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
|
| b
|
beau
|
beau
|
| d
|
doux
|
do
|
| f
|
fête; pharmacie
|
festival
|
| ɡ
|
gain; guerre
|
gain
|
| k
|
cabas; archaïque; kelvin
|
sky
|
| l
|
loup
|
loop
|
| m
|
mou; femme
|
moo
|
| n
|
nous; bonne
|
no
|
| ɲ
|
agneaux
|
roughly like canyon
|
| ŋ
|
parking
|
sing
|
| p
|
passé
|
spy
|
| ʁ
|
roue; rhume
|
guttural r
|
| s
|
sa; hausse; ce; garçon; option; scie
|
sir
|
| ʃ
|
chou; schème; shampooing
|
shoe
|
| t
|
tout; thé
|
sty
|
| v
|
vous; wagon
|
view
|
| z
|
hase; zéro
|
zoo
|
| ʒ
|
joue; geai
|
measure
|
| Semivowels
|
| j
|
fief; payer; fille; travail
|
yes
|
| w
|
oui; loi; moyen; web
|
we
|
| ɥ
|
huit
|
simultaneous and
( with the rounded lips of )
|
|
| Vowels
|
| IPA |
Examples |
English approximation
|
| Oral
|
| a
|
patte
|
pat
|
| ɑ
|
pâte; glas
|
bra
|
| e
|
clé; les; chez; aller; pied
|
pay
|
| ɛ
|
mère; est; faite
|
best
|
| ɛː
|
fête; maître
|
long
|
| ə
|
le; reposer
|
sofa, police (often elided)
|
| i
|
si; île; y
|
bin
|
| œ
|
sœur; jeune
|
roughly like bird
(esp. in RP)
|
| ø
|
ceux; jeûne
|
| o
|
sot; hôtel;
haut; bureau
|
sole
|
| ɔ
|
sort
|
sort
|
| u
|
coup
|
coo
|
| y
|
tu; sûr
|
roughly like cute
|
| Nasal
|
| ɑ̃
|
sans; vent
champ; temps; taon
|
nasalized
|
| ɛ̃
|
vin; chien; daim
train; plein; Reims
|
nasalized
|
| œ̃
|
brun, parfum
|
nasalized
|
| ɔ̃
|
son; nom
|
nasalized
|
|
|
| Suprasegmentals
|
| IPA
|
Example |
Explanation
|
| ˈ
|
moyen
|
Phrasal stress
|
| .
|
pays
|
Syllable boundary
|
| ‿
|
les agneaux
|
liaison
|
|
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 and a uvular trill and sometimes .
- ↑ In Standard French, /ɑ/ is often replaced by .
- ↑ /ɛː/ is often replaced by , particularly among younger speakers in France.
- ↑ In French, /ə/ is pronounced with some lip rounding ; for a number of speakers, it is also more front and may even be phonetically identical to the vowel of sœur .
- ↑ /œ̃/ is often replaced by .
- ↑ 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.