Un 3.2

Pronunciation – When Two Words Meet

When listening to spoken French, it may sometimes feel like a sentence is actually just one long word made up of many words shoved together. In reality, this description is not too far off. The rules of French often require changes in pronunciation when sounds from different words meet, sometimes resulting in those words connecting in some way. Each of these different processes fall under the linguistic phenomenon of ‘sandhi’. These also occur in English, with the question of ‘a apple’ or ‘an apple’ as a common example. Being aware of these processes will help learners better decipher and produce spoken French. Here, we will look into the concepts of Liaison, Enchaînement, and Contraction.

Explication

Exercices

Stress – L’accentuation

Stress is an important concept in the pronunciation of any language. Sometimes referred to as accent, stress describes the emphasis given to a part of a word or sentence when compared to the other parts of the word or sentence. In English, stress is placed on a specific syllable in the most important words in a sentence, and is shown with higher relative energy. Changes in stress can make the sentence grammatically incorrect, or change the overall meaning of the sentence.

e.g.

I have the book.	If compared to a normally stressed version of this sentence, extra stress on the word ‘I’ could be used to emphasize the fact that ‘I’, and not ‘You’, have the book
I want to present you a present.	Although both are written the same, ‘to present’ and ‘a present’ have different stress patterns that differentiate the verb from the noun. Flipping the stress patterns in these words would make the sentence grammatically incorrect

In spoken French, stress is used at the final syllable, and is shown with higher relative energy and a longer syllable. This can be at the end of a single word if said alone, at the end of a group of words, or at the end of a sentence. All other syllables in the word, group of words, or sentence are not stressed, and have the same, shorter syllable length. Paying attention to this pattern can help learners develop a ‘more francophone’ pronunciation.

e.g.

Canada (final word stress)	Canada (initial stress, in English)
Les professeurs sont canadiens. (final sentence stress)	The teachers are Canadian. (multiple syllables stressed, in English)

This pattern becomes even more important as we look at other pronunciation phenomena in French. French has developed ways to smoothly go from one unstressed word to the next, to ensure that the pattern of several unstressed syllables followed by a single, stressed syllable can be followed.

Liaison – La liaison

Liaison involves the pronunciation of a letter at the end of a word that is caused by the following word. Normally, the final letter in the first word would not be pronounced if the first word was not followed by the second word. This occurs when the first word ends with a consonant and the second word begins with a vowel or an unaspirated ‘h’. The sound created through liaison is used at the start of the second word. In a small number of words, the final consonant sound that is normally pronounced is pronounced differently through liaison.

e.g.

mes

/me/

mes tantes

/me.tɑ̃t/

mes oncles

/me.zɔ̃kl/

my (No final consonant sound)

my aunts (No liaison)

my uncles (Liaison – /z/)

grand

/ɡʁɑ̃/

grand-père

/ɡʁɑ̃.pɛʁ/

grand homme

/ɡʁɑ̃.tɔm/

big (No final consonant sound)

grandpa (No liaison)

big man (Liaison – /t/)

Depending on which two words are meeting, liaison can be required, impossible, or optional. When optional, the choice is based on creating a desired style. Learners should begin by focusing on the moments when liaison is either required or impossible. Remember that liaison can only occur when two words meet where the first word ends with a consonant and the second word begins with a vowel or an unaspirated ‘h’.

Required Liaison

Between certain determiners (article, adjective) and a following noun or adjective

les ingénieurs

/le.zɛ̃.ʒe.njœʁ/

the engineers (Liaison – /z/)

Between a subject pronoun and a verb

nous avons

/nu.za.vɔ̃/

we have (Liaison – /z/)

Impossible Liaison
Between a subject that is not a pronoun and a verb	nos sœurs ont /no.sœʁ.ɔ̃/	our sisters have (No liaison)
Before an aspirated ‘h’	les héros /le.e.ʁo/	the heroes (No liaison)
With ‘et’	tes cousins et oncles /te.ku.zɛ̃.e.ɔ̃kl/	your cousins and uncles (No liaison)

Enchaînement - L’enchaînement

Enchaînement involves the movement of the final consonant of a word, which is normally pronounced when the word is in isolation, from the end of the first word to the start of the second word.

e.g.

elle

/ɛl/

she (Pronounced final consonant in isolation)

est

/ɛ/

is (Pronounced initial vowel in isolation)

elle est

/ɛ.lɛ/

she is (Enchaînement – Final consonant transfers to next word)

Similar to liaison, this occurs when the first word ends with a consonant sound and the second word begins with either a vowel or an unaspirated ‘h’.

Contraction – Les contractions

Contraction involves a shortened form of speech or writing that is created by a combination between two or more words or syllables that would instead be used as separate words in sequence. This is achieved by omitting certain letters and/or sounds.

e.g.

That’s life.

That is life.

Although optional in English, typically dependant on formality, contractions in French are obligatory when possible. Not using contractions where there should be contractions is considered a grammatical mistake. French contractions are largely based on simplifying pronunciation and often involve short, two-letter words ending in ‘e’. Similar to English, an apostrophe is used to indicate the use of contractions.

e.g.

C’est la vie. (ce + est)

That’s life.

Contractions can occur in several parts of the French sentence, but the majority of them involve articles.

Contractions – Les contractions
Indefinite	Singular	de	Masculine	d’un
			Feminine	d’une
	Plural	de	Masculine	de
			Feminine	de
Definite	Singular	–	before vowel/unaspirated ‘h’	l’
		de	Masculine	du
			Feminine	de la
			before vowel/unaspirated ‘h’	de l’
	Plural	de	Masculine	des
			Feminine	des

When the singular definite articles ‘le’ and ‘la’ precede a noun or adjective that begins with a vowel or unaspirated ‘h’, they undergo contraction.

e.g.

L’homme est sympa. (le + homme)	The man is nice.
C’est l’université. (la + université)	It’s the university.

When the singular indefinite ‘un’ and ‘une’ are preceded by the preposition ‘de’, contraction occurs.

e.g.

J’ai besoin d’un stylo. (de + un)	I need a pen.
Il a peur d’une souris ? (de + une)	He’s afraid of a mouse?

When the plural indefinite article ‘des’ is preceded by the preposition ‘de’, it is eliminated. Similarly, when the plural indefinite article ‘des’ precedes the adjective of a noun, it is reduced to ‘de’.

e.g.

J’ai besoin de livres. (de + des)	I need books.
Tu as de bons amis ? (des + adjective of a noun)	Do you have good friends?

Some forms of these contractions, particularly those made from prepositions and definite articles, use a different form, rather than an apostrophe. When the singular definite article ‘le’ is proceeded by the preposition ‘de’, and when the plural definite article ‘les’ is proceeded by the preposition ‘de’, this type of contraction occurs.

e.g.

C’est le livre du professeur. (de + le)	It’s the professor’s book.
Voilà, l’Avenue des Champs-Élysées. (de + les)	That’s the Avenue des Champs-Élysées.

These other forms of contraction do not occur, however, when the following noun begins with a vowel or an unaspirated ‘h’. In these cases, another type of contraction is used.

e.g.

C’est le livre de l’étudiant. (de + le + étudiant)	It’s the student’s book.
C’est une table de l’université. (de + la + université)	It’s a table from the university.

Make sure to not mix up ‘des’ (indef. pl.) and ‘des’ (de + les), the contraction of the preposition ‘de’ and the definite article ‘les’.

e.g.

J’ai des amis. (des)	I have friends.
J’ai peur des amis de mon frère. (de + les)	I’m afraid of my brother’s friends.

The first person subject pronoun ‘je’ contracts with pronouns and verbs that both follow it and begin with a vowel or unaspirated h.

e.g.

J’ai soif.	I’m thirsty.
J’habite à Lethbridge.	I live in Lethbridge.

There is a very small number of words in French that, through historical processes, have contraction in their isolated spellings.

e.g.

aujourd’hui (à + le + jour + de + hui)	today (originally, ‘on the day of today’)
voilà (vois + là)	there is / that is (originally, ‘look there’)