Lesson - French Sounds (Pronunciation) - #12

[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.

Elision; Linking

Elision
Elision is the omission of the final vowel (e, a, i) of a word when the next word begins with a vowel or a mute h. An apostrophe is use to replace the missing letter. Elision occurs with the:

e of le, ne, de, me, te, se, je, que
l’hôtel, n’a pas, d’Amérique, j’ai, m’a dit, t’aime, s’appelle, qu’il*

a of la
l’amie, l’histoire, je l’amie

i of si before il and ils
s’il vous plait, s’ils parlent

*e of jusque, lorsque, puique, quoique before il, elle, ils, elles, on (subjects) and before un or une.
jusqu’à midi…
lorsqu’il est ici…
puisqu’un avion vole…


mute h
The letter h, we have learned, is silent. But all h letters are not alike. There is a mute h which acts as if it did not exist. Notice:
l’habitation from la habitation
l’histoire from la histoire
l’horizon from le horizon

BUT…
there is a different h, called aspirate, which, although still silent, acts in a different way.

aspirate h
le héros (luh ay-roh)
la harpe (lah ahrp)
la hachette (lah ah-shet)

You cannot guess which words begin with an aspirate h; you have to look up the word in a dictionary. The aspirate h is marked by an asterisk or some other special mark. The aspirate h which does not permit elision does not permit linking either.


Linking
Linking (liaison) is an important part of the French language. Words closely related in thought are linked in a sentence be pronouncing the final consonant of the first word and linking it to the initial vowel of the word that follows.
les…amis (lay-zah-mee)
les…hôtels (lay-zoh-tel)
sans…elle (sahng-zel)
devant…une porte
trés…important
C’est…ici
chez…elle
en…hiver
son…ami
nos…amis
vous…êtes
ils…ont
ont-ils

There are some special linking pronunciations:
d pronounced as t
un grand…ami
un grand…homme
au second…étage

x pronounced as z
six…amis
dix…homme

f pronounced as v
neuf…ans
neuf…heures

NEVER LINK:
et with the next word
Paul et Alice

m in a nasal vowel
un nom / important

with onze, huit
le / onze
en / onze jours

with an aspirate h
en / haut

a proper name
Jean / aussi

certain set forms
mais / oui
cent / un