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Lesson - French Sounds (Pronunciation) - #7
Please see the following for introduction and citation information:
http://moi-alizee.us/forums/showthread.php?t=1101 Accent Marks; é, è There are three different accent marks in French. ́ accent aigu ` accent grave ˆ accent circonflexe The acute accent appears only on é. That é is pronounced ay. é....................... été.................... allé..................... tué The grave accent appears on è (père) and is pronounced eh. It appears also on à and in là to differentiate from la. It appears also on ù in où to differentiate from ou. The circumflex accent appears on all vowels. It lengthens the vowel slightly â........... pâte (paste) ê........... fête (feast) î............ île (isle) ô........... drôle û........... sûr Note the s in English replaced by the accent. mât = ? forêt = ? Pronounce: (the accented e’s in the 2nd and 3rd columns are pronounced eh) café................... près................... être épée.................. très.................... tête étage................. mère................... prête Léon.................. frère.................... prêt numéro............... chère étoile................. scène sound of é Let’s study now the various spellings that have the sound ay. é..................... in........... été er final............................ aller ez final............................ allez ai in some words**............ j’ai et meaning “and” ** the sound of ai is a matter of variation among French speakers. For mai some say mé, others mè. This brings up a point about the et endings in words you have seen in English: bouquet.............. Bizet gourmet.............. Monet filet.................... Chevrolet Most careful French speakers say: boo keh.............. rather than boo kay goor meh............ rather than goor may Try to make your closed e (é) a tense sound, with teeth fairly close together. Now for the open e (è or ê) loosen the tension slightly for the eh sound. Contrast: bée........ bête......... belle With the tense lips and small opening between the teeth for a closed e sound, words like bouquet will be correctly pronounced and will still follow the rule of a closed vowel in an open syllable. sound of è Now the spelling for the open e sound: e + 2 consonants.............. elle e in monosyllables............. mer è................................... très ê................................... prêt ei in closed monosyllables... pleine ai in closed monosyllables... aile
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