French phonology

French phonology is the sound system of French. This article discusses mainly the phonology of all the varieties of Standard French. Notable phonological features include the uvular r present in some accents, nasal vowels, and three processes affecting word-final sounds:

  • liaison, a specific instance of sandhi in which word-final consonants are not pronounced unless they are followed by a word beginning with a vowel;
  • elision, in which certain instances of /ə/ (schwa) are elided (such as when final before an initial vowel);
  • enchaînement (resyllabification) in which word-final and word-initial consonants may be moved across a syllable boundary, with syllables crossing word boundaries:

An example of the above is this:

  • Written: On a laissé la fenêtre ouverte.
  • Meaning: "We left the window open."
  • In isolation: /ɔ̃ a lese la fənɛːtʁə uvɛʁtə/
  • Together: [ɔ̃.na.le.se.laf.nɛ.tʁu.vɛʁt(ə)]
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