Ist. Course.

The Pronuntiation.

1. The Alphabet.

The French Alphabet is composed of the 24 following letters:

The letters k and w only occur in foreign names. The vowels are: a, e, i, o, u. The compound vowels are: ai, eu, ou, or with the accent, as: é, è, é.

8. The Accent.

The french language has three accents which principally belong to the e, the acute accent (l'accent aigu) (é), the grave accent (l'accent grave) (è) and the circumflex accent (l'accent circonflexe) (e). If the e be without the accent, it

AHN, French Grammar. I.

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is either pronounced short, or not at all. It is not pronounced, if found at the end of words with more than one syllable as in,,parole", or when between consonants which may be joined as: tenir (l'nir) to hold, It is pronounced short in monosyllables, as: me, te, or between consonants which do not join: regard, the look.

The,,accent aigu", or acute accent, is only used on the e, the,,accent grave", or the grave accent, is used on the e, a, and u, and the ,,accent circonflexe" or the long accent, occurs in all vowels, and lengthens them:

patte, páte; il, ile; cotte, côte; butte, flûte.

Besides these accents the french language has the following accentual marks:

1) The,,tréma", two points which are sometimes placed over a vowel, as: haïr.

2) The,,cédille" (c), which is sometimes added to the c, as: traça.

3) The apostrophe", as: l'or.

4) The,,trait d'union" (-), hyphen, which joins two words, as tire-botte, dit-il.

3. Vowels.

Ou is pronounced like oo in the english word look: trou, pronounce: troo, the whole.

foo, the fool.

moo, soft.

amour, love mourir, to die.

pronounced like o:

rose, rose.

rôti, roast.

cause, cause.
marteau, hammer.

A, is pronounced like the a in the english word father:

dame, lady.

É, é is pronounced like e in the english word better:

blé, corn.
pré, meadow.

métal, metal.

été, summer.

Examples:

désir, wish.
rosée, dew.

Cou, cour, doute, moule, troupe, four, coulé, nourrir, matou, trouve, troussé, poudre, croûte, voûte. mode, noble,

morte, sotte, carrosse, trésor, motif, posé, aurore, rôle, côte, trône; faule, aune, autorité, aumône; rameau, tableau, troupeau. - salir, malade, sable, cabane, cabale, rame, classe, avare, âne, pâle, pâtir. - épi, piété, épelé, préposé, révéré, sévérité, degré, commodité.

U is pronunced by contracting the mouth, as it has no corresponding sound in the english language, it must be learned from the master:

mur, wall.

pur, pure.

lune, moon.

plume, pen.

rue, street. flûte, flute.

Eu, Oeu are pronounced like u in the eng sh word much:

peu, little.

feu, fire.

peur,
fear.
preuve, proof.

voeu, vow. soeur, sister.

È, è, ê, ai, ei are pronounced like a in the english

word care:

Mule, cure, vertu, bourru, tortue, sur, nature, rusé, durée, fortune, solitude, moulure, mùrir. — bleu, lieu, meute, peuple, beurre, auteur, neuf, boeuf, coeur, oeuvre. modèle, remède, manière, comète; rêve, bête, fenêtre, extrême; belle, éternel, mettre, ferme, superbe, promesse; pair, fraise, capitaine, délai, monnaie, prairie, paitre; reine, baleine, seigle. midi, idée, hardi, farine, utile, épître, mystère.

If the vowels a, o, or the diphthongs ai, ei, eu, are followed by m or n, they are pronounced with a nasal sound.

If a second m, n, vowel or,,h" follow, the nasal sound

is not used.

nasal-sound.

le don, the gift.

l'an, the year.

aucun, none.

le cousin, the cousin.

natural sound.
il donna, he gave.
l'ane, the ass.

aucune (fem.), none.

la cousine (fem.), the cousin.

Examples:

Ample, ambassade, estampe, flambeau, danse, tante, artisan, tyran; membre, empire, emporté, tremble, remplir, rente, ventre, pendre, entendre. daim, pain, main, plainte, crainte; frein, plein, peindre, éteindre; timbre, impoli, imprimeur, crin, florin, moulin, destin, inculte, infertile; symbole, sympathie. bombe, sombre, trompeur, tombeau, bonbon, maison, pardon, oncle, monde, volonté; tribun, importun, commun, emprunté. ami, animal, année, ennemi, omettre, sonné, uni, parfume, rhume, immortel, imité, inutile, inné, inégal, inhumain,

4. Diphthongs.

If two vowels be pronounced by a single impulse of the voice, they are called diphthongs. Thus from o- and -a, the sound oa is formed, which in written oi.

3. From i and än the sound iån is formed, which is

written ien.

bien, good. lien, band.

rien, nothing.
tien, thine.

soutien, support.
indien, Indian.