XXX
PRONUNCIATION OF FRENCH
Transcription The symbols used to record the pronunciation of French are those of the Interna-
tional Phonetic Association. The variety of French transcribed is that shown in Le
Nouveau Petit Robert, ie standard Parisian speech. Within this variety of French,
variant pronunciations are to be observed. In particular, there is a marked ten-
dency among speakers today to make no appreciable distinction between: /a/
and /A/, patte /pat/ and pâte /pAt/ both tending towards the pronunciation
/pat/; /g/ and /h/, brin /bRg/ and brun /bRh/ both tending towards the pro-
nunciation /bRg/. The distinction between these sounds is maintained in the
transcription.
Headwords Each headword has its pronunciation transcribed between obliques. In the case
of words having a variant pronunciation (eg tandis /tedi/, /tedis/), the one
pronunciation given is that regarded by the editorial team as preferable, often on
grounds of frequency.
Morphological variations Morphological variations of headwords are shown phonetically where neces-
sary, without repetition of the root (eg journal (pl -aux) /JuRnal, o/).
Compound words Compound words derived from headwords and shown within an entry are given
without phonetic transcription (eg brosse /bROs/, but brosse à cheveux). The
pronunciation of compounds is usually predictable, being that of the citation
form of each element, associated with the final syllable stress characteristic of
the language (see following paragraph).
Syllable stress In normal, unemphatic speech, the final syllable of a word, or the final syllable of
a sense group, carries a moderate degree of stress. The syllable stressed is given
extra prominence by greater length and intensity. The exception to this rule is a
final syllable containing a mute e, which is never stressed. In view of this simple
rule, it has not been considered necessary to indicate the position of a stressed
syllable of a word by a stress mark in the phonetic transcription.
Closing of /E/ Under the influence of stressed /y/, /i/, or /e/ vowels, an /E/ in an open syllable
tends towards a closer /e/ sound, even in careful speech. In such cases, the
change has been indicated: aimant /Eme/, but aimer /eme/; bête /bEt/, but
bêtise /betiz/.
Mute e /@/ Within isolated words, a mute e /@/ preceded by a single pronounced consonant
is regularly dropped (eg follement /fOlme/; samedi /samdi/).
Opening of /e/ As the result of the dropping of an /@/ within a word, an /e/ occurring in a closed
syllable tends towards /E/, as the transcription shows (eg événement
/evEnme/; élevage /ElvaJ/).
Aspirate h Initial h in the spelling of a French word does not imply strong expulsion of
breath, except in the case of certain interjections. Initial h is called ‘aspirate’
when it is incompatible with liaison (des haricots /de’aRiko/) or elision (le
haricot /l@’aRiko/). Aspirate h is shown in transcriptions by an apostrophe
placed at the beginning of the word (eg hibou /wibu/).
Consonants and Within a word and in normal speech, a voiceless c onsonant may be voiced when
assimilation followed by a voiced consonant (eg exemple /Egzepl/), and a voiced consonant
may be devoiced when followed by a voiceless consonant (eg absolument
/apsOlyme/). When this phenomenon is regular in a word, it is shown in
transcription (eg abside /apsid/). In speech, its frequency varies from speaker to
speaker. Thus, while the citation form of tasse is /tAs/, the group une tasse de
thé may be heard pronounced /yntAsd@te/ or /yntAzd@te/.
Sentence stress Unlike the stress pattern of English associated with meaning, sentence stress in
French is associated with rhythm. The stress falls on the final syllable of the
sense groups of which the sentence is formed (see Syllable stress). In the fol-
lowing example : quand il m’a vu, il a traversé la rue en courant pour me dire un mot,
composed of three sense groups, the syllables vu, -rant and mot carry the stress,
being slightly lengthened.
XXXI GUIDE D’UTILISATION
Intonation French intonation is less mobile than English and is closely associated with
sentence stress. The most marked rises and falls occur normally on the final
syllable of sense groups. Thus, in the sentence given above, the syllables vu and
-rant are spoken with a slight rise (indicating continuity), while the syllable mot
is accompanied by a fall in the voice (indicating finality). In the case of a ques-
tion, the final syllable will normally also be spoken with rising voice.
PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF FRENCH
TRANSCRIPTION PHONÉTIQUE DU FRANÇAIS
VOWELS CONSONANTS
[i] il, vie, lyre [p] père, soupe
[e] blé, jouer [t] terre, vite
[E] lait, jouet, merci [k] cou, qui, sac, képi
[a] plat, patte [b] bon, robe
[A] bas, pâte [d] dans, aide
[O] mort, donner [g] gare, bague
[o] mot, dôme, eau, gauche [f] feu, neuf, photo
[u] genou, roue [s] sale, celui, ça, dessous, tasse, nation
[y] rue, vêtu [S] chat, tache
[q] peu, deux [v] vous, rêve
[œ] peur, meuble [z] zéro, maison, rose
[@] le, premier [J] je, gilet, geôle
[g] matin, plein [l] lent, sol
[e] sans, vent [R] rue, venir
[f] bon, ombre [m] main, femme
[h] lundi, brun [n] nous, tonne, animal
[b] agneau, vigne
SEMI-CONSONANTS [h] hop ! (exclamative)
[w] haricot (no liaison)
[j] yeux, paille, pied [c] words borrowed from English: camping
[w] oui, nouer [x] words borrowed from Spanish or Arabic:
[d] huile, lui jota
