French Pronunciation Charts

1 French Pronunciation Charts1 What follows are two representations of French pronunciations: 1. a list of all the French spellings in allpositions and linkings with their IPA equivalent; and 2. a list of all IPA sounds found in the Frenchlanguage and their spellings. In learning to correctly pronounce French without the aid of a IPAtranscriptions, I find it best for the beginning student to follow the route of the French spellings rather thatworking from the sounds themselves. Although there aremanyrules and spellings, French is an extremelyregular language. With the exception of a few words with variable word endings and some proper nouns,almost all French words will follow the rules to the one.

2 French Spellings - Vowel PronunciationFrench spellings for the vowel-aIPA French example with IPA-aor- usually Paris[ l - in a few verb forms all tes - (except as above)-abefore and sounds pale extase lacer -ai, -a , -aie, -ais, -aise, -ait, -aientusually mais -aiin some verb forms offairewhen before [z] faisais faisons -aifinal gai -ail, -aill, -aille travail cailloux -aim, -ainwhen final or before a consonant except -mor -n, or -h faim ainsi -aim, -ainwhen followed by a vowel aime plaine -am, -an, -aonwhen final or before a consonant ex. -mor -n, or -h champ fumant -am, -anwhen followed by a vowel or another -mor -n tamis manne -au chaud -aubefore -r Faur -ay, -aye, -ayes payer French spellings for vowel-eIPA French example with IPA- t - , - , - p re for ts No l -ebefore a single consonant and a vowel cheval -ebefore two consonants elle -ebefore final pronounced consonants fer -ebefore final silent consonants (except -sand -t) pied -efinalspokensilent parle sung parle -efinal in monosyllables je -erfinal - generally in non-verb forms hiver -erfinal - in verb endings and some nouns and adjectives.]

3 Parler boulanger -esfinal parles -esfinal in monosyllables before a closed vowel-esfinal in monosyllables before an open vowel les des -etfinal filet et(the words meaningand) et -eau beau -ei seize -eim& -einwhen final or before a consonant ex. -mor -n, or -h plein -em& -enwhen final or before a consonant ex. -mor -n, or -h ensemble -em& -enwhen followed by a vowel the -eis not nasal tenir tennis -emm& -ennwhen initial remain nasal exceptennemi emm ler ennui -enafter -i viens -entfinal firmament -entfinal in third person plural verb endings parlent -euin the interior of a word heure -eubefore [z] creuse -euas a final sound peu -gebefore a back vowel(-a, -o, -u)

4 Georges French spellings for the vowel -iIPA French example with IPA -isingle including before a mute -e finir - with thecirconflexe le - with thedi r se A da -ipreceding a stressed vowel bien Final-iland-ille,andmedial-ill aille -illandillewith no other vowel fille -imand -inwhen final or before a consonant ex. -mor -n, or -h timbre brin French spellings for the vowel -oIPA French example with IPA-opreceding a consonant or a vowel doter -owhen final sound mot - ter -obefore [z] rose -oeand-oeu coeur -oi voix -oinwhen final or before a consonant ex. -h loin -oy royal -ouare before a stressed vowel oui -om-onwhen final or before a consonant ex.

5 -mor -n, or -h nom -eon. pigeon -ou, -o and -o vous French spellings for the vowel -uIPA French example with IPA -uafterg-andq-silentguitare -u,- , - (e),and-ue murmure -umand-unfollowed by a vowel, but not -m,-n, or -h. unanime -uewhen followed by -il, -ill,or ille orgueil -quewhen final or not followed by double consonants que -ueuafter -gand q vainqueur -ubefore a stressed vowel lui -umand-unwhen final or before a consonant except-mor -n, or -h brun French spellings for the vowel -yIPA French example with IPA -yor - except when nasal martyr -ymand -ynbefore a vowel hymne -ynand -ymwhen final or before a consonant ex.

6 -mor -n, or -h thym -yinitial in a word yeux -ybetween two vowels royal Consonant pronunciationWhile consonant Pronunciation is considerably easier than for vowels, it still offers some challenges forthe singer. Each individual consonant will be presented with a minimum of two Pronunciation examples:first, a general Pronunciation for the single and double consonant in the initial and medial position, andsecond, a possible final Pronunciation . If such exist, Pronunciation variants in liaison, and combinationwill also be SpellingIPAF rench Word with IPAb-bor -bbinitial and medial beau abbesse finalsilent plomb followed by -sor -t absolu c-cbefore a front vowel (-e, -i, or -y) ciel -ccbefore a front vowel (-e, -i, or -y) accent -cor -ccbefore a back vowel (-a, -o, -u) or a cons.

7 Encore final parc final after -nsilent blanc -ctfinal direct silent respect - with the dille gar on -ch blanche -chin words of Greek origin Christ -cqu acquisition d-dor -ddinitial or medial doux addition finalsilent pied in liaison grand_arbre f-for -ffinitial or medial enfant effort final comparatif in liaison neuf_heures g-gbefore a front vowel (-e, -i, or -y) sabotage -ggbefore a front vowel (-e, -i, or -y) suggestion -gor -ggbefore a back vowel (-a, -o, -u) or a cons. grave finalsilent sang in liaison sang_et eau -gebefore a back vowel (-a, -o, -u) or a consonant pigeon -gubefore a front vowel (-e, -i, or -y) gigue -gn compagnon -gtsilent doigt hInitial -h is classified as mute and aspirate - both are always silent but,-hinitial mute allows liaison or elisionsilent douze_heure -hinitial aspirate allows no linkingsilent tres *hideuse -hmedialsilent souhaiter j-j jardin kfound in words of foreign origin only kilo final kodak l-lor -llinitial or medial large ballet final ideal -il, -ill, and -ille(but not final -ile)

8 Soleil papillons j famille In the these words and their derivatives mille (thousand) tranquille (tranquil)ville (villages)m-mor -mminitial or medial mardi flamme after a nasal vowelsilent parfum in liaison nom_ tiroirs n-nor -nninitial or medial neige ann e after a nasal vowelsilent ensemble in liaison en_aimant p-por -ppinitial or medial captive support finalsilent trop in liaison trop_en -mptsilent compter -ph philosophe q-quinitial or medial liqueur final cinq in liaison cinq_enfants rSpoken French makes use of the uvular that is appropriate for dialogue and cabaret , rapide -ror-rrmedial or final garage terrible hiver -er, -ier, or -yerfinal in some nouns and adjectivessilent foyer (noun)

9 -erin the infinitive verb form parler s-sand -ssinitial or medial s ance Debussy -smedial between vowels maison -sfinalsilent toujours -sfinal in exceptions h las lis fils in liaison mes_yeux ]-scbefore a front vowel (-e, -i, or -y) descendre -scbefore a back vowel (-a, -o, -u) or a consonant scandale -schinitial or medial sch ma t-tor -ttinitial or medial total glotte -tfinalsilenttuot -tin liaison tout_un -th Thomas -tiin endings -tionand -tience attention -tiewhen final sortie v-vinitial or medial souvenir w-wfound in words of foreign origin Wagon xbefore consonants texte before vowels or -h exemple in numbers deuxieme in liaison deux_enfants zinitial or medial z le douze finalsilent chez Final as an exception Berlioz Part two: A list of French sounds with some of the more common French and expanded fromLe Petit RobertCD-Rom.

10 Vowels Consonants il, pi, lyre p re, soupe bl , aller, chez,et, j ai,tes terre, vite lait, merci, f te, No l, for ts, hiver,Seigneursoleil, hotel, bouquet cou,qui, sac,k pi ami, patti, bon, robe pas, p te dans, aide fort, donner, sol gar, bague,gui mot, d me,eau, saule feu, neuf,photo genou, roue sale,celui, a, dessous, tasse peu, deux, creuse chat, tachesch ma peur, meuble, ceuile vous, r ve brin, plein, bain z ro, maison, rose sans, vent je,gilet,ge le ton,ombre, bont lent, sol lundi, brun, parfum rue, venir mot, flamme Semi-vowels nous, tonne, animal yeux, paille, pied, panier agneau, vigne oui, fouet, joua, joie huile, lui | no liaison or elision allow