An Introduction to French Pronunciation

78 Mute e
ever succeed in fully mastering the complexities of the matter:
he was probably right).
That, however, is not a counsel of despair. By way of
encouragement to the foreign learner, it can be said that a
great deal can be done by way of simplification. In particular,
we shall give:
(i) just four very simple ‘rules’ that will cover the majority of
cases (see 11.2) but which, because they take no account of a
number of exceptions, represent the extreme of simplification;
(ii) an expanded version of these four rules that will cover
the great majority of cases (see 11.3).
11.2 Four Simple ‘Rules’
11.2.1 Here, as in dealing with other aspects of French
pronunciation, it must be remembered that the relevant
phonetic unit is not the word but the group (see chapter 7).
If the following ‘rules’ are observed, the pronunciation
adopted in respect of mute e will be correct in a substantial
majority of cases. Where the fact of observing the rules leads
the foreigner to pronounce an /c/ where a native-speaker would
not normally do so, the result will not be such as to shock the
native-speaker and the learner is therefore advised, in cases of
doubt, to pronounce rather than omit the /c/.
11.2.2 Rule 1: at the end of a group, /c/ is not pronounced
in standard French (on regional French, see 11.4), e.g. la porte
/la pbrt/, trop vaste /tro vast/, les Alpes /lez alp/, sur l’arbre
/syr larbr/, sous la table /su la tabl/, je vais le vendre /ʒc vε
l ve:dr/, à la fin du siècle /a la fh dy sjεkl/ (see also 11.9.2 and
16.5.3).
11.2.3 Rule 2: in the first syllable of a group, /c/ is
normally pronounced (for exceptions, see 11.5.2), e.g. de
quelle manière? /dc kεl manjε:r/, je sais /ʒc sε/, le beau livre
/lc bo li:vr/, le voulez-vous? /lc vule vu/, me comprends-tu?