US Army Guide to New Caledonia - The George C. Marshall ...

HINTS ON PRONOUNCING FRENC H
THESE are -pronunciation hints to help you in listenin g
to the French `anguage records which have been sup -
plied to your troop unit . They will also hel p you with
the pronunciation of actcitlona: words and phrases give n
in the vocabulary below, which are not included in th e
record .
There is nothing very difficult about French excep t
that. as in English, many words arc not pronounced a s
they are s pelled .- Therefore, the instructions and -;ocabu n
lure below are not based on the written French language ,
but are a simplified system of representing the languag e
as it sottruts . This system contains letters for all th e
sounds you -; ;ius ma--ce to be understood . It does no t
contain letters for some of the sounds you wilt hear . bu t
it will give you enough to get by on, both listening an d
speaking .
So that you may be able to read the familiar word s
you will see, the French spelling of each word and phras e
s given in parentheses ,
Here Are a Few Simple Rules To Help Yo u
1 . Accents . You know what the accented syllable of a
word . Is, of course. It is the syllable which Is spoke n
louder than the other syllables in the same word . We
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yyilI show the accented (loud) syllables in capital letter s
and unaccented syllables In small letters . French is not a s
consistent as English is about accenting the same syllabl e
in the same word In every sentence. However, you wil l
help yourself get the " feel " of French if you speak th e
part of the word louder which we write here in capital .
letters .
2, Vowels . These are the kinds of sounds we represen t
in English by e a, e, c, u, ah, ay, etc. Just follow the ke y
below and you will haye no trouble .
r1H or ah equals the a in nicer . Exame .e : Is G,4HR (la gate )
meaning "railroad station "
ar a equals a sound between the a c to and the a o f
rather . Listen carer lly for n on the record .
Example : n;a-1?,5?i4 (madame'. meanin g
'madam . "
AY'R' or am equa .s the are in 1,sw, but not so drawled Example '
Pil:'R (ears) meaning 'pork .'
AY or as equals the a :, in (Say, but not so drawled . Example
L :1Y (lair ; meanin g "milk . .
EE or tic equal= the ee in 7eee Examine : deez-(FEET (dix .
bit) meaning "eighteen . "
EH or eh equais the e in get. Example : SEHL (selj meanin g
"salt . "
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