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There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031684396 ' IC^ins^!^ aiiii^fo present a rational ae1^^K^^^!^i^tii^>? production of th3liiP**JI*«#*^i^e, andgradisa ex^t«S^ to 1t^c&^e">wal organs. Tlie book;» feeWuitfof stud^ a,ad observa- t^Si^ance, wt pf ifesw»fi^ «iri»ong t;^ •• ■'?fi^'recent.SchQi^ly'Wor%a;oii tHe su^- anfWmfea^^'ij^il^HH order IfHS'e^^ .. . biii^- ttfc^^tues!; o| aie' begiona-s\«ia»- -/• n^ *itli:|^aBe of a "more adv*Q^|i^oJt , ' pf -i^^^^ah*- essentiil^ri^r^^^^;.;- S^it>ia«nt :^'FreiH:h\ should. ''iinS^;'Mi^;'' " "'Jb'eea-.-iffiBSa jAjia^^e typ&jBB^||^^Bir , ^;-■•poiats"%s|7§*l^!^foi^';|tp : "i' . irfi&a EXERCISES ON FRENCH SOUNDS BY PHILIP H. CHURCHMAN CIABE COUiBQE New York WILWAM R. JENKINS CO. publishers 851-853 Sixth Avenue (Cor. 48th street) Copyright 1911 by Wiluam E. Jenkins Co. All Bights Reserved PiaNTED BY THE Press of William R. Jenkins Co. New Yoke NOTE This manual is but a briefer and simpler statement of material to be found in my Introduction to the Pro- nunciation of French (Jenkins) ; in a work like this com- pleteness and minute accuracy are of course not to be expected. For advanced classes the Introduction is probably to be preferred, and it would be wise, too, for teachers using this manual to be familiar with the facts discussed in the longer work. The changes introduced in this book, which, it is hoped, will com- mend it to teachers desiring a systematic but simple treatment of French pronunciation, are : (i) the elimi- nation of all but the essential rules ; (2) the expansion of important exercises ; (3) the simplification of the phonetic signs ; (4) a radical rearrangement of the order of presentation. I have thought it best in this little book to give first a general treatment of the more important sounds, in which section of the book only the barest essentials are to be found, the exercises containing no words of more than one syllable, and no phonetic writing being even suggested. Part II begins with the questions of syllabification and tonic accent, after which a fuller treatment of the principles of pro- nunciation and orthography is introduced ; the exer- IV NOTB cises in this part contain polysyllabic words, and the writing of exercises phonetically is advocated. My thanks are due to my friend, Dr. R. L. Hawkins, of Harvard University, for his skilful assistance in the reading of the proofs as well as for some suggestions before printing was begun. P. H. C. tABLE OF PHONETIC SYMBOLS. A siiiiple phonetic alphabet is used in this book. As some of its characters do not belong to the French alphabet, and as they all have a fixed value unknown to the standard orthography, a reference table of all but the most obvious is here given. In the first column will be found the phonetic symbol, beside which is a French word containing the sound in question ; each sign has the value of the italicized letter or letters in the word next to which it stands. a patte ou vous a pite eii Tpeu k col (^wand) eu peuT 6 all/ a dans (dent) h p^che e vain {vin") e me hon f /aire (nymphe) eu U7l S ^ater (^«^pe) y diahle (ba?7) i St (Cyr) w oui J git (your) u \ui poche sh chat 6 peau (pot) a digne s cenic (jeul) • • sign of length u vu z zone (rose) Note. — The defects of the signs efi, eu, eu, ou, and sh, from the strictly phouetic point of view, are obvious, but it is believed that they are none the less acceptable on purely practical grounds. The desire for simplicity and for harmony ■with the standard French spelling has alone guided the selec- tion of these symbols. EXERCISES ON FRENCH SOUNDS PART I THE SOUNDS NoVE. — The correct pronunciation of French makes necessary a greater activity and vigor of articulation than does English. In English the vocal organs are frequently relaxed, and their changes of position are generally neither rapid nor sharp ; the tongue is rarely thrust vigorously forward ; the lips are seldom advanced, even when rounded. French, on the con- trary, is always energetic and forcible ; the vocal organs are tense, and their movements are quick and marked ; it is distinct, therefore, even when rapidly enunciated. Unless these facts be continually borne in mind, a satisfactory pronunciation will never be acquired. I.— THE VOWEIvS. Series I (denoted by i, 6, h, and a).* 1. i. This sound is like the vowel in " feet ", with the corners of the mouth drawn far back as in smiling. ' Characters printed in heavy type are phonetic symbols for the various sounds ; the letters of the alphabet are always referred to by characters in italics. French words, except in the exercises, are printed in heavy type, and the silent letters contained iu them are in italics. 2 KXEECISES ON PRBNCH SOUNDS The teeth should be nearly closed. It is usually written i. Exercise.— lie, ivre, if, il, bich*', di/, fi/s, gaid/f, gite, q?'i, li/, mi?, nio', pie, ri/, si, tigi?, vie, oui, mine, mille, mLr, mi/, prie, plie, pli, dire, pire, ditej, lis, giir, grise. 2. 4 ("closer"). Nearly like « in "bakery"'. The commonest ways of writing this sound are: — (i) /, and (2) e (without accent mark) before all silent final consonants except t : ^t6, donne''. Note. — Two errors are frequently committed by beginners who attempt this sound. In the first place it is not sharply enough differentiated from the next sound ("open e"), probably because the two sounds happen to be most frequently represented by the letter e. As a matter of fact 4 is quite close to the sound i ; the mouth is but a little wider open than for that sound. Secondly, English-speaking people invariably tend to pronounce what is called a " glide ". In say- ing the English word ' ' bake ' ' , for instance, we first pronounce a pure vowel somewhat like 6 (or e), and then pass to a glide that sounds like the ee of ' ' feet ' ' : this French ^, on the other hand, is a uni- form sound throughout, and no shift of the vocal organs should be allowed during the production of it. Exercise.— B16, d^, i6e, gu€, 16, lez, m&r,' ne^, pr6, rez, ses, th6, chez, cle/", -pied. 3. 6 ("open «")is like the vowel of "bed" pro- nounced with the mouth open wider than for the Eng- ' For several of these phonetic equivalents I am indebted to Professor C. H. Grandgent's Essentiah of French Gratntnar. ' Les, des, mes, tes, and sej may be pronounced with i or h. IPHB SOUNDS 3 lish sound. The moutli should be much wider than for 6, from which sound it should be sharply distinguished : it should approach a. Avoid also the "glide" eh-ee (see note under 6). Some of the more common ways of representing this sound are ^, i (note the accent marks), ei, and ai (with some exceptions) : — pfer^, ehgnf, Sein^, aim^. Exercise. — Bfits, dej, f6ti?, gu&re, j'aimif, lain^, mais, neigif, pair, q«6t^, rai^, Sein^, tair^, vain^, zSbr«, vrai, cSn^, scSn^, fa!t^, tfitif, reinf, rain^, ais^, bWmi?, crfit^. 4. a is quite similar to the American a in " at " , or, more strictly, between the English vowel sounds in "at" and "art". This is the usual sound of the letter a in French. Exercise. — Bal, dat?, fad^, gave, jatt^, car, la, ma, natt^, par, ra^, sa, ta, va. Series II (a, 0, 6, ou). 1. g, (the less common sound of a in French) is similar to « in " art ". Do not round the lips as for the English "hall", or this sound will be confused with the second of the series. The most common way of representing this sound in French is d (note the accent mark), except in verb endings : §,m^, P9,q««. Exercise. — Axae, ane, b4che, gScH^, cabl«, lach?, mdlif, p&le, Tide, tich^, pdtif, blSm^, Vtques, pl4tr^, &pre. 2. o ("open 0" , the common sound of o in French) may be compared to the 4? in " f or " . It falls ' ' between the uin 'hut' and the <7 in 'hot' (rounded)". It is like an a with the lips more rounded. Distinguish Q and 6 ; the first approaches §, 4 EXERCISES ON FRENCH SOUNDS Exercise. — Bonn^, dot, foll^, gomm^, G^org^j, col, log^, moll^, not^, poch^, robf, sott^, toque, vogue, cot(?, cor, comm^, notrif, sor/, hard, mor/, for/, goss^, votr^, doct^, dogm«, golf^, forc^, oigue. 3. 6 ("closer", the less common sound of in French) is like the oi " tone ' ' , with the lips forward and rounded so as to leave but a small opening. Distin- guish 6 from o : 6 is close to ou. Just as the English " long a " (as in "bake ") is really the two sounds eh-ee, so the English "longt?" of "tone" is made up of a pure vowel followed by a glide similar to the M in " full ". No suspicion of this glide should be allowed in making the French "close o". Common ways of representing this sound are ^ (with accent mark), au (with exceptions), and eau ; tdf, sau/, s<:eau. Exercise. — Beau, daub^, fatur, gauche, jaun^, c6n^, I'eau, tadle, n6tr«, peau, role, seau, t6/, veau, avur, aube, c6t^, tadme, d6mtf, votrtf. 4. OU is like the 00 of "foolish", with the lips more forward and rounded as if to whistle. It is rep- resented in French by ou. Exercise. — Bouchi?, dout^, fou, goutU, jou^, cou, lou/, mou, nouj, pouf , rou«, sou, toute, vouj, tousse, touj, tou/, jour, ou, oil, aot.i, cou^, trou, loneni, ch.ou, sou/, blons*, douze, doiur, lottr' between vowels is usually equivalent to i -\- y; thus paye>' = pai-ye = pfey6. In pay.y and derivatives, y = i -y i: pay^ = p^i. Exercise. — Paye?-, payi, paysagf, moyen, foyer, fouill^, grenouill^, entier, entifer^, aieul, baionnett^, travail, bataill^, feuillf, ^ventail, ^cueil, ^cureidl, caill^, faience, premier, caAier, papier, piano, 6tudier, p^riod^, MoliSr^, soci^t^,' maniSr^, soleil, ceil, fill^, vieillu, accueillir, caillou;r, Versaillw. 2. w is also written w and wh in English words : tramway, w^ist. Exercise. — Fouetter, wAist, tramway, foi, ployer, emplo- yer, tntoyer, foyer, broyeur, d^vouer, d^voyer, ouat^, oi^, Aoiri^, Ois^, oiseau, wigwam, ouaillf, oisif, oindr^, wAig, oui. 3- S- Exercise. — Bnisson, puissant, Bossue^, nuisibl^, cuisine, depui.r, Auileujir, Auissier, hnilerie, Auitainf, Auiti^m^, brui^, minuiA ' Great care should be taken in words like this, which have English cognates stressed on the i, to be sure that the stress be on the final syllable, and that the i be pronounced as the semivowel y : soci^t^, dialog»f , diamac^. WORDS AND Syi,Iy ge before a, o, and u: jaun^, gem, git^, gymnast, mang-sa, mang^on.?, gag^ur^. Exercise. — G^orgett^, jujube, Anjou, Julw, jouer, jour, log^, rong^, rougi', serg^, lieg^, genou;ir, agiter, largs. Git^, j'ai, i'aimd', jatt^ ; jaser, G^org^j, jaun^, joujou ; jurer, jeu, jeun^, je ; genj, gingembr^, jonc, k jeun; Gier, joindr,?, juin. 7. p is represented by /, which is silent in many important words, such as ba/tgmi?, ba/tise^, eom/tA seul/te^ ^Qpt (or se/t). ' Auxerr,?, Bruxelli^^ and soixant^ are three exceptional words in 'whicli .«• = s. 34 EXSRCISES ON FRENCH SOUNDS Exercise.— Apoplexi^, ^pop^^. hippopotami, palpe^, pupe, pampr^, palpitant parapet, parapluis, papillon, pomp^, pips. Fie, p€nibl' = mesyeii. Exercise. — Anonner, Nanine, Ninette, nomination, nomi- natif, nonne, nonobstani", nounou. Nime.r, Neron, nette, nappe ; navrer, notre, n6tre, nouj ; nu, ucEui/, neuf, neveu ; Nantes, nain, non, nun*; nifece, noir, nui/. 14. ^is always silent in French ; but in about 400 words, chiefly of Greek or Germanic origin, it is called "aspirate k" (marked 'k in some dictipnaries), I'r} -36 BXEBCISES OX FRENCH SOUNDS which cases the letter amounts to nothing more than a sign to prevent elision and linking. Compare I'Aom- m^ate>', Aauif, A^ro-r, ^ideu^, Aomar(^, Aontf. Final Consonants. Consonants at the end of French words are usually silent ; the only ones that are commonly heard are <^ifi h ^1 and q. We shall now discuss the most com- mon exceptions to this principle. 1. I. Final s is pronounced in many words, such as : Bias, Reims, e^orus, tous (when not just before the word it modifies), fi/s, ^^las, lis, mars, vis. 2. T is sounded in se/t and Auit (except when they precede and modify a word beginning with a con- sonant); also in dot, Christ, rapt, vin^-einq, etc. 3. In many foreign words final m and n are pro- nounced as consonants : Siam, Priam, Aden, JEden. II. I. y is silent in most words of more than one syllable ending in -er (aime^, offieie?^); also in monsieu'', messieu^.;, and volontie^.r. Any final consonant after r is silent : eler^, for/. ' But final r is pronounced in amer, cuilUr, Aiver, enfer and a few niore such -words. WORDS AND SyHABLES 37 2. /is silent in ele/, boBu/f {pi.), OBu/i (//.), ne?/" (usually), and neu/" (before a noun beginning with a consonant)'. 3. Final c is ^frequently silent : estoma^:, taba/r, banc 4. Final q is silent in ein^ before a noun beginning with a consonant. I