The vowel sound preceding i is slightly dimmed. The il or ill is pronounced like oe + il or illy in toy, yet. euil or ill ouail or ill 12. Consonants. Ex.: travail, travaj, paille, paj, oeil, œ:j, fauteuil, fotæ:j, bouillon, bu:jɔ̃ ouaille, wa.j. c [k] before a, o, u, or a consonant or when final. Like k in king. Ex.: cas, ka, corps, ko:r, cure, ky:r. c [s] before e, i, y Like c in cellar. ç [s] before a, o, u Ex.: ceci, səsi, cyprès, sipre, plaçant, plasă, garçon, garsɔ̃, reçu, rosy. ch [] Like sh in shall. Ex.: monarchie, monarfi, architecte, arfitekt, cher, se:r. ch1 [k] Like k in king. Ex.: choeur, ka:r, chaos, kao, orchestre, orkestr. g [g] before a, o, u, or a consonant. Like g in log. Ex.: gros, gro, guide, gi:d, gare, ga:r. g [3] before e, i, y. Like z in azure. Ex.: manger, mãze, gymnase, zimna:z, gîte, zi:t. gn [n] Almost like ny in canyon. Ex.: ignorant, inɔrã, vigne, vin. h Nowadays this consonant is never pronounced. Before a so-called mute h a final consonant in the preceding word is linked, and a final vowel is elided. The so called aspirate h prevents liaison or elision. (See § 14.) Thus, les hiboux is pronounced le ibu, but les hommes is pronounced lezɔm. Ex.: le héros, la ero, l'hôtel, lo⚫tel. 1 ch is sounded like k in the same words as in English, except some where ch precedes i as architecte (arfitekt). j [3] Like z in azure. Ex.: joujou, zuzu, jaune, zo:n, jeune, za:n. 1, sometimes 111 [7] On the teeth, somewhat like I in life. Ex.: illustration, i(l)lystra.sjɔ̃, exil, egzil, civil, sivil, fil, fil, ville, vil. 1, final. Sometimes silent. Ex.: baril, bari, fusil, fyzi, gentil, zati, outil, uti, sourcil, sur:si, also fils, fis. 1 or 11 liquid [j] Almost like y in yet. (See diphthongs.) Ex.: fille, fi(:)j, habiller, abije, famille, fami(:)j. Silent. p, before a consonant. Ex.: baptiser, batize, compter, kɔ̃te. ph [f] always like fin food. Ex.: phonographe, fonograf. qu [k] Usually like k in king. Ex.: quantité, kătite, quart, ka:r, qui, ki. r2 [r] No equivalent in English. Pronounced in throat by bringing base of tongue into contact with palate. Ex.: rare, ra:r, liberté, liberte, cher, fe:r. er final [e] Usually like é. Ex.: dernier, dernje, officier, ofisje. r final [r] Is pronounced in a few words. Ex.: hiver, ive:r, cher, fe:r, hier, je:r. s between two vowels[-] Like s in rose. Ex.: blasé, blaze, les arbres, lezarb:r. s elsewhere [s] Like s in such. Ex.: sommeil, some:j, espoir, espwa:r. th [] Always like t in take, only more dental. Ex.: Thomas, toma, théorie, teori. 1 In initial ill and in mille, ville, tranquille (mil, vil, tråkil) and their compounds, 11 sounds like in life. Passy distinguishes two pronunciations of this letter, one uvular, the other lingual. ti medial [si] Often has sound of s in such plus vowel i. Ex.: éducation, edykasjɔ̃, diplomatie, diplɔmasi. ti medial [ti] In a few words has its ordinary sound. Like t in tame plus vowel i. Ex.: amitié, amitje, garantie, garāti. x1 [ks] Usually like English ks. Ex.: expert, eksper, réflexion, refleksjɔ̃. ex initial before vowel or h mute [gz]. Ex.: exhumer, egzyme. exercice, egzersis, examen, egzamē. 13. Final Consonants. When final, consonants are generally silent. c, f, 1, r, when final, are generally pronounced. But final r is silent in infinitives in -er; in most words of more than one syllable in -er, except amer, cancer, cuiller, enfer, hiver; in all words in -ier except hier, fier (proud); in monsieur, messieurs. 14. Linking of Words (Liaison). Final consonants are generally silent except when two words stand together, closely connected in meaning, the second word beginning with a vowel or h mute, in which case the final consonant of the first is joined with the initial vowel of the second. Ex.: les hommes, lezɔm, les enfants, lezãƒã. le grand 2 homme, lǝgratɔm, très étrange, trezetraz. 15. Tonic Accentuation. All syllables of a French word, except those ending with -e mute must be pronounced distinctly and with almost equal stress. There is usually a slight raising of the voice on the last syllable (except in words ending in mute e). 16. Quantity. There are short and long syllables in French, although the distinction is less noticeable than in English. 1 x = s in dix, six [sis, dis]; = ss in soixante [swasat]; = z in deuxième [dœzjem], dixième [dizjem]. 2 d, when linked, sounds like t; c and g like k; f like v, and s and x like z. PREMIÈRE LEÇON La classe La Le maître parle 18. La leçon commence à neuf heures. Les élèves récitent1 la leçon. Le maître explique la deuxième leçon. leçon est facile. Les leçons sont faciles. aux élèves. Il interroge les élèves. Le maître dicte aux élèves les phrases de la première leçon. Les phrases sont faciles. Le maître corrige la dictée. A2 dix heures, le maître ferme le livre. Le matin, la leçon commence à neuf heures ; l'après-midi, la leçon commence à deux heures. La leçon dure une heure. 1 -ent in the 3d pers. plur. is always silent. Thus, il parle, he speaks, and ils parlent, they speak, are pronounced alike. But il interroge, and ils interrogent, do not sound alike, since the -s of ils is linked (see § 14) with the initial vowel of the following word. 2 Accents are not written on initial capital letters. A quelle heure la leçon commence-t1-elle ? Qui interroge-t-il? Que dicte le maître ? A qui dicte-t-il les phrases? Quel? (m.), which? quelle? (f.), which? qui? who? whom? que? what? oui, monsieur, yes, sir. oui, madame, yes, madam. oui, mademoiselle, yes, miss. elle, she, it. FEM. SING. la (before consonant), the. de la (before consonant), of the. (for both genders) aux, to the. 21. Verb forms. il commence, he begins. elle commence, she begins. je parle, I speak. vous parlez,2 you speak. ils commencent, they begin (m.). elles commencent, they begin (f.). nous parlons,2 we speak. parlez-vous, do you speak? 1 The -t- has no meaning; it is called euphonic t. See § 26, 3. 2 -ons is the usual ending of the 1st pers. plur. and -ez of the 2d pers. plur. 8 Note hyphen in interrogative form. |