BASIC PRONUNCIATON GUIDE FOR FRENCH

Foreword Rhythm Consonants Final Consonants Liaisons Accents Vowel Sounds Nasal Vowels

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FOREWORD French Pronunciation (The Basics)

On the following pages I have written guidelines for pronunciation of the main French sounds. My aim has not been to provide an exhaustive guide to French pronunciation, but to provide an accessible, first steps guide for primary teachers with little or no French, who now find themselves in the position of having to teach French at Key Stage 2. Where possible, the examples I have included, use vocabulary which will form part of your lessons. The guide will also prove to be a very useful tool when teaching phonemes (sound spelling links) as all the main sounds have been clearly highlighted. A written guide is probably not the best way to learn how to pronounce French as it does not allow you to hear the words or allow for variations in accent. There are many websites on French pronunciation with sound files which are free. They are well worth looking at and will go into more detail than I have in this guide. http://www.frenchtutorial.com/standard/pronunciation/eacute.php http://www.jump-gate.com/languages/french/french1.html http://french.about.com//library/pronunciation/bl-pronunciation.htm I do not recommend that anyone should read this guide through and try to take all the points on board immediately. It is divided up into manageable sections that initially should be approached individually. When you feel comfortable with one section, move onto another. The order in which you decide to approach the sections is not of any real importance. Bonne chance!

Rhythm
The French language is often described as very musical. The reason for this is that in French there are no stress marks on words i.e. all syllables are pronounced at the same intensity (volume). In addition, many final consonants are liaised into the next word. The lack of stress marks combined with liaisons is what gives French its rhythm: all of the words flow together like music. In contrast, English words each have a stressed syllable, which makes English sound comparatively choppy or staccato. (I'm speaking purely from a linguistic point of view - this is not a judgment about which language sounds "prettier.") Therefore when speaking French it can be helpful to use the image of a metronome (a device that produces a regulated pulse, usually used to keep a beat steady in musical compositions). Each syllable which you pronounce is a regulated beat.

Consonants
The majority of consonants in French are pronounced more or less the same as in English. However there are some exceptions. Listed below are the most common exceptions. Consonant Rule r The French r is far more guttural than the English r. To make this sound the back of your tongue needs to be at the back of your throat while you gargle the r h Always silent Examples Sur - sister Trs - very Vrai - true Treize -thirteen Trente - thirty

ch

Homme - man Heure - hour Haricot - bean Hpital - hospital Almost always pronounced like Chanter to sing the English sh. (However Chambre - bedroom there are a few exceptions). Champagne - champagne Chat - cat Chien - dog

th

These letters are pronounced as a hard t like the t in the English word table. These letters are normally pronounced like the Spanish or like the ny in the English word canyon.

gn

Common exceptions Chaos - chaos Chur - heart Cholra - cholera Psychologie psychology Th - tea Thorie - theory Mthode - method Enthousiasme enthusiasm Champagne - champagne Enseigner to teach Espagnol - Spanish

(This is not the case if Ignition - ignition the G and the N are in 2 Gnome - gnome

different syllables or begin a word. The letter c before i Cinq - five and e is pronounced Centimetre - centimeter like the English s. Cahier exercise book Calme - calm Franais - French Garon - boy a va ? How are you? Comme ci comme a so so Fille - girl Travailler to work Bouteille - bottle Oeil - eye

Before a, o and u is pronounced like the English letter k. C with a cedilla accent is always pronounced like the English s.

ille

The letter combination ille and the letter combination il when it is at the end of a word changes the way the letter l is pronounced. It is pronounced a bit like the ya in the English word yacht. Common exceptions Mille - thousand However, there are a Ville - town few very common Belle - beautiful exceptions to this rule. Tranquille - quiet Village - village

Final Consonants
1. At a first glance it may appear that most consonants which come at the very end of a word are not pronounced. Chat Nord Deux Vingt 2. Masculine and feminine adjectives are often distinguished from each other by the addition of an e at the end of the feminine adjective which makes the final consonant pronounced. Vert Anglais Absent verte anglaise absente The following general rules will

However, there are many exceptions. prove helpful. 3. D,M, N, P, R, S, T, X word.

are not usually pronounced at the end of a

Common exceptions Many words borrowed from foreign languages e.g. tennis, stop, clown Fils, mars, sud, aot, autobus, ours, ouest, premier, hier, sur 4. C, F, K, L, Q, Z are usually pronounced at the end of a word. e.g. avec, parc, positif, uf, avril, mal, cinq, gaz Common exceptions Blanc, gentil, chez, riz 5. B, J, G, V, W are rarely found at the end of words.

Liaison
The letters S, X, Z, T, D, N, M, are normally silent at the end of a word. However, when they are followed by a word which begins with a vowel they are often pronounced forming what is know as a liaison. E.g. Jai deux ans Nous avons Vous tes Mes enfants Trois amis Mon ide Petit ami Elles sont en France

Accents
Apart from the only other letters which are accented in French are vowels. Some accents change pronunciation and some do not affect the sound at all.

Accent Acute accent (accent aigu)

Vowels used with

Pronunciation changes Changes the sound to ay

Examples All t Rpter arme Nol Astrod goste Concidence Mas

Dieresis

Grave accent (accent grave)

Circumflex accent

Makes a vowel combination into 2 separate syllables, i.e. makes you pronounce them separately. No effect on Voil pronunciation o mre trs (Technically speaking, it is placed over the letter e when the next syllable is mute.) No effect on Matre pronunciation. le Pte (It was used to Hte show that in Old sr French/Latin the vowel was followed by an s. It can be

cedilla

helpful to know this as Enlgish words which share the same ancestry normally still have the s. Changes the a va sound of c Faade before a, o garon and u from a hard k to a softer s.

Vowel Sounds
I feel that vowel sounds are the most difficult to explain in a written guide to French pronunciation. I have tried to simplify this section as much as possible in order to make it accessible to this guides intended audience. There are omissions and areas I have decided not to elaborate upon. How to pronounce it ay like the sound in bay. vowel Vowel/vowel combination e er ez ai ais ait et est ei Examples Jai jou Je suis alle Regarder Copiez Jai Je parlais Il lisait Et Elle est Enseigner

(This sound is a little more tense than the English ay and can be achieved by keeping your tongue still as you say ay)

es when it is used with les mes tes ses

uh as in knuckle

Common exceptions Nous faisons

Je Me Te Se Le Ce Que De Ne This sound can also be found in the first syllable of monsieur

e as in let

ew as in pew Euh!

e u eu

oo as in who

ou o

oh as in hello

eau au sometimes o i y

and the first syllable of faisons Belle Mre Bte Menu bu Bleu Jeu Dangereux Deux Adieu O Nous Toujours Tourner Jour Au Beau eau gros cte Lit Stylo Midi le active Madame Maintenant Femme frquemment Oiseau Poisson Oui

ee as in be

wa as in want

e when it comes before mm and nn oi oui

Nasal Vowels
Usually, when a vowel or vowel combination is followed by either m or n the vowel is nasalised. When this is the case the m or n serve to mark the nasalisation and are barely pronounced. E.g. Un bon vin blanc Faim Train Bain Pain Vin Prince Singe Sympa Moins Certain Chien Brun Lundi Un Dans Enfant Danse Client Mon Bon Simon

If the m or n is followed by a mute e or the 3rd person plural ending ent the vowel is not nasalised. e.g fine, ils dnent If the vowel which immediately follows is not a mute e the m or n is part of the syllable of this vowel and therefore is not nasal. e.g. ami, anne The prefixes em and en are always nasal.i

Written by Joanne Crease