Help:IPA/French

The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents French language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of French on Wikipedia. It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of French in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing consensus on the talk page first. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Shortcuts H:IPA-FRH:IPA-FR H:IPAFRH:IPAFR

French has no word-level stress so stress marks should not be used in transcribing French words. See French phonology and French orthography for a more thorough look at the sounds of French.

Consonants IPA Examples English approximation b bonⓘ about d deuxⓘ, grandeⓘ, Djiboutiⓘ today f faireⓘ, vifⓘ festival ɡ garçonⓘ, longueⓘ again k corpsⓘ, avecⓘ, quandⓘ, Irakⓘ sky l laisserⓘ, possibleⓘ, seulⓘ, villeⓘ law m mêmeⓘ moo n nousⓘ, bonneⓘ no ɲ gagnerⓘ, champagneⓘ[note 1] canyon ŋ campingⓘ, funkⓘ[note 2] camping p pèreⓘ, groupeⓘ spy ʁ regarderⓘ, nôtreⓘ[note 3] Scottish English loch, but voiced; Northumbrian burr s sansⓘ, çaⓘ, assezⓘ, soixanteⓘ, sixⓘ sir ʃ chanceⓘ, tchèqueⓘ shoe t toutⓘ, théⓘ, tchèqueⓘ sty v vousⓘ, wagon, neuf heures vein z zéroⓘ, raisonⓘ, choseⓘ, deuxièmeⓘ zeal ʒ jamaisⓘ, visageⓘ, Djiboutiⓘ measure Semivowels j fiefⓘ, payerⓘ, filleⓘ, travailⓘ, hierⓘ yet w ouiⓘ, loiⓘ, moyenⓘ, web, whisky wet ɥ huitⓘ, Puyⓘ between wet and yet

Vowels Oral vowels IPA Examples English approximation a patte, là, femme trap ɑ pâte, glas[note 4] father e clé, et, les, chez, aller, pied, journée mace ɛ baie, faite, mettre, renne, crème, peine, violet best ɛː fête, maître, reine, reître, caisse, presse, Levesque[note 4] fairy ə reposer, monsieur, faisons[note 5] again (often elided, see e muet) i si, île, régie, pays, fils[note 6] seat œ sœur, jeune bird (RP) ø ceux, jeûner, queue burn (RP), German Österreich o saut, haut, bureau, chose, tôt, cône story ɔ sort, minimum, pomme off u coup, roue[note 6] pool y tu, sûr, rue[note 6] roughly like too in some dialects such as Australian;[note 7] somewhat like cute in other dialects; German über Nasal vowels ɑ̃ sans, champ, vent, temps, Jean, taon roughly like song nasalized [ɒ] (Europe; tempsⓘ) or [a] (Canada; tempsⓘ) ɛ̃ vin, impair, pain, daim, plein, Reims, synthèse, sympathique, bien roughly like hang or Spanish ángel nasalized [æ] (Europe; painⓘ) or [ei̯] (Canada; painⓘ) œ̃ unⓘ, parfumⓘ[note 4] roughly like non-rhotic burn; nasalized [œ] ɔ̃ son, nom roughly like Australian drawn nasalized [o] (Europe; sonⓘ) or [ou̯] (Canada; sonⓘ) Suprasegmentals IPA Example Description . paysⓘ [pe.i][note 8] syllable boundary ‿ un hommeⓘ [œ̃.n‿ɔm], grand-oncleⓘ [ɡʁɑ̃t‿ɔ̃kl] liaison

See also

• Category:Pages with French IPA (55,164)

Notes

1. In European French, /ɲ/ is merging with /nj/, but in Quebec, /ɲ/ is distinguished from /nj/.
2. In European French, /ŋ/ is often pronounced [ŋɡ]. In Quebec, some speakers merge it with /ɲ/ and some speakers pronounce it exactly as in English.
3. The French rhotic /ʁ/ is usually guttural (uvular), but it varies by region. For example, in Quebec, [ʁ], [r], and [ʀ] are all used, but nowadays, most speakers use [ʁ]. This sound may also be devoiced to [χ] in certain contexts; see French phonology § Consonants for details.
4. In Parisian French, /œ̃/ is usually merged with /ɛ̃/, /ɑ/ is often merged with /a/, and /ɛː/ is normally merged with /ɛ/. These pairs are always distinguished in Northern, Belgian, Swiss, and Quebec French.
5. In Metropolitan French, while /ə/ is phonologically distinct, its phonetic quality tends to coincide with either /ø/ or /œ/.
6. In Quebec, /i/, /u/, and /y/ may be laxed before a consonant to [ɪ], [ʊ], and [ʏ], e.g.

   • sis [sɪs]^ⓘ "kit"
   • brousse [bʁʊs]^ⓘ RP "foot"
   • chute [ʃʏt]^ⓘ roughly like Scottish "goose"; German "müssen"

   For more details, see Quebec French phonology § Vowels.
7. More dialects include New Zealand, most accents of Southern England (including Multicultural London, Cockney, Estuary and modern Received Pronunciation), Scouse, Mancunian, Scottish, Ulster, Southern American, Midland American, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and younger Californian.
8. The syllable break ⟨.⟩ is used sparingly.