An Introduction to French Pronunciation
An Introduction to French Pronunciation
An Introduction to French Pronunciation
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94 The Semi-Consonants in Detail<br />
13<br />
13.1 <strong>Introduction</strong><br />
The Semi-Consonants<br />
in Detail<br />
Of the three semi-consonants of <strong>French</strong>, only one, viz. /j/, can<br />
occur between vowels (as in payer /peje/) or after a vowel<br />
(as in œil /œj/) (see 5.1.3). Note that /j/ is often referred <strong>to</strong><br />
as ‘yod’ (a name derived from that of a letter of the Hebrew<br />
alphabet).<br />
13.2 /i/ or /j/ after a Vowel?<br />
There are a very few words (e.g. abbaye /abei/) in which the<br />
vowel /i/ is in hiatus with a preceding vowel. Some of these<br />
differ only in that single respect from other words ending<br />
in /j/:<br />
haï /ai/ ail, aïe /aj/<br />
pays /pεi/ or more normally /pei, peji/ paye /pεj/<br />
13.3 /j/, /l/ or /ll/ after /i/?<br />
13.3.1 No simple all-embracing rules can be given for the<br />
pronunciation of -ll- after /i /, but the following indications
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