Lesson - French Sounds (Pronunciation) - #2

CFHollister · #1 12-27-2006, 04:46 AM

Please see the following for introduction and citation information:
http://moi-alizee.us/forums/showthread.php?t=1101

au, eau, oi, ez, er

To review the point that final consonants in French are silent, pronounce:
Margot............... clos................... estomac
Bardot................ Cloud................. Yves
Corot................. Tarbes............... chassis
In pronouncing the third column did you say
es-tom-mah........ eve................... shah-see?

Did you remember to make each syllable equally strong?
You probably have made the ar combination sound more English than French. Put the sound more in the front of your mouth; thin your lips a bit; make the sound fairly crisp. Now try again:
Margot................ Bardot................ Tarbes
Do you hear the difference?

We have now called attention to the following points:
i........................ has the sound of............... eeeh
(the vowel sound of beet)
ou..................... has the sound of................ oooh
(the vowel sound of boot)
a....................... has the sound of................ ah
(the vowel sound bah)
os/ot/od............. at the end of a word have the sound of.......... oh
(the vowel sound of oak)

Practice pronouncing:
Mimi................... clou................... ma..................... nos
Fifi..................... cou................... chat................... fagot
midi.................... coucou............... bas.................... vos
si....................... bout.................. plat.................... bigot
dit..................... sous................... tas..................... bachot
tapis................... fou.................... glas.................... pot

au and eau
Both au and eau have the sound of oh:
Pau.................... beau.................. aussi
faut................... seau................... autel
maux.................. Meaux................ drapeau
chaud................ chapeau.............. bateaux

the sound of oi
The combination oi is often found in French.
oi...................... has the sound of................. wah
(the vowel sound of watt)

Pronounce:
moi.................... choix.................. bois
loi...................... voix................... froid
lois..................... croix.................. chamois
toit.................... fois.................... trois

final ez and er
Final ez and er have the sound of ay as in English day.
BUT THERE IS A DIFFERENCE. In English we slide from ay to ay-eee. As a matter of fact we do that sliding with words like die also; we say dy-eee. It is important to remember that the French do not slide the vowel. They say ay without changing the position of the lips, tongue, or teeth during the sound.

Pronounce:
coupez............... coucher.............. sauter
chez................... passer............... placez

One more point: the French word for “and” is et, pronounced (always and in every case) ay as explained above.
Say: Margot et Charles

HibyPrime · #2 12-27-2006, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CFHollister

In English we slide from ay to ay-eee. As a matter of fact we do that sliding with words like die also; we say dy-eee. It is important to remember that the French do not slide the vowel. They say ay without changing the position of the lips, tongue, or teeth during the sound.

I never even noticed I was doing this!

Thanks for the lessons.

CFHollister · #3 12-27-2006, 08:14 PM

The "sliding" process that is discribed here is what linguists call a diphthong, or coarticulation of two or more vowel sounds. Many "long vowels" in English end up as diphthongs even if we don't realize it. Some end up being written with two vowels; but others that we think are "pure vowels" really aren't in many English dialects:
long i as in hight
long a as in late
oi as in boil
ow as in cow
and sometimes even long o as in hope which ever so slightly "slides" from oh to oooh. If you can feel your lips tightening while you say a long o, then you know you are doing it.

Other langauges (including French) tend to use more of what are called "pure vowels," vowels which do not change in articularion as you say them. This is particularly true in what English speakers think of a long a. I kow this post was mostly about English, but recognizing what you do instinctively in you native language helps you consciously not do those things when speaking another language. Learning proper French pronunciation also includes English accent reduction.

Edit: The so-called "semi-vowels," w and y, can also be seen as a form of diphthongization that has been standardized where w represents a diphthong starting on oooh and ending on the vowel that is written after it and y represents a diphthong that starts on eeeh and ends on the vowel written after it.