French phonology

French phonology is the sound system of French. This article discusses mainly the phonology of all the varieties of Standard French. Notable phonological features include its uvular r, nasal vowels, and three processes affecting word-final sounds: liaison, a specific instance of sandhi in which word-final consonants are not pronounced unless they are followed by a word beginning with a vowel; elision, in which certain instances of ə (schwa) are elided (such as when final before an initial vowel); enchaînement (resyllabification) in which word-final and word-initial consonants may be moved across a syllable boundary, with syllables crossing word boundaries: An example of the above is this: Written: On a laissé la fenêtre ouverte. Meaning: "We left the window open." In isolation: /ɔ̃ a lɛse la fənɛːtʁə uvɛʁtə/ Together: [ɔ̃.na.lɛ.se.laf.nɛ.tʁu.vɛʁt(ə)] Phonetic notes: /n, t, d/ are laminal denti-alveolar [n̪, t̪, d̪], while /s, z/ are dentalised laminal alveolar [s̪, z̪] (commonly called 'dental'), pronounced with the blade of the tongue very close to the back of the upper front teeth, with the tip resting behind lower front teeth. Word-final consonants are always released. Generally, /b, d, ɡ/ are voiced throughout and /p, t, k/ are unaspirated. /l/ is usually apical alveolar l but sometimes laminal denti-alveolar l̪. Before /f, ʒ/, it can be realised as retroflex ɭ. In current pronunciation, /ɲ/ is merging with /nj/. The velar nasal /ŋ/ is not a native phoneme of French, but it occurs in loan words such as camping, smoking or kung-fu. Some speakers who have difficulty with this consonant realise it as a sequence [ŋɡ] or replace it with /ɲ/. It could be considered a separate phoneme in Meridional French, e.g. pain /pɛŋ/ ('bread') vs. penne /pɛn/ ('quill'). The approximants /j, ɥ, w/ correspond to the close vowels /i, y, u/. While there are a few minimal pairs (such as loua /lu.a/ 's/he rented' and loi /lwa/ 'law'), there are many cases where there is free variation. Belgian French may merge /ɥ/ with /w/ or /y/.