????? ???????? ?????????? ??
The charts below show the way in which the
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
represents
French
pronunciations in Wikipedia articles.
English approximations are in some cases very rough, and only intended to give a general idea of the pronunciation. See
French phonology
for a more thorough look at the sounds.
French has no word-level
stress
, so stress marks should not be used in transcribing French words. See
here
for explanation.
| Consonants
|
| IPA
|
Examples
|
English approximation
|
| b
|
b
eau
|
b
eau
|
| d
|
d
oux
|
d
o
|
| f
|
f
ete;
ph
armacie
|
f
estival
|
| ?
|
g
ain;
gu
erre
|
g
ain
|
| k
|
c
abas; ar
ch
ai
qu
e;
k
elvin
|
s
k
y
|
| l
|
l
oup
|
l
oop
|
| m
|
m
ou; fe
mm
e
|
m
oo
|
| n
|
n
ous; bo
nn
e
|
n
o
|
| ?
|
a
gn
eaux
|
roughly like
ca
ny
on
|
| ŋ
|
parki
ng
|
si
ng
|
| p
|
p
asse
|
s
p
y
|
| ?
|
r
oue;
rh
ume
[1]
|
guttural r
|
| s
|
s
a; hau
ss
e;
c
e; gar
c
on; op
t
ion;
sc
ie
|
s
ir
|
| ?
|
ch
ou;
sch
eme;
sh
ampooing
|
sh
oe
|
| t
|
t
out;
th
e
|
s
t
y
|
| v
|
v
ous;
w
agon
|
v
iew
|
| z
|
ha
s
e;
z
ero
|
z
oo
|
| ?
|
j
oue;
g
eai
|
mea
s
ure
|
| Semivowels
|
| j
|
f
i
ef; pa
y
er; fi
ll
e; trava
il
|
y
es
|
| w
|
ou
i; l
o
i; m
o
yen;
w
eb
|
w
e
|
| ?
|
h
u
it
|
simultaneous
[
j
]
and
[
w
]
(
[
j
]
with the rounded lips of
[
w
]
)
|
|
| Vowels
|
| IPA
|
Examples
|
English approximation
|
| Oral
|
| a
|
p
a
tte
|
p
a
t
|
| ?
|
p
a
te; gl
a
s
[2]
|
br
a
|
| e
|
cl
e
; l
es
; ch
ez
; all
er
; pi
ed
|
p
ay
|
| ?
|
m
e
re;
est
; f
ai
te
|
b
e
st
|
| ?ː
|
f
e
te; m
ai
tre
[3]
|
long
[
?
]
|
| ?
|
l
e
; r
e
poser
[4]
|
sof
a
, p
o
lice (often
elided
)
|
| i
|
s
i
;
i
le;
y
|
b
i
n
|
| œ
|
s
œu
r; j
eu
ne
|
roughly like
b
ir
d
(esp. in
RP
)
|
| ø
|
c
eu
x; j
eu
ne
|
| o
|
s
o
t; h
o
tel;
h
au
t; bur
eau
|
s
o
le
|
| ?
|
s
o
rt
|
s
o
rt
|
| u
|
c
ou
p
|
c
oo
|
| y
|
t
u
; s
u
r
|
roughly like
c
u
te
|
| Nasal
|
| ??
|
s
an
s; v
en
t
ch
am
p; t
em
ps; t
aon
|
nasalized
[
?
]
|
| ??
|
v
in
; chi
en
; d
aim
tr
ain
; pl
ein
; R
eim
s
|
nasalized
[
?
]
|
| œ?
|
br
un
, parf
um
[5]
|
nasalized
[
œ
]
|
| ??
|
s
on
; n
om
|
nasalized
[
?
]
|
|
|
| Suprasegmentals
|
| IPA
|
Example
|
Explanation
|
| ?
|
mo
yen
[mwa?j??]
[6]
|
Phrasal stress
|
| .
|
p
ay
s
[pe.i]
[7]
|
Syllable boundary
|
| ?
|
le
s
agneaux
[lez?a??o]
|
liaison
[8]
|
|
- ↑
The French rhotic varies from region to region, though it is
often uvular
, especially in Northern France; the more common pronunciations include a
voiced uvular fricative
[
?
]
and a
uvular trill
[
?
]
and sometimes
[
χ
]
.
- ↑
In
Standard French
,
/
?
/
is often replaced by
[
a
]
.
- ↑
/
?ː
/
is often replaced by
[
?
]
, particularly among younger speakers in France.
- ↑
In French,
/
?
/
is pronounced with some lip rounding
[??]
; for a number of speakers, it is also more front and may even be phonetically identical to the vowel of
s
œu
r
[sœ?]
.
- ↑
/
œ?
/
is often replaced by
[
??
]
.
- ↑
Stress falls on the last full syllable of a
phrase
, except in emphatic speech.
- ↑
Used sparingly.
- ↑
Latent final consonant is pronounced before a following vowel sound.
