Gretchen Angelo - Light and Matter

Nasal soundsA syllable or word ending in one or more vowels plus -n or -m producesa sound called a “nasal” in French. The -n or -m is not pronouncedin this position, but its presence changes the vowel in frontof it. There are three commonly used nasal sounds in French today,with several different spellings. Listen to your professor model thesethree sounds and practice distinguishing them.spelling IPA description-an, -am, [Ã] The nasal combinations written “an” or “en”-en, -emare pronounced the same, e.g. sang [sÃ] =sent [sÃ]-in, -im, [Ẽ] The nasal combinations written “in,” “ain,”-ain, -aim,-einor “ein” are all pronounced the same, e.g.cinq [sẼ] = saint [sẼ] = sein [sẼ]-on, -om [Õ] The nasal combination written “on,” e.g. son[sÕ]-un, -um [ ˜œ],[Ẽ]The nasal combination written “un,” foundin only a few words, can be pronounced as afourth nasal sound ([ ˜œ]), but nowadays mostspeakers in France pronounce it exactly like[Ẽ].General French pronunciation tipsStudents beginning to study French are invariably shocked by Frenchpronunciation. As the French language evolved through time, spellingdid not always keep up with pronunciation. French spelling oftenreflects the sounds of about the thirteenth century, and most wordstoday contain several silent letters, usually at the end of the word.Students sometimes think that learning French is simply “learninggrammar,” but this book aims to make you both orally proficientand literate — it will do you no good to have impeccable grammar ifyou go to Montreal for a vacation and no one can understand a wordyou say. Although French pronunciation is challenging, learning afew basic rules and practicing diligently will lead to the unutterablesatisfaction that comes from a native speaker complimenting you onyour pronunciation.• Most final consonants in French are not pronounced. However,the letters C,R,F,L are usually pronounced at the end of aword, so remember to be “CaReFuL”! In particular, watch outfor final -s; English speakers almost always try to pronouncethis, and it is generally not pronounced.• If a French word ends in an -e (with no accent), that -e issilent, but the consonant before it is pronounced. Masculineand feminine nouns and adjectives are often distinguished inthis way. For example: petit ([p@ ti], small (masc.)) has a32 Chapter 1 Bonjour! Ça va?