1. j-Like very brief and narrow y in 'yes.' Ex.: viande [vjã:d]; also, yeux [jø], aïeul [ajœl], fille [fi:j], travailler [travaje], travail [travaj]. 2. ч-Has no counterpart in English; avoid very carefully the sound of w in 'wall'; may be best acquired by at first substituting [y] for it, and afterward increasing the speed of the utterance and the elevation of the tongue until it can be formed exactly along with what follows. Ex.: lui [li]; also, nuage [nya:3], écuelle [ekчel]. 3. w-Like very brief and narrow w in 'we,' 'west.' It is best, however, to proceed from the sound of [u] in the manner described for [q] above. Ex.: oui [wi]; also, poids [pwa], tramway [tramwe]. 17. The remaining consonantal sounds can be sufficiently described by noting the differences between their mode of formation and that of the nearest English sounds (see § 1). 1. b-Like b in 'barb.' Ex.: beau [bo], robe [rɔb], abbé [abe]. 2. d-Like d in 'did,' but with the tongue so far advanced that its point, or upper surface, forms a closure with the inner surface of the upper teeth and gums; or the point of the tongue may be thrust against the lower teeth, the upper surface forming a closure with the upper teeth and gums. It must be remembered that in forming English d (also 1, n, r, s, t, z) the tongue touches at some little distance above the teeth (§ 1, 5). Ex.: dame [dam], fade [fad], addition [adisjɔ̃]. 3. f-Like f in 'fat.' Ex.: fort [for], neuf [nof], difficile [difisil]. 4. g-Like g in 'go.' Ex.: gant [ga], dogue [dɔg], guerre [gɛ:r]; also, second [sǝgɔ̃]. 5. h-In orthography the letter h is known as 'h mute' (Fr. ‘h muette'), or 'h aspirate' (Fr. 'h aspirée'), according as it does, or does not, cause elision (§ 19). The learner may regard it, in either case, as absolutely silent. Ex.: l'homme [1 om], le héros [lə ero]. In hiatus, however, a sound resembling, but much weaker than h in 'hat,' is permissible, and is actually used by many Frenchmen. Ex.: aha! [aha], le héros [lə hero], fléau [fleho]. 6. k-Like k in 'take'; avoid the slight aspiration which generally follows the English sound. Ex.: car [kar], roc [rǝk], accorder [akorde]; also, chrétien [kretje], cinq [sk], bouquet [bukɛ], acquérir [akeri:r], kilo [kilo], maxime [maksim]. 7. 1—Like 1 in 'law,' but with the tongue advanced as for [d] above. Ex.: long [15], seul [sal], aller [ale]. 8. m-Like m in 'man,' 'dumb.' Ex.: mot [mo], dame [dam], homme [ɔm]. 9. n-Like n in 'not,' 'man,' but with the tongue advanced as for [d] above. Ex.: ni [ni], âne [a:n], donner [dɔne]. 10. ɲ-Somewhat like ny in 'ban-yan,' except that [n] is a single, not a double, sound, and is formed by pressing the middle of the tongue against the hard palate, the tip being usually thrust against the lower teeth. Ex.: agneau [aɲo], digne [diɲ]. 11. p-Like p in 'pan,' 'top'; avoid the slight aspiration which generally follows the English sound. Ex. pas [pa], tape [tap], appliquer [aplike]. 12. r—Has no English counterpart. It is formed by trilling the tip of the tongue against the upper gums, or even against the upper teeth. This r is called in French 'r linguale.' The tongue must, of course, be well advanced towards the teeth, and not retracted and turned upward, as in our r sound (§ 1, 5). The sound may be advantageously practised at first in combination with d, e.g., dry, drip, drop, drum (as in Scotch or Irish dialect), and afterwards in combinations in which it is less easily pronounced. Ex.: drap [dra], par [par], torrent [torã], rond [ro] NOTE.-Another r sound (called in French 'r uvulaire'), used especially in Paris and in the large cities and towns, is formed by withdrawing and elevating the root of the tongue so as to cause a trilling of the uvula. This r is usually more difficult for English-speaking people to acquire. 13. s—Like s in ‘sea,' 'cease,' but with the tongue advanced as for [d] above. Ex.: si [si], pense [pã:s], casser [kase]; also scène [se:n], place [plas], façade [fasad], leçon [ləsɔ̃], reçu [resy], commençait [kɔmãsɛ], commençons [kǝmãsɔ̃], reçûmes [rǝsym], portion [porsjɔ̃], soixante [swasã:t]. 14. -Like sh in shoe, but with the tongue more advanced (§ 1, 5). Ex.: chou [[u], lâche [la:(], also, schisme [fism]. 15. t-Like t in 'tall,' but with the tongue advanced as for [d] above; avoid the slight aspiration which generally follows the English sound. Ex.: tas [to], patte [pat]. 16. v-Like v in 'vine,' 'cave.' Ex.: vin [ve], cave [ka:v]; also, wagon [vagɔ̃], neuf heures [nov œ:r]. 17. z-Like z in 'zone,' or s in 'rose,' but with the tongue advanced as for [d] above. Ex.: zone [zo:n], rose [ro:z]; also, deux heures, [døz œ:r], exact [egzakt]. 18. 3-Like z in 'azure' or s in 'pleasure,' but with the tongue mcre advanced (§ 1, 5). Ex.: je [30], rouge [ru:3]; also mangeant [mãзã], Jean [3ã]. 18. Liaison. Final consonants are usually silent, but in oral speech, within a group of words closely connected logically, a final consonant (whether usually sounded or not) is regularly sounded, and forms a syllable with the initial vowel sound of the next word. This is called in French 'liaison' = 'linking,' 'joining.' Ex.: C'est un petit homme [s_e-to-pə-ti-tɔm]. 1. A few of the consonants change their sound in liaison, thus, final s or x=z, d=t, g=k, f=v, e.g., nos_amis [no-za-mi], quand_on parle [kã-to-parl]; the t of et is silent, for examples see p. 12. 2. The n of a nasal is carried on, and the nasal vowel loses its nasality in part, or even wholly, e.g., un bon_ami [œ-bo-na-mi, or œ-bo-na-mi]. NOTE. The sounds carried over really belong in pronunciation to the initial syllable of the following word, but to avoid confusion they will be indicated in the transcription with the preceding word, e.g., les hommes [lez om, more properly le zom]. 19. Elision. The letters a, e, i, are entirely silent in certain cases : 1. The a and e are silent and replaced by apostrophe in le, la, je, me, te, se, de, ne, que (and some of its compounds) before initial vowel or h mute (not, however, je, ce, le, la after a verb); so also i of si before il(s). Ex.: L'arbre (=le arbre), l'encre (=la encre), j'ai (=je ai), qu'a-t-il (=que a-t-il), jusqu'à (=jusque à), s'il (=si il). 2. In prose the letter e is silent at the end of all words (except when e is itself the only vowel in the word), silent in the verbal endings -es, -ent, silent within words after a vowel sound, and in the combination ge or je [3]. In verbs which have stem g [3], g becomes ge [3] before a or o of an ending, to preserve the [3] sound. Ex.: : rue [ry], donnée [dɔne], rare [ra:r], place [plas], ai-je [ɛ:3], table [tabl], sabre [sa: br], prendre [prã:dr], tu parles [ty parl], ils parlent [il parl], gaieté [gete], mangeons [mã35], Jean [3ã]. NOTE.-In ordinary discourse, this sound is usually slighted or wholly omitted in most cases in which consonantal combinations produced by its weakening or elision can be readily pronounced, but beginners will do well to sound it fully, except in the cases above specified. The treatment of the [ǝ] in poetry is beyond the scope of this work. 20. Punctuation. The same punctuation marks are used in French as in English. 2. They are used as in English, but the 'tiret' commonly serves to denote a change of interlocutor. Ex.: "Qui est là? dis-je.-Personne.-Quoi! personne !-Personne, dit-il." 21. Capitals. The principal differences between French and English in the use of capital letters (Fr. 'lettres majuscules,' 'capitales') may be seen from the following examples: Un livre canadien écrit en français par un Canadien. Toronto, lundi, le 3 janvier. Je lui ai dit ce que je pensais. [The sign (:) in unstressed syllables indicates 'half long.'] Tu aimeras le Seigneur ton Dieu de tout ton cœur, de toute ty ε: mra 1 sɛɲæ:r tɔ̃ djø d tu tɔ̃ kær, də tut ton âme, de toute ta force, et de toute ta pensée; et ton ton a:m, də tut ta fors, e d tut ta pãise; e tõ prochain comme toi-même... prɔfe kǝm twa mɛ:m... œn Et Un homme descendait de Jérusalem à Jéricho; et il est desã:de d 3eryzalɛm a 3eriko; e il Ε tombé parmi des brigands, qui l'ont dépouillé, ils l'ont chargé to: be parmi de brigă, ki 1 5 depuje, i 1 5 Jarze de coups, et ils sont partis, en le laissant à moitié mort. d ku, e i sɔ̃ parti, ã 1 lε:sã a mwatje mɔ:r. e par hasard un prêtre descendait par ce chemin-là, et en le par aza:r œ prɛ:trǝ desă: de par sə fmẽ la, e ă 1 voyant, il a passé outre. De même aussi un lévite, arrivé vwaja, il a pa:se utr. də me:m o:si œ levit, ari:ve dans cet endroit, il est venu, et en le voyant, il a passé outre. dã st ã:drwa, il ε vny, e ã 1 vwajã, il a pa:se utr. Mais un Samaritain, qui voyageait, est venu là, et en le voyant, me œ samarite, ki vwaja3Є, ε vny la, e ã 1 vwajã, il a été ému de pitié; et il s'est approché pour bander ses il a ete emy d pitje; e il s ɛt aprofe pur bã:de se puis il l'a mis sur pui i la mi syr blessures, en y versant de l'huile et du vin; donnés à l'aubergiste, en disant, -Reprinted by kind permission of M. Paul Passy, from his "Version populaire de l'Évangile de Luc en transcription phonétique.” 12 |