French For Football/Notes/Pronunciation

An English speaker should not find French pronunciation too difficult, but it is easy to start mispronouncing French words which have a similar spelling to English words. There are also many different letter combinations which can produce a particular sound and also many silent letters, so it is often difficult to tell how a word should be spelled just from the sound of it. To assist the student, this book makes extensive use of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) which is used in many dictionaries to show the correct pronunciation. By convention, pronunciation is shown bracketed by “/” characters. Consonants These are generally like English, but with the following modifications. Dental Consonants The letters d, l, n, s, t and z are pronounced with the tip of the tongue against the lower teeth and the middle of the tongue against the roof of the mouth. In English, one would pronounce these letters with the tip of the tongue at the roof of one's mouth. (It is very difficult to pronounce a word like 'voudrais' properly with the d formed in the English manner.) b & p Unlike English, when you pronounce the letters 'b' and 'p' in French, little to no air should come out of your mouth. If you're an English speaker, say the word 'pit' and then the word 'spit' out loud. Did you notice the extra puff of air in the first word that doesn't come with the second? The 'p' in 'pit' is aspirated [pʰ]; the 'p' in 'spit' is not (like the 'p' in any position in French). /ʀ/ The French “r” sound is produced at the back of the throat, as when gargling. (This is the “official” pronunciation, but there is a lot of regional variation with some dialects being more like English.) /ʃ/ The French “sh” sound is pronounced as in English but is spelled with “ch”. e.g. château /ʃato/ castle gauche /ɡoʃ/ left______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ /ʒ/ This is the “zh” sound like in English “leisure” which can be spelled with “g” or “j” in different words. e.g. rouge /ʀuʒ/ red cage /kaʒ/ goal claquage /klakaʒ/ hamstring injury jaune /ʒon/ yellow juge /ʒyʒ/ judge (linesman)______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ /s/ This is the “s” sound is produced by the letters “s” and “c” as in English, and can also be produced by the letter “ç” and sometimes by “x”. e.g. surface /syʀfas/ (penalty) area blessure /blesyʀ/ injury brassard /bʀasaʀ/ armband déçu /desy/ disappointed six /sis/ six______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ /ks/ This is the sound normally produced by the letter “x”. e.g. laxiste /laksist/ lax mixte /mikst/ combined extrémité /ɛkstʀemite/ end______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ /z/ This is like the English “z” sound, and is produced by the letters “s” and “z”. e.g. ciseau /sizo/ scissor (kick) dispositif /dispozitif/ plan, operation physique /fizik/ build osé /oze/ daring zone /zon/ (relegation) zone______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ /j/ This is the sound at the front of the English word “yellow” which in French can be produced by the letters “i”, “y”, “l” and “ll”. e.g. pied /pje/ foot tibia /tibja/ shin yeux /jø/ eyes travail /tʀavaj/ work maillot /majo/ shirt cafouillage /kafujaʒ/ scramble______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ /ɲ/ This is the sound normally produced by the letters “gn” which sounds like the “ny” in the English word “canyon”. ligne /liɲ/ line poignet /pwaɲɛ/ wrist signer /siɲe/ to sign gagner /ɡaɲe/ to win______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Silent Consonants In French, certain consonants are silent when they are the final letter of a word. The letters p (as in 'coup'), s (as in 'dos'), t (as in 'court'), d (as in 'grand), and x (as in 'locaux'), are generally not pronounced at the end of a word. They are pronounced if there is a letter e added at the end ('coupe', 'dose', 'courte', 'grande', etc.) There are exceptions, e.g. many words taken from English. The letter “h” is always silent, but where it appears on the front of a word it can affect the pronunciation of any silent consonants on the end of the preceding word. (see Liaison) Vowel Sounds /a/ The following words only have the vowel sound /a/ as in English “hat”. attaque /atak/ attack balle /bal/ ball (or bullet!) barrage /baʀaʒ/ barrier barre /baʀ/ (cross-) bar frappe /fʀap/ strike marquage /maʀkaʒ/ marking match /matʃ/ match parade /paʀad/ parry (save) stade /stad/ stadium tacle /takl/ tackle______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ /ɑ/ The following words have the vowel sound /ɑ/ like the “a” in English “car”. base /bɑz/ base, foundation bras /bʀɑ/ arm cadre /kɑdʀ/ framework, goal grâce /ɡʀɑs/ thanks pas /pɑ/ step passe /pɑs/ pass phase /fɑz/ phase tâche /tɑʃ/ task______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ /ɑ̃/ camp /kɑ̃/ side champ /ʃɑ̃/ field rangs /ʀɑ̃/ ranks jambe /ʒɑ̃b/ leg centre /sɑ̃tʀ/ centre changement /ʃɑ̃ʒmɑ̃/ substitution rentrant /ʀɑ̃tʀɑ̃/ inswinging tendance /tɑ̃dɑ̃s/ trend______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ /e/ clé /kle/ key nez /ne/ nose fêter /fete/ to celebrate freiné /fʀene/ slowed down, curbed blessé /blese/ injured pressé /pʀese/ anxious prêté /pʀete/ on loan serré /seʀe/ tight, close______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ /ɛ/ This is like the "e" in English "bed" and "bet". aile /ɛl/ wing cercle /sɛʀkl/ circle faiblesse /fɛblɛs/ weakness geste /ʒɛst/ gesture, move règles /ʀɛɡl/ rules rêve /ʀɛv/ dream terre /tɛʀ/ earth tête /tɛt/ head, header______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ /ɛ̃/ main /mɛ̃/ hand plein /plɛ̃/ full loin /lwɛ̃/ far point /pwɛ̃/ point pointe /pwɛ̃t/ spearhead feinte /fɛ̃t/ dummy gradins /ɡʀadɛ̃/ terraces terrain /teʀɛ̃/ ground, pitch______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ /ø/ bleu /blø/ blue deux /dø/ two jeu /ʒø/ play lieu /ljø/ place enjeu /ɑ̃ʒø/ stake chanceux /ʃɑ̃sø/ lucky entrejeu /ɑ̃tʀ-ʒø/ midfield hors-jeu /'ɔʀʒø/ offside______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ /œ/ heure /œʀ/ hour neuf /nœf/ nine épreuve /epʀœv/ event largeur /laʀʒœʀ/ width longueur /lɔ̃ɡœʀ/ length finisseur /finisœʀ/ finisher vainqueur /vɛ̃kœʀ/ victor bonheur /bɔnœʀ/ happiness______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ /ə/ This is like the "a" in English "about". de /də/ of, from dedans /dədɑ̃/ inside dessus /d(ə)sy/ above devant /d(ə)vɑ̃/ in front genou /ʒ(ə)nu/ knee pelouse /p(ə)luz/ field, lawn recrue /ʀəkʀy/ recruit vedette /vədɛt/ star______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ /i/ cible /sibl/ target dribble /dʀibl/ dribble fini /fini/ finished libre /libʀ/ free prise /pʀiz/ caught rythme /ʀitm/ pace tir /tiʀ/ shot type /tip/ type, ideal______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ /o/ chaud /ʃo/ hot dos /do/ back crocs /kʀo/ fangs gros /ɡʀo/ big trop /tʀo/ too drôle /dʀol/ strange choses /ʃoz/ things faute /fot/ foul______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ /ɔ/ botte /bɔt/ boot poste /pɔst/ position choc /ʃɔk/ clash phoque /fɔk/ seal fort /fɔʀ/ strong score /skɔʀ/ score homme /ɔm/ man homologue /ɔmɔlɔɡ/ counterpart______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ /ɔ̃/ fond /fɔ̃/ back, depths rond /ʀɔ̃/ ring, circle monde /mɔ̃d/ world compte /kɔ̃t/ account contre /kɔ̃tʀ/ counter-attack montre /mɔ̃tʀ/ wristwatch nombre /nɔ̃bʀ/ number plongeon /plɔ̃ʒɔ̃/ dive______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ /u/ This is like the "o" in English "into". bout /bu/ end coup /ku/ blow, kick doute /dut/ doubt foot /fut/ football foule /ful/ crowd poule /pul/ pool touche /tuʃ/ touch (line) tour /tuʀ/ round______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ /y/ plus /ply/ more but /by(t)/ goal chute /ʃyt/ fall, downfall lutte /lyt/ struggle rude /ʀyd/ tough dur /dyʀ/ hard mur /myʀ/ wall nul /nyl/ draw, drawn______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ /w/ choix /ʃwa/ choice fois /fwa/ time, instance noir /nwaʀ/ black poids /pwɑ/ weight souhait /swɛ/ wish coin /kwɛ̃/ corner loin /lwɛ̃/ far louange /lwɑ̃ʒ/ praise______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________