Wikipedia:IPA for French

Template:IPAkeys The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents French pronunciations in Wikipedia articles.

English approximations are in some cases very rough, and only intended to give a general idea of the pronunciation. See French phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds.

French has no word-level stress, so stress marks should not be used in transcribing French words. See here for explanation.

Consonants
IPA	Examples	English approximation
Template:IPAlink	beau	beau
Template:IPAlink	doux	do
Template:IPAlink	fête; pharmacie	festival
Template:IPAlink	gain; guerre	gain
Template:IPAlink	cabas; archaïque; aquarelle; kelvin	sky
Template:IPAlink	loup	loop
Template:IPAlink	mou; femme	moo
Template:IPAlink	nous; bonne	no
Template:IPAlink	agneaux	roughly like canyon
Template:IPAlink	parking	sing
Template:IPAlink	passé	spy
Template:IPAlink	roue; rhume^[1]	guttural r
Template:IPAlink	sa; hausse; ce; garçon; option; scie	sir
Template:IPAlink	chou; schème; shampooing	shoe
Template:IPAlink	tout; thé	sty
Template:IPAlink	vous; wagon	view
Template:IPAlink	hasard; zéro	zeal
Template:IPAlink	joue; geai	measure
Semivowels
Template:IPAlink	fief; payer; fille; travail	yes
Template:IPAlink	oui; loi; moyen; web	we
Template:IPAlink	huit	between yet and wet

Vowels
IPA	Examples	English approximation
Template:IPAlink	patte	pat
Template:IPAlink	pâte; glas^[2]	bra
Template:IPAlink	clé; les; chez; aller; pied	pay
Template:IPAlink	mère; est; abdomen; faite	best
Template:IPAlink	fête; maître^[3]	long Template:IPAblink
Template:IPAlink	le; reposer^[4]	minor (often elided)
Template:IPAlink	si; île; y	beet
Template:IPAlink	sœur; jeune	roughly like bird (esp. in RP)
Template:IPAlink	ceux; jeûne	roughly like bird (esp. in RP)
Template:IPAlink	sot; hôtel; haut; bureau	mole
Template:IPAlink	sort; minimum	sore
Template:IPAlink	coup	coo
Template:IPAlink	tu; sûr	roughly like cute
Nasal vowels
Template:IPAlink	sans; champ; vent; temps; Jean; taon	nasalized Template:IPAblink
Template:IPAlink	vin; impair; pain; daim; plein; Reims; bien	nasalized Template:IPAblink
Template:IPAlink	brun, parfum^[5]	nasalized Template:IPAblink
Template:IPAlink	son; nom	nasalized Template:IPAblink

Suprasegmentals
IPA	Example	Explanation
Template:IPAlink	moyen [mwaˈjɛ̃]^[6]	phrasal stress
Template:IPAlink	pays [pe.i]^[7]	syllable boundary
‿	les agneaux [lez‿aˈɲo]	liaison^[8]

Notes

↑ The French rhotic varies from region to region, though it is often uvular, especially in Northern France; the more common pronunciations include a voiced uvular fricative Template:IPAblink and a uvular trill Template:IPAblink and sometimes Template:IPAblink (after voiceless consonants).
↑ In European French, Template:IPAslink is often replaced by Template:IPAblink.
↑ Template:IPAslink is often replaced by Template:IPAblink, particularly among younger speakers in France.
↑ In French, Template:IPAslink is pronounced with some lip rounding [ɵ̞]; for a number of speakers, it is also more front and may even be phonetically identical to the vowel of sœur [sœʁ].
↑ Template:IPAslink is often replaced by Template:IPAblink.
↑ Stress falls on the last full syllable of a phrase, except in emphatic speech.
↑ Used sparingly.
↑ Latent final consonant is pronounced before a following vowel sound.

[1] The French rhotic varies from region to region, though it is often uvular, especially in Northern France; the more common pronunciations include a voiced uvular fricative Template:IPAblink and a uvular trill Template:IPAblink and sometimes Template:IPAblink (after voiceless consonants).

[2] In European French, Template:IPAslink is often replaced by Template:IPAblink.

[3] Template:IPAslink is often replaced by Template:IPAblink, particularly among younger speakers in France.

[4] In French, Template:IPAslink is pronounced with some lip rounding [ɵ̞]; for a number of speakers, it is also more front and may even be phonetically identical to the vowel of sœur [sœʁ].

[5] Template:IPAslink is often replaced by Template:IPAblink.

[6] Stress falls on the last full syllable of a phrase, except in emphatic speech.

[7] Used sparingly.

[8] Latent final consonant is pronounced before a following vowel sound.

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