Phonétique/phonetics

Prononciation/pronunciation

Observation Générales

Phonèmes/ phonemes

(voyelles, semi-voyelles, consonnes)

an overview of the rules of French pronunciation

Les Voyelles

Vowels in French are pure vowels, i.e. they are not diphthongs as in American English.

Vowels are pronounced slightly longer when they are in the final closed syllable (a consonant follows the vowels in the same syllable)

1. [a]

[a] Ah chat, ami, papa, salade a, à, â

Patte, sac

Nearest (equivalent) English phoneme: / / as in father

2. [ɑ]

[ɑ ah longer bas, âne, grâce, château a, â

][ɑ] is disappearing in modern French, being replaced by [a].

Does not exist in english

Pâte

3. [e]

[e] Ay blé, nez, cahier, pied é, et, final er and ez

The vowel [e] can only occur in open syllables (no

consonant follows it in the same syllable) in French

é=clé, télé,

final er=parler,jouer

es=les,

et=buffet(jouet[ʒwɛ])

ez=parlez

ier=soulier

Nearest (equivalent) English phoneme: / eɪ /

Disappearing e

Careful Speech Normal Speech

samedi / lentement / sauvetage sam'di / lent'ment / sauv'tage sous le bureau / chez le docteur

sous l'bureau / chez l'docteur

il y a de / pas de / plus de il y a d' / pas d' / plus d' je ne / de ne / tu ne je n' / de n' / tu n'je te / ce que / ce qui j'te / c'que / c'qui

Au revoir[o] [RəvwaR] or [RɔvwaR]

4. [ɛ][ɛ] Eh lait, aile, balai, reine e, è, ê, ai, ei, ais

In closed syllables, [ɛ] is used; however, [ɛ] can also be found in open syllables. (This is a major difference with

English as [ɛ] can never be found in open syllables.)

è=Mère, règle,

ai= mais, fait, faite, (aigu[egy], rail[raj],faisan[fəzɑ ],Pain

[pɛ ] )

ei=treize,peine

e+consonnes= étiquetteêtre,

est,

jouet,

merci

Ay=ai i, crayon= (crai-ion)

Nearest (equivalent) English phoneme: /ɛ/

5. [ə]

[ə] Uh fenêtre, genou, cheval, cerise e

repenser[r(ə)pɑ se] , ce, demain

Nearest (equivalent) English phoneme: / ɑ / as in hot

6. [i]

[i] Ee vie, midi, lit, riz i, y

The vowel [i] is pronounced slightly longer when it is in

the final closed syllable (a consonant follows the vowels in the same syllable)

Tir [tiʀ] longer=closed syllable

Tirer [tiʀe] shorter= tir is a closed syllable, while ti is an open syllable (and rer is a closed syllable

lit, stylo, île, vie

Nearest (equivalent) English phoneme: / i:/as in A

7. [o]

[o] Oh eau, dos, escargot, hotel o, ôGenerally, [o] always occurs in stressed open syllables

Nevertheless, [o] can also occur in stressed closed syllables, depending on the spelling of the word: when the letter o is followed by [m], [n], [z]; when the letters au are not followed by [R]; and by the letter ô.

Vélo, drôle, bateau, landau, eau, mot, dôme,

gauche

Nearest (equivalent) English phoneme: / əʊ /as in

8. [ɔ]

[ɔ] Aw sol, pomme, cloche, horloge O[ɔ] Occurs in stressed closed syllables

Pomme, poste, poli, fort, donner

Nearest (equivalent/approximation) English phoneme: /ɑ /as in

9. [œ]

[œ] eh rounded sœur, œuf, fleur, beurre œu, euIn stressed, closed syllables, only [œ] is possible

In unstressed syllables, whether open or closed

Does not exist in modern english

Front rounded vowel(you need to round your lips wen u pronounce it)

Personally, I still find it very hard to hear the difference between [ø] and [œ] in fast speech, but I can distinguish them if they are isolated vowels.

Many English speakers tend to say [ə] instead of [œ]

Neuf, fleur, leur, cœur, jeune, meuble

Nearest (equivalent/approximation) English phoneme:/ /as in

Monsieur [mə(e)sjø]10. [ø]

[ø] ay rounded jeu, yeux, queue, bleu euIn stressed open syllables, only [ø] is possible

stressed, closed syllables, end in [t], [tR], or [z] - in which case, [ø] can occur.

In unstressed syllables, whether open or closed

Does not exist in english

Front rounded vowel(you need to round your lips wen u pronounce it)

Personally, I still find it very hard to hear the difference between [ø] and [œ] in fast speech, but I can distinguish them if they are isolated vowels.

Many English speakers tend to say [ə] instead of [ø]

feu, deux, adieu, jeûne, chanteuse

Nearest (equivalent/approximation) English phoneme: /ʊ /as in

11. [u]

[u] Oo loup, cou, caillou, outil ou

poule, fou , trou

Nearest (equivalent/approximation) English phoneme:/ /as in

Jouer[ we], jouet[ wɛ]

12. [y][y] ee rounded rue, jus, tissu, usine U

Does not exist in english

Front rounded vowel(you need to round your lips wen u pronounce it)

Many English speakers tend to say [u] instead of [y]

Lune, tuJuin [ ɥɛ]Nasalized

No exact English equivalent

Nasal vowelsNoot exist in english

13. [ɛ]

[ɛ] Ahnpain, vin, linge

in, im, yn, ym, ain, aim, ein, eim, un, um, en, eng, oin, oing, oint, ien, yen, éen

cinq, pain, peinture, imparfait, daimInitial [inisjɑl]

14. [ɑ][a] awn gant, banc, dent en, em, an, am, aon, aen

gant, jambe, dent, empereurNasalizedMaintenant [mɛ tnɑ ]

Ent: مع الفعل تصريف عند ilsالتنطقIls écrivent

15. [ɔ][o] ohn rond, ongle, front on, om

ballon, ombrenasalizedMonsieur [m(e)sjø]

16. [œ][œ] Uhn brun, lundi, parfum Un

un, parfum

nasalizedlundi /lœ# di/:

album [albɔm]

Semi-voyelles/semi-consonnes

Semi-vowels can also be called glides or approximants.

[j]fille, soleil, pied, crayon, lion, yeuxNotice that words ending in -eil or -eille are pronounced [ej], while words ending in -ail or -aille are pronounced [aj].

[ɥ][ɥ]

ew-ee lui, suisse ui

Not exist in englishhuit, sueur, suave, lui, huile, Saluer [salɥe]Uy=ui i,tuyau=(tui-iau)

[w]poisson, ouate, oui,Loin [lwɛ ]Oy=oi i, voyage=(voi-iage)

Consonnes

Even though most final consonants are not pronounced in French , there are a few exceptionsMany of the consonants in French are very similar to the consonants in English. A few differences

[b]Pronounced as in english

[c]Final c silentBlanc franc tabac estomacFinal c pronouncedBouc lac avec donc

1. c+(a, o,u)=[k]2. c+consonne=[k]3. c+h =[k]4. final =[k]5. c+c=first[k],second[accordingly]6. c+h=[ʃ]7. c+(e, I, y)=[s]8. ç +(a, o,u)=[s]9. c in some words=[g] second[səgɔ ]

2.[d]Liaison: d+voyelle=tun grand enfant

3.[f]Final f silent

Cléf cerf nerfFinal f pronouncedŒuf sauf veuf actifPronounced as in EnglishLiaison: the f of neuf is pronounced [v] only before ans and heures and in all other cases, it remains [f].f+voyelle=[v]Neuf heure dix

4.[g]The grapheme gu can be pronounced three different ways: [g], [gw], [gɥ]Anguille jaguar aiguilles

but the spelling will not tell you which sound to pronounce, so you'll just have to learn them individually.

1.g+(a,o,u)=[g]2.g+consonne=[g]3.gu+(e,i)=[g]4.g+(e,I,y)=[ʒ] geste[ʒɛst]

5.h

The letter h is never pronounced, but you need to remember to distinguish the h non-aspiré from the h aspiré. Most words belong to the first group, but for the words that have an h aspiré, there are two characteristics that make them different: the definite article does not reduce to l' (called elision) but remains le or la and word boundaries are maintained so that sounds do not link (absence of liaison - see below). Most words with an h

aspiré are of Germanic origin.

h non-aspiré h aspiré l'habitude la hache l'herbe le hall l'heure le haricot l'histoire le hasard l'homme le hibou l'honneur le homard l'huile le hockey

6.j[ʒ]

5.k[Pronounced as in english]

6.lFinal l silentOutil sourcil gentil persilFinal l pronouncedFil avril civil col[Pronounced as in english]Rail [Raj]Raillerie[RajRi]Fille[fij]Fils[fis]Fil[fil]

7.m[Pronounced as in english]

8.n[Pronounced as in english]

9.ɲ [nj]Peigne[pɛɲ]Vigne

10.[ŋ] Camping

11.[p][Pronounced as in english]

11.qThe grapheme qu can be pronounced three different ways: [k], [kw], [kɥ]

Question adequate quiescent

but the spelling will not tell you which sound to pronounce, so you'll just have to learn them individually.

[k]Qu=[k]question[kɛstjɔ #]Qu=[kw]adéquate[adekwat]Cinq+voyelle=[k]cinq enfantsCinq+consonne=not pronounced cinq cashiers

12.[ʀ]

Final r silent

Parler chercher habiter fermer

Final r pronounced

Car Mer Pour Hiver

[R] is articulated further back in the throat (with the back of the tongue) and is usually the hardest French consonant for English speakers to pronounce correctly. It is a voiced uvular fricative sound and does not have an effect on preceding vowels the way that American English r does. It must remain consistent in all positions, regardless of the other vowels and consonants that may be adjacent to it.

InitialAfter

consonant Intervocalic

Before consonant

Final

rusé Droit arrêt partout Merrang Gris courir Merle Pirerose Trou pleurer Corde sourd

GhKhSilent: parler

13.s

In words ending in a consonant + s or -es, the s is silent. However, if a word ends in -as, -ès, -is, -os, or -us, then the s is sometimes pronounce

s = silent s = pronounced Cadenzas Atlas

Débarras PancreasAccès AloesExprès PalmarèsLogis OasisClos VisDessous AlbatrossConfus SinusDehors Ours

[s][z]

1. between 2 voyelle2. before vowel(liaison): les élèves[lezelɛv]

14.[ʃ]

In the majority of words with the grapheme ch, the pronunciation is [ʃ], but it is also pronounced [k] in words of Greek origin. It is silent, however, in the word almanach.

ch = [ʃ] ch = [k] Chercher archéologieréchauffer chaosChérubin chrétienarchitecte échocatéchisme orchestreAchille chœur 15.t

1. t=[t]as in english2. th=[t] thé[te]3. t+(ion, ien, iel, ial)=[s] nation[nasjɔ #]

huit+voyelle=t, huit+consonne=not pronounced

16.vAs in English

16.w1. w=[w]watt2. w=[v]wagon[vagɔ #]

18.[ʒ] 19.[x]

Xylophone[gz]

jota

1. x=[s], six[sis], dix-sept[dissɛt]

2. x=[z], dix-huit[dizɥit], dix-neuf[dizn œf]

3. x=[gz], exercice[ɛgzɛRsis]

4. x=[ks], sexe[sɛks]

5. silent=deux

6. liaison : beaux-yeux[bozjø]

7. x+consonne(months)=to be omitted dix mars

17.z

Liaison : avez été[avezete]