Lesson - French Sounds (Pronunciation) - #11

[CFHollister]

Please see the following for introduction and citation information:
http://moi-alizee.us/forums/showthread.php?t=1101

Note: Letters that appear in red are those that appear with strikethrough in the original text.

Syllabication; Unstable e

Syllabication
In writing, it is sometimes necessary to separate a word into syllables. Here are the rules for syllabication of French words.
1 A single consonant between two vowels goes with the second vowel:
Pa/ris................. ma/da/me............ i/nu/ti/le

2 A consonant plus l or r goes with the following vowel:
ta/ble................ fia/cre................. re/pli/que

3 Double consonants are divided:
ac/cent.............. vil/la/ge.............. in/no/cent
tis/su................. vil/le.................. dif/fi/ci/le

4 Two different consonants are divided:
res/ter............... mer/ci................. per/mis
mon/ter.............. im/pas/se............ in/vi/ter
(The m or n of a nasal vowel stays with the vowel.)

5 ch, gn, ph, th act as a single letter:
tou/cher............. ga/gner.............. a/thee
gra/phi/que......... ath/lè/te

6 Three consonants force the last two to go with the following vowel:
cer/cle............... gas/tri/que

Many of those final syllables end in e, a silent e. Whatever sound it once ha, today it is merely a release or a stopping of sound. It forms a syllable, in writing, with the consonant that precedes, but it does not make a separate syllable in spoken French. You say:
ma-dame............ gas-trique........... im-passe............ table


Unstable e*
Language is made by people. People change their ideas about words; they use their words differently, and they misuse and mispronounce them. Over the centuries a language changes. Compare Shakespeare’s English or Chaucer’s with ours.

Language is always in a state of change. French is no exception. We have already commented on the fact that Parisians, in general, say ăng for ung nowdays. One of the most noticeable changes in pronunciation at present is the dropping of a certain e called the unstable e.

In the sentence “I’m not telling you,” several e’s are not pronounced. You say:
Je ne te le dis pas.
(zhun-tuhl-dee-pah… not 6 syllables)

Note these groups:
cette potre........... tu parles............. ils parlent

An unstable e must be pronounced in order to avoid saying three separate consonants at once.
Elle me plait
(el m pleh… impossible in French)
Say: el muh pleh

If you listen carefully to your teacher and to native speakers, paying attention to the rhythm of word groups, you will not have difficulty with this unstable e.
Le livre est neuf (luh leevr eh nuf)
Je n’ai pas de livre (zhnay PAHD leevr)

*Author's note at the request of a French speaker:
The unstable e's described in this section represent what is commonly spoken amongst native French speakers in common usage although it may not represent "true" or "proper" French in which unstable e's are in fact pronounced for sake of accuracy. The student of French should be mindful of the contexts in which they intend to use spoken French and should adapt his or her speach accordingly while remaining aware of both "common" and "proper" modes of pronunciation.