French Phonology - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

6/22/2015
FrenchphonologyWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia
Frenchphonology
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia
ThisarticlemainlydiscussesthephonologicalsystemofstandardFrenchbasedontheParisiandialect.
NotablephonologicalfeaturesofFrenchincludeitsuvularr,nasalvowels,andthreeprocessesaffecting
wordfinalsounds:liaison,acertaintypeofsandhi,whereinwordfinalconsonantsarenotpronounced
unlessfollowedbyawordbeginningwithavowelelision,whereincertaininstancesof//(schwa)are
elided(e.g.whenfinalbeforeaninitialvowel)andenchanement(resyllabification),inwhichwordfinal
andwordinitialconsonantsmaybemovedacrossasyllableboundary,sothatsyllablesmaycrossword
boundaries.
Anexampleofthesevariousprocessesisasfollows:
Written:Onalaisslafentreouverte.
Meaning:"Thewindowhasbeenleftopen."
Inisolation:/
alselafntuvt/
Together:[.
na.l.se.laf.n.tu.vt]
Contents
1Consonants
1.1Geminates
1.2Liaison
2Vowels
2.1Lowvowels
2.2Midvowels
2.3Nasalvowels
2.4Schwa
2.5Length
2.6Elision
3Glidesanddiphthongs
4Stress
4.1Emphaticstress
5Intonation
6Seealso
7Notes
8References
9Externallinks
Consonants
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ConsonantphonemesofFrench
Dental/
Labial
Postalveolar Palatal Velar Uvular
Alveolar
Nasal
Plosive
Fricative
Approximant
voiceless
voiced
voiceless
voiced
plain
labialized
()
(x)
Phoneticnotes:
/n,t,d/arelaminaldentialveolar[n
,t
,d
],[2][3]
while/s,z/aredentalizedlaminalalveolar[s
,z
]
(commonlycalled'dental'),pronouncedwiththe
bladeofthetongueveryclosetothebackofthe
upperfrontteeth,withthetiprestingbehind
lowerfrontteeth.[2][4]
/l/canalsobelaminaldentialveolar[l
],butitis
muchmorecommonlyapicalalveolar[l
].[3]
Before/,f/,itcanberealizedasretroflex[].[3]
Incurrentpronunciation,//ismergingwith
/nj/.[5]
Thevelarnasal//isnotanativephonemeof
French,butoccursinloanwordssuchas
camping,bingoorkungfu.[6]Somespeakerswho
havedifficultywiththisconsonantreplaceitwith
[]or[].[7]
Theapproximants[j],[]and[w]correspondto
/i/,/y/and/u/respectively.Whilethereareafew
minimalpairs(suchasloua[lu.a]'s/herented'
andloi[lwa]'law'),therearemanycaseswhere
Distributionofgutturalr(e.g.[])inpartof
thereisfreevariation.[8]
Europeinthemid20thcentury. [1]
SomedialectsofFrenchhaveapalatallateral//
notusual
(French:lmouill,'moistenedl'),butinthe
onlyinsomeeducatedspeech
modernstandardvarietythisphonemehas
mergedwith/j/.[9]SeealsoGlidesand
usualineducatedspeech
diphthongs,below.
general
TheFrenchrhotichasawiderangeof
realizations:theuvularfricatives[]and[](the
latteralsorealizedasanapproximant),theuvulartrill[],thealveolartrill[r],andthealveolartap
[].Theseareallrecognizedasthephoneme/r/,[8]butallexcept[]and[]areconsidereddialectal.
[]isthestandardconsonant.SeeFrenchgutturalrandmapatright.
Thephoneme/x/isnotanativephonemeofFrench,butoccursinloanwordssuchaskhamsin,
manhuaorjota.Peoplewhohavedifficultywiththissoundreplaceitwith//.
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Somespeakerspronounce/k/and//as[c]and[]before/i,e,,a,/
andattheendofaword.[10]
IPA
Example
/m/ [mu] mou
Examplewords[11]
Gloss IPA
Example
'soft'
/n/
[nu]
nous
Gloss
'we,us'
//
[ao] agneau 'lamb'
//
[paki] parking 'parkinglot'
/p/
[pu] pou
'louse'
/b/
[bu]
boue
'mud'
/t/
[tu]
'all'
/d/
[du]
doux
'sweet'
/k/
[ku] cou
'neck'
//
[u]
got
'taste'
/f/
[fu]
fou
'crazy'
/v/
[vu]
vous
'you'
/s/
[su]
sous
'under'
/z/
[zo]
zoo
'zoo'
//
[u]
chou
'cabbage' //
[u]
joue
'cheek'
/l/
[lu]
loup
'wolf'
[u]
roue
'wheel'
tout
//
Geminates
AlthoughdoubleconsonantlettersappearintheorthographicformofmanyFrenchwords,geminate
consonantsarerelativelyrareinthepronunciationofsuchwords.Thefollowingcasescanbeidentified.[12]
Thepronunciation[]isfoundinthefutureandconditionalformsoftheverbscourir('torun')andmourir
('todie').Theconditionalformilmourrait[ilmu]('hewoulddie'),forexample,contrastswiththe
imperfectformilmourait[ilmu]('hewasdying').Otherverbsthathaveadouble rr orthographically
inthefutureandconditionalarepronouncedwithasimple[]:ilpourra('hewillbeableto'),ilverra('he
willsee').
Whentheprefixincombineswithabasethatbeginswithn,theresultingwordcanoptionallybe
pronouncedwithageminate[n],andsimilarlyforthevariantsofthesameprefixim,il,ir:
inn[in()e]('innate')
immortel[im()tl]('immortal')
illisible[il()izibl]('illegible')
irresponsable[i()sp
sabl]('irresponsible')
Othercasesofoptionalgeminationcanbefoundinwordslikesyllabe('syllable'),grammaire('grammar'),
andillusion('illusion').Thepronunciationofsuchwords,inmanycasesduetoorthographicinfluence(see
Spellingpronunciation),issubjecttospeakervariation,andgivesrisetowidelyvaryingstylisticeffects.[13]
Inparticular,thegeminationofconsonantsotherthantheliquidsandnasals/mnl/is"generally
consideredaffectedorpedantic".[14]Examplesofstylisticallymarkedpronunciationsincludeaddition
[adisj
]('addition')andintelligence[t
eli
s]('intelligence').
Geminationofdoubled'm'and'n'istypicaloftheLanguedocregion,asopposedtootherSouthernaccents.
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Afewcasesofgeminationdonotcorrespondtodoubleconsonantlettersintheorthography.[15]The
deletionofwordinternalschwas(seebelow),forexample,cangiverisetosequencesofidentical
consonants,e.g.ldedans[ladd
]('inside'),l'honntet[lntte]('honesty').Geminationisobligatoryin
suchcontexts.Theelidedformoftheobjectpronounl'('him/her/it')canoptionally(innonstandard,
popularspeech)berealizedasageminate[l]whenitappearsafteravowel:
Jel'aivu[l()evy]('Isawit')
Ilfautl'attraper[ilfol()atape]('itmustbecaught')
Finally,awordpronouncedwithemphaticstresscanexhibitgeminationofitsfirstsyllableinitial
consonant:
formidable[fmidabl]('terrific')
pouvantable[epuv
tabl]('horrible')
Liaison
ManywordsinFrenchcanbeanalyzedashavinga"latent"finalconsonantthatisonlypronouncedin
certainsyntacticcontextswhenthenextwordbeginswithavowel.Forexample,theworddeux/d/('two')
ispronounced[d]inisolationorbeforeaconsonantinitialword(deuxjours/du/[du]'two
days'),butindeuxans/dz
/('twoyears'),thelinkingorliaisonconsonant/z/ispronounced.
Vowels
StandardFrenchcontrastsuptothirteenoralvowelsandupto
fournasalvowels.Theschwa(inthecenterofthediagram
besidethisparagraph)isnotnecessarilyadistinctivesound
eventhoughitisoftenrealizedasothervowels,itspatterning
suggeststhatitisaseparatephoneme(seethesubsection
Schwabelow).
Front
unrounded rounded
Close
Closemid oral
Openmid
nasal
Open
oral
()
(
)
Central Back
u
o
()
OralvowelsofFrench.fromFougeron&
Smith(1993:73).
Unroundedvowelsareshowntotheleftof
thedotsandroundedvowelstheright.
Thespeakerinquestiondoesnotexhibita
contrastbetween/a/and//.
Chartwithaudio
Lowvowels
Thephonemiccontrastbetweenfront/a/andback//isonlypartiallymaintainedinStandardFrench,
leadingsomeresearcherstorejecttheideaoftwodistinctphonemes.[16]However,thedistinctionisstill
clearlymaintainedinotherdialects,suchasthatofQuebec.[17]
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WhilespeakersinFranceshowsignificantvariationinthisarea,anumberofgeneraltendenciescanbe
observed.First,thedistinctionisbestpreservedinwordfinalstressedsyllablessuchasintheminimal
pairs:
tache/ta/[ta]('stain'),vs.tche/t/[t]('task')
rat/a/[a]('rat'),vs.ras//[]('short').
Therearecertainenvironmentsthatfavoronelowvowelovertheother.Forexample,//isfavoredafter/
w/andbefore/z/:
trois[tw]('three'),
gaz[z]('gas').[18]
Thedifferenceinqualityisoftenreinforcedbyadifferenceinlength(howeverthisdifferenceiscontrastive
infinalclosedsyllables).Theexactdistributionofthetwovowelsvariesgreatlyfromspeakerto
speaker.[19]
Back//ismuchrarerinunstressedsyllables.Itcanstillbeencounteredinsomecommonwords:
chteau[to]('castle'),
pass[pse]('past').
Morphologicallycomplexwordsderivedfromwordscontainingstressed//mayormaynotretainthis
vowel:
g/e/[e]('aged',fromge//[])
rarissime/aisim()/[aisim]('veryrare',fromrare//[]).
Eveninafinalsyllable,back//maybecome[a]ifthewordinquestionlosesitsstresswithintheextended
phonologicalcontext:[18]
J'aitaubois/eeteobw/[e.ete.obwa]('Iwasinthewoods'),
J'aitauboisdeVincennes/eeteobwdvs
n/[e.ete.obwadv
sn]('IwasintheVincennes
woods').
Midvowels
Althoughthemidvowelscontrastincertainenvironments,thereislimiteddistributionaloverlap,sothat
theyoftenappearincomplementarydistribution.Generallyspeaking,closemidvowelsarefoundinopen
syllables,whereasopenmidvowelsarefoundinclosedsyllables.Minimalpairscan,however,stillbe
found:[21]
openmid//andclosemid/e/contrastinfinalpositionopensyllables,e.g.:
allait[al]('wasgoing'),vs.all[ale]('gone')
likewise,openmid//and//contrastwithclosemid/o/and//mostlyinclosedmonosyllables,
suchas:
jeune[n]('young'),vs.jene[n]('fast',verb),
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roc[rk]('rock'),vs.rauque[rok]('hoarse'),
Rhodes[rd]('Rhodes'),vs.rde[rod]('[I]lurk'),
Paul[pl]('Paul',masculine),vs.Paule[pol]
('Paule',feminine),
bonne[bn]('good',f.),vs.Beaune[bon]
('Beaune',thecity).
Beyondthisgeneralrule,knownastheloidepositionamong
Frenchphonologists,[22]therearesomecomplications.For
instance,/o/and//arefoundinclosedsyllablesendingin[z],
whereasonly[]isfoundinclosedmonosyllablesbefore[],[],
and[].[23]
Nasalvowels
Thephoneticqualitiesofthebacknasalvowelsarenotvery
similartothoseofthecorrespondingoralvowels,andthe
contrastingfactorthatdistinguishes/
/and/
/istheextralip
roundingofthelatteraccordingtosomelinguists,[24]butother
linguistshavecometotheconclusionthatthemaindifferenceis
intongueheight.[25]Thespeakerswhoproduceboth/
/and//
distinguishthemmainlythroughincreasedliproundingofthe
former,butmanyspeakersuseonlythelatterphoneme,especially
speakersinParisandmostofthenorthofFrance(butnotfarther
north,inBelgium).[24][25]
Examplewords
Example
Vowel
IPA
Orthography
Gloss
Oralvowels
/i/
[si]
si
'if'
/e/
[fe]
fe
'fairy'
//
[f]
fait
'does'
//
[ft]
fte
'party'
//
[s]
ce
'this'/'that'
//
[s] sur
'sister'
//
[s]
ceux
'those'
/y/
[sy]
su
'known'
/u/
[su]
sous
'under'
/o/
[so]
sot
'silly'
//
[s] sort
'fate'
/a/
[sa]
'his'/'her',
//
[pt] pte
sa
'dough'
Nasalvowels
/
/
//
[s
] sans
[s] son
'without'
'his'
Insomedialects,particularlythatofEurope,thereisanattested //
] brun
'brown'
[b
tendencyfornasalvowelstoshiftinacounterclockwise
[20]
'sprig'
direction.Thatis//
tendstobemoreopenandshiftstowardthe // [b] brin
vowelspaceof/
/(realizedalsoas[
]),/
/risesandroundsto
[
](realizedalsoas[
]),and/
/shiftsto[]or[].Apartfromthis,therealsoexistsanoppositemovement
for/
/whereitbecomesmoreopenandunroundsto[
],resultinginamergerofStandardFrench/
/and//
[25][26]
inthiscase.
InQuebecFrench,thisshifthastheclockwisedirection://
[],/
/[],//
[].[27]
Schwa
Whenphoneticallyrealized,schwa(//),alsocalled"ecaduc"("droppede")and"emuet"("mutee"),isa
midcentralvowelwithsomerounding.[21]Manyauthorsconsiderittobephoneticallyidenticalto
[].[28][29]Fagyal,Kibbee&Jenkins(2006)statemorespecificallythatitmergeswith//beforehigh
vowelsandglides:
nettet/ntte/[ntte]('clarity'),
atelier/atlje/[atlje]('workshop'),
inphrasefinalstressedposition:
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disle!/dil/[dil]('sayit'),
andthatitmergeswith[]elsewhere.[30]Butsomespeakersmakeacleardistinction,anditexhibitsspecial
phonologicalbehaviorthatwarrantsconsideringitadistinctphoneme.Furthermore,thismergeroccurs
mainlyinFrenchasspokeninFranceinQuebec,//and//aredistinguished.[31]
ThemaincharacteristicofFrenchschwaisits"instability"i.e.thefactthatundercertainconditionsit
hasnophoneticrealization.
Thisisusuallythecasewhenitfollowsasingleconsonantinamedialsyllable:
rappeler/aple/[aple]('torecall'),
Itismostfrequentlymuteinwordfinalposition:
table/tabl()/[tabl]('table').
Wordfinalschwasareoptionallypronouncedifprecededbytwoormoreconsonantsandfollowed
byaconsonantinitialword:
uneporteferme/yn()pt()fme/[ynpt()fme]('acloseddoor').
Inthefutureandconditionalformsoferverbs,however,theschwacanbeoptionallydeletedeven
aftertwoconsonants:
tugarderais/tyad/[tyad()]('youwouldguard'),
nousbrusquerons[leschoses]/nubysk
/[nubysk()
]('wewillprecipitate[things]').
Ontheotherhand,itispronouncedwordinternallywhenitfollowsmorepronouncedconsonantsthat
cannotbecombinedintoacomplexonsetwiththeinitialconsonantsofthenextsyllable:
gredin/d/
[d]
('scoundrel'),
septpetits/stpti/[stpti]('sevenlittleones').[32]
Pronouncing[]with[]isawaytoemphasizethesyllable.Forinstance,pronouncingbiberon('baby
bottle')[bibr]
insteadof[bibr]
isawaytodrawattentiontothee(toclarifyspelling,forexample).
InFrenchversification,wordfinalschwaisalwayselidedbeforeanothervowelandattheendsofverses.It
ispronouncedbeforeafollowingconsonantinitialword.[33]Forexampleunegrandefemmefutici[yn()
d()fam()fytisi],wouldbepronounced[yn
dfamfytisi],withthe//attheendofeachword
beingpronounced.
Schwacannotnormallyberealizedasacentralvowel([])inclosedsyllables.Insuchcontextsin
inflectionalandderivationalmorphology,schwausuallyalternateswiththefrontvowel//.Compare,for
example:
harceler/asle/[asle]('toharass'),with
[il]harcle/asl/[asl]('[he]harasses').[34]
Athreewayalternationcanbeobservedinafewcasesforanumberofspeakers:
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appeler/aple/[ap()le]('tocall'),
j'appelle/apl/[apl]('Icall'),
appellation/apelasj/
[apelasj]
('brand'),butthisformcanalsobepronounced[ap(l)lasj]
.[35]
Instancesoforthographic e thatdonotexhibitthebehaviordescribedabovemaybebetteranalyzedas
correspondingtothestable,fullvowel//.Theencliticpronounle,forexample,obligatorilykeepsits
vowelincontextslikedonnezlemoi/dnelmwa/[dnelmwa]('giveittome')whereschwadeletion
wouldnormallyapply,anditcountsasafullsyllableforthedeterminationofstress.
Casesofwordinternalstable e aremoresubjecttovariationamongspeakers,butforexampleun
rebelle/
bl/[
bl]('arebel')mustbepronouncedwithafullvowel,incontrasttounrebond/
b
/[
b
]or[
b
]('abounce').[36]
Length
Withtheexceptionofthedistinctionmadebysomespeakersbetween//and//inrareminimalpairslike
mettre[mt]('toput')vs.matre[mt]('teacher'),variationinvowellengthisentirelyallophonic.Vowels
canbelengthenedinclosed,stressedsyllables,underthefollowingtwoconditions:
/o/,//,//,andthenasalvowelsarelengthenedbeforeanyconsonant.E.g.pte[pt]('dough'),
chante[
t]('sings').
Allvowelsarelengthenediffollowedbyoneoftheconsonants/v/,/z/,//,//(notincombination),
orbythecluster/v/.E.g.mer/mre[m]('sea/mother'),crise[kiz]('crisis'),livre[liv]
('book').[37]However,wordssuchas(ils)servent[sv]('(they)serve')ortarte[tat]('pie')are
pronouncedwithshortvowels,sincethe//appearsinclustersotherthan/v/.
Whensuchsyllableslosetheirstress,thelengtheningeffectmaybeabsent.Thevowel[o]ofsauteislong
inRegardecommeellesaute!whereitisfinal,butnotinQu'estcequ'ellesautebien!.[38]Inthiscase,the
vowelisunstressedbecauseitisnotphrasefinal.Anexceptionoccurshoweverwiththephoneme//
becauseofitsdistinctivenature,provideditiswordfinal,asinC'estunefteimportante,wherefteis
pronouncedwithlong//despitebeingunstressedinthatposition.[38]
Thefollowingtablepresentsthepronunciationofarepresentativesampleofwordsinphrasefinal
(stressed)position:
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phoneme
/i/
vowelvalueinclosedsyllable
vowelvaluein
nonlengtheningconsonant lengtheningconsonant opensyllable
habite
[a.bit]
/e/
livre
[liv]
habit
[a.bi]
[e.te]
fait
[f]
//
faites
[ft]
faire
[f]
//
fte
[ft]
rve
[v]
//
jeune
[n]
uvre
[v]
//
le
[l]
//
jene
[n]
joyeuse
[wa.jz]
/y/
dbute
[de.byt]
juge
[y]
dbut
[de.by]
/u/
bourse
[bus]
bouse
[buz]
bout
[bu]
/o/
saute
[sot]
rose
[oz]
saut
[so]
//
sotte
[st]
mort
[m]
/a/
rate
[at]
rage
[a]
rat
[a]
//
appte
[a.pt]
rase
[z]
appt
[a.p]
/
/
//
pende
[p
d]
[e.p
s]
genre
[
]
[e.p
]
pends
[p
]
rponds [e.p]
[
]
[k
z]
emprunt [
.p
]
teint
[t]
/
/
//
rponse
emprunte
teinte
[
.p
t]
[t
t]
ponge
grunge
quinze
joyeux [wa.j]
Elision
Thefinalvowel(mostoften//)ofanumberofmonosyllabicfunctionwordsiselidedinsyntactic
combinationswithafollowingwordthatbeginswithavowel.Forexample,comparethepronunciationof
theunstressedsubjectpronoun,injedors/d/[d]('Iamsleeping'),andinj'arrive/aiv/[a
iv]('Iamarriving').
Glidesanddiphthongs
Theglides[j],[w],and[]appearinsyllableonsets,immediatelyfollowedbyafullvowel.Inmanycases
theyalternatesystematicallywiththeirvowelcounterparts[i],[u],and[y],forexampleinthefollowing
pairsofverbforms:
nie[ni]nier[nje]('deny')
loue[lu]louer[lwe]('rent')
tue[ty]tuer[te]('kill')
Theglidesintheseexamplescanbeanalyzedastheresultofaglideformationprocessthatturnsan
underlyinghighvowelintoaglidewhenfollowedbyanothervowel:e.g./nie/[nje].
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Thisprocessisusuallyblockedafteracomplexonsetoftheformobstruent+liquid(thatis,astopora
fricativefollowedby/l/or//).Forexample,whilethepairloue/louershowsanalternationbetween[u]and
[w],thesamesuffixaddedtocloue[klu],awordwithacomplexonset,doesnottriggertheglideformation:
clouer[klue]('tonail')Somesequencesofglide+vowelcanbefoundafterobstruentliquidonsets,
however.Themainexamplesare[i],asinpluie[pli]('rain'),[wa],and[w]
.[39]Suchdatacanbedealt
withindifferentways,forexamplebyaddingappropriatecontextualconditionstotheglideformationrule,
orbyassumingthatthephonemicinventoryofFrenchincludesunderlyingglides,orrisingdiphthongslike
/i/and/wa/.[40][41]
Glideformationnormallydoesnotoccuracrossmorphemeboundariesincompoundslikesemiaride
('semiarid').[42]However,incolloquialregisters,glideformationcanbeobservedacrossmorphemeor
wordboundaries:sielle[sil]('ifshe')canbepronouncedjustlikeciel[sjl]('sky'),ortuas[tya]('you
have')liketua[ta]('[he]killed').[43]
Theglide[j]canalsooccurinsyllablecodaposition,afteravowel,asinsoleil[slj]('sun').Hereagain,
onecanformulateaderivationfromanunderlyingfullvowel/i/,butthisanalysisisnotalwaysadequate,
giventheexistenceofpossibleminimalpairslikepays[pi]('country')/paye[pj]('paycheck')andabbaye
[abi]('abbey')/abeille[abj]('bee').[44]Schane(1968)proposesanabstractanalysisderivingpostvocalic
[j]fromanunderlyinglateralbypalatalizationandglideconversion(/li////j/).[45]
Stress
WordstressisnotdistinctiveinFrench.Thismeansthattwowordscannotbedistinguishedonthebasisof
stressplacementalone.Infact,grammaticalstresscanonlyfallonthefinalfullsyllableofaFrenchword
(thatis,thefinalsyllablewithavowelotherthanschwa).Monosyllableswithschwaastheironlyvowel
(ce,de,que,etc.)aregenerallyunstressedcliticsbutexceptionallymayreceivestress.[28]
ThedifferencebetweenstressedandunstressedsyllablesinFrenchislessmarkedthaninEnglish.Vowels
inunstressedsyllableskeeptheirfullquality,givingrisetoasyllabletimedrhythm(seeIsochrony).
Moreover,wordslosetheirstresstovaryingdegreeswhenpronouncedinphrasesandsentences.Ingeneral,
onlythelastwordinaphonologicalphraseretainsitsfullgrammaticalstress(onitslastsyllableunlessthis
isaschwa).[46]
Emphaticstress
Emphaticstressisusedtocallattentiontoaspecificelementinagivencontext,forexampletoexpressa
contrastortoreinforcetheemotivecontentofaword.InFrench,thisstressfallsonthefirstconsonant
initialsyllableofthewordinquestion.Thecharacteristicsassociatedwithemphaticstressinclude:
increasedamplitudeandpitchofthevowelandgeminationoftheonsetconsonant,asmentionedabove.[47]
C'estparfaitementvrai.[spaftm
v]('It'sperfectlytrue.'Noemphaticstress)
C'estparfaitementvrai.[s(p)paftm
v](emphaticstressonparfaitement)
Forwordsthatbeginwithavowel,emphaticstressfallseitheronthefirstnoninitialsyllablethatbegins
withaconsonant,orontheinitialsyllablewiththeinsertionofaglottalstoporaliaisonconsonant.
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C'estpouvantable.[ste(p)puv
tabl]('It'sterrible.'Emphaticstressonsecondsyllableof
pouvantable)
C'estpouvantable[s(t)tepuv
tabl](initialsyllablewithliaisonconsonant[t])
C'estpouvantable[sepuv
tabl](initialsyllablewithglottalstopinsertion)
Intonation
FrenchintonationdifferssubstantiallyfromthatofEnglish.[48]Therearefourprimarypatterns.
Thecontinuationpatternisariseinpitchoccurringinthelastsyllableofarhythmgroup(typicallya
phrase).
Thefinalitypatternisasharpfallinpitchoccurringinthelastsyllableofadeclarativestatement.
Theyes/nointonationisasharpriseinpitchoccurringinthelastsyllableofayes/noquestion.
Theinformationquestionintonationisarapidfallofffromhighpitchonthefirstwordofanon
yes/noquestion,oftenfollowedbyasmallriseinpitchonthelastsyllableofthequestion.
Seealso
HistoryofFrench
PhonologicalhistoryofFrench
VarietiesofFrench
Frenchorthography
ReformsofFrenchorthography
PhonologieduFranaisContemporain
QuebecFrenchphonology
Notes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
MapbasedonTrudgill(1974:221)
Fougeron&Smith(1993:79)
Ladefoged&Maddieson(1996:192)
Adams(1975:288)
PhonologicalVariationinFrench:IllustrationsfromThreeContinents(http://books.google.ca/books?
id=doYT4VXnhnAC&pg=PA326&lpg=PA326&dq=/%C9%B2/+is+merging+with+/nj/+in+france&source=bl&ot
s=lnaybD5zcI&sig=KgM38kqEAf2D0dp_eZtS0Q9zkUI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=YOmXUemkJ6230gG8lYGwAg&ved
=0CFEQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=%2F%C9%B2%2F%20is%20merging%20with%20%2Fnj%2F%20in%20fran
ce&f=false),editedbyRandallScottGess,ChantalLyche,TrudelMeisenburg.
6. Wells(1989:44)
7. Grevisse&Goosse(2011,32,b)
8. Fougeron&Smith(1993:75)
9. Grevisse&Goosse(2011,33,b),Fagyal,Kibbee&Jenkins(2006:47)
10. Recasens(2013:1113)
11. Fougeron&Smith(1993:7475)
12. Tranel(1987:149150)
13. Yaguello(1991),citedinFagyal,Kibbee&Jenkins(2006:51)
14. Tranel(1987:150)
15. Tranel(1987:151153)
16. "SomephoneticiansclaimthattherearetwodistinctasinFrench,butevidencefromspeakertospeakerand
sometimeswithinthespeechofasinglespeakeristoocontradictorytogiveempiricalsupporttothisclaim." 11/14
6/22/2015
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
sometimeswithinthespeechofasinglespeakeristoocontradictorytogiveempiricalsupporttothisclaim."
Casagrande(1984:20)
Postriorisationdu/a/(http://www.ciral.ulaval.ca/phonetique/phono/r30.htm)
Tranel(1987:64)
"Forexample,somehavethefront[a]incasse'breaks',andtheback[]intasse'cup',butforothersthereverse
istrue.Therearealso,ofcourse,thosewhousethesamevowel,either[a]or[],inbothwords."Tranel
(1987:48)
JohnC.Wellsprefersthesymbol[
],asthevowelhasbecomemoreopeninrecenttimes:http://phonetic
blog.blogspot.com/2010/07/frenchnasalizedvowels.html
Morin(1986)
Lon(1992:?)
Fagyal,Kibbee&Jenkins2006,p.3334.
Hansen,AnitaBerit(1998).Lesvoyellesnasalesdufranaisparisienmoderne.Aspectslinguistiques,
sociolinguistiquesetperceptuelsdeschangementsencours(inFrench).MuseumTusculanumPress.ISBN87
72894954.
OralarticulationofnasalvowelinFrench
(http://www.icphs2011.hk/resources/OnlineProceedings/RegularSession/Carignan/Carignan.pdf)
Anderson(1982:537)
Tranel(1987:88)
Fagyal,Kibbee&Jenkins(2006:59)
Timbreduschwaenfranaisetvariationrgionale:untudecomparative(http://www.afcp
parole.org/doc/Archives_JEP/2008_XXVIIe_JEP_Avignon/PDF/avignon2008_pdf/JEP/072_jep_1653.pdf)
retrieved14July2013
Tranel(1987:88105)
Casagrande(1984:22829)
Anderson(1982:54446)
Fagyal,Kibbee&Jenkins(2006:63)for[e],TLFi,s.v.appellation(http://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/appellation)
for[].
Tranel(1987:9899)
Walker(1984:2527),Tranel(1987:4951)
Walker(2001:46)
Thelattertwocorrespondtoorthographic oi ,asintrois[twa]('three'),whichcontrastswithdisyllabictroua
[tua]('[he]punctured').
Chitoran(2002:206)
Chitoran&Hualde(2007:45)
Fagyal,Kibbee&Jenkins(2006:39).Thewordspaysandabbayearemorefrequentlypronounced[pei]and
[abei].
Schane(1968:5760)
Tranel(1987:194200)
Tranel(1987:200201)
Lian(1980)
References
Adams,DouglasQ.(1975),"TheDistributionofRetractedSibilantsinMedievalEurope",Language
(LinguisticSocietyofAmerica)51(2):282292,doi:10.2307/412855
(https://dx.doi.org/10.2307%2F412855),JSTOR412855(https://www.jstor.org/stable/412855)
Anderson,StephenR.(1982),"TheAnalysisofFrenchShwa:Or,HowtoGetSomethingfor
12/14
6/22/2015
Nothing",Language58(3):534573,doi:10.2307/413848(https://dx.doi.org/10.2307%2F413848),
JSTOR413848(https://www.jstor.org/stable/413848)
Casagrande,Jean(1984),TheSoundSystemofFrench,Washington,DC:GeorgetownUniversity
Press,ISBN0878400850
Chitoran,IoanaHualde,JosIgnacio(2007),"Fromhiatustodiphthong:theevolutionofvowel
sequencesinRomance",Phonology24:3775,doi:10.1017/S095267570700111X
(https://dx.doi.org/10.1017%2FS095267570700111X)
Chitoran,Ioana(2002),"AperceptionproductionstudyofRomaniandiphthongsandglidevowel
sequences",JournaloftheInternationalPhoneticAssociation32(2):203222,
doi:10.1017/S0025100302001044(https://dx.doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100302001044)
Fagyal,ZsuzsannaKibbee,DouglasJenkins,Fred(2006).French:alinguisticintroduction
(http://www.books.google.com/books?id=4yTA6SvGuekC).Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity
Press.ISBN0521821444.
Fougeron,CecileSmith,CarolineL(1993),"IllustrationsoftheIPA:French",Journalofthe
InternationalPhoneticAssociation23(2):7376,doi:10.1017/S0025100300004874
(https://dx.doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100300004874)
Grevisse,MauriceGoosse,Andr(2011).LeBonusage(inFrench).LouvainlaNeuve:DeBoeck
Duculot.ISBN9782801116425.
Lon,P.(1992),Phontismeetprononciationsdufranais,Paris:Nathan
Ladefoged,PeterMaddieson,Ian(1996).TheSoundsoftheWorld'sLanguages.Oxford:Blackwell.
ISBN0631198148.
Lian,AP(1980),IntonationPatternsofFrench
(http://www.andrewlian.com/andrewlian/prowww/ipf_teacher/ipf_teacher.pdf)(PDF),Melbourne:
RiverSeinePublications,ISBN0909367213
Morin,YvesCharles(1986),"Laloidepositionoudel'explicationenphonologiehistorique",Revue
qubcoisedelinguistique15:199231
Recasens,Daniel(2013),"Onthearticulatoryclassificationof(alveolo)palatalconsonants",Journal
oftheInternationalPhoneticAssociation43(1):122,doi:10.1017/S0025100312000199
(https://dx.doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100312000199)
Schane,SanfordA.(1968),FrenchPhonologyandMorphology,Cambridge,MA:M.I.T.Press,
ISBN0262190400
Tranel,Bernard(1987),TheSoundsofFrench:AnIntroduction,Cambridge,NewYork:Cambridge
UniversityPress,ISBN0521315107
Walker,Douglas(2001),FrenchSoundStructure,UniversityofCalgaryPress,ISBN1552380335
Wells,J.C.(1989),"ComputerCodedPhonemicNotationofIndividualLanguagesoftheEuropean
Community",JournaloftheInternationalPhoneticAssociation19(1):3154,
doi:10.1017/S0025100300005892(https://dx.doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100300005892)
Yaguello,Marina(1991),"LesgminesdeM.Rocard",Encoutantparlerlalangue,Paris:Seuil,
pp.6470
Externallinks
ForeignServiceInstitute'sfreelydownloadablecourseon
WikimediaCommonshas
FrenchphonologyfromtheirextensiveLanguageMaterials
mediarelatedtoFrench
(http://fsilanguagecourses.org/Content.php):
pronunciation.
IntroductiontoFrenchPhonology(audio)
(http://archive.org/details/FsiIntroductionToFrenchPhonologyAudio)
IntroductiontoFrenchPhonology(student&teachertexts)(http://archive.org/details/Fsi
IntroductionToFrenchPhonologyTexts)
FrenchpronunciationguideforEnglishspeakers(http://pronouncefrench.net/)
13/14
6/22/2015
LargecollectionofrecordingsofFrenchwords(http://shtooka.net/collections/fra/en/)
mp3AudioPronunciationofFrenchvowels,consonantsandalphabet
(http://www.parisbypod.com/category/weeklyfrenchprogram/pronunciation/)
FrenchVowelsDemonstratedbyaNativeSpeaker(youtube)(http://au.youtube.com/watch?
v=RJVxe4inqyg)
FrenchConsonantsDemonstratedbyaNativeSpeaker(youtube)(http://au.youtube.com/watch?
v=UftN73gl8sg)
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=French_phonology&oldid=666463056"
Categories: Frenchlanguage Languagephonologies
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/m/ [mu] mou

[ao] agneau 'lamb'

[paki] parking 'parkinglot'

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