French Vowel Sounds

English	French
a when it is not nasalized and is the only vowel-letter in the syllable makes the sound-	[a] Ex: apparat [apara] (includes a before ill) Ex: ailleurs [ajœ:r]
à when it is the only vowel letter in the syllable makes the sound	[a] Ex: là [la]
Oi results in-	[wa] Ex: oiseau [wazo]
Oy results in-	[waj] Ex: royal [rwajal]
e in medial -emm and -enn makes the sound-	[a] Ex: femme [fam(∂)] (exception: flemme [flεm(∂)]
â in all common words makes the sound-	[α] Ex: âme [α:m(∂)]
a followed by silent s (except in verb forms) makes the sound-	[α] Ex: pas [pα]
a when immediately followed by the sound [s] makes the sound-	[α] Ex: passer [pαse]
a when followed by the sound [z] makes the sound-	[α] Ex: extase [εkstα:z(∂)] gazon [gαzõ]
There are several isolated words that have dark a [α].	Ex: diable [djα:bl(∂)] fable [fα:bl(∂)] damner [dαne] trois [trwα]
è ALWAYS makes the sound-	[ε] Ex: mère [mε:r(∂)]
ê ALWAYS makes the sound-	[ε] Ex: tête [tεt(∂)]
ë makes the sound-	[ε] Ex: Noël [n⊃εl]
é only when followed by a mute e in the next syllable makes the sound-	[ε] Ex: medecin [mεd(∂)s(E~)]
Medial e when followed by a consonant in the same syllable or a consonant cluster beginning with s makes the sound-	[ε] Ex: perdu [pεrdy] bestiaire [bεstjε:r(∂)]
e when followed by a double consonant makes the sound-	[ε] Ex: elle [εl(∂)]
e when followed by a final consonant makes the sound-	[ε] Ex: mer [mε:r]
e followed by a final silent t makes the sound-	[ε] Ex: secret [s∂crε] est [ε] (exception: et [e])
e makes the sound [ε] in the folloing words:	les [lε] des [dε] ces [cε] mes [mε] ses [sε] tes [tε]
Except when nasalized, ei makes the sound- Including e before -il and -ill And rarely ey	[ε] Ex: pleine [plεn(∂)] Ex: soleil [s⊃lε:j] Ex: pleyon [plεjõ]
Except when nasalized, ai makes the sound- Including various spellings of aie(s) and verb endings -ais, -ait, -aient	[ε] Ex: mais [mε] Ex: haie [ε] Ex: parlais [parlε]
Medial ay in the sound- ...except when voclic harmonization is applied	[εj] Ex: payer [pεje] or [peje]
Final -aye(s) results in the sound	[ε] Ex: payes [pε]
* e followed by n or m (including initial emm and enn) in the same syllable results in-	-the nasal sound [ã] Ex: ammener [ãm∂ne]
* Medial emm and enn often have the sound-	[a] Ex: femme [fam(∂)]
* initial dess, desc, ef, and ess make the sound-	[e] Ex: dessert [desε:r] (Exceptions: dessous [d∂su] dessus [d∂sy]
* initial ress usually has the sound-	[∂] Ex: ressembler [r∂sãble]
é results in the sound- (except when the next syllable has a (∂)	[e] Ex: étoile [etwal(∂)]
e (when not nasalized) before final silent consonants, except s and t, makes the sound- Including verb endings -er and -ez And polysyllabic nouns/adjectives ending in -er	[e] Ex: pied [pje] Ex: parler [parle] Ex: février [fevrje]
e in initial dess- and desc- makes the sound-	[e] Ex: dessécher [dese∫e]
e in initial eff- and ess- makes the sound-	[e] Ex: effet [efε]
ai when final in verb forms makes the sound-	[e] Ex: serai [s∂re]
* When the syllable following ai has a closed vowel, it may be pronounced-	[e] Ex: plaisir [plezi:r]
ay in pays and derivatives makes the sound	[e] Ex: pays [pei] paysan [peizã]
o when followed by a sounded consonant or h in the same word (except [z])	[⊃] Ex: dormir [d⊃rmi:r]
o when followed by [z]	[o] Ex: rose [ro:z(∂)]
o when dollowed by -tion	[o] Ex: motion [mosjõ]
o followed by another vowel-letter sounding as a separate vowel sound in the same word	[o] Ex: poète [p⊃εt(∂)]
au only when followed by r *and in these isolated words:	[⊃] Ex: Fauré [f⊃re] Ex: mauvais [m⊃vε] Paul [p⊃l]
In some words(rare), the spelling -um is pronounced	[⊃] Ex: album [alb⊃m] référendum [refer(ε~)d⊃m]
o when final in a word	[o] Ex: écho [eko]
o followed by a final silent consonant	[o] Ex: mot [mo]
ô is ALWAYS	[o] Ex: hôtel [otεl]
au usually (except before r)	[o] Ex: automne [ot⊃n(∂)]
eau ALWAYS	[o] Ex: l'eau [lo]
i, î, ï when it is the only vowel letter in the syllable and is not nasalized	[i] Ex: ici [isi]
y or (y**) is the only vowel letter in the syllable and is not nazalized	[i] lys [lis]
in spoke French, final -ie is	[i] though some musical settings have [i∂] Ex: vie [vi] or [vi∂]
Verb infinitives ending in -ire	[ie] Ex: oublier [ublie] or [je] Ex: dédier [dedje]
Verbs with medial -ie	Just have [i] Ex: dédiera
When -ie is followed by another letter in the syllable it will be	[ije] or [jε] Ex: hier [jε:r] miel [mjεl]
ou and variations où, oû, aou, aoû	[u] Ex: retour [r∂tu:r]
when ou is folloew by another vowel in the syllable, it usually acts as	the glide [w] Ex: ouest [wεst]
Musical settings of polysyllablic words with ou plus vowel usually turn the glide into a vowel	Ex: rouet [rwε] = [ruε]
when the combination of oue is followed by a pronounced consonant plus vowel it is ALWAYS	just [u] in speach and singing Ex: rouerie [ruri]
ou folle by ill results in	[uj] Ex: mouiller [muje]

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Scatter Champion

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