English-German Cognates
English-German Vowel Sound Shifts
Also see Introduction to Sound Shifts and Consonant Sound Shifts
German-English sound shifts for vowels are less predictable than those for consonants, but we present a chart of typical vowel sound shifts here because they can also show the relationship between many cognates.
BACK > English-German Cognates (A)
Sound/Spelling Vowel Shifts
Between German and English Cognates
| Deutsch | English | Beispiele/Examples |
| a | au |
lachen - laugh > L schlachten - slaughter |
| a | ea |
schwach - weak Waffe - weapon |
| a | i |
Macht - might Nacht - night > N |
| a | o |
alt - old Kamm - comb falten - fold > F |
| ä | e |
Ägypten - Egypt > E Äquator - equator > E |
| au | ou |
laut - loud Maus - mouse sauer - sour |
| e | ea |
Feder - feather Herz - heart > H heben - heave (lift) |
| e | i |
geben - give leben - live |
| ei | i |
beißen - bite reißen - rip |
| ei | o |
beide - both Heim - home Stein - stone |
| ie | ee |
Bier - beer > B Knie - knee |
| ie | o |
Liebe - love > L vierzig - forty |
| o | ea |
Ost - east tot - dead |
| u | oo |
Buch - book > B Blut - blood > B Fuß - foot Schule - school |
| u | ou |
jung - young Pfund - pound > P |
MORE > Consonant Sound Shifts
BACK > Cognates - A - English-German cognates
COGNATES
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I
J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q
R | S | T | U | V | W | XYZ
German in English > You Already Know German
ALSO > False Cognates (false friends)
MORE > English-German Glossaries on many topics
MORE > Confusing Words and Expressions in German
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