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]