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

93 Try this technique on the following series of words. In each, your mouth stays in the same position for the vowel throughout the series, and any consonants are pronounced through the shape of the vowel: (1) ou, sou, chou (2) tu, vu, mur, dur (3) heure, sœur, beurre, leur (4) or, fort, corps, bord LISTEN TO YOURSELF to be sure that the vowel sound stays constant during its production. Again, practicing by prolonging the length of the vowel in each syllable of a word will help you develop this awareness. You can practice these techniques with the different vowel sounds you learn in Sons et lettres and then apply them to a variety of words, first slowly and then progressing toward a more normal rhythm. After a time you should develop the ability to produce vowels without diphthongs. You may find that this is a crisper way of speaking, in contrast to the relatively relaxed manner that is natural to American English. Nasal vowels. Another distinct characteristic of the French vowel system is the presence and prominence of nasal vowels (treated in Leçons 9–12). The distinctive sound of nasal vowels is produced by the passage of air through both the mouth and the nose (hence the term nasal vowel ). In English, vowels with this nasal quality occur when they precede the letters m or n , and this nasalization is a by-product of saying those consonants. You can observe this by saying contrasting words with and without a final /m/ or /n/, such as foe/phone , fat/fan , hat/ham . The vowel sound in the second word of the pair sounds different because it is nasalized. Unlike in English, where both the nasalized vowel and the nasal consonant occur together, in French, only the nasal vowel is pronounced and the following /n/ or /m/ is silent. Compare English on and French an . The vowel in both words is nasal, but in English the tip of the tongue touches the roof of the mouth behind the teeth to produce the consonant sound /n/. In French there is no contact and no consonant sound. English speakers need to be careful to avoid adding an /n/ to the end of a nasal vowel. ꕺ