An Introduction to French Pronunciation

72 The Vowels in Detail
represented by anything other than un are humble /j:bl/,
parfum /parfj/, and à jeûn /a ʒj/.
It should be noted that there is a widespread tendency
in Parisian pronunciation, including the careful speech of
highly educated Parisians, to substitute /h/ for /j/, e.g. un
/h/, aucun /okh/, brun /brh/, chacun /ʃakh/, commun /kbmh/,
Dunkerque /dhkεrk/, emprunter /eprhte/, humble /h:bl/, lundi
/lhdi/, opportun /bpbrth/, quelqu’un /kεlkh/. This feature is
now so well established that there is no reason why foreigners
should not adopt it. It should be noted however that the
pronunciation /j/ still remains in certain parts of France and,
indeed, in the speech of many Parisians, particularly those of
the older generation.
10.10.4 /f/ – mid back rounded
Whereas, as we have seen (10.10.2 and 10.10.3), the nasal
vowels /h/ and /j/ are more open than their oral equivalents
/ε/ and /œ/, the vowel /f/ is less open than /b/. In terms of its
degree of aperture and of lip-rounding, it comes between /b/
and /o/ and is, indeed, somewhat closer to /o/ than to /b/. For
this reason, many books on French pronunciation represent
it by the symbol /õ/. The only valid reason for continuing to
use /f/, as is the case in this book, is that that is the standard
IPA transcription and that it is used in the main French–
English dictionaries.
With the exception of a few technical terms, some of them
very rare, e.g. lumbago /lfbago/, unguifère /fgdifε:r/), and a
small number of foreign words such as jungle /ʒf:gl/, tungsten
/tfgstεn/ (also – and more usually – pronounced /ʒj:gl/,
/tjgstεn/), the spelling is always on, e.g. bon /bf/, long /lf/,
monter /mfte/, or om, e.g. ombre /f:br/, tomber /tfbe/.
On the need to distinguish clearly between /f/ and /e/,
see 10.10.6.
10.10.5 /e/ – low back rounded
/e/ is rather less open than its oral equivalent, /a/. Note
however that, whereas /a/ is often replaced by /a/ (see 10.9.1),