''ie'' - pronunciation
When I started learning German, at first place, I learned that ''ie'' is pronounced as ''ee''. Now, I can hear some words where at the end of the word ''ie'' is pronounced like ''ihr (you)''. It doesn't have to be literally at the end of the word, but, for example, in the word ''die Familie'', ''ie'' is pronounced like ''ihr'' and in the word ''viel'' it's pronounced like ''ee''. So, my question is, is there any grammatical rule to explain this or you just have to remember the pronunciation of the each word? Thank you very much for your answer. :)

Question

''ie'' - pronunciation
When I started learning German, at first place, I learned that ''ie'' is pronounced as ''ee''. Now, I can hear some words where at the end of the word ''ie'' is pronounced like ''ihr (you)''. It  doesn't have to be literally at the end of the word, but, for example, in the word ''die Familie'', ''ie'' is pronounced like ''ihr'' and in the word ''viel'' it's pronounced like ''ee''. So, my question is, is there any grammatical rule to explain this or you just have to remember the pronunciation of the each word? Thank you very much for your answer. :)

Answer

Words in which 'ie' is pronounced any way other than 'ee' are words of French or Latin origin. Since Familie's final vowel sound is not native to German, the closes approximation to the way it's actually pronounced is 'ie'. There are very few exceptions, but if you can recognize French or Latin words in German, then you shouldn't have a problem. I always think about the cognate in English. This might work for Bosno-Croatian as well. If the cognate is almost exactly the same in English, then it's a word of French origin. Examples, Familie, Information, Diskurs, eventual, and others.

Answer

In german "ie" is mostly pronounced as long i >> "ii". It's rare, that its is spoken different, like for example in the words "Familie" or "Barriere". In this case it is spoken like two different letters: first "i" than "e". UnfortunatelyI don't know any rule for this.