§ 2 The Vowels
E. indicates English; G. German; SG. South German; PG. Pennsylvania German (or ‘Dutch’);.a preceding dot indicates what would be a capital letter in common print. It is used where capital forms have not been selected, as for æ.
a in what, not; PG. kat (G. gehabt) had; kats cat.
aa (ah7) in fall, orb; PG. haas hare; paar pair; haan (G. hahn) cock; tsaam (G. zaum) bridle.
a in aisle, height, out. In a few cases it is written â. See under the dipthongs.
æ (ä, e[1]) in fat; hær (G. Herr) Sir; dær (and d’r, G. der) the; hærn (G. hirn) brain; schtærn, pl. schtærnǝ (G. stern) star; mær (G. mähre) mare; ærscht (G. erst) first; wærts-haus (G. wirtshaus) inn.
ææ (ä, äh) in baa, the preceding vowel lengthened.8 PG. bæær (G. bär) bear; kæær E. car.
e (ä, ö) in bet; PG. bet bed; net (G. nicht) not; apnémǝ (G. abnahme decline) PG. a wasting disease; het (G. hätte had), which, with some other words, will sometimes be written with ä (hätt) to aid the reader. In a few cases it is lengthened (as in thêre), when it is written ê, as in French.
ee (ä, äh, eh, ö) in ale; PG. meel (G. mehl) meal; eel (G. öl) oil.
ǝ (e, o, a) in but, mention;9 PG. kǝp (G. kopf) head; lǝs (G. lasz) let, hawǝ (a short, G. haben) to have.
i (ü, ie, ö) in finny; niks (G. nichts) nothing; tsrik (G. zurück) back; míglich (G. möglich) possible; lít’rlich (G. liederlich) riotous.
ii (ih, ie, ü) in feel; fiil (G. viel) much; dii (G. die) the; riiwǝ (G. rübe) turnip; wiischt (G. wüst, ü long) nasty. It is the French î, which is sometimes used in these pages.
o in o-mit; los loose; hofnung hope. English o pronounced quickly.
oo in door, home; wool (G. wohl) well; groo (G. grau) grey.
u in full, foot; mus (G. musz) must; fun (G. von) of.
uu (uh) in fool; kuu (G. kuh) cow; guut (G. gut) good.
The true ‘a’ of arm does not occur, except approximately in the initial of au and ei. The proper sounds of ä, ö, ü are absent, and if these letters are used in a few cases to enable the reader to recognise words, the two former will be restricted to syllables having the vowel sound in met, and ‘ü’ to such as have that in fit.