Le Premier Livre

by Albert A. Méras; B. Méras

Orthographic Signs

The accents (´, `, ^). There are three accents in French which generally indicate the pronunciation of the vowel:

• (´) acute accent (accent aigu),
• (`) grave accent (accent grave),
• (^) circumflex accent (accent circonflexe).

The apostrophe ('), l'apostrophe, indicates that a vowel has been omitted: l'enfant.

The cedilla (¸), la cédille, placed under a c, indicates that the sound of c is soft: français.

The diaeresis (¨), le tréma, placed over the second of two consecutive vowels, indicates that the first vowel is to be pronounced separately: naïveté.

The hyphen (-), le trait d'union, is used to connect words: suis-je?