Lesson - French Sounds (Pronunciation) - #10

[CFHollister]

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

Note: Letters that appear in red are those that appear with strikethrough in the original text.

Endings; Remaining Sounds

-tion
The noun ending –tion, a very common one, is pronounced: s’yong.
condition............. nation
production........... édition
constitution......... formation

-tié
The noun ending –tié, not very common, is pronounced: t’yay.
pitié................... amitié

-ille
The distinctive French sound –ille is pronounced: yuh but barely audible.
fille................... (fee-yuh)
Marseille............ (mahr-say-yuh)
vieille................ (vyay-yuh)
travaille............. (trah-va-yuh)
vaille................. (va-yuh)
Versaille............. (ver-sa-yuh)

The actual sound of Versaille seems close to ver-sigh. In these next words note the pronunciation indicated:
rouillé................ (roo-yay)
nouilles.............. (noo-yuh)
grenouille........... (gruh-noo-yuh)

The sound of i is necessary in:
Bastille............... fille................. cédille

the letter y
The letter y is both a vowel and a consonant, as we have seen. As a avowel is has the same sound as i. As a consonant it has the sound of English y in “young” or “yes.”
Guy.................... ayant (ai-iant = eh-yahng)
Lyon
gymnastique........ fuyant (fui-iant)

th, ph
The letter h is silent in French, as you have already learned (thus th is pronounced like t); but ph is pronounced, as in English, like f.
théorie............... phrase................ photo
orthographie....... phare.................. pharmacie

m, v, z
There should be no difficulties for an American in pronouncing the French letters m, v, z. You have already used them in pronunciation drills.
maison............... vin..................... zèbre
main.................. voir.................... zero

k, w
Letters k and w appear in French dictionaries because of words borrowed from other languages.
kiosque............... kilometer............. wagon-lit
kapok................. kilogramme.......... week-end
knock-out........... kangourou............ whisky

the diaeresis ˙˙
Two dots over a letter separate the sound of two vowels that would otherwise be a combined vowel.
...................................... Noël
mois (mwah)................... Moïse (mo-eez)
lai (leh)........................... laïque (la-eek)

[Uméesha]

Merci CHF. i veulent prendre ceci une empreinte pour se reporter.

CHF, I want to take a print of it to refer. thank u.

[CFHollister]

No problem; you're welcome.