Page images
PDF
EPUB
[blocks in formation]

44.-j. j is always pronounced like s ofreasure, never as in jam, John: jardin, déjà, je, jetonjoli, juge.

45.-1.7 has two sounds: one alike bh in French and in English, as long, male, capital. T is the most general.

[ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]

47.-L is mouillée:

(a) In ill, in the middle of a word, as billet, famille; pronounce biyet, famiye.

Except in:

distiller, distillateur, distillation, distillatoire, distil-
lerie ;
imbécillité;

mille, millénaire, millésime, milliaire, milliard, mil-
lième, millier, millimètre, million, millionième,
millionnaire;

osciller, oscillation, oscillatoire ;

papille, papillaire ;

pupille, pupillaire, pupillarité;

pusillanime, pusillanimité ;

scintiller, scintillation;

tranquille, tranquillement, tranquilliser, tranquillité ; vaciller, vacillation;

ville, villa, villace, village, villageois, villanelle, villette. (b) In the words ending in ail, eil, ueil, ouil, as: — camail, soleil, accueil, fenouil.

(c) In avril, babil, cil, fenil, grésil, gril, mil (maize), péril.

48.-Z is not sounded in baril, chenil, coutil, cul, fournil, fusil, gentil, nombril, outil, persil, pouls, soûl, sourcil, and fils (son). It is sounded in fils (thread).

49.-LL are generally sounded as though they were but one letter, except in the following words, where

[blocks in formation]

50.-ph. ph is always pronounced like f: pharisien, phénomène, philosophe, Alphonse, Phocéen, physique,

Phrygie.

51.-S. s is pronounced as in the word sir: salaire, service, silence, sou, espérance, histoire, presque, consul, justice, except between two vowels or between a vowel and an h mute, when it is pronounced like s in nose, nasal base, présence, président, déshonneur, rose, résolution, présumer.

52.-Exceptions:

(a) Pronounce s as in sir in-monosyllabe, polysyllabe, préséance, présupposer, présupposition (last s of the last two words is sounded like a z), parasol, entresol, désuétude, tournesol, vraisemblance, vraisemblable, havresac, soubresaut, gisant, nous gisons, ils gisent, il gisait, ils gisaient.

(b) Pronounce s like z in-Alsace, balsamine, balsamique, transiger, transition, transaction, transalpine, transitoire, transit, transitif.

53.—The first s is not sounded in words beginning with ress. Therefore, you must pronounce re, and not ré, in those words; as ressentir, ressource: re-sentir, resource. In the three following words alone we pronounce ré: ressui, ressuyer, ressusciter.

Dessus, dessous, are pronounced de-su, de-sou. 54.-t. t is pronounced generally as in English: ta, te, tien, tu, trône.

55.-T is pronounced like s in sir:

(a) When followed by ia (except tiare), iel, ieux, ion, and not preceded by s or x:-initiation, essentiel, prétentieux (t in the conjugation of a verb is pronounced through all the verb as it is in the infinitive).

(b) In the termination tien, not preceded by 8, of geographical or historical names:-égyptien, Domitien.

(c) In the terminations tium, tius, atie, étie:-Actium, Martius, suprématie, péripétie.

(d) in argutie, balbutier, Béotie, calvitie, impatience, impatiemment, impatient, impéritie, ineptie, inertie, initier, minutie, Négritie, patience, patiemment, patient, patienter, quotient, satiété, transsubstantier.

56.-th. th must be always pronounced as t in tea, and never as in the: mathématiques, thé, thon, thym.

57.-X. x is generally pronounced like ks: sexe, élixir, syntaxe, luxe, maxime; pronounce sekse, éliksir, syntakse, lukse, maksime.

58.-Exceptions:

(a) X is pronounced like gz: 1. at the beginning of words: Le Xanthe, Xénophon; 2. in ex and inex beginning a word and followed by a vowel or an h mute: exorde, exhortation, inexact, pronounce egzorde, egzhortation, inegzact.

(b) X is pronounced like ss in Bruxelles, Auxonne, Auxerre, soixante; pronounce Brusselles, Aussonne, Ausserre, soissante.

(c) X is pronounced like z in deuxième, sixième, dixième, deuxièmement, sixièmement, dixièmement, sixain ; pronounce deuzième . . . . sizain.

59.—ai. ai is pronounced like the French e with an accent: -j'ai, maison, palais,

(Ai is pronounced like e mute before sa, si, so, in faire and its derivatives:-je faisais, nous faisions, bienfaisant; pronounce fesais, fesions, bienfesant.)

60.-aim, ain must be pronounced like in of chemin :daim, main.

61.-ao a is not heard in Saône, août, aoûteron, taon; pronounce Sône, oû, oûteron, tan.

62. ao. o is not heard in paon, paonne, faon, Laon; pronounce pan, panne, fan, Lan.

63.-au is pronounced like o:-jaune, pauvre.

64.-ee is never pronounced like ee in sheep. Each of the two e's must be pronounced separately; as :-créer, crée, créée; pronounce :—cré-er, cré-e, cré-é-e.

65.-ei is pronounced like ai of maison :—reine, seize. 66.-ein is pronounced like ain of main :-plein, serein. 67.-eu is pronounced almost like e of je unaccented, but with the mouth more opened, as if to pronounce the i of the English word Sir:-jeu, heureux.

(Eu in the verb avoir is pronounced like u―j'eus,

nous eûmes, etc.)

68.-ao, oa, oe, oo, must be pronounced in two syllables:-Laocoon, boa, coassement, poésie, coopérer,

coexister, épizootie; pronounce La-o-co-on, bo-a, coassement, po-ésie, co-opérer, co-exister, épizo-otie.

69.-oi must be pronounced like oo-ah in English:-roi, moine; pronounce roo-ah, moo-ahne.

(Oi is never pronounced like in the English words boil, point.)

70.-ou is pronounced like oo of cook, or oe of shoe, but never like ou of mouse:-moulin, fou, clou, soutien, prouesse, blouse.

71.-an, en, in, on, un, before any other consonant than n or h, or at the end of words, have a sound called nasal, peculiar to the French language. This sound can only be properly acquired by hearing it pronounced:enfant, prétention, soutiendra, pince, conte, clan, bien, fin, bon, brun.

72.-Whenever an, en, in, on, un, are followed by a vowel

or an h mute, you must sound n with the next vowel: plane, voisine, voisinage, brune, inhumain, inodore, inimitable, inutile, must be pronounced pla-ne, voi-sine, voi-sinage, bru-ne, i-nhumain, i-nodore, i-nimitable, i-nutile.

« PreviousContinue »