🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Aug9.092627.18458@midway.uchicago.edu> hau4@ellis.uchicago.edu (sven  hauptfeld) writes:
> I'd like to be able to pronounce more-or-less correctly the words 
> I see written
> in any language, whether I can speak that language or not.

I like the idea, and I already learned something: I thought Serbocroatian
d~ (d with a bar, or the Cyrillic) was approximately [dj], but I see it is
rather near [dZj].

So being a native French speaker I tried for French. Phonetic symbols are
from the FAQ. Well, French is not as regular as Serbocroatian, and these
are only general lines, there are isolated exceptions, sometimes among the
most common words. But I tried to show only the rules, those you apply when
as a Frenchman you see for the first time the name of a French village.
I did that quickly and I suspect there are mistakes: please tell it if you
see some.

Of course I am describing my own pronunciation: I was born in Paris and moved
to Nice, Southern France, in my childhood. For instance, I cannot tell
about how, or even whether writing allows to distinguish between two kinds
of a, which are clearly different for French Canadians and some old Parisians.

Olivier Clary (clary@meteo.fr)

P.S. I would like to see the same for English.  :-) :-) :-)


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	PRONUNCIATION GUIDE :  F R E N C H

	


a [a], when nasalized (see n,m) [A~]
  but ai [e] or [E], when nasalized [E~]
      au and eau [o]

b [b]
  but not pronounced at the end after a consonant

c [s] before e i or y, else [k]
  but not pronounced at the end after a consonant
      c, (cedilla) [s]
      ch [S], but [k] in Greek words

d [d]
  but not pronounced at the end after a consonant

e and e" [(not pronounced)], when nasalized [A~]
  but [@] when it would be hard to pronounce without it
and e' and e^ [e]
and e` [E]
but all are [E] when only consonants follow in pronunciation
  but ei [E], when nasalized [E~]
      word endings: er, et, ez [e]
                    ien [jE~]
      eu [0], but [0>] (open) when only consonants follow in pronunciation
         when nasalized [0~]

f [f]

g [Z] before e i or y, else [g]
  but not pronounced at the end after a consonant
      ge [Z] before a vowel other than e i or y
      gu [g] before a vowel
      gn [nj]

h [(not pronounced)]

i, i" and y [i], when nasalized (see n,m) [E~]
            but [j] before a pronounced vowel
(the only difference is after a vowel that can be modified, a,o etc.:
i" does not modify it, i does but does not make [j] before a vowel,
y does both)

j [Z]

k [k]

l [l]
  but ill and final -il [j] after a vowel (which is not modified by the i)
                        and [ij] after a consonant

m [m]
  but is not pronounced when it nasalizes the preceding vowel, that is:
     after a vowel that can be nasalized
     and before b or p

n [n]
  but is not pronounced when it nasalizes the preceding vowel, that is:
     after a vowel that can be nasalized
     and before the end of the word or a consonant except another n

o [o], but [O] when only consonants follow in pronunciation
  when nasalized [o~]
  but o^ [o]
      oi [wa], when nasalized [wE~]
      ou [u]
         but [w] before a pronounced vowel

p [p]
  but not pronounced at the end after a consonant
      ph [f]

qu and q [k]

r [R] (the big letter means: not with the tongue, with the throat)

s [s]
  but [z] between vowels
      not pronounced at the end

t [t]
  but not pronounced at the end
      endings -tion [sjo~], sometimes -tie [si]

u [y], when nasalized [0~]
  but [W] (corresponding semi-consonant) before i

v [v]

w [w]
  but [v] in German words

x [ks]
  but [gz] between vowels
      not pronounced at the end

y see i

z [z]

Notes:
- No double consonants inside words: abbe' [abe]
- Light stress at the end of words, stress at the end of groups of words.
- Intonation rises slowly in group of words, falls in the last group, 
  but for a question rises even more at the end.