An Introduction to French Pronunciation

Mute e 81
‘rules’ given below in fact represents a substantial simplification.
The reader who wants to go into the topic in greater
detail is referred to the very full treatment of it by Fouché
(1969: 91–139).
11.4 Rule 1
Rule 1: at the end of a group, /c/ is not pronounced in standard
French.
There are no exceptions to this in standard French, but in
much of the south of France /c/ is regularly pronounced in all
positions, including at the end of a group. Consequently, in the
areas in question one may hear such pronunciations as tu vas
le perdre /ty va lc pεrdrc/, une petite fillette /ync pctitc fijεtc/.
11.5 Rule 2
Rule 2: in the first syllable of a group, /c/ is normally
pronounced.
11.5.1 The rule must be applied in the following circumstances:
(i) when the mute e is preceded by two consonants, e.g.
Bretons et Basques /brctf e bask /, crevant /krcve/, premièrement
/prcmjεrme/, prenez-les! /prcne le/, and the place-names
Grenade /grcnad/, Stenay /stcnε/;
(ii) where two identical stops would otherwise come together,
e.g. que cachez-vous? /kc kaʃe vu/, te trouve-t-elle beau?
/tc truv t εl bo/ (this does not necessarily apply to other consonants
but, in general, the learner is advised to pronounce
the /c/ in such contexts, e.g. je joue /ʒc ʒu/, le lit /lc li/, me
mens-tu? /mc me ty/);
(iii) in je ne, e.g. je ne veux pas /ʒc n vø pa/;
(iv) before certain combinations of consonant + semiconsonant,
e.g. ce lion /sc ljf/, le roi /lc rwa /, including in