STANDARD FRENCH

JOUAL

Long vowels have a prolonged single vowel sound, e.g. faire is pronounced like fè-re

Long vowels are diphthongs (have 2 vowel sounds) with the stress on the first sound: e.g. Faire = FA-ire, having a stressed AH sound followed by an unstressed IR sound.

Certain words ending in -oi or -ois, especially the personal pronouns moi and toi are pronounced with a vowel sound similar to the english sound WA (such as the vowel sound in the word ‘what’.)

These sounds are pronounced as if they were written -oé, (with a vowel sound similar to the English word ‘way’). E.g. Toi becomes toé, moi => moé, avoir => avoére, envoie => envoué.

Vowel sounds are unchanged whether or not they end a word or are followed by a vowel.

The vowels -i, -ou and -u are similar to standard French when they end a word, but are shortened when followed by a hard consonnant (such as b, c, d, p, and t). E.g. ‘vite’, which rhymes with “feet” in standard French, comes out more like the sounds in the English word “pit”. Likewise, the -ou in ‘route’ sounds like the English word ‘put’. The French -u in ‘lutte’ is shortened to a shorter version, similar to the English word ‘put’ with the lips rounded.

In modern day standard French there remains little distinction between â and a, and the -a is pronounced similarly wether or not it is followed by a consonant.

Similar to Old French, the â sound in pâte is pronounced similar to the English word ‘pot’, whereas the -a sound in ‘patte’ is pronounced more like the English word ‘putt’ (as in golf putt). When an -a sound occurs at the end of a word, without a following pronounced consonant. it is pronounced like the -o in the English word ‘pot’. E.g.: pas, là, trois, Cadada.

‘part’ and ‘port’ are pronounced differently.

‘part’ and ‘port’ are pronounced similarly, both ending in a diphthong (double vowel sound) such as a stressed AH (like English ‘far’followed by an unstressed AW sound (like English ‘four’.

In modern day standard French there remains little distinction between ê, and è sounds. fête resembling faites.

Similar to Old French, the ê sound in fête is pronounced as if it were written faïte’,similar to the English pronunciation of the word ‘fight’. In most cases the other short -e or è sounds are pronounced as in standard French. An exception is ‘seize’, which is prounounced as the English word ‘size’.

Nasal vowels are pronounced with a single vowel sound, nasalized.

The vowel sounds -an, -in, and -ain are pronounced with a nasalized diphthong (two vowel sounds). E.g. ‘tante’and ‘lente’ take on a nasalized sound similar to the vowel sounds in the English word ‘pound’. ‘Peinte’ and “tinte’ take on a sound similar to the English word ‘pint’.

The sound -ère contains a single vowel sound.

The sound -ère becomes the diphthong ‘-aïr’. ‘Mère’ and ‘terre’ sound like he English words ‘mire’ and ‘tire’.

Groups of consonants are pronounced clearly and distinctly.

When consonants are grouped, the ending sounds are often dropped. ‘Impossible’ becomes ‘impossibe’. ‘Piastre’ becomes ‘piasse’.

The T and D consonant sounds are distinct hard sounds.

The T and D, if followed by an ‘i’ or ‘u’sound, soften, sounding more like TS and DZ. E.g.: ‘Petit’ becomes ‘petsit’, and ‘du’ becomes ‘dzu’.

Initial or preceding consonant sounds are clearly pronounced before vewel diphthongs.

Initial or preceding consonant sounds are often lost before vowel diphthongs: ‘Envoyer’ becomes ‘en-ouéyé. ‘Voir’ becomes ‘ou-aïre’. ‘Rien que’ becomes ‘iènque’. ‘Geule’ becomes ‘yeule’, and ‘Dieu’ becomes ‘ieux’.

Final -T is generall silent, with rare exceptions such as ‘but’.

Final -T is pronounced as if it were -te. E.g.: ‘mon lit’ becomes ‘mon litte’

Words are generally pronounced as written.

Many variant forms are used. “il” and “ils”, and “lui” can all be pronounced “y”. “Elle” and “elles” are both pronounced “a”. E.g. “Elle dit que sa mère lui a donné ça.” becomes “A dzit que sa maïre y a donné ça.”

“Ici” regularly becomes “icitte”.

Initial H- is silent.

Initial H- is often pronounced. Haut sounds like the English word ‘hoe’.

‘v’sound is pronounced clearly when followed by the ou + è dithong. E.g.: tu envoies

‘v’sound disappears when followed by the ou + è dithong. E.g.: tu envoies becomes ‘tu en-oué