:(Slas (glass), but lafes (of a glass) bis (until) and bister (until now) Staatsmann (statesman)