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French Diction F14
French Diction F14
INTRODUCTION
Fun French Facts
• Académie française – group founded in 1635 to
arbitrate questions of French language
• IPA was originally founded and developed in France
by Paul Passy in 1886. Leadership was eventually
passed to Great Britain
• Le Petit Robert – most reliable French dictionary and
trusted source for the French of France. Only
alterations: uvular r and use of schwas for lyric
diction
• Dictionnaire de la pronunciation française – Léon
Warnant – style courant & style soutenu
Characteristics of French Language
• L’accent grave
1. used over the letter e – indicates open pronunciation:
l’élève [lelEvW}
2. used over a and u to distinguish between monosyllabic
homonyms: la [la] (the) vs. là [la] (there)
EXCEPTIONS:
• Final er is [e]: verger [veɾʒe]
• Vowel + final il is [j]: soleil [solɛj]
• Consonant + final il is: [il] avril [avril]
French Diction - Consonants
SILENT FINAL CONSONANTS:
Final consonants are silent (except c, r, f, l)
quand [kɑ᷉ ], long [lo᷉ ], nom [no᷉ ], rien [ɾjɛ᷉],
trop [tɾo], bois [bwa ], tout [tu], voix [vwa]
SCHWA [ə]
• Final –e, -es (without an accent): le [lə],
belle [bɛlə], anges [ɑ᷉ʒə]
• In the following sequence: consonant + e +
consonant + vowel: devenir [dəvəniɾ]
(re- may be a prefix as in regrets [ɾəgɾɛ])
• Verb ending – ent: chantent [ʃɑ᷉ tə]
• Spelling fais + vowel: faison [fəzo᷉], faisait [fəzɛ]
French Diction Vowels
SCHWA [ə]
Note Exception: monsieur [məsjø] – also
note no transcription of final r
French Diction – Nasal
Vowels
em, am + n, m, h or vowel:
flamme [flamə]
FINAL –ENT:
1. Is [ɑ᷉ ] for an adjective:
2. Is [ə] for a third person plural (they) verb
ending:
• LABS: Glides, c, d, f, g
[j]
• i, y, ï + vowel: lierre [ljɛɾə], fuyant [fɥijɑ᷉],
naïades [najadə]
• Medial ill: feuilles [fœjə], filles [fijə],
Exceptions: 1.ville [vilə], 2.milles [milə],
3.tranquille [tɾɑ᷉kilə]
“a thousand tranquil towns”
French Diction – Glides
[j]
Final il may be [j] or [il]:
• Vowel + final il is [j]: soleil []
• Consonant + final il is [il]: avril [avɾil]
French Diction – Glides
[w]
ou + vowel: alouette [alwɛtə]
[wa]
Spelling oi: voici [vwasi], croix [kɾwa],
voilà [vwala], voir [vwaɾ]
[waj]
Spelling oy + vowel: joyeux [ʒwajø],
royal [rwajal], voyage [vwajaʒə]
French Diction – Glides
[ɥ]
• u + vowel: suave [sɥavə], nuage [nɥaʒə]
(except final eu(s): venue [vənyə],
avenues [avənyə]
• Spelling iu: nuit [nɥi], suis [sɥi], celui [səlɥi],
depuis [dəpɥi], puisque [pɥiskə]
Letter Becomes
d [t]
f [v]
g [k]
s [z]
x [z]
French Diction - Elision and Liason
Aspirate h Mute h
le hèros [lə ero] l’hommes [lɔmə]
un hèros [œ᷉ ero] un homme [œ᷉ nɔmə]
French Diction - Liason
COMPULSARY OR OBLIGATORY LIASON
1. After a plural noun and words which indicate
the plural noun (spellings: final -s, -x, -rs)
Sept nuit et sept jours [sɛt nɥi ze sɛt ʒuɾ]
Les yeux aux cristaux [lɛ zjø zo kristo]
Les lauriers et les cyprès [lɛ lɔɾje ze lɛ sipɾɛ]
Chers instants [ʃɛɾ zɛ᷉ stɑ᷉ ]
-rs in this instance connects with s [z]
French Diction - Liason
COMPULSARY OR OBLIGATORY LIASON
2. Liason after an article, adjective, personal
pronoun, verb, adverb, preposition, or
conjunction (Bernac)
Article - un͜ enfant [œ᷉ nɑ ᷉fɑ᷉]
Adjective – beaux͜ amours [bo za muɾ]
Preposition – sous͜ un͜ arbres [su zœ᷉ naɾ bɾə]
Verb – rester͜ ici [ɾɛ stɛ ɾi si] – note change in vowel
French Diction - Liason
COMPULSARY OR OBLIGATORY LIASON
3. Nasals: Compulsary only after un, en, on, mon,
son, ton, bien, rien, and adjectives with nasal
endings.
Bien͜ aimèe [bjɛ᷉ nɛ me ə], bon͜ à prendre [bo᷉ na pɾɛ᷉ drə]
When n is linked, bon, moyen, ancien, divin, villain and
–ian, -ein endings, lose their nasalizations:
Plein ͜air [plɛ nɛɾ], bon ͜anniversaire [bɔ na ni vɛɾ sɛɾ],
Ancien͜ ami [ɑ᷉ sjɛ na mi], vain͜ espoir [vɛ nɛ spwaɾ]