French Pronunciation Charts

1

What follows are two representations of French pronunciations: 1. a list of all the French spellings in allpositions and linkings with their IPA equivalent; and 2. a list of all IPA sounds found in the Frenchlanguage and their spellings. In learning to correctly pronounce French without the aid of a IPAtranscriptions, I find it best for the beginning student to follow the route of the French spellings rather thatworking from the sounds themselves. Although there are many rules and spellings, French is an extremelyregular language. With the exception of a few words with variable word endings and some proper nouns,almost all French words will follow the rules to the letter.

Part one: French Spellings - Vowel Pronunciation

French spellings for the vowel -a IPA French example with IPA

-a or -à usually Paris [

là

-â in a few verb forms allâtes

-â (except as above)

-a before and sounds

pale

extase

lacer

-ai, -aî, -aie, -ais, -aise, -ait, -aient usually mais

-ai in some verb forms of faire when before [z] faisais

faisons

-ai final gai

-ail, -aill, -aille travail

cailloux

-aim, -ain when final or before a consonant except -m or -n, or -h faim

ainsi

-aim, -ain when followed by a vowel aime

plaine

-am, -an, -aon when final or before a consonant ex. -m or -n, or -h champ

fumant

-am, -an when followed by a vowel or another -m or -n

tamis

manne

-au chaud

-au before -r Fauré

-ay, -aye, -ayes payer

French spellings for vowel -e IPA French example with IPA

-é été

-è, -ê, -ë

père

forêts

Noël

-e before a single consonant and a vowel cheval

-e before two consonants elle

-e before final pronounced consonants fer

-e before final silent consonants (except -s and -t) pied

-e final spoken silent parle

sung parle

-e final in monosyllables je

-er final - generally in non-verb forms hiver

-er final - in verb endings and some nouns and adjectives. parler

boulanger

-es final parles

-es final in monosyllables before a closed vowel-es final in monosyllables before an open vowel

les

des

-et final filet

et (the words meaning and) et

-eau beau

-ei seize

-eim & -ein when final or before a consonant ex. -m or -n, or -h plein

-em & -en when final or before a consonant ex. -m or -n, or -h ensemble

-em & -en when followed by a vowel the -e is not nasal tenir

tennis

-emm & -enn when initial remain nasal except ennemi emmêler

ennui

-en after -i viens

-ent final firmament

-ent final in third person plural verb endings parlent

-eu in the interior of a word heure

-eu before [z] creuse

-eu as a final sound peu

-ge before a back vowel (-a, -o, -u) Georges

French spellings for the vowel -i IPA French example with IPA

-i single including before a mute -e finir

-î with the circonflexe île

-ï with the diérèse Aïda

-i preceding a stressed vowel bien

Final -il and -ille, and medial -ill aille

-ill and ille with no other vowel fille

-im and -in when final or before a consonant ex. -m or -n, or -h timbre

brin

French spellings for the vowel -o IPA French example with IPA

-o preceding a consonant or a vowel doter

-o when final sound mot

-ô ôter

-o before [z] rose

-oe and -oeu coeur

-oi voix

-oin when final or before a consonant ex. -h loin

-oy royal

-ou are before a stressed vowel oui

-om -on when final or before a consonant ex. -m or -n, or -h nom

-eon. pigeon

-ou, -où and -oû vous

French spellings for the vowel -u IPA French example with IPA

-u after g- and q- silent guitare

-u,- û, -ü(e), and -ue murmure

-um and -un followed by a vowel, but not -m, -n, or -h. unanime

-ue when followed by -il, -ill, or –ille orgueil

-que when final or not followed by double consonants que

-ueu after -g and –q vainqueur

-u before a stressed vowel lui

-um and -un when final or before a consonant except-m or -n, or -h brun

French spellings for the vowel -y IPA French example with IPA-y or -ÿ except when nasal martyr

-ym and -yn before a vowel hymne

-yn and -ym when final or before a consonant ex. -m or -n, or -h thym

-y initial in a word yeux

-y between two vowels royal

Consonant pronunciation

While consonant pronunciation is considerably easier than for vowels, it still offers some challenges forthe singer. Each individual consonant will be presented with a minimum of two pronunciation examples:first, a general pronunciation for the single and double consonant in the initial and medial position, andsecond, a possible final pronunciation. If such exist, pronunciation variants in liaison, and combinationwill also be presented.

Letter French Spelling IPA French Word with IPA

b -b or -bb initial and medial beau

abbesse

final silent plomb

followed by -s or -t absolu

c -c before a front vowel (-e, -i, or -y) ciel

-cc before a front vowel (-e, -i, or -y) accent

-c or -cc before a back vowel (-a, -o, -u) or a cons. encore

final parc

final after -n silent blanc

-ct final direct

silent respect

-ç with the çédille garçon

-ch blanche

-ch in words of Greek origin Christ

-cqu acquisition

d -d or -dd initial or medial doux

addition

final silent pied

in liaison grand_arbre

f -f or -ff initial or medial enfant

effort

final comparatif

in liaison neuf_heures

g -g before a front vowel (-e, -i, or -y) sabotage

-gg before a front vowel (-e, -i, or -y) suggestion

-g or -gg before a back vowel (-a, -o, -u) or a cons. grave

final silent sang

in liaison sang_et eau

-ge before a back vowel (-a, -o, -u) or a consonant pigeon

-gu before a front vowel (-e, -i, or -y) gigue

-gn compagnon

-gt silent doigt

h Initial -h is classified as mute and aspirate - both are always silent but,

-h initial mute allows liaison or elision silent douze_heure

-h initial aspirate allows no linking silent tres *hideuse

-h medial silent souhaiter

j -j jardin

k found in words of foreign origin only kilo

final kodak

l -l or -ll initial or medial large

ballet

final ideal

-il, -ill, and -ille (but not final -ile) soleil

papillons j

famille

In the these words and their derivatives mille (thousand)

tranquille (tranquil)

ville (villages)

m -m or -mm initial or medial mardi

flamme

after a nasal vowel silent parfum

in liaison nom_à tiroirs

n -n or -nn initial or medial neige

année

after a nasal vowel silent ensemble

in liaison en_aimant

p -p or -pp initial or medial captive

support

final silent trop

in liaison trop_en

-mpt silent compter

-ph philosophe

q -qu initial or medial liqueur

final cinq

in liaison cinq_enfants

r Spoken French makes use of the uvular that is appropriate for dialogue and cabaret songs.

-r or -rr initial, rapide

-r or -rr medial or final garage

terrible

hiver

-er, -ier, or -yer final in some nouns and adjectives silent foyer (noun)

-er in the infinitive verb form parler

s -s and -ss initial or medial séance

Debussy

-s medial between vowels maison

-s final silent toujours

-s final in exceptions hélas

lis

fils

in liaison mes_yeux ]

-sc before a front vowel (-e, -i, or -y) descendre

-sc before a back vowel (-a, -o, -u) or a consonant scandale

-sch initial or medial schéma

t -t or -tt initial or medial total

glotte

-t final silent tuot

-t in liaison tout_un

-th Thomas

-ti in endings -tion and -tience attention

-tie when final sortie

v -v initial or medial souvenir

w -w found in words of foreign origin Wagon

x before consonants texte

before vowels or -h exemple

in numbers deuxieme

in liaison deux_enfants

z initial or medial zèle

douze

final silent chez

Final as an exception Berlioz

Part two: A list of French sounds with some of the more common French spellings.

Adapted and expanded from Le Petit Robert CD-Rom.

Vowels Consonants

il, épi, lyre père, soupe

blé, aller, chez, et, j’ai, tes terre, vite

lait, merci, fète, Noël, forêts, hiver, Seigneursoleil, hotel, bouquet

cou, qui, sac, képi

ami, patti, bon, robe

pas, pâte dans, aide

fort, donner, sol gar, bague, gui

mot, dôme, eau, saule feu, neuf, photo

genou, roue sale, celui, ça, dessous, tasse

peu, deux, creuse chat, tache schéma

peur, meuble, ceuile vous, rêve

brin, plein, bain zéro, maison, rose

sans, vent je, gilet, geôle

ton, ombre, bonté lent, sol

lundi, brun, parfum rue, venir

mot, flamme

Semi-vowels nous, tonne, animal

yeux, paille, pied, panier agneau, vigne

oui, fouet, joua, joie

huile, lui | no liaison or elision allowed