Sons et lettres: A Pronunciation Method for Intermediate-level French

22 Accent Marks: Contexts & Function NAME LETTERS AFFECTED FUNCTION accent aigu ´ e Distinguishes the “bright,” closed e ( étudier ) from other vowel sounds ( je; belle ) accent grave e a, u Distinguishes the “open” e ( père ) from the closed e and from the schwa (the sound in je , le , etc.) No effect on pronunciation of a or u . The accent distinguishes between à (preposition) and the verb avoir ( il a ), and between ou (or) and où (where). accent circonflexe a, e, i, o; u No regular effect on pronunciation; a few words with ô ( nôtre , vôtre , côte ) have a rounder, longer o (/o/). The circumflex also distinguishes between the words du and dû . tréma a, e, i, o Indicates that the marked vowel is pronounced as a separate syllable, distinct from the preceding vowel ( Noël = No-ël ). It does not change the sound of the vowel. cédille [cedilla] ç, Ç c, C Changes the consonant sound from /k/ to /s/ before the letters a , o , and u . ˆ ` ¨ ACCENT MARKS: CONTEXTS & FUNCTION