Consonants - French Phonetics

Guide

1. Fricatives

A consonant sound that is made by forcing air through a narrow space.

[z] (voiced alveolar fricative):

Sound: Like the "z" in "zoo."

How to Produce: Place the tip of your tongue close to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth (the alveolar ridge) and vibrate your vocal cords while letting air pass through.

[s] (voiceless alveolar fricative):

Sound: Like the "s" in "see."

How to Produce: Place the tip of your tongue close to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth (the alveolar ridge) and let air pass through without vibrating your vocal cords.

[v] (voiced labiodental fricative):

Sound: Like the "v" in "victory."

How to Produce: Place your upper teeth against your lower lip and vibrate your vocal cords while letting air pass through.

[f] (voiceless labiodental fricative):

Sound: Like the "f" in "fish."

How to Produce: Place your upper teeth against your lower lip and let air pass through without vibrating your vocal cords.

2. Nasals

[ɲ] (voiced palatal nasal):

Sound: Similar to the "ny" in the English word "canyon."

How to Produce: Place the middle of your tongue against the hard palate (the roof of your mouth) and let air pass through your nasal cavity while vibrating your vocal cords.

Example in French: "montagne" ([mɔ̃taɲ], meaning "mountain").

[ŋ] (voiced velar nasal):

Sound: Similar to the "ng" in the English word "sing."

How to Produce: Place the back of your tongue against the soft part of the roof of your mouth (the velum) and let air pass through your nasal cavity while vibrating your vocal cords.

Example in French: This phoneme is less common in standard French but can occur in informal or regional speech, and it is found in some French loanwords or accents.

In summary:

[ɲ] is produced with the tongue against the hard palate and is used in French words like "montagne."

[ŋ] is produced with the tongue against the soft palate and is less common in French but appears in some accents and loanwords.

3. Affricates

A consonant sound that consists of a plosive and then a fricative made in the same place in the mouth: 'ch'

Plosive: a consonant sound that is made by stopping air flowing out of the mouth, and then suddenly releasing it; /p/ and /d/ are examples of plosives.

[dʒ] (voiced postalveolar affricate):

Sound: Like the "j" in "juice" or "g" in "giant."

How to Produce: Start by positioning your tongue close to the roof of your mouth just behind your alveolar ridge (postalveolar region), then release the build-up of air with vocal cord vibration.

[tʃ] (voiceless postalveolar affricate):

Sound: Like the "ch" in "church."

How to Produce: Position your tongue close to the roof of your mouth just behind your alveolar ridge (postalveolar region), then release the build-up of air without vibrating your vocal cords.

In summary:

[dʒ] involves vocal cord vibration and is found in words like "juice."

[tʃ] does not involve vocal cord vibration and is found in words like "church."