Georgian → German
German uses 43 sounds. You already own 14 of them from Georgian. The other 29 are the work — and 25 of those are the dangerous kind: close enough to something you already say that you will substitute them without hearing yourself do it.
The silent swaps
Your mouth has something close enough to reach for. These survive for years precisely because they sound right to you — the fix is hearing the difference first, not trying harder.
the move: uvular → velar
German: stream · written "ch after a, o, u, au"
Ach-Laut — from the back of the throat.
Your /χ/ is the one in ხელი (hand).
the move: close → near-close
German: child · written "i (short)"
Your /i/ is the one in ის (he / she / it).
the move: close → near-close
German: mother · written "u (short)"
Your /u/ is the one in ღამე (night).
the move: without the aspirated part
German: paper · written "p", "pp", "b (final)"
Your /pʰ/ is the one in ფული (money).
the move: without the aspirated part
German: day · written "t", "tt", "th", "dt"
Your /tʰ/ is the one in თევზი (fish).
the move: without the aspirated part
German: child · written "k", "ck", "g (final)", "c"
Your /kʰ/ is the one in ქალი (woman).
the move: without the aspirated part
German: time · written "z", "tz", "c (before e, i)", "-tion"
Your /t͡sʰ/ is the one in ცა (sky).
the move: without the aspirated part
German: German · written "tsch"
Your /t͡ʃʰ/ is the one in ჩაი (tea).
the move: longer
German: father · written "a (long)", "aa", "ah"
Your /a/ is the one in კარი (door).
the move: longer
German: cheese · written "ä (long)", "äh"
Many speakers say /eː/.
Your /ɛ/ is the one in ერთი (one).
the move: longer
German: love · written "ie", "i (long)", "ih", "ieh"
Your /i/ is the one in ის (he / she / it).
the move: longer
German: good · written "u (long)", "uh"
Your /u/ is the one in ღამე (night).
the move: alveolar → labiodental
German: father · written "f", "ff", "v", "ph"
Native v = /f/. Loanwords keep /v/ (Vase, Vitamin).
Your /s/ is the one in სახლი (house).
the move: uvular → palatal
German: I · written "ch (after front vowels, consonants, in -chen)", "-ig"
Whisper a 'y' (as in yes) hard. Ich-Laut.
Your /χ/ is the one in ხელი (hand).
the move: velar → uvular
German: red · written "r (before a vowel)"
Uvular like French. Bavaria/Austria roll it.
Your /ɣ/ is the one in ღვინო (wine).
the move: close → near-close, rounded
German: five · written "ü (short)", "y"
Your /i/ is the one in ის (he / she / it).
the move: plosive → nasal
German: to sing · written "ng", "n before k"
No /ɡ/ after it, unlike English 'finger'.
Your /ɡ/ is the one in გული (heart).
the move: rounded, longer
German: door · written "ü (long)", "üh"
Your /i/ is the one in ის (he / she / it).
the move: it glides, yours would hold still
German: my · written "ei", "ai", "ey", "ay"
ei is always /aɪ/ (like English 'eye'), never 'ay'.
Your /a/ is the one in კარი (door).
the move: it glides, yours would hold still
German: house · written "au"
Your /a/ is the one in კარი (door).
the move: it glides, yours would hold still
German: new · written "eu", "äu"
Your /ɔ/ is the one in ორი (two).
the move: open → near-open, front → central
German: mother · written "-er (final)", "r after a vowel"
Vocalised r — sounds like a light 'uh'. Tür /tyːɐ̯/.
Your /a/ is the one in კარი (door).
the move: open-mid → mid, front → central
German: please · written "e (unstressed, final -e, -en, -el)"
Your /ɛ/ is the one in ერთი (one).
Words you may say identically
Two or more German sounds landing on one sound of yours. Until the ear separates them, the mouth cannot — which is what the ear trainer is for.
Genuinely new
Nothing in Georgian sits close to these. They sound foreign in your mouth — which is the good news: you can hear that you are not saying them yet.
yes
Closest thing you own: — but plosive → approximant, velar → palatal.
lake
Closest thing you own: — but open-mid → close-mid, longer.
bread
Closest thing you own: — but open-mid → close-mid, longer.
beautiful
Closest thing you own: — but open-mid → close-mid, rounded, longer.
Rhythm and pitch
The layer spelling never records, and the one that makes a correct sentence still sound foreign.
| Georgian | German | |
|---|---|---|
| Rhythm | Syllable-timed, heavy clusters | Stress-timed |
| Stress | Weak and non-contrastive. Two-syllable words take it on the first syllable; longer words tend toward the third-from-last. No pair of Georgian words is distinguished by stress alone, which is why dictionaries do not mark it. To an English ear Georgian can sound evenly stressed, almost flat — that is correct, not a lack of expression. | Contrastive in a very German way: with separable-vs-inseparable prefix verbs, the stress tells you which grammar you are in — and therefore what the sentence means. Otherwise stress sits on the stem syllable, and the unstressed prefixes (be-, ge-, er-, ver-, zer-, ent-) never take it. |
What you have that German doesn't
19 sounds with no job in German. They are not mistakes — but they are where an accent leaks in, because a sound you own is easy to use when a hard one is due.
The honest caveat
This is a prediction from the shape of two sound systems, not a recording of you. It says what your inventory makes likely — it cannot know that your Georgian has a regional variety that already owns one of these, or that you learned German from someone whose accent you copied. A teacher listening to you beats it. Use it to know what to listen for.
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