Lesson - French Sounds (Pronunciation) - #5

[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.

French Nasal Vowels

French is distinguished also by its nasal sounds. In each case you get set to pronounce a vowel plus ng, as in ong. But you merely think the ng. You stop before you pronounce it. You do not say the n or the g. But thinking of those two letters and setting your voice box to say them makes a French nasal vowel.

We can represent the four French nasal sounds as:
ahng.................. ong.................... ung................... ang (the a is short as in cat)

ahng
Spelled: an / am / en / em
when final or when followed by a consonant other than n or m
tant................... champ................ tante
ampoule.............. cent.................. dans
sentir................. Henri.................. changez
empire................ enfant................ temps (tahng)

NOT:.................. panne (pahn)
......................... gramme (grahm)
......................... tienne (tyen)
......................... femme (fahm)

ong
Spelled: on / om
when final or when followed by a consonant other than n or m
bon.................... comte................ vagabond
ton..................... bombe............... chiffon
onze................... tombez.............. gond
long.................... concert............. bonjour

NOT:.................. donne (done-Eng.)
......................... comme (come-Eng.)

ang
Spelled: in / im / ain / aim / ein
when final or when followed by a consonant
pin..................... ainsi................... faim
vin..................... crains................. daim
clin..................... bain................... rein
simple................. saint................... teint
important............ train.................... plein

NOT:.................. inn (een – innocent)
......................... imm (eem – immobile)

ung
Spelled: un / um
un..................... Verdun................ parfum
lundi.................. Autun.................. humble

NOT: when a vowel follows

SPECIAL NOTE: In France today, in particular in Paris, the sound of ung is disappearing. Most of the time it is pronounced ang, like the third nasal listed above.

oin also requires a nasal wang
coin................... loin.................... foin
soin................... moins................. point

Practice the new sounds with:
entrons.............. impasse.............. insistez
partant.............. incertain............. avant
mentir................ un pain............... immigrant
souvent............. embrasser............ innocent
emplir................ comble................ comment