法语发音规则大全

●Pure Vowels

Vowels in French are pure vowels, i.e. they are not diphthongs as in American English. Americans pronounce a and e with an extra yuh sound at the end, and o and u with an extra wuh sound at the end. You must not do this in French! The distinction between long and short vowels exists in French, but a few American short vowels do not exist ([ɪ] as in did and [ʊ] as in put) so make sure to never pronounce these vowels when speaking French. Also notice that the [æ] sound in cat does not exist in French either.

Vowels in Contrast

Long Vowels Short Vowels Similar English

[a][ə]not - nut

[i]---- sheep

[e][ɛ]wait - wet

[o][ɔ]coat - caught

[u]---- moon

Words in Contrast

[a] - [ə]rapporter reporter

[e] - [ə]des mains demain

[e] - [ɛ]pré près

[o] - [ɔ]paume pomme

On the other hand, French has three front rounded vowels that do not exist in English, which may take a while to get used to since English only has back rounded vowels. However, they are the rounded counterpart of vowels that do exist in English, so you simply need to round your lips when pronouncing these vowels.

Vowels in Contrast

Unrounded Rounded

[i]

[e]

[ɛ]

Many English speakers tend to say [u] instead of [y] and [ə] instead of [ø] or[œ]. Personally, I still find it very hard to hear the difference between [ø] and [œ] in fast speech, but I can distinguish them if they are isolated vowels.

Words in Contrast

[u] - [y]sous su

[ə] - [ø]ce ceux

[ø] - [œ]jeûne jeune

Here is a review of the vowels in French, with phonetic spellings for American English speakers (forget the diphthongs though!), sample words in French and the general spelling for these vowels in French orthography.

Pure Vowels

IPA Phoneticspelling Sample words General spellings

[i]ee vie, midi, lit, riz i, y

[e]ay blé, nez, cahier, piedé, et, final er and ez

[ɛ]eh lait, aile, balai, reine e, è, ê, ai, ei, ais

[a]ah chat, ami, papa, salade a, à, â

[u]oo loup, cou, caillou, outil ou

[o]oh eau, dos, escargot, hôtel o, ô

[ɔ]aw sol, pomme, cloche, horloge o

[ə]uh fenêtre, genou, cheval, cerise e

[ɑ] is disappearing in modern French, being replaced by [a]. Vowels that do not exist in English are marked in blue. Other rules to remember about pure vowels in French:

∙Vowels are pronounced slightly longer when they are in the final closed syllable (a consonant follows the vowels in the same syllable). For example, the vowel [i] in tir is longer than the vowel [i] in tirer because tir is

a closed syllable, while ti is an open syllable (and rer is a closed syllable). This is represented with a colon in

IPA: long [i] = [i:]

∙The vowel [e] can only occur in open syllables (no consonant follows it in the same syllable) in French. In closed syllables, [ɛ] is used; however, [ɛ] can also be found in open syllables. (This is a major difference with English as [ɛ]can never be found in open syllables.)

∙In stressed open syllables, only [ø] is possible. In stressed, closed syllables, only [œ] is possible, unless the syllable ends in [t], [tR], or [z] - in which case, [ø] can occur. In unstressed syllables, whether open or closed, either vowel can occur.

∙Generally, [o] always occurs in stressed open syllables, and [ɔ] occurs in stressed closed syllables.

Nevertheless,[o] can also occur in stressed closed syllables, depending on the spelling of the word: when the letter o is followed by [m], [n], [z]; when the letters au are not followed by [R]; and by the letter ô.

●Semi-Vowels

Semi-vowels can also be called glides or approximants.

Semi-Vowels

IPA Phoneticspelling Sample words General spelling

[w]w fois, oui, Louis oi, ou

ew-ee lui, suisse ui

[j]yuh oreille, Mireille ill, y

Some words ending in -ille(r) pronounce the l, however:ville, mille, tranquille, distiller, osciller, etc.

Words in Contrast

[wa] - [a]loi la

[ɥ] - [y]lui Lu

[ej] - [e]pareil paré

[aj] - [a]bail bas

Notice that words ending in -eil or -eille are pronounced [ej], while words ending in -ail or -ailleare pronounced [aj].

●Nasal Vowels