German MFA dictionary v3.0.0#

Maintainer: Montreal Forced Aligner
Language: German
Dialect: N/A
Phone set: MFA
Number of words: 143,248
Phones: a aj aw aː b c cʰ d eː f h iː j k kʰ l l̩ m m̩ n n̩ oː p pf pʰ s t ts tʃ tʰ uː v x yː z ç øː ŋ œ ɐ ɔ ɔʏ ə ɛ ɟ ɡ ɪ ɲ ʁ ʃ ʊ ʏ
License: CC BY 4.0
Compatible MFA version: v3.0.0
Citation:

@techreport{mfa_german_mfa_dictionary_2024,
	author={McAuliffe, Michael and Sonderegger, Morgan},
	title={German MFA dictionary v3.0.0},
	address={\url{https://mfa-models.readthedocs.io/pronunciation dictionary/German/German MFA dictionary v3_0_0.html}},
	year={2024},
	month={Mar},
}

If you have comments or questions about this dictionary or its phone set, you can check previous MFA model discussion posts or create a new one.

G2P models

German MFA G2P model v3.0.0

Acoustic models

German MFA acoustic model v3.0.0

Installation#

Install from the MFA command line:

mfa model download dictionary german_mfa

Or download from the release page.

The dictionary available from the release page and command line installation has pronunciation and silence probabilities estimated as part acoustic model training (see Silence probability format and training pronunciation probabilities for more information. If you would like to use the version of this dictionary without probabilities, please see the [plain dictionary](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MontrealCorpusTools/mfa-models/main/dictionary/german/mfa/German MFA dictionary v3_0_0.dict).

Intended use#

This dictionary is intended for forced alignment of German transcripts.

This dictionary uses the MFA phone set for German, and was used in training the German MFA acoustic model. Pronunciations can be added on top of the dictionary, as long as no additional phones are introduced.

Performance Factors#

When trying to get better alignment accuracy, adding pronunciations is generally helpful, especially for different styles and dialects. The most impactful improvements will generally be seen when adding reduced variants that involve deleting segments/syllables common in spontaneous speech. Alignment must include all phones specified in the pronunciation of a word, and each phone has a minimum duration (by default 10ms). If a speaker pronounces a multisyllabic word with just a single syllable, it can be hard for MFA to fit all the segments in, so it will lead to alignment errors on adjacent words as well.

Ethical considerations#

Deploying any Speech-to-Text model into any production setting has ethical implications. You should consider these implications before use.

Demographic Bias#

You should assume every machine learning model has demographic bias unless proven otherwise. For pronunciation dictionaries, it is often the case that transcription accuracy and lexicon coverage for the prestige variety modeled in this dictionary compared to other variants. If you are using this dictionary in production, you should acknowledge this as a potential issue.

IPA Charts#

Consonants#

Obstruent symbols to the left of are unvoiced and those to the right are voiced.

Manner	Labial	Labiodental	Alveolar	Alveopalatal	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal	m Occurrences: 35,359 Examples: * mist: [m ɪ s t] * myles: [m ʏ l ə s] * ehmke: [eː m kʰ ə] * brum: [b ʁ ʊ m] m̩ Occurrences: 25 Examples: * ihrem: [iː ʁ m̩] * jenem: [j eː n m̩] * einem: [aj n m̩] * jedem: [j eː b m̩]		n Occurrences: 110,541 Examples: * zana: [ts aː n a] * handy: [h ɛ n d ɪ] * neon: [n eː ɔ n] * dani: [d aː n ɪ] n̩ Occurrences: 5,425 Examples: * leben: [l eː b n̩] * polen: [pʰ oː l n̩] * ecken: [ɛ kʰ n̩] * bogen: [b oː ɡ n̩]		ɲ Occurrences: 909 Examples: * mönch: [m œ ɲ ç] * finch: [f ɪ ɲ ç] * inuit: [ɪ ɲ ɪ t] * münch: [m ʏ ɲ ç]	ŋ Occurrences: 16,951 Examples: * chons: [kʰ ɔ ŋ s] * shang: [ʃ a ŋ] * nancy: [n a ŋ s ɪ] * steag: [s t ɛ ɪ ŋ]
Stop Plain	p Occurrences: 15,409 Examples: * hebt: [h eː p t] * bobs: [b oː p s] * gibt: [ɟ ɪ p t] * gelb: [ɟ ɛ l p] b Occurrences: 32,473 Examples: * barde: [b a ʁ d ə] * haube: [h aw b ə] * rubio: [ʁ ʊ b ɪ ɔ] * bopp: [b ɔ p]		t Occurrences: 62,959 Examples: * beth: [b ɛ t] * marat: [m a ʁ aː t] * wand: [v a n t] * stau: [ʃ t aw] d Occurrences: 27,886 Examples: * delhi: [d ɛ l ɪ] * tide: [tʰ iː d ə] * öde: [øː d ə] * dusk: [d ʊ s k]		c Occurrences: 555 Examples: * skate: [s c eː t] * skier: [s c ɪ ɐ] * scey: [s c ɪ] * scary: [s c ɛ ʁ ɪ] ɟ Occurrences: 5,660 Examples: * luigi: [l uː ɪ ɟ ɪ] * gebt: [ɟ eː p t] * gerne: [ɟ ɛ n ə] * gil: [ɟ ɪ l]	k Occurrences: 24,107 Examples: * sägst: [z eː k s t] * prix: [p ʁ ɪ k s] * quake: [k v aː kʰ ə] * ickx: [ɪ k s] ɡ Occurrences: 29,569 Examples: * agave: [a ɡ aː v ə] * gabi: [ɡ a b ɪ] * glis: [ɡ l ɪ s] * graz: [ɡ ʁ a ts]
Aspirated	pʰ Occurrences: 9,876 Examples: * topas: [tʰ oː pʰ a s] * pym: [pʰ yː m] * ponti: [pʰ ɔ n tʰ ɪ] * piron: [pʰ ɪ ʁ ɔ n]		tʰ Occurrences: 43,994 Examples: * mitis: [m ɪ tʰ ɪ s] * tabus: [tʰ a b ʊ s] * creta: [k ʁ eː tʰ a] * tuff: [tʰ ʊ f]		cʰ Occurrences: 4,365 Examples: * kübel: [cʰ yː b ə l] * könne: [cʰ œ n ə] * kyi: [cʰ ʏ ɪ] * keene: [cʰ eː n ə]	kʰ Occurrences: 17,076 Examples: * falco: [f a l kʰ ɔ] * lanka: [l a ŋ kʰ a] * cosun: [kʰ ɔ z uː n] * cast: [kʰ aː s t]
Affricate		pf Occurrences: 1,757 Examples: * pflug: [pf l uː x] * pfote: [pf oː tʰ ə] * pfund: [pf ʊ n t] * tropf: [t ʁ ɔ pf]	ts Occurrences: 18,594 Examples: * janz: [j a n ts] * volz: [v ɔ l ts] * cpo: [ts eː pʰ eː oː] * zähl: [ts eː l]	tʃ Occurrences: 734 Examples: * chat: [tʃ ɛ t] * cheng: [tʃ ɛ ŋ] * chan: [tʃ a n] * chile: [tʃ iː l ə]
Sibilant			s Occurrences: 55,460 Examples: * cops: [kʰ ɔ p s] * logos: [l ɔ ɡ ɔ s] * less: [l ɛ s] * wex: [v ɛ k s] z Occurrences: 20,104 Examples: * site: [z iː tʰ ə] * seale: [z ɛ aː l ə] * suhar: [z ʊ h aː ʁ] * simms: [z ɪ m s]	ʃ Occurrences: 31,962 Examples: * spüre: [ʃ p yː ʁ ə] * spar: [ʃ p aː ɐ] * spice: [ʃ p ɪ s] * mosch: [m ɔ ʃ]
Fricative		f Occurrences: 38,400 Examples: * hoven: [h oː f ə n] * hauff: [ɔ f] * ruff: [ʁ ʊ f] * farne: [f a ʁ n ə] v Occurrences: 21,716 Examples: * wären: [v eː ʁ n̩] * vager: [v aː ɡ ɐ] * wilk: [v ɪ l k] * wat: [v a t]			ç Occurrences: 15,748 Examples: * hizen: [ç ɪ ts ə n] * hinne: [ç ɪ n ə] * viech: [f iː ç] * heyd: [ç iː t]		ʁ Occurrences: 78,367 Examples: * larve: [l a ʁ v ə] * grüss: [ɡ ʁ yː s] * torge: [tʰ ɔ ʁ ɡ ə] * bauru: [b aw ʁ uː]	h Occurrences: 13,084 Examples: * linha: [l ɪ n h a] * heist: [h aj s t] * hella: [h ɛ l a] * hubei: [h uː b aj]
Approximant					j Occurrences: 5,897 Examples: * joo: [j uː] * jiu: [j ɪ uː] * yes: [j ɛ s] * jolle: [j ɔ l ə]
Lateral			l Occurrences: 66,223 Examples: * alien: [a l ɪ ə n] * flug: [f l uː k] * kiel: [cʰ iː l] * solf: [z ɔ l f] l̩ Occurrences: 202 Examples: * onkel: [ɔ ŋ kʰ l̩] * insel: [ɪ n z l̩] * mädel: [m eː d l̩] * nagel: [n aː ɡ l̩]

Vowels#

Vowel symbols to the left of are unrounded and those to the right are rounded.

	Front	Near-Front	Central	Near-Back	Back
Close	i Occurrences: 0 Examples: iː Occurrences: 20,944 Examples: * bizet: [b iː ts ə t] * kline: [k l iː n ə] * niet: [n iː t] * diya: [d iː j a] y Occurrences: 0 Examples: yː Occurrences: 4,754 Examples: * züge: [ts yː ɡ ə] * mühen: [m yː ə n] * lübbe: [l yː b ə] * müden: [m yː d ə n]				u Occurrences: 0 Examples: uː Occurrences: 9,286 Examples: * gute: [ɡ uː tʰ ə] * turnu: [tʰ ʊ ʁ n uː] * sude: [z uː d ə] * uhrig: [uː ʁ ɪ k]
		ɪ Occurrences: 62,144 Examples: * riad: [ʁ ɪ j aː t] * polly: [pʰ ɔ l ɪ] * marmi: [m a ʁ m ɪ] * haney: [h aː n ɪ] ʏ Occurrences: 6,312 Examples: * büste: [b ʏ s t ə] * büx: [b ʏ k s] * dünne: [d ʏ n ə] * bünde: [b ʏ n d ə]		ʊ Occurrences: 31,740 Examples: * kurve: [kʰ ʊ ʁ v ə] * hutt: [h ʊ t] * urs: [ʊ ʁ s] * capua: [kʰ a pʰ ʊ a]
Close-Mid	e Occurrences: 0 Examples: eː Occurrences: 19,718 Examples: * lena: [l eː n a] * phet: [f eː t] * gräbt: [ɡ ʁ eː p t] * ähre: [eː ʁ ə] ø Occurrences: 0 Examples: øː Occurrences: 2,893 Examples: * köter: [cʰ øː tʰ ɐ] * shoe: [ʃ øː] * stör: [ʃ t øː ɐ] * höfen: [h øː f ə n]				o Occurrences: 0 Examples: oː Occurrences: 17,137 Examples: * roma: [ʁ oː m a] * boten: [b oː tʰ ə n] * ohren: [oː ʁ n̩] * sowas: [z oː v a s]
			ə Occurrences: 97,563 Examples: * name: [n aː m ə] * lunge: [l ʊ ŋ ə] * isen: [iː z ə n] * gebet: [ɡ ə b eː t]
Open-Mid	ɛ Occurrences: 54,230 Examples: * engen: [ɛ ŋ n̩] * berry: [b ɛ ʁ ɪ] * pecos: [pʰ ɛ kʰ ɔ s] * ennio: [ɛ n ɪ ɔ] œ Occurrences: 1,802 Examples: * curb: [cʰ œ ʁ p] * wölfe: [v œ l f ə] * börse: [b œ ɐ z ə] * hören: [h œ ɐ n]				ɔ Occurrences: 33,706 Examples: * saro: [z a ʁ ɔ] * loris: [l ɔ ʁ ɪ s] * wong: [v ɔ ŋ] * forma: [f ɔ ʁ m a]
			ɐ Occurrences: 44,106 Examples: * röhrs: [ʁ øː ɐ s] * anger: [a ŋ ɐ] * erna: [ɛ ɐ n a] * percy: [pʰ ɛ ɐ s ɪ]
Open			a Occurrences: 60,295 Examples: * alias: [a l ɪ a s] * asper: [a s p ɐ] * cajun: [kʰ a j uː n] * lynda: [l ʏ n d a] aː Occurrences: 24,882 Examples: * asia: [a z ɪ aː] * ahd: [aː t] * pagen: [pʰ aː ɡ ə n] * masar: [m a z aː ɐ]

Diphthongs#

aj
aw
ɔʏ