(h muette) when the final vowel of the preceding word may be elided before it, or when the final consonant of the preceding word may be carried over to it in pronunciation; otherwise, it is called aspirate (h aspirée). As l'homme, the man, and les hommes, the men; but le héros, the hero, and les héros, the heroes.

If the -s of les in les héros were carried over it would sound like les zéros, the zeros.

Whether the h is mute or aspirate can be learned only by observation and practice. The following are among the most usual words in which the h is aspirate: la hache, the axe; la haie, the hedge; la haine, hate; une halle, a market-place; les hardes, the clothes; les haricots, the beans; le hasard, the chance; la hâte, haste; le haut, the summit; le héros, the hero (but l'héroïne, l'héroïsme); la honte, the shame; le Havre, Havre; la Haye, the Hague; la Hollande, Holland; le huit, the eight (but mute in dix-huit and vingt-huit).

j has the sound of s in pleasure. As jour, day; joli, pretty; jambe, leg; joindre, to join.

ill, not initial, and sometimes il when final, form the so-called liquid 1 (1 mouillée), with nearly the sound of y in yes. As soleil, sun; fille, daughter.

A vowel standing before the liquid 1 does not form a diphthong with the i, but retains its own sound; ue and oe have then the sound of eu. As paille, straw; feuille, leaf; orgueil, pride; œil, eye.

There is no liquid sound in il, avril, exil, vil, fil, mil, civil, profil, péril, nil, Achille, Lille, pupille, distiller, vaciller, osciller, mille, ville, village, tranquille. Of the exceptions containing ill, the last four are of most frequent occurrence.

1 is silent in baril, chenil, coutil, fils (s is sounded), fusil, gentil, gril, outil, persil, pouls, soul, sourcil.

1 is heard in calme, calm.

m and n, if the preceding vowel is not nasal, have the same sound as in English.

m is silent in damner and

its compounds and in automne.

p is silent in baptême, compte, corps, dompter, exempt, temps, sculpter, sept, and their compounds. It is sounded in septembre, September, and in psaume, psalm. ph has the sound of f.

qu has the sound of k. As qui, who; qualité, quality. Final q of cinq, five, is sounded, except before a consonant or aspirate h. q is heard in coq, cock, but silent in coq d'Inde, turkeygobbler.

In aquarelle, équateur, équation, loquace, quadrupède, quartz, and a few other words qu has the same sound as in English.

r is articulated much more distinctly than in English. As rue, street; rivière, river.

r final is sounded when preceded by a, i, o, u (as car, for; finir, to finish; dur, hard), in monosyllables ending in -er (as fer, iron), and in amer, bitter; cuiller,1 spoon; enfer, hell; fier, proud; hier, yesterday; l'hiver, winter.

In other words final -er is sounded like 6. As parler, to speak; dernier, last; premier,2 first; léger, light.

Both r's are distinctly sounded in the future and conditional tenses of acquérir, courir, and mourir, to distinguish them from the other forms with a single r. As nous courons, we run; nous courrons we shall run. It is always silent in monsieur, pronounced m'sieu.

s between two vowels has the sound of s in please. As voisin, neighbor; base, base; écraser, to crush.

Except in parasol, désuétude, and in compound words, where s retains the hissing sound of its simple form. As préséance, precedence, vraisemblable, likely.

Otherwise it has the sound of s in sister. As sensation, sensation; prisme, prism; héroïsme, heroism.

Except in transaction, transalpin, transiger, transit, transitif, transition, balsamine, and Alsace, in which it has the sound of z.

s final is silent except in albinos, aloès, angelus, as, atlas, bis, blocus, cens, chorus, dervis, en sus, fils, florès, Gil Blas, gratis, hélas,

1 Look out for French u in this word.

2 Notice that the first e in this word is like e in English th(e) man.

iris, jadis, laps, lis (though generally silent in fleur-de-lis), maïs, mars, mœurs, obus, ours, rébus, Rheims, rhinocéros, Saint-Gaudens (Fr. nasal in s), sinus, sens (but sen(s) commun), tous (when used without a noun), us, vis, and in Greek and Latin names, as Vénus. In the singular os, bone, the s is generally heard, but not in the plural: un os (short o); des os, pronounced like des eaux.

In Jesus, the final s is sometimes heard, and in le Christ both s and t are pronounced; but in Jésus-Christ the s of Jésus and st of Christ are silent.

t usually sounds as in tutor. It has the hissing sound of s in the combinations -tion, -tial, -tiel, -tieux, and in a few words ending in -tie, which in English end in -cy. As situation, situation; partialité, partiality; essentiel, essential; factieux, factious; démocratie, democracy.

Also in balbutier, initier, patience, ineptie, minutie, satiété (first t), and in proper names ending in -tien; as un Vénitien, a Venetian.

In the imperfect indicative and present subjunctive of verbs, or when preceded by s, t retains its hard sound. As nous partions, question. Also in moitié, half, bonnetier, Poitiers, galimatias, chrétien, Claretie.

th always has the sound of t. As théâtre, theatre; thé, tea.

t final is silent, except in brut, but, chut, dot, déficit, est, east, fat, granit, lest, mat, net, ouest, and most words ending in -ct. In sept and huit, the t is mute only before a noun or adjective beginning with a consonant; as dans huit jours. In vingt, t is always mute except in the numbers 21 to 29 inclusive.

w occurs only in a few words of foreign origin, such as tramway (pron. as in English), whist (pron. ouist), wagon (pron. vagon).

xusually has the sound of ks. As luxe, luxury ; auxiliaire, auxiliary. ex- initial and followed by a vowel or h mute has the sound of gz. (en nasal in), examination; exception, x = ks.

=

As exil, exile; examen, exemple, example. In

It has the sound of ss in Bruxelles, soixante, six, and dix; but the x of six or dix is silent before a consonant, and sounds like z before a vowel or h mute. It has the sound of z in deuxième, sixième, dixième, dix-huit, dix-neuf.

Division of Syllables

In the body of a word each syllable must if possible begin with a consonant; as mo-ra-li-té, a-ma-bi-li-té.

If there are two consonants the division usually takes place between the two; as hom-me, vil-le, par-tir, enten-du. But if the second is 1 or r (and the first is neither 1 nor r), or if the two are gn, the division takes place before the two; as 6-glise, ta-bleau, no-tre, é-crire, vi-gne.

As h is never heard in pronunciation, the consonant which precedes it is always carried, in speaking, to the following vowel; as i-nhu-main, i-nha-bi-té.

The compound consonant x (=ks or gz) always goes with the preceding vowel; as ex-il.