French phonology

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French phonology is the sound system of French. This article discusses mainly the phonology of all the varieties of Standard French. Notable phonological features include the uvular r present in some accents, nasal vowels, and three processes affecting word-final sounds:

  • liaison, a specific instance of sandhi in which word-final consonants are not pronounced unless they are followed by a word beginning with a vowel;
  • elision, in which certain instances of Template:IPAslink (schwa) are elided (such as when final before an initial vowel);
  • Template:Wikt-lang (resyllabification), in which word-final and word-initial consonants may be moved across a syllable boundary, with syllables crossing word boundaries.

An example of the above is this:

  • Written: {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}
  • Meaning: "We left the window open."
  • In isolation: {{#invoke:IPA|main}}
  • Together: {{#invoke:IPA|main}}

Consonants

Consonant phonemes of French
Labial Dental/
Alveolar 		Palatal/
Postalv. 		Velar/
Uvular
Nasal Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link (Template:IPA link)
Plosive Template:Small Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Template:Small Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Fricative Template:Small Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Template:Small Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Approximant Template:Small Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Template:Small Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
File:Uvular rhotics in Europe.png
main}}) in Europe in the mid-20th century.<ref>Map based on Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> Template:Legend Template:Legend Template:Legend Template:Legend

Phonetic notes:

Example wordsTemplate:Sfnp
Voiceless Voiced
IPA Example Gloss IPA Example Gloss
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'louse' main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'mud'
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'all', 'anything' (possibility) main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'sweet' (food, feelings), 'gentle' (person), 'mild' (weather)
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'neck' main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'taste'
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'crazy' main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'you'
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'under', 'on' (drugs), 'in' (packaging), 'within' (times) main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'shoo'
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'cabbage', 'lovely' (person, pet) main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'cheek'
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'soft', 'weak' (stronger: person, actions)
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'we, us'
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} in modern French)
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'kung-fu'
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'wolf'
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'wheel'

Geminates

Although double consonant letters appear in the orthographic form of many French words, geminate consonants are relatively rare in the pronunciation of such words. The following cases can be identified.Template:Sfnp

The geminate pronunciation {{#invoke:IPA|main}} is found in the future and conditional forms of the verbs Template:Wikt-lang ('to run') and Template:Wikt-lang ('to die'). The conditional form il mourrait {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('he would die'), for example, contrasts with the imperfect form il mourait {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('he was dying'). Most modern speakers have reduced {{#invoke:IPA|main}} to {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in other words, such as il pourrait ('he could'). Other verbs that have a double Template:Angbr orthographically in the future and conditional are pronounced with a simple {{#invoke:IPA|main}}: il pourra ('he will be able to'), il verra ('he will see').

When the prefix Template:Wikt-lang combines with a base that begins with n, the resulting word is sometimes pronounced with a geminate {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and similarly for the variants of the same prefix im-, il-, ir-:

Other cases of optional gemination can be found in words such as Template:Wikt-lang ('syllable'), Template:Wikt-lang ('grammar') and Template:Wikt-lang ('illusion'). The pronunciation of such words, in many cases a spelling pronunciation, varies by speaker and gives rise to widely varying stylistic effects.<ref>Template:Harvp, cited in Template:Harvp.</ref> In particular the gemination of consonants other than the liquids and nasals {{#invoke:IPA|main}} is "generally considered affected or pedantic".Template:Sfnp Examples of stylistically marked pronunciations include Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('addition') and Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('intelligence').

Gemination of doubled Template:Angbr and Template:Angbr is typical of the Languedoc region as opposed to other southern accents.

A few cases of gemination do not correspond to double consonant letters in the orthography.Template:Sfnp The deletion of word-internal schwas (see below), for example, can give rise to sequences of identical consonants: là-dedans {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('inside'), l'honnêteté {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('honesty'). The elided form of the object pronoun l' ('him/her/it') is also realised as a geminate {{#invoke:IPA|main}} when it appears after another l to avoid misunderstanding:

  • Il l'a mangé {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('He ate it')
  • Il a mangé {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('He ate')

Gemination is obligatory in such contexts.

Finally, a word pronounced with emphatic stress can exhibit gemination of its first syllable-initial consonant:

  • formidable {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('terrific')
  • épouvantable {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('horrible')

Liaison

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

Many words in French can be analyzed as having a "latent" final consonant that is pronounced only in certain syntactic contexts when the next word begins with a vowel. For example, the word Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('two') is pronounced {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in isolation or before a consonant-initial word (deux jours {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 'two days'), but in deux ans {{#invoke:IPA|main}} (→ {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 'two years'), the linking or liaison consonant {{#invoke:IPA|main}} is pronounced.

Vowels

File:French vowel chart.svg
main}}. In the latter case, the outcome is an open central Template:IPAblink between the two (not shown on the chart).

Standard French contrasts up to 13 oral vowels and up to 4 nasal vowels. The schwa (in the center of the diagram next to this paragraph) is not necessarily a distinctive sound. Even though it often merges with one of the mid front rounded vowels, its patterning suggests that it is a separate phoneme (see the subsection Schwa below).

The table below primarily lists vowels in contemporary Parisian French, with vowels present only in other dialects in parentheses.

Oral
  Front Central Back
Template:Small Template:Small
Close Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Close-mid Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Open-mid Template:IPA link (Template:IPA link) Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Open Template:IPA link (Template:IPA link)
Nasal
Front Back
Template:Small Template:Small
Open-mid Template:IPA link (Template:IPA link) Template:IPA link
Open Template:IPA link

While some dialects feature a long {{#invoke:IPA|main}} distinct from {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and a distinction between an open front {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and an open back {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, Parisian French features only {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and just one open vowel {{#invoke:IPA|main}} realised as central {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. Some dialects also feature a rounded {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, which has merged with {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in Paris.

In Metropolitan French, while {{#invoke:IPA|main}} is phonologically distinct, its phonetic quality tends to coincide with either {{#invoke:IPA|main}} or {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.

Example words
Vowel Example
IPA Orthography Gloss
Oral vowels
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'if'
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'fairy'
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'does'
main}}† main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'party'
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'known'
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'those'
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'sister'
main}}† main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'this'/'that'
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'under'
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'silly'
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'fate'
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'his'/'her'
main}}† main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'dough'
Nasal vowels
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'without'
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'his'
main}}<ref>John C. Wells prefers the symbol {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, as the vowel has become more open in recent times and is noticeably different from oral {{#invoke:IPA|main}}: [1]</ref> main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'twig'
main}}† main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'brown'
Semi-vowels
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'yesterday'
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'eight'
main}} main}} Template:Wikt-lang 'yes'
† Not distinguished in all dialects.

Close vowels

In contrast with the mid vowels, there is no tense–lax contrast in close vowels. However, non-phonemic lax (near-close) {{#invoke:IPA|main}} appear in Quebec as allophones of {{#invoke:IPA|main}} when the vowel is both phonetically short (so not before {{#invoke:IPA|main}}) and in a closed syllable, so that e.g. petite {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 'small (Template:Abbr)' differs from petit 'small (Template:Abbr)' {{#invoke:IPA|main}} not only in the presence of the final {{#invoke:IPA|main}} but also in the tenseness of the {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. Laxing always occurs in stressed closed syllables, but it is also found in other environments to various degrees.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp

In Metropolitan French, {{#invoke:IPA|main}} are consistently close {{#invoke:IPA|main}},Template:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp but the exact height of {{#invoke:IPA|main}} is somewhat debatable as it has been variously described as close Template:IPAblinkTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp and near-close Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp

Mid vowels

Although the mid vowels contrast in certain environments, there is a limited distributional overlap so they often appear in complementary distribution. Generally, close-mid vowels ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}) are found in open syllables, and open-mid vowels ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}) are found in closed syllables. However, there are minimal pairs:Template:Sfnp

Beyond the general rule, known as the loi de position among French phonologists,Template:Sfnp there are some exceptions. For instance, {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}} are found in closed syllables ending in {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, and only {{#invoke:IPA|main}} is found in closed monosyllables before {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, and {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.Template:Sfnp

The Parisian realization of {{#invoke:IPA|main}} has been variously described as central Template:IPAblinkTemplate:Sfnp and centralized to Template:IPAblink before {{#invoke:IPA|main}},Template:Sfnp in both cases becoming similar to {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.

The phonemic opposition of {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}} has been lost in the southern half of France, where these two sounds are found only in complementary distribution. The phonemic oppositions of {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and of {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in terminal open syllables have been lost in almost all of France, but not in Belgium or in areas with an Arpitan substrate, where Template:Wikt-lang and Template:Wikt-lang are still opposed as {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Open vowels

The phonemic contrast between front {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and back {{#invoke:IPA|main}} is sometimes no longer maintained in Parisian French, which leads some researchers to reject the idea of two distinct phonemes.<ref>"Some phoneticians claim that there are two distinct as in French, but evidence from speaker to speaker and sometimes within the speech of a single speaker is too contradictory to give empirical support to this claim".Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> However, the back {{#invoke:IPA|main}} is always maintained in Northern French, but only in final open syllables,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Wikt-lang (lawyer) {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, but in final closed syllables, the {{#invoke:IPA|main}} phoneme is fronted to {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, but it is always long, Template:Wikt-lang (pasta) {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. The distinction is still clearly maintained in many dialects such as Quebec French.<ref>Postériorisation du / a / Template:Webarchive</ref>

While there is much variation among speakers in France, a number of general tendencies can be observed. First of all, the distinction is most often preserved in word-final stressed syllables such as in these minimal pairs:

Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('stain'), vs. Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('task')
Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('leg'), vs. Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('paste, pastry')
Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('rat'), vs. Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('short')

There are certain environments that prefer one open vowel over the other. For example, {{#invoke:IPA|main}} is preferred after {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and before {{#invoke:IPA|main}}:

Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('three'),
Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('gas').Template:Sfnp

The difference in quality is often reinforced by a difference in length (but the difference is contrastive in final closed syllables). The exact distribution of the two vowels varies greatly from speaker to speaker.<ref>"For example, some have the front {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in Template:Wikt-lang 'breaks', and the back {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in Template:Wikt-lang 'cup', but for others the reverse is true. There are also, of course, those who use the same vowel, either {{#invoke:IPA|main}} or {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, in both words".Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>

Back {{#invoke:IPA|main}} is much rarer in unstressed syllables, but it can be encountered in some common words:

Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('castle'),
Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('past').

Morphologically complex words derived from words containing stressed {{#invoke:IPA|main}} do not retain it:

Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('aged', from Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}})
rarissime {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('very rare', from Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}}).

Even in the final syllable of a word, back {{#invoke:IPA|main}} may become {{#invoke:IPA|main}} if the word in question loses its stress within the extended phonological context:Template:Sfnp

J'ai été au bois {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('I've been to the woods'),
J'ai été au bois de Vincennes {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('I've been to the Vincennes woods').

Nasal vowels

The phonetic qualities of the back nasal vowels differ from those of the corresponding oral vowels. The contrasting factor that distinguishes {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}} is the extra lip rounding of the latter according to some linguists,Template:Sfnp and tongue height according to others.Template:Sfnp Speakers who produce both {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}} distinguish them mainly through increased lip rounding of the former, but many speakers use only the latter phoneme, especially most speakers in northern France such as Paris (but not farther north, in Belgium).Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp

In some dialects, particularly that of Europe, there is an attested tendency for nasal vowels to shift in a counterclockwise direction: {{#invoke:IPA|main}} tends to be more open and shifts toward the vowel space of {{#invoke:IPA|main}} (realised also as {{#invoke:IPA|main}}), {{#invoke:IPA|main}} rises and rounds to {{#invoke:IPA|main}} (realised also as {{#invoke:IPA|main}}) and {{#invoke:IPA|main}} shifts to {{#invoke:IPA|main}} or {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. Also, in some regions, there also is an opposite movement for {{#invoke:IPA|main}} for which it becomes more open like {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, resulting in a merger of Standard French {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in this case.Template:Sfnp<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> According to one source, the typical phonetic realization of the nasal vowels in Paris is {{#invoke:IPA|main}} for {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}} for {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}} for {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.Template:Sfnp

In Quebec French, two of the vowels shift in a different direction: {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, more or less as in Europe, but {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.<ref>Oral articulation of nasal vowel in French</ref>

In the Provence and Occitanie regions, nasal vowels are often realized as oral vowels before a stop consonant, thus reviving the Template:Angbr otherwise lost in other accents: quarante {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.

Contrary to the oral {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, there is no attested tendency for the nasal {{#invoke:IPA|main}} to become central in any accent.

Schwa

When phonetically realised, schwa (Template:IPAslink), also called e Template:Wikt-lang ('dropped e') and e Template:Wikt-lang ('mute e'), is a mid-central vowel with some rounding.Template:Sfnp Many authors consider its value to be Template:IPAblink,Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp while Geoff Lindsey suggests Template:IPAblink.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Harvcoltxt state, more specifically, that it merges with Template:IPAslink before high vowels and glides:

Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('clarity'),
Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('workshop'),

in phrase-final stressed position:

dis-le ! {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('say it'),

and that it merges with Template:IPAslink elsewhere.Template:Sfnp However, some speakers make a clear distinction, and it exhibits special phonological behavior that warrants considering it a distinct phoneme. Furthermore, the merger occurs mainly in the French of France; in Quebec, Template:IPAslink and Template:IPAslink are still distinguished.<ref>Timbre du schwa en français et variation régionale : un étude comparative retrieved 14 July 2013</ref>

The main characteristic of French schwa is its "instability": the fact that under certain conditions it has no phonetic realization.

  • That is usually the case when it follows a single consonant in a medial syllable:
    Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('to call'),
  • It is occasionally mute in word-final position:
    Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('door').
  • Word-final schwas are optionally pronounced if preceded by two or more consonants and followed by a consonant-initial word:
    une porte fermée {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('a closed door').
  • In the future and conditional forms of -er verbs, however, the schwa is sometimes deleted even after two consonants:Template:Citation needed
    tu garderais {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('you would guard'),
    nous brusquerons [les choses] {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('we will precipitate [things]').
  • On the other hand, it is pronounced word-internally when it follows more pronouncedTemplate:Clarify consonants that cannot be combined into a complex onset with the initial consonants of the next syllable:
    Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('scoundrel'),
    sept petits {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('seven little ones').Template:Sfnp

In French versification, word-final schwa is always elided before another vowel and at the ends of verses. It is pronounced before a following consonant-initial word.Template:Sfnp For example, une grande femme fut ici, {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in ordinary speech, would in verse be pronounced {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, with the {{#invoke:IPA|main}} enunciated at the end of each word.

Schwa cannot normally be realised as a front vowel (Template:IPAblink) in closed syllables. In such contexts in inflectional and derivational morphology, schwa usually alternates with the front vowel Template:IPAslink:

Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('to harass'), with
il harcèle {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('[he] harasses').Template:Sfnp

A three-way alternation can be observed, in a few cases, for a number of speakers:

Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('to call'),
j'appelle {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('I call'),
Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('brand'), which can also be pronounced {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt for Template:IPAblink, TLFi, s.v. appellation for {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.</ref>

Instances of orthographic Template:Angbr that do not exhibit the behaviour described above may be better analysed as corresponding to the stable, full vowel {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. The enclitic pronoun Template:Wikt-lang, for example, always keeps its vowel in contexts like donnez-le-moi {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('give it to me') for which schwa deletion would normally apply (giving *{{#invoke:IPA|main}}), and it counts as a full syllable for the determination of stress.

Cases of word-internal stable Template:Angbr are more subject to variation among speakers, but, for example, un rebelle {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('a rebel') must be pronounced with a full vowel in contrast to un rebond {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → or {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('a bounce').Template:Sfnp

Length

Except for the distinction still made by some speakers between {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in rare minimal pairs like Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('to put') vs. Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('teacher'), variation in vowel length is entirely allophonic. Vowels can be lengthened in closed, stressed syllables, under the following two conditions:

  • {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, and the nasal vowels are lengthened before any consonant: Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('dough'), Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('sings').
  • All vowels are lengthened if followed by one of the voiced fricatives—{{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}} (not in combination)Template:Clarify—or by the cluster {{#invoke:IPA|main}}: Template:Wikt-lang/Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('sea/mother'), Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('crisis'), Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('book').Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp However, words such as (ils) servent {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('(they) serve') or Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('pie') are pronounced with short vowels since the {{#invoke:IPA|main}} appears in clusters other than {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.

When such syllables lose their stress, the lengthening effect may be absent. The vowel {{#invoke:IPA|main}} of Template:Wikt-lang is long in Regarde comme elle saute !, in which the word is phrase-final and therefore stressed, but not in Qu'est-ce qu'elle saute bien !Template:Sfnp In accents wherein {{#invoke:IPA|main}} is distinguished from {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, however, it is still pronounced with a long vowel even in an unstressed position, as in fête in C'est une fête importante.Template:Sfnp

The following table presents the pronunciation of a representative sample of words in phrase-final (stressed) position:

Phoneme Vowel value in closed syllable Vowel value in
open syllable
Non-lengthening consonant Lengthening consonant
{{#invoke:IPA|main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}}
{{#invoke:IPA|main}} — Template:Wikt-lang main}}
{{#invoke:IPA|main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}}
{{#invoke:IPA|main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} —
{{#invoke:IPA|main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}}
{{#invoke:IPA|main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} —
{{#invoke:IPA|main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}}
{{#invoke:IPA|main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} —
{{#invoke:IPA|main}} — Template:Wikt-lang main}}
{{#invoke:IPA|main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}}
{{#invoke:IPA|main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}}
{{#invoke:IPA|main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} rat main}}
{{#invoke:IPA|main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}}
{{#invoke:IPA|main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}}
{{#invoke:IPA|main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}}
{{#invoke:IPA|main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}}
{{#invoke:IPA|main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}} Template:Wikt-lang main}}

Devoicing

In Parisian French, the close vowels {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and the mid front {{#invoke:IPA|main}} at the end of utterances can be devoiced. A devoiced vowel may be followed by a sound similar to the voiceless palatal fricative {{#invoke:IPA|main}}:

Merci. {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → Template:Audio-IPA ('Thank you.'),
Allez ! {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → Template:Audio-IPA ('Go!').Template:Sfnp

In Quebec French, close vowels are often devoiced when unstressed and surrounded by voiceless consonants:

université {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('university').Template:Sfnp

Though a more prominent feature of Quebec French, phrase-medial devoicing is also found in European French.Template:Sfnp

Elision

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The final vowel (usually {{#invoke:IPA|main}}) of a number of monosyllabic function words is elided in syntactic combinations with a following word that begins with a vowel. For example, compare the pronunciation of the unstressed subject pronoun, in je dors {{#invoke:IPA|main}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('I am sleeping'), and in j'arrive {{#invoke:IPA|main}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('I am arriving').

Glides and diphthongs

The glides {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, and {{#invoke:IPA|main}} appear in syllable onsets immediately followed by a full vowel. In many cases, they alternate systematically with their vowel counterparts {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, and {{#invoke:IPA|main}} such as in the following pairs of verb forms:

nie {{#invoke:IPA|main}}; Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('deny')
loue {{#invoke:IPA|main}}; Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('rent')
tue {{#invoke:IPA|main}}; Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('kill')

The glides in the examples can be analyzed as the result of a glide formation process that turns an underlying high vowel into a glide when followed by another vowel: {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.

This process is usually blocked after a complex onset of the form obstruent + liquid (a stop or a fricative followed by {{#invoke:IPA|main}} or {{#invoke:IPA|main}}). For example, while the pair loue/louer shows an alternation between {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, the same suffix added to cloue {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, a word with a complex onset, does not trigger the glide formation: clouer {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('to nail'). Some sequences of glide + vowel can be found after obstruent-liquid onsets, however. The main examples are {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, as in pluie {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('rain'), {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, as in proie {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('prey'), and {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, as in groin {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('snout').<ref>The {{#invoke:IPA|main}} correspond to orthographic Template:Angbr, as in roi {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('king'), which contrasts with disyllabic troua {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('[he] punctured').</ref> They can be dealt with in different ways, as by adding appropriate contextual conditions to the glide formation rule or by assuming that the phonemic inventory of French includes underlying glides or rising diphthongs like {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp

Glide formation normally does not occur across morpheme boundaries in compounds like semi-aride ('semi-arid').Template:Sfnp However, in colloquial registers, si elle {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('if she') can be pronounced just like Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('sky'), or tu as {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('you have') like tua {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('[(s)he] killed').Template:Sfnp

The glide {{#invoke:IPA|main}} can also occur in syllable coda position, after a vowel, as in Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('sun'), and often after {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, since {{#invoke:IPA|main}} tends to be realised as {{#invoke:IPA|main}},<ref>https://www.projet-pfc.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/2018_Durand-Lyche.pdf, page 18</ref> like in Allemagne ("Germany") {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, instead of {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. There again, one can formulate a derivation from an underlying full vowel {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, but the analysis is not always adequate because of the existence of possible minimal pairs like Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('country') / Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('paycheck') and Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('abbey') / Template:Wikt-lang {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('bee').<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt. The words pays and abbaye are more frequently pronounced {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.</ref> Schane (1968) proposes an abstract analysis deriving postvocalic {{#invoke:IPA|main}} from an underlying lateral by palatalization and glide conversion ({{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}} → {{#invoke:IPA|main}}).Template:Sfnp

Vowel Onset glide Examples
{{#invoke:IPA|main}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}} {{#invoke:IPA|main}}
main}} main}} main}} main}} paillasse, Éluard, poire
main}} main}} main}} main}} acariâtre, tuas, jouas
main}} main}} main}} main}} vaillant, exténuant, Assouan
main}} main}} main}} main}} janvier, muer, jouer
main}} main}} main}} main}} lierre, duel, mouette
main}} main}} main}} main}} bien, juin, soin
main}} main}} main}} main}} yin, huile, ouïr
main}} main}} main}} main}} Millau, duo, statuquo
main}} main}} main}} main}} Niort, quatuor, wok
main}} main}} main}} main}} lion, tuons, jouons
main}} main}} main}} Template:N/A mieux, fructueux
main}} main}} main}} main}} antérieur, sueur, loueur
main}} Template:N/A Template:N/A Template:N/A
main}} main}} Template:N/A main}} caillou, Wuhan
main}} main}} Template:N/A Template:N/A feuillu

Stress

Word stress is not distinctive in French, so two words cannot be distinguished based on stress placement alone. Grammatical stress is always on the final full syllable (syllable with a vowel other than schwa) of a word. Monosyllables with schwa as their only vowel (Template:Wikt-lang, Template:Wikt-lang, Template:Wikt-lang, etc.) are generally clitics but otherwise may receive stress.Template:Sfnp

The difference between stressed and unstressed syllables in French is less marked than in English. Vowels in unstressed syllables keep their full quality, regardless of whether the rhythm of the speaker is syllable-timed or mora-timed (see isochrony).<ref>Mora-timed speech is frequent in French, especially in Canada, where it is very much the norm.Template:Citation needed</ref> Moreover, words lose their stress to varying degrees when pronounced in phrases and sentences. In general, only the last word in a phonological phrase (mot phonétique) retains its full grammatical stress (on its last full syllable).Template:Sfnp

Emphatic stress

Emphatic stress is used to call attention to a specific element in a given context such as to express a contrast or to reinforce the emotive content of a word. In French, this stress falls on the first consonant-initial syllable of the word in question. The characteristics associated with emphatic stress include increased amplitude and pitch of the vowel and gemination of the onset consonant, as mentioned above.Template:Sfnp Emphatic stress does not replace, but occurs in tandem with, grammatical stress.Template:Sfnp

  • C'est parfaitement vrai. {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('It's perfectly true.'; no emphatic stress)
  • C'est parfaitement vrai. {{#invoke:IPA|main}} (emphatic stress on parfaitement)

For words that begin with a vowel, emphatic stress falls on the first syllable that begins with a consonant or on the initial syllable with the insertion of a glottal stop or a liaison consonant.

  • C'est épouvantable. {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ('It's terrible.'; emphatic stress on second syllable of épouvantable)
  • C'est épouvantable ! {{#invoke:IPA|main}} (initial syllable with liaison consonant {{#invoke:IPA|main}})
  • C'est épouvantable ! {{#invoke:IPA|main}} (initial syllable with glottal stop insertion)

Emphatic stress may be associated with a pause between each syllable of the stressed word, which adds to emphasis.

Intonation

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French intonation differs substantially from that of English.Template:Sfnp There are four primary patterns:

  • The continuation pattern is a rise in pitch occurring in the last syllable of a rhythm group (typically a phrase).
  • The finality pattern is a sharp fall in pitch occurring in the last syllable of a declarative statement.
  • The yes/no intonation is a sharp rise in pitch occurring in the last syllable of a yes/no question.
  • The information question intonation is a rapid fall-off from a high pitch on the first word of a non-yes/no question, often followed by a small rise in pitch on the last syllable of the question.

See also

Sub-articles

Related

References

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Sources

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de:Französische Sprache#Aussprache

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