Heath's French and English dictionary

by Jean Louis de Lolme

K has always a hard sound, as in the English word king, and is subject to no irregularity.

L has two sounds. The first is precisely the same as l in the English word lily. The second is liquid. The liquid l, whether double or single, is always preceded by i. It is similar to the sound of the last i in William.

It is to be remarked, that i, followed by l or ll, and preceded by another vowel, is always silent in pronunciation; it only serves to indicate the liquid sound of the l, as in paille, soleil, patrouille, which ought to be pronounced pâ-i, solé-i, patrou-i. But when i is not preceded by another vowel, as in fille, it retains its natural sound, and serves at the same time to indicate the liquid sound of l. And here in fille, pronounced fi-i, we find both the i natural and the i which stands for ll.

Whenever i begins a word, as in illusion, the l’s are never liquid. The liquid l is marked throughout this work with a star (*).

P has the sound of the same letter in English, as in peine, pain. When combined with h, it has the sound of f, as in philosophe, philosopher.

Q has the hard sound of k, as in the English word quaker. Whether initial or medial, q is always followed by u, which is not sounded except in a few words that are noticed in the course of this work.

R has the same sound as in English, but is articulated much more strongly, as in rivière, river. It is always sounded at the end of words, when preceded by the vowels a, i, o, u. In substantives, adjectives, and verbs ending in er, it is silent, unless it is followed by a word beginning with a vowel or h mute, as in dernier ouvrage, which is pronounced dernié-rouvraj.

S has two sounds. The first is hissing, as in the English word sister; the second is soft, as in the English word please. It has uniformly the hissing sound at the beginning of words, and the soft between two vowels. Both sounds occur in saison. It preserves its hissing sound in compound words, as in parasol, vraisemblable; and when it happens to be sounded at the end of words, as in Pallas, Brutus, vis.

When s final is joined to the following word, it is always articulated like z, as in dans un cas important, which must be pronounced dān-zun-kâ-zin-por-tān.

T has two sounds; one hard, as in the English word tutor, and the other like the hissing s, as in sister. Both occur in situation, which is pronounced si-tuā-sion. It has the hissing sound before i, connected with some other following vowel or vowels, as in patience, factieux, which are pronounced pasian-s, fak-sieû.