The International Phonetic Alphabet The International Phonetic

The International Phonetic Alphabet
P.1
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by
linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds used in
spoken human language. It is intended as a notational standard for the phonetic
representation of all spoken languages.
Although it might look a little technical at first it is very useful because once one has
learnt the notation one becomes independent in finding out what the words sound like by
looking in any good dictionary that contains IPA.
History: The IPA was created in 1886 by a group of French and British language
teachers, led by the French linguist Paul Passy. Together, they formed what would come
to be known from 1897 onwards as the International Phonetic Association.
To find out more about it:
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:International_Phonetic_Alphabet
A good example of pronunciation: www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3essYTjZ-M
The International Phonetic French Alphabet
>>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>
a:
b:
c:
[a]
[be]
[se]
ma, la, la table, un plat
un bébé
cette, cerise
d:
e:
f:
[de]
[əә]
[ɛf]
une danse, un dentiste
je, le, de, me, premier = (the)
un feu, une flamme
g:
h:
i:
[ʒe]
[aʃ ]
[i]
rouge
huit, un hibou
il, dix
j:
k:
l:
[ʒi]
[ka]
[ɛl]
je joue, un jouet
kaki
la, elle, une balle
m:
n:
o:
[ɛm] maman, comme
[ɛn] non, une personne
[o]
l’eau, chaud, un pot
p:
q:
r:
[pe] un point, un pot
[ky] qui, quel
[ɛR] rare, rentrer
s:
t:
>>> u :
v:
[ɛs]
[te]
[y]
[ve]
son, sur,
ton, tout, la tour
tu, sur, une, j’ai vu
la vie, vert, un virus
w:
x:
[dubləәve] wagon [vagɔ̃]
[iks]
la boxe
y:
z:
[igRɛk]
[zɛd]
j’y vais
le zèbre
You may use track 9 of ‘Salade verte’ or track 5 of ‘Salade rouge’ to help you learn this
alphabet, enabling you to spell words and to practise the sound of vowels.
International phonetic: French/ English vowels
P.2
The pairing of some vowels on the same line indicates approximate equivalence.
There are 16 specific French vowel sounds and 20 specific English vowel sounds, and
only two sounds: [ ɛ ] and [ əә ] are exactly the same in both languages.
French
il, dix, y
English
i
et, marcher, vous marchez, j’ai marché
sept, il fait, la mère, l’air, merci
ma, la, la table, un plat
le bas, la pâte
e
deux, bleu
je, le, de, me, premier
le beurre, la fleur, la soeur
un homme, une pomme
l’eau, chaud, un pot
ø
ou, où, vous, rouge, tous
tu, sur, une, j’ai vu
iː
I
see, bead
sit, pity
æ
ʌ
set, less, air, tent
apple, bat
after, car, calm
fun, come, cousin, cut
əәː
ɒ
the, above, father
work, fern, sir
wash, pot
ɔː
ʊ
uː
born, cork
foot
spoon, soon, suit
ɛ
a
ɑ
əә
œ
ɔ
o
u
y
Semi-vowels
j
fille, famille, les yeux, le piano
moi, noir, le bois, oui, l’ouest
huit, lui, la nuit
w
yes, yeast, you
what, wet, twin
ɥ
French nasal vowels
English Diphthongs
[ ɛ̃ ] le vin, le matin
[ œ̃ ] brun, un
Very similar I use [ɛ̃] for both
[ ɑ̃ ] le vent, dans, enfant, en
[ ɔ̃ ] on, non, le pont
[Iəә] beer, tear
[ɛəә] fair, there, to tear
[ɛI] day, date, place
[aI] buy, life, cry
[au] now, owl, out
[əәu] low, no
[ɔI] boy, oil, boil
[uəә] poor, tour
Basic French vowels + the sound ‘ou’
[a]
[əә]
[i]
[o]
[y]
[u]
a
e
i
o
u
ou
la
le
le lit, je lis
l’eau [lo]
j’ai lu
je loue
un rat
ta
te
il rit / le riz
un rot
une rue
une roue
tôt
tu
tout
ma
me
la mie
le mot
la mue, il mue
mou
© Veronique Gordon
P.3
International phonetic: French/English. Consonants
French
un bébé
une tente, un thé
un coq, qui, kaki
une danse, un dentiste
un garçon, une bague, un gigot
une saucisse, ce, si, une nation
zéro, rose, une television
une vache, un cheval
rouge, je joue
un feu, une phrase
English
b
t
k
d
g
s
z
ʃ
tʃ
ʒ
dʒ
f
θ
ð
la, elle, une balle
rare, un rat, rentrer
l
baby
tent, tea
cork, kiss, chord
dance, dentist
gag, guess
sausage, rice, kiss
zero, rose
she, sugar
church
pleasure, beige, television
judge, general
far, raffle
thin, math
the, that, other
little, ball
R
r
m
n
p
t
v
ɲ
ŋ
h
x
rare, rat
maman, comme
mummy, comb
non, une personne
no, to run
un point, un pot
point, pot
ton, tout, la tour
turn, tower
vivre
very
Avignon, un oignon
onion
singing, bank
hat, reheat
loch
un hotel, un hôpital (not pronounced)
en haut, un Hollandais
[‘]
There are two kinds of “h”. They are both not pronounced
An aspirated “h” puts a barrier between the two words: no liaison
en haut = [ ɛ̃‘o] , des Hollandais = [ de‘olɑ̃dɛ ]
There is a liaison between a mute “h “ like :hotel, hôpital and the last letter of the
preceding word etc: des hotels: [ dezotɛl ] , un hôpital: [ ɛ̃nopital ]
© Veronique Gordon
P.4
Pronunciation
(some tips)
= (…) means ‘sounds like’ (in English or French).
[…] is the international phonetic transcription.
No 1
About 90% of the time, one doesn’t pronounce consonants at the end of words,
especially
…s
…t
…d
No 2
… a vowel (a, e, i, o, u, y ) + s + a vowel…= [z]
ex: une rose [Roz]
vous êtes = [vuzɛt]
(between 2 words, it is called: une liaison).
No 3
… e + r… in the middle of a word = (air) [ɛR] not = (her) [əәR]
ex: serviette, servir , je sers, merci, mercredi
No 4
‘e’ after (c, d, j , l, m, n, r, s, t) = [əә] = (the) not = [e] = (et)
ex: ce, se, de, je, le, me, ne, te, re…
que = [ kəә ], ge… = [ ʒəә ] = (je)
No 5
i+n // i+m // a+i+n // a+i+m = [ ɛ̃ ]
ex:, impossible, américain , la faim = (la fin)
e+n // e+m // a+n // a+m = [ ɑ̃ ]
ex: un enfant, le temps, la jambe
o+n // o+m = [ ɔ̃ ]
ex: le pont, l’ombre
No 6
1. t + h
=[t]
2. … tion =… ssion = [ siɔ̃ ] not [ ʃəәn ]
3. … sion
= [ ziɔ̃ ] not [ ʒəәn ]
4. … ille
= [ ij ]
… eil /…eille… = [ ɛj ]
… ail /…aille… = [ aj ]
… euil /…euille = [ œj ]
… ouil /…ouille = [ uj ]
5. … oi
= [ wa ]
… oin
= [ wɛ̃ ]
ex: le théatre, le thé
ex: la natation, une profession
ex: la télévision
ex: la fille, la famille
ex: le soleil, une merveille
ex: l’ail, le travail, je travaille
ex: le fauteuil, la feuille
ex: le fenouil, la grenouille
ex: trois, je bois
ex : loin, le point
© Veronique Gordon