ON FRENCH PRONUNCIATION.
Note.—The rules given below must be considered as general. Some are subject to more or less exceptions, which, for the sake of brevity, have not been mentioned, but they will all be found clearly and fully noticed in their respective places.
ALPHABET.
| French Alphabet. | Old French Pronunciation. | Approximate English Pronunciation. | Modern French Pronunciation. | Approximate English Pronunciation. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | a | a | ah | a | ah |
| B | b | bé | bay | be | bu-t |
| C | c | cé | say | ce | su-m |
| D | d | dé | day | de | du-ll |
| E | e | é | a | e | u-p |
| F | f | èff | eff | fe | fu-n |
| G | g | jé | zhay | ge | zhu-t |
| H | h | ash | ash | he | hu-g |
| I | i | i | ee | i | ee-l |
| J | j | ji | zhee | je | zhu-g |
| K | k | k | kah | ke | cu-t |
| L | l | èl | el | le | lu-ck |
| M | m | èmm | em | me | mu-d |
| N | n | ènn | en | ne | nu-t |
| O | o | o | o | o | o-ld |
| P | p | pé | pay | pe | pu-n |
| Q | q | qu | ku | ke | cu-rl |
| R | r | èr | air | re | ru-st |
| S | s | èss | ess | se | su-n |
| T | t | té | tay | te | tu-b |
| U | u | u | u | u | u |
| V | v | vé | vay | ve | vu-lgar |
| X | x | iks | eeks | kse | ksu-t |
| Y | y | i grec | ee grek | y | y-ore |
| Z | z | zed | zed | ze | zu-n |
FRENCH VOWEL SOUNDS.
The Simple, or Vowel sounds, in the French language, are as follows:—
| French. | English. | French. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | (short) like | a | in | bat, | exemplified by | mal. |
| â | (long) like | a | bar | âge. | ||
| e | sounded like | a | villă | me, je. | ||
| è, ê | e | e’er, there | père. | |||
| é | ai, e | air, eh! | été. | |||
| i | ea | peak | pique. | |||
| î | ie | field | gîte. | |||
| o | o | rob | mol. | |||
| ô | o | no | môle. | |||
| u | no equivalent in English (nearest approach is u in brunette) | exemplified by | suc. | |||
| û | no equivalent in English | sûre. | ||||
| eû | sounded like | e | in | her | (but longer and deeper) | jeûne. |
| ou | oo | root | exemplified by | goutte. | ||
| oû | oo | noose | voûte. | |||
| an | no equivalent in English | tan. | ||||
| in | fin. | |||||
| on | bon. | |||||
| un | brun. | |||||
Y, when alone, or when preceded or followed by a consonant, is pronounced like an i; except in pays, paysan, paysage. When placed between two vowels, it performs the office of two i’s, and is always preceded by a, e, o, or u. When preceded by a or e, it unites its first i with this vowel, and sounds è, as in rayon, which is pronounced rè-ion; when preceded by o, its first i is sounded in conjunction with o, like wa in the English word wag, as in joyeux, which is pronounced joa-ieû; and when preceded by u, its own two i’s preserve their natural sound, as in appuyer, which is pronounced appui-ié.
A is long in the termination aille, except in médăille, je travăille, détăille, émăille, băille (I give). It is also long in ation, as, nation, admiration, oblation; pronounce therefore, pāille, limāille, canāille, nātion, admirātion, oblātion, etc.
In the terminations of the imperfect of the subjunctive of verbs of the first conjugation, the a is always short; as que je parlăsse, que je donnăsse.