ENGLISH SOUNDS

Note. — The bktck Utters of the English words represent the nearest équivalent

Simple vowels.

a, as : carafe, ami, chasse.

ff (â), bar: tasse, sabre, âme.

e (in monosyllables and before one consonant) = battery : me, leva, venir.

BU (œu), first: feu, sœur.

a final is silent in words of more than one syllable : âge,

maîtresse.

{été.

Ifs.

nez.

' mette, belle, lemme.

= fed

ai (in verbs) S- final

BZ )

before 2 consonants ^

ai (aî)

et final

/ (î) y = machine : midi, île, type.

y between two words = ii : payez, asseyez.

before two consonants == frost : porte, folle, botte, corne.

a (ô) 1 C mot, dos, rose, ôter, apôtre.

« ^ l ~ S^ 1 mauve.

Bau j ( peau.

mène, bête.

aime, faîte, pleine, navet.

u (û), tntor: turlututu, flûte.

ou (où), you : clou, goûter.

oi (oî),wash; moi, boîte.

Nasal vowels, — When m and n are final or before another consonant, they form nasal vowels.

I^uU, — Keep lips apart and tongue against lower teeth. am ^ ( flamber.

"" ' - wander ' ^°*^-

tempête, enfant.

en (em) as prefix is always nasal : ennui, emmener.

aim

ain

ein

= sang <

' simple, fin, indu, faim, sain, plain.

ien final and in verbs in -enir = yankee : bien, je viens,

je tiendrai.

on \__ „^^^„ f bon, oncle.

om \ " ^^»S I ponJpe, ombre.

oin, Wang : moins, loin, besoin.

i//n 1 __ I f parfum, humble.

un ) ° I aucun, brun.

Consonants. — Except c, f, I, r, final consonants are usually silent. Consonants not given hère are pronounced about as in Ënglish.

before ^>hy \ -- -a f ceci, cime, cycle.

ç " a, o, u 1 I forçat, leçon, reçu.

c before a, o, u, or before a consonant = can : cas, comme, cube, clair.

ch before a vowel = chagrin : chercher, chose, chat.

ch before a consonant = chord : Christ, chrome.

g before e, i, y = pleasure : geste, gîte, gypse.

g before a, o, u, or a con- '\ ( gdcgQ, goût, lugubie,

sonant >• = gap } grue.

gu before e, i J (; gué, guirlande

gn, pinion : mignon, digne, agneau.

h aspirate ) __ i. i. f haut, hêtre.

h mute j ( homme, humide.

/, pleasure : jour, jeter.

/// medial ) __ f paille, feuille, fille, fouille.

il final II soleil, travail, corail.

m initial = eel : illégal, illusion, illustre.

qu, keep : quatre, quel, qui, quotient.

r (slightly roUed) is never silent except in the termination

er : erreur, horrible, car, pur, heure.

a medial = rose : jaser, poison, base.

a before or after a consonant ) __ C prisme, observer.

tî after s, x = tea : question, mixtion, amnistie. a (in certain combination) = see : nation, partial, essentiel, initier, factieux, minutie.

X, fix : fixer, rixe, boxe.

C '\ exister.

ex initial before a vowel or h mute -î = eggS r exact.

(^ ) exhiber.

Liaison (Union). — When there is no pause between words, the final consonant is usually pronounced as the first letter of the foUowing word, if the latter begins with a vowel or h mute.

Syllabic accent. — Words ending in e mute hâve this accent on the penult ; ail others accent the last syllable.

but not as strongly as in English. There is no secondary accent in French words ; ail syllables are equally emphasized, except when they contain e mute, which is never pronounced in familiar discourse.

Written accents. — é usually occurs as the fîrst or last letter of a word; also before a vowel or when the next syllable does not contain a mute e : été, réorganiser, élément.

à is nearly always followed by e mute in the next syllable.

é is mostly etymological and indicates that a silent letter (generally j) has been dropped : âge (aage) , âme (anme), bête (beste), tête (teste), forêt (forest).