French Sound Structure

French Sound Structure

FRENCH STRUCTURE Douglas C. Walker

© 2001 Douglas C. Walker. All rights reserved. University of Calgary Press 2500 University Drive NW Calgary, Alberta Canada T2N 1N4 www.uofcpress.com Further information relevant to the use of this book and to the study of French phonology in general may be found on the following www site: http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dcwalker/ National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data Walker, Douglas C. French sound structure Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-55238-033-5 1. French language — Phonetics. 2. French language — Pronunciation. 3. French language — Phonology. I. Title. PC2135.W34 2001 441’.5 C2001-910584-3

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Table of Contents Sound Charts and Transcription . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii Abbreviations and Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .x Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi 1. The Object of Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 1.0 Preliminaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 1.1 The French Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.2 A Brief Historical Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 2. Key Descriptive and Theoretical Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2.0 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2.1 Orthography and Pronunciation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2.2 Morphological and Lexical Notions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 3. Basic Descriptive Units and Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 3.0 Introduction: The Segment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 3.1 The Syllable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 3.2 The SF Phonological Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 3.3 The Phonological Phrase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 3.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 4. Vowels and Semi-vowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 4.0 The Vowel System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 4.1 Vowel Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 4.1.1 Lengthening Consonants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 4.1.2 Intrinsically Long Vowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 4.1.3 The /' – ':/ Opposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 4.1.4 Supplementary Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 4.2 The Mid Vowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 4.2.1 Mid Vowels in Final Open Syllables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49 4.2.2 Mid Vowels in Final Closed Syllables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 4.2.3 Mid Vowels in Nonfinal Closed Syllables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 4.2.4 Mid Vowels in Nonfinal Open Syllables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 4.2.4.1 Analogy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 4.2.4.2 Vowel Harmony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 4.2.4.3 The loi de position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 4.2.5 Grammatical Consequences of the Constraints on Mid Vowels . . . . .57 4.2.6 Orthography and Pronunciation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 4.2.7 The Potential Merger of /n/ and /œ/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 4.3 The Low Vowels /a/ and /#/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 4.4 Nasal Vowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 4.4.1 The Merger of /'/ and / . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 4.4.2 Distribution of Nasal Vowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 4.4.3 Alternations between X and VN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65

vi

4.4.4 History and Orthography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 4.4.5 Dialects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75 4.5 Schwa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 4.5.1 Orthographic Representations of Schwa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 4.5.2 Distributional Constraints on Schwa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 4.5.3 The Phonetic Realization of Schwa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78 4.5.4 The Deletion of Schwa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80 4.5.4.1 Schwa in the Phonological Phrase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80 4.5.4.2 A Rhythmic Constraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84 4.5.4.3 Epenthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85 4.5.4.4 The Tendency Towards Irregularity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86 4.5.4.5 Stylistic Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88 4.5.4.6 The Stabilization of Schwa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90 4.5.5 Alternations Involving Schwa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92 4.5.6 Dialects and History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95 4.6 Semi-vowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100 4.6.1 Orthographic Representations of the Semi-vowels… . . . . . . . . . . . .102 4.6.2 The Phonology of the Semi-vowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103 4.7 Further Effects of the Phonological Phrase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106 4.8 Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107 5. Consonants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 5.0 The Consonant System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 5.1 Geminate Consonants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130 5.2 Nasal Consonants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132 5.2.1 The /Õ/ – /nj/ Interchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132 5.2.2 The Importation of /0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134 5.2.3 Nasal Assimilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135 5.3 Voicing Assimilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136 5.4 Aspirate-h . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .140 5.4.1 Other Types of ‘Aspiration’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146 5.4.2 Historical Comments Regarding < h > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147 5.5 Final Consonants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148 5.5.1 Stable Final Consonants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148 5.5.2 Latent Final Consonants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .152 5.6 Linking Phenomena: Enchaînement and Liaison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .160 5.7 Liaison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .160 6. Prosody . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177 6.0 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177 6.1 Stress and Rhythm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177 6.1.1 Phrasal Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .178 6.1.2 Emphatic Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181 6.2 Intonation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182 6.3 Colloquial Constructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187

vii

7. Around the Phonological Periphery: Playing with Language . . . . .191 7.0 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .191 7.1 Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .191 7.2 Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195 7.3 Reduplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199 7.4 Word Games: Verlan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200 Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .207 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .213 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .227

viii

ix

Standard French Vowels and Semi-vowels front

back

spread round

round

semi-vowels

L

Ä

w

high

K

[

W

higher-mid

G

1

lower-mid

'



Q

‹ n C

low

nasal ' 

#

n #

Standard French Consonants labial

apical palatal velar uvular

obstruents stops voiceless

p

t

k

voiced

b

d

g

voiceless

f

s

5

voiced

v

z

<

m

n

Õ

fricatives

sonorants nasals liquids

l

0 ¯*

*In International Phonetic Association (IPA) notation, [¯] represents a voiced uvular fricative rather than a liquid. (A separate diacritic symbol is available to indicate a liquid realization.) For convenience, however, we will use the symbol [¯] throughout this work, while classifying [¯] with the liquids on functional (largely phonotactic) grounds, and bearing in mind that the actual phonetic realizations of r-sounds in French show bewildering complexity (including uvular trills, velar fricatives, apical trills and flaps, and, needless to say, the uvular fricative used here).

x

Abbreviations and Symbols Indicates that items from this dataset are included on the CD-ROM SF CF MF OF CL X C V

X

G L N ‹ ´ Ø m . + # || #__ __# __. __C. || __ __ || _ (|) | () <> < > * m., f., sg., pl. ind. subj.

Standard French Canadian French French of the Midi (the southern part of France) Old French Classical Latin any segment any consonant any vowel any nasal vowel any glide (semi-vowel) a liquid (/l/ or /¯/) any nasal consonant schwa; a neutral, lax, unstressed vowel subject to deletion placed before a vowel to indicate that it is stressed the null symbol; no sound is pronounced a syllable syllable boundary morpheme boundary word boundary phonological phrase boundary word-initial position word-final position in an open syllable in a closed syllable at the beginning of a phonological phrase at the end of a phonological phrase obligatory liaison optional liaison prohibited liaison encloses optional material encloses specifically orthographic representations derives from (historically) becomes (historically) indicates an incorrect or impossible form masculine, feminine, singular, plural indicative, subjunctive

Note on translations: Most of the French examples cited have been translated into one of their English equivalents, except in certain cases where the meaning is transparent (e.g., incorrect ‘incorrect’) or where the meaning is irrelevant because the discussion bears on exclusively phonological issues.

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Preface The material that follows reflects my efforts over the past several years to understand the fascinating complexities and the theoretical implications of the sound patterns of French, and to communicate them to my classes in a comprehensive and comprehensible fashion. As a consequence, I owe significant debts of gratitude to the many students who, through their questions and comments, have prodded me to clarify both my thinking and my presentation. I hope the result is a detailed, well-illustrated, and useful description of the pronunciation of Modern Standard French, incorporating occasional comments on regional and social variation, on abbreviatory processes and word play, on certain historical phonological changes that continue to be reflected in the contemporary language, and on the interdependence of phonology and morphology in an appropriate manner. This work is intended primarily for university students studying French, not as a practical guide to pronunciation improvement but as a discussion of the sound system of the language. It is written in a way that presupposes little or no formal training in linguistics proper (other than some familiarity with basic terminology and with phonetic notation, to which students are normally exposed independently). The work should also provide data of interest to students of linguistics, where discussions of French phonology (schwa, liaison, final consonants, and aspirate-h, in particular) have played a major role in attempts to resolve certain theoretical matters. Finally, there should be some material of relevance to those members of the general public with an interest in the nature of the French language, since pronunciation is rarely considered in any detailed way in the general introductory handbooks of French. Now that the text is complete, I must also acknowledge the stimulation provided by the community of scholars working on French phonology, a domain that provides seemingly endless fodder for the theoretical cannons of the day, and that, in a more neutral and (at least potentially) less contentious manner, fascinates and challenges those seeking to understand it in all its heterogeneity. I trust this work, complemented by a relatively detailed list of references, furnishes an appropriate way to begin to confront the challenges involved. Among French phonologists, two names require special acknowledgement: Jurgen Klausenburger and Yves-Charles Morin. Their well-informed and insightful studies of a vast range of French phonological issues provide models that none can ignore and that all would do well to emulate. More importantly in this context, however, they were kind enough to provide detailed and constructive criticism of virtually every element of this presentation, and it is immensely improved as a result. À ces deux collègues, un grand merci. Preparation of this book has benefited from the advice of a group of students who suffered through its earlier versions and who have given me insightful feedback. Thanks are due to Shauna Haas, Sarah Johnson and Meghan McIntyre, and also to Anne Marie Hallworth-Duez, laboratory instructor extraordinaire, who subjected previous versions of this manuscript to a meticulous reading. The six speakers, Georges Blary, Jean-Bernard Gauthier, Etienne

xii

Preface

Grangé, Séverine Lamontre, Fleur Larocque, and Eileen Lohka, who lent their voices to the CD ROM, deserve special acknowledgment for adding a bit of reality to alleviate the potentially abstract and arid theoretical discussions in the text. Both directly and indirectly, this work has been supported in a variety of ways: by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada that have allowed me, over the years, to pursue the study of French linguistics; by a fellowship from the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France, during which the work was brought into focus; and by a sabbatical leave from the University of Calgary. More immediately, I must acknowledge the generous financial support received from Alberta Learning and Canadian Heritage, through the Canada-Alberta Agreement on the Official Languages in Education 1999-2000, and a Fellowship from the University of Calgary Learning Commons that provided for technical support in the preparation of the CD-ROM. The Learning Commons team, led ably by Kathy Schwarz, Instructional Designer, included Greg Phillips, Sound Engineer, Lane Turner, Audio Technician, Michelle McGrath, Graphic Artist, and Programmers Julian Wood, Robert Purdy, Ashley Rollke, and Rob Loh, Testers Mike Walker and Eric Rogers, and Production Assistant Gord Southam. At the University of Calgary Press, Joyce Hildebrand edited the text with great acumen; Kristina Schuring spent many hours on the details of design; and Walter Hildebrandt, John King and Tim Au Young provided very helpful general support from the outset of the project. My sincere thanks to each of these organizations and to all of the individuals involved. And finally, with much gratitude to Tracy, Cris, and Dave, sine quibus non.

1

Chapter 1 The Object of Description

1.0

1.0 Preliminaries

While the title of this book, French Sound Structure, appears relatively straightforward, it also provides a starting point for general discussion of a number of concepts that will allow us to place the details to follow in a larger context. It will be useful, for example, to understand in some detail what the term ‘French’ refers to. ‘Sound,’ moreover, is at once too general and too specific. It is not just any sounds that are of interest, but that subset of possible human sounds that play a variety of roles in the linguistic system we call the French language. Nor is it just French sounds in isolation that we need to examine, but sounds as constitutive of words, as conveyors of different types of meaning, as participants in different phonological and grammatical processes. Sound systems are, in other words, highly structured: classes of sounds, general phonological processes, grammatical consequences are all notions that will be important in the descriptions to follow.

1.1

1.1 The French Language

Originating in the Latin spoken in Northern Gaul and establishing itself as a recognizably independent language in the early Middle Ages,1 the French language is now spoken worldwide. It enjoys official status in several dozen countries (including France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Canada, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, French Guiana, Madagascar, and French Polynesia) and is a widely used medium of communication or education in many others (such as Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, much of sub-Saharan Africa, and Vietnam). It is one of the official languages of the United Nations and of numerous other international organizations. Internationally, French numbers approximately 75 million speakers who count it as their native language and upwards of an additional 150 million who use it readily for communicative purposes. The French language has long been associated with the prestige attached to French scientific, literary, and cultural contributions and continues, despite increasing pressure from English, to play a major role on the world stage.

2

Chapter 1

The wide geographic distribution of the French language is understandably correlated with linguistic differences. The French of Liège is not that of Marseilles, Geneva, Montréal, Port-au-Prince, Algiers, Dakar, or La Réunion. In fact, even within the borders of France itself,2 Alsace, Picardie, Normandie, Touraine, Bourgogne, Auvergne, Provence, and other regions offer recognizable local varieties. The French language, then, is geographically diversified, perhaps even to the extent that widely separated versions pose difficulties of mutual comprehension. To this geographic diversity may be added social diversity. The speech of la haute bourgeoisie or even a residual aristocratie will differ from that of the middle class, recent immigrants, technocrats, labourers, or the SDF (sans domicile fixe, ‘the homeless’). The speech of the young differs from that of older generations. (Reflection on the use of slang, nicknames, tutoiement, or profanity, for example, provides immediate confirmation of generational differences.) The speech of men differs from that of women. Each profession enjoys its own jargon. Finally, we must recognize differences correlated with various speech situations, where the nature of the context requires (or favours) different degrees of formality, different styles or registers. Usage differs in courtrooms, classrooms, family rooms, and locker rooms, and expressions appropriate in one context may bring censure or derision in another. Against this background of dramatic regional, social, and stylistic variation, what is the analyst (or the student) to do? Fortunately, there exists a widely accepted response to this challenge, adopted by linguists and speech communities alike. The solution involves identifying a geographically, socially, and stylistically circumscribed variety and using it as a reference point. This reference point, usually called a standard language or, in the case of French, ‘le bon usage,’ is considered by its speakers to be the most appropriate variety for use in formal and educational contexts. It is traditionally employed in the media and codified in grammars.3 Often, it is the object of attention of a national ‘linguistic legislature’ such as the Académie française. Thus, the object of discussion here will be Standard French (abbreviated SF), that variety of the language identified most often with the speech of the Parisian middle class (‘la bonne bourgeoisie parisienne; le Parisien cultivé’) when its members are engaged in polite conversation. Warnant (1987), in a discussion of the reasons underlying his choice of recommended pronunciations, puts it as follows: 4 Géographiquement, nous avons choisi de consigner la prononciation d’un des français de Paris et, dans un sens large, de la région parisienne. Paris est sans conteste le centre de la très grande majorité des activités intellectuelles et culturelles de la France. Nous pensons plus particulièrement à celles qui se manifestent par et dans la parole. Socialement, nous avons choisi de recueillir la prononciation des intellectuels et des gens cultivés, qui, dans des domaines extrêmement divers, s’expriment d’ordinaire non seulement avec clarté, mais encore avec élégance.

The Object of Description

Nous avons aussi choisi de ne décrire que le parler d’une génération, celle qui compte actuellement entre 20 et 45 ou 50 ans. Nous ne risquons pas ainsi, d’une part, de proposer pour demain l’usage d’une prononciation déjà vieille dans l’un ou l’autre de ses traits. Nous évitons, d’autre part, de donner en exemple une prononciation non encore définitivement installée. Despite Warnant’s efforts to circumscribe the object of his description, his comments still do not rule out alternative pronunciations for one and the same form (and, in fact, he often lists alternates particularly where schwa is involved). Martinet and Walter, much more sensitive to the great heterogeneity of current SF pronunciation, approach the matter pragmatically rather than normatively in this way (1973: 16–17): Est-ce à dire que toutes les prononciations qu’on peut entendre soient également recommandables? Et d’abord qu’est-ce qu’une prononciation recommandable?… Il semble qu’en cette matière l’idéal soit de ne rien faire qui attire l’attention et la détourne ainsi de la compréhension de ce qui est dit. Les bonnes prononciations sont celles qui passent inaperçues, les mauvaises celles qui soudain vous rappellent, ne serait-ce qu’à un niveau très inférieur de la conscience, que votre interlocuteur est de telle origine, nationale, géographique ou sociale. Ce que recherche l’étranger qui apprend une autre langue, c’est précisément d’éviter que les formes qu’il emploie révèlent sa nonappartenance à la société dont il cherche à utiliser l’idiome. While these quotations give us a very good general idea of our descriptive target, they still leave room for a certain flexibility. First, even within an unmarked, standard pronunciation, there will exist variants, often related to age differences, between innovative and conservative realizations. These distinctions have certain descriptive consequences, some of which we will address below. Secondly, despite our concentration on Standard French, we may occasionally wish to venture into an exploration of nonstandard territory, particularly the domain of popular or colloquial speech. It would be appropriate, then, to review briefly the nature of other registers. It is important to recognize, however, that stylistic (and social) variation forms a continuum and that levels of usage (and the distinctions made by analysts) may grade subtly from one into another. That being said, we may think of at least the following general distinctions: (1) Levels of usage (registers) 5 (a) formal (niveau cultivé, soigné, soutenu): implies a formal or perhaps official speech situation in which careful attention is paid to the organization and delivery of the message; may include archaisms of various types; normally conservative rather than

3

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Chapter 1

innovative (although highly formal speech can also be innovative under certain circumstances, as in the phenomenon of ‘liaison sans enchaînement’ [Encrevé 1988], which characterizes in particular the public pronouncements of certain politicians). (b) standard (français courant, usuel, commun, ordinaire): the unmarked register recognized as the norme by native speakers; the usage described by Martinet and Walter above. (c) familiar: used in less formal situations, primarily in oral communication between family members, friends, or those of similar status. (d) popular (très familier, vulgaire): spontaneous, unmonitored speech replete with phonetic reductions, ‘errors’ (e.g., avoir for être as auxiliary, lack of agreement, absence of subjunctive), slang, and often profanity. The following graded examples, moving from formal to familiar or popular, may give an indication of the passage from one level to another:6 (2) (a) Où demeurez-vous?

‘Where do you reside?’

Où est-ce que vous habitez?

‘Where do you live?’

Vous habitez où?

‘You live where?’

(b) Voilà une voiture qui fait sensation.

‘This car is creating a sensation.’

Elle est sensationnelle cette voiture.

‘This is a sensational car.’

Elle est sensas cette bagnole.

‘What a terrific car!’

(c) Que dites-vous?

‘May I ask what you’re saying?’

Qu’est-ce que vous dites?

‘What are you saying?’

Vous dites quoi?

‘You’re saying what?’

Quoi?

‘What?’

Hein?

‘Huh?’

(d) Elle s’est éprise de lui au premier regard. ‘She became enamoured of him at first sight.’ Elle est tombée amoureuse de lui dès leur première rencontre. ‘She fell in love with him on the first date.’ Elle est allée s’amouracher de ce petit voyou. ‘She’s head over heels in love with the guy.’

The Object of Description

(e) importuner

‘to importune’

ennuyer

‘to bother’

enquiquiner, emmerder

‘to bug’

(f) Je vous prie de ne pas fermer la porte. ‘May I ask you not to close the door?’ Ne fermez pas la porte, s’il vous plaît. ‘Please don’t close the door.’ Fermez pas la porte. ‘Don’t close the door.’ (g) Qui fut le premier ministre? Qui était le premier ministre? C’était qui le premier ministre? (h) Je n’ai pas vu ce film. Moi, ce film, je l’ai pas vu. (i) Pourquoi dites-vous cela? Pourquoi que vous dites ça?

‘Who was the first prime minister?’ ‘Who was the first prime minister?’ ‘Who was he, the first prime minister?’ ‘I haven’t seen this film.’ ‘This film, I haven’t seen it.’ ‘Why do you say that?’ ‘How come you say that?’

(j) l’homme avec qui ils sont venus ‘the man with whom they came’ l’homme qu’ils sont venu avec

‘the man they came with’

While our concern in this work will be primarily with the phonology of the standard register, it is important to realize that the concept ‘French’ encompasses both extensive phonological variation and the use of other mechanisms (e.g., vocabulary choice, extensive syntactic modifications) to permit subtle adjustment of usage to fit a rich diversity of speech situations. Although in what follows we will concentrate on the Standard French of Paris or the Île-de-France, it is also evident, given the great geographic diversity in French, that one can recognize regional standard languages (and even include Paris as one among many regions). That is to say, the notion of ‘standard,’ in terms of an unmarked register recognized as the norme by native speakers, is not limited to any specific region. In social or stylistic terms, ‘standard’ can be applied to a variety recognized as prestigious within any community. One often sees reference, for example, to Standard Canadian French, just as the standard in English-speaking Canada is defined with respect to a style significantly different from ‘the Queen’s’ or ‘BBC English’ in Great Britain.

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Minor lexical or phonetic differences aside, in fact, Standard Canadian French and Standard Parisian French are highly similar – the differences only become dramatically significant in the popular registers, and even here we would still have no difficulty in recognizing both vernaculars as inherently French, rather than as separate languages. Finally, although we have spoken of ‘standard’ and norme, the speech we refer to by these terms is in a direct way a historical accident. The prestige attached to the standard associated with Parisian French reflects the political and economic importance of Paris, mirroring its role as capital of France, focus of intellectual activity, seat of the government, industrial centre, and so on. Had French history been different, the dialect of Dijon, Poitiers, or Toulouse might just as easily have become the standard. Thus, in strictly linguistic terms (in tems of the linguistic structures involved), the forms of one dialect are no more worthy or unworthy than those of another. This is not to say that one cannot make value judgements about certain forms or styles, nor that these judgements are unimportant or without consequence. Opinions about speech forms, or particularly about their appropriateness to the context in which they are used, are crucial in all societies. But they reflect the social values attached, at a limited set of times and places, to language and its use, and constitute judgements about the users, rather than an evaluation of the inherent merit of one pronunciation or one structure over another.

1.2

1.2 A Brief Historical Review

As the foregoing remarks have indicated, SF is a product of a combination of historical circumstances. The French of Paris in the Middle Ages is markedly different from (and perhaps incomprehensible to) that of a speaker in the court of Louis XIV or a Parisian lycéen of our days. Here we will review, very briefly, some of the key events and stages leading to the current situation. Restricting our discussion to historical times (roughly from the eighth century B.C. onwards), the territory we now call Gaul was at that period inhabited by a variety of Celtic tribes who occupied lands previously settled by Ligurians, Iberians, and Aquitanians, among others. Eventually, the Celts took (or were given) the name of Gaulois, lending as well their name to the land they occupied: La Gaule.7 From about 125 B.C., Roman presence in southern Gaul (la Gaule transalpine) increased, and subsequently Caesar led a conquest of the remaining Gallic territory (58–50 B.C.). Little by little, aided by the importance of the Roman administrative and educational structures, the Latin language replaced the earlier Celtic dialects, at least in the urban centres. Latin became the language of Gaul, but Latin itself, through the centuries, evolved into distinct spoken and written versions that increasingly diverged from each other. Following the fall of the Roman Empire in A.D. 476, local varieties multiplied and a linguistic frontier solidified between the more heavily Romanized south and the northern regions, now occupied and governed by the Francs, a

The Object of Description

Germanic tribe from the region of the Rhine. The langue d’oc or occitan in the south and the langue d’oïl in the north became increasingly distinct. In the north, the Francs assimilated linguistically to the local Latin-speaking population, but not without a certain amount of influence on the lexicon8 and on pronunciation, the latter usually attributed to the heavy stress accent of their Germanic speech. Gaul remained, in other words, a Romance-speaking territory, even following the Viking invasions of the early eighth century. These normands (hommes du nord) adopted in turn the Romance vernacular, eventually exporting it to England following the Norman Conquest of 1066. In England, Anglo-Norman literature flourished, and French played a dominant role in British administrative and cultural life for several centuries. By the mid-ninth century (Serments de Strasbourg) and certainly by the beginning of the tenth (Cantilène de sainte Eulalie) the indigenous Romance language of the north of France had diverged sufficiently from the earlier spoken Latin that one can speak of the birth of the French language (français, language of the Francs). At this time, however, social and political conditions were influenced not so much by a unique ‘national’ capital but by strong regional centres, so one must inevitably speak of regional dialects including, among others, picard, champenois, anglo-normand, bourguignon, l’ouest and, needless to say, the francien of the Île-de-France. At the Old French stage,9 many of the regional courts rivalled that of Paris, and literature in these dialects was easily the match of that written in francien. With time, however, French kings extended their military and political domain much further throughout the territory, and the language of the Ile-deFrance benefited from increased prestige: francien was on its way to becoming the national standard. In 1539, under François Ier, the Ordonnance de Villers-Cotterêts made French (i.e., francien) the official language (replacing Latin) for all court orders and judgements. In 1549, Du Bellay, on behalf of La Pléiade, published the manifesto Défense et illustration de la langue française, a work, along with those of Rabelais, leading to much linguistic innovation, innovation aided by the explosion of literary works following the invention of printing. The increasing importance of Paris had further linguistic consequences. As Bonnemason (1993: 28) puts it, “l’Etat monarchique fait de la langue française son affaire. Le pouvoir politique est à Paris, la langue est celle de Paris et elle sera codifiée et régentée.” The Académie française, created in 1635 by Richelieu, codified the orthography and published its first dictionary in 1694. The Grammaire de Port-Royal of 1660 established a general standard to be met by even the greatest writers. Linguistic prescriptivism took firm root. Despite the influence and prestige of Paris, however, regional dialects (patois) and regional languages persisted. Still, the industrial revolution, the development of science and technology, the importance of the writings of the philosophes, extensive exploration, and colonization all contributed to the expansion of French and to the suggestion of le français comme langue universelle. Regional languages and the patois suffered under the uniformizing pressures of the Revolution and the imposition of French as the general

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Chapter 1

language of schooling, pressures that exist to this day. Nor is the role of the mass media negligible as a standardizing force. Nonetheless, alongside the national standard, linguistic variation in the form of both dialects and distinct regional languages remains characteristic of contemporary France, a variation that is sometimes discouraged officially and sometimes (as in some recent legislation inspired by the European Union) officially supported. And the standard language itself is a mixture containing a foundation of words from the original Latin source, supplemented by early Celtic and Frankish contacts (among others), a technical and learned vocabulary necessitated by corresponding intellectual or industrial developments, and loans from the many languages with which its long history has brought it into contact. Against this complex background, it is consequently not difficult to grasp why the notion of Standard French is at the same time both an arbitrary and ever-changing construct and a useful reference point. In any event, SF, as described above in all its complexity, is the object of this work. Before we undertake a study of the specific sound structures of SF, however, it is necessary to provide some further, theoretically oriented detail concerning the concepts to be used in a description of this material. This brief orientation is the task of the next chapter.

Notes 1.

The Serments de Strasbourg from 842, a document confirming a political alliance between two of Charlemagne’s grandsons concerning the partition of his empire, is often given as indicating the birthdate of French since it contains the earliest surviving text in the vernacular of Gaul.

2.

Despite what may be thought, France itself is not linguistically homogeneous: other languages spoken to a greater or lesser degree within continental French territory include Catalan, Occitan or Provençal, Italian, Basque, Breton, Flemish, and the Germanic dialects alsacien and lorrain. Recent immigration has also significantly increased the number of speakers of Arabic.

3.

See Morin (1999) for a detailed and up-to-date survey of this question, incorporating the significant term ‘le français de référence,’ a designation perhaps preferable to ‘Standard French’ or ‘le français standard’. We retain the latter on the basis of its wide familiarity. Morin also provides much detail concerning pronunciation variation within various normes, as well as the difficulties inherent in the notion of norme itself. Martinet (1990) addresses some of the same issues. In this context, spoken media have become more tolerant of a range of regional accents, provided that they are not too marked, as witnessed, for example, by the popularity on national television of the literary critic Bernard Pivot with his Burgundian accent (in Apostrophes and Bouillon de culture). In a parallel fashion, national television in Great Britain is also more accepting of regional pronunciations, as indicated by the presence of Welsh, Scottish, or Yorkshire

The Object of Description

readers of the national news. In North America, the situation on national television news does not yet appear to be as diverse. 4.

Warnant, interestingly enough in this context, is Belgian. The quotation is taken from the cover of his pronouncing dictionary but is compiled from material on pp. xx–xxi.

5.

Muller (1985: 225–262) provides an excellent survey of these issues, with copious examples. Guiraud (1969: 24) contrasts the two ‘poles’ of usage in the following indicative terms: “Bref, il est légitime de distinguer deux formes limites de la langue conditionnées par un ensemble de variables complexes dont les unes tiennent à l’histoire, à la culture, à la société, les autres aux conditions de la communication ou à la nature du message. Ainsi s’opposent ‘populaire’/’bourgeois,’ relâché/soutenu, libre/préscriptif, spontané/stylisé, oral/écrit, héréditaire/savant, dialectal/national, expressif/cognitif, locutif/prédicatif, naturel/cultivé.”

6.

Examples are drawn from Batchelor and Offord (1993a, 1993b) and Muller (1985).

7.

Celtic traces in French are few, but include some sixty surviving words: sapin ‘fir,’ chêne ‘oak,’ lotte ‘monkfish,’ bouc ‘goat,’ mouton ‘sheep,’ chemin ‘road,’ dune ‘dune,’ druide ‘Druid,’ etc., as well as several place names, perhaps most notably Paris, from the Celtic tribe Parisii.

8.

Frankish lexical remnants are much more numerous than Celtic, including France itself, le pays des Francs. Additional Frankish words include banc ‘seat,’ blé ‘wheat,’ bois ‘wood,’ choisir ‘to choose,’ cruche ‘pitcher,’ danser ‘to dance,’ framboise ‘raspberry,’ garder ‘to keep,’ guérir ‘to cure,’ guetter ‘to watch,’ hache ‘axe,’ haîr ‘to hate,’ honte ‘shame’ (and numerous other aspirate-h words), jardin ‘garden,’ lécher ‘to lick,’ maréchal ‘marshall,’ orgueil ‘pride,’ regarder ‘to look at,’ soupe ‘soup’.

9.

Old French is commonly divided into two periods, Early Old French, from the middle of the ninth to the end of the eleventh century, and Later Old French, from the beginning of the twelfth to the middle of the fourteenth (Pope 1934: 9). Middle French comprises the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Later Old French constitutes a period of spectacular literary and cultural development.

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Chapter 2

Key Descriptive and Theoretical Concepts

2.0

2.0 Introduction

The preceding chapter discussed the general notion ‘French,’ noting the ambiguities and complexities inherent in treating a domain with the long history, extensive geographic range, and sociolinguistic complexity that characterize la francophonie. Here, we will focus on the remaining words in the title of this book, ‘sound’ and ‘structure,’ reviewing briefly a number of concepts or distinctions that will prove useful in the description to follow.1 First among these is the need to explore the difficulties arising from the nature of French orthography.

2.1

2.1 Orthography and Pronunciation

Clearly, there exists some type of systematic relationship between French orthography and the corresponding ways of pronouncing French words. It is not the existence, but rather the nature of this relationship that is of concern: how regular is it? what types of exceptions are found? where does it fail to inform us of the appropriate pronunciation? Unlike languages such as Spanish, where the link between writing and speaking is close and direct, French presents a number of difficulties in interpreting phonologically the orthographic representations of words. Consider the examples in (1). (1) Orthographic puzzles (a) one sound – many spellings /k/: coup, occuper, kilo, qui, cinq, grecque, acquérir, echo, ecchymose, khalife /s/: si, cible, soixante, assez, ça, science, balbutie /a/: art, là, grâce, drap,2 femme, paonne, habituer, Jeanne /o/: vélo, aube, eau, eaux, côte, hôte, hauteur, heaume, faux

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Chapter 2

(b) one spelling – several sounds < e >: rue Ø, breton /‹/, serpent /'/, effacer /e/, femme /a/, en /#/ (This problem can extend to sequences of letters: < ent > [couvent as /kuv/ or /kuv#/], < ai > [faisan /f‹z#/; faisceau /f'so/; faillir /faji¯/], for example.) (c) silent final consonants plomb, caoutchouc, noeud, clef, poing, fusil, drap, donner, gros, salut, six, nez, il est, exact, gars, corps (d) etymological spellings doigt /dwa/ < CL digitus, sept /s't/ < CL septem, vingt /v'/ < CL viginti, compter /knte/ < CL computare, baptème /bat'm/ < Greek baptisma, corps /kn¯/ < CL corpus, sculpter /skylte/ < CL sculpere, sculptus (e) contextually determined variation deux petits chiens

/døpti5j'/

cinq petits chiens

/s'kp‹ti5j'/

dix postes

/dipnst/

dix emplois

/diz#plwa/

plomb – plombier

/pln/ – /plnbje/

fusil – fusiller

/fyzi/ – /fuzije/

exact – exactitude

/'gza/ – /'gzaktityd/

(f) stylistic variation je ne sais pas /<‹n‹s'pa/ /<‹ns'pa/ /<‹s'pa/ /5s'pa/ /5'pa/ These examples demonstrate the ambiguity of certain aspects of French orthography – the lack of a one-to-one relationship between spelling and pronunciation. It is often claimed that ideally there should exist only a single possible pronunciation for each sequence of letters and a unique orthographic representation for each different pronunciation. As indicated by the symbols we have already used, there are notational systems that implement this approach,

Key Descriptive and Theoretical Concepts

namely the symbols of the International Phonetic Association (IPA), which we will use (more or less) consistently in what follows.3 IPA notation, in other words, is appropriate because it identifies consistently and specifically the pronunciations with which we are dealing. We should specify, however, that the symbols may be used in different ways. If we wish to indicate precise phonetic detail, such as the assimilation of voicing in plan, pronounced [RN#], or the ‘light’ and ‘dark’ < l > of Early OF las [las] versus els ['NÏU]), the symbols will be enclosed in square brackets and will indicate the phonetically fine-grained units traditionally called allophones. More frequently, however, the symbols will refer to more abstract phonological units, enclosed in slant lines and omitting much predictable (and potentially distracting) phonetic detail: /pl#/ rather than [RN#], for example. These more abstract representations can occasionally involve different degrees of abstractness, depending on whether they indicate units (normally words) in isolation as opposed to combinations of words in larger contexts to which various processes have applied, or whether they indicate formal as opposed to informal or rapid speech pronunciations. In the discussions to follow, we will use slant lines for both degrees of abstractness but indicate, where necessary, the degree of abstractness (or the type of unit) involved.4

2.2

2.2 Morphological and Lexical Notions5

As we have already remarked, sounds combine to form words, the fundamental units in the composition of phrases and sentences and ultimately of communication in general. As a result, it will be useful, and often necessary, to understand some of the basic terminology associated with word structure, beginning with the notoriously difficult notion of ‘word’ itself. ‘Word’ refers, in fact, to four significantly different types of unit, which we will distinguish as follows: orthographic words, phonological words, lexical items, and word forms. Orthographic words, no doubt the most superficially familiar, are those written between spaces in texts. In that sense, je ne le sais pas ‘I don’t know’ contains five orthographic words, while quelques événements incompréhensibles ‘several incomprehensible events’ contains three. Phonological words are words pronounced as a single unit, whatever the number of orthographic words involved. Thus ces enfants ‘these children,’ nous arrivons ‘we arrive,’ or even je ne le sais pas constitute single phonological words in French – they are pronounced without interruption and with a single accent on the final syllable. Lexical items, as the name implies, are those words that serve as dictionary entries, having an identifiable meaning and grammatical role and a relatively constant phonological shape. In this sense, petit and savoir are lexical items. Word forms are the realizations of lexical items in specific morphological or syntactic contexts. Thus, the lexical item petit ‘small’ represents the four orthographic words petit, petits, petite, petites, and has the word forms /p‹ti/, /pti/, /p‹tiz/, /ptiz/, /p‹tit/, /ptit/, /p‹titz/, /ptitz/, depending on the inflectional categories of number and gender (as well

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Chapter 2

as syntactic and phonological context). Savoir ‘to know’ is even more complex: as a lexical item it encapsulates the full range of multiple inflected forms such as sais, savons, savaient, saches, sauriez, sûmes, and so on, as well as the nonfinite forms savoir, sachant, su. In what follows, we will often be concerned with the relationships between orthographic and phonological words and between lexical items and word forms. As the preceding examples make clear, words are more complex than might at first be thought. In fact, one can pursue the structural analysis of words much further, using concepts such as root and affix, inflection, derivation, and compounding. A root is the minimal common part of a lexical item that occurs in all the word forms realizing that item and that bears its central meaning. To roots may be added affixes (prefixes and suffixes) of two main types: inflectional and derivational. Within larger structures, inflectional affixes signal the grammatical properties of the word form in question. In French, nouns and adjectives are inflected for number (singular/plural) and gender (masculine/ feminine), as in grand, grands, grande, grandes, although the phonological realizations of these categories are far from consistent. Verbs are inflected for a variety of categories: number (singular/plural), person (first/second/third), tense/aspect (present/past/future/imperfect/conditional), and mood (indicative/ subjunctive), as indicated for savoir above. Derivation, on the other hand, is concerned with the creation of new lexical items based on the root in question. From grand ‘large’ one may derive by affixation grandet, grandelet, grandissime, grandiose, grandeur, grandement, grandir, grandissement, agrandir, agrandissement, and so on. Inflection in French is accomplished through suffixation, while derivation employs a rich system of both prefixes and suffixes. Additional word formation processes are also found in French, including compounding, conversion, and various minor mechanisms (abbreviation, acronyms, reduplication, to which we will devote separate treatment). Compounding involves the creation of a new word by combining two existing roots or word forms: sang-froid, aigre-doux ‘bitter-sweet,’ savoir-faire, porte-parole ‘spokesperson,’ and so on. Conversion (called dérivation impropre in French) entails the transfer of a lexical item from one grammatical category to another with the consequent attribution of new functions. Thus, nouns can function as adjectives (un culot monstre ‘a huge amount of nerve,’ une réponse mi-figue mi-raisin ‘an answer half fig, half grape’); adjectives as nouns (mon petit ‘my child,’ le périphérique ‘the ring road,’ les jeunes ‘youth’); verbs as nouns (un devoir ‘a duty,’ le savoir ‘knowledge’) and so on.6 Derivation, compounding, conversion, and other processes can all participate in the formation of new words (neologisms), processes that constantly expand and renew the lexicon of a language. The degree of activity of any individual process is in part a reflection of its productivity, that is, the degree of freedom and frequency with which it operates, a freedom that can vary over time.7 Thus, suffixation with -ie or -ure (courtoisie ‘courtesy,’ magistrature ‘magistracy’) is no longer productive, while -age (dopage ‘doping,’ stockage ‘storage’), -erie (billeterie ‘cash dispenser,’ sweaterie ‘sweater shop’) and

Key Descriptive and Theoretical Concepts

-ique (informatique ‘computer science,’ robotique ‘robotics’), for example, continue to be used in the frequent creation of new lexical items. Neologism is one way in which lexicons are expanded. Borrowing is another. Throughout its history, French has borrowed extensively – recall the Celtic and Frankish examples of the first chapter. To those earliest loans, one may add testimony of the close contact with Provençal (troubadour, amour, ballade, salade, tapenade); extensive Italian borrowings, many from the Italian influence of the Renaissance (gazette, alarme, brigantin, baguette, piano); various Arabic words, often entering through Spanish (algèbre, chiffre ‘numeral,’ alcool, girafe, abricot ‘apricot’); highly diverse words from the languages of the French colonies or overseas contacts (cacahuète ‘peanut,’ patate ‘potato,’ tabac ‘tobacco,’ cannibale, tomate, cobaye ‘guineapig,’ banane, iguane); and the massive and controversial importation of English items characteristic of the latter part of the twentieth century and beyond, an importation so significant it has led both to dictionnaires des anglicismes and to legislation attempting to stem the flow.8 French is also characterized by a special type of borrowing where the language draws on its own history: the massive importation of learned loan words. Learned words (mots savants) are those that French has imported from Latin (and Greek) subsequent to the Early Old French stage and that have, as a consequence, failed to be subject to the many sound changes that led to the formation of the basic French vocabulary. This type of borrowing has led to the formation of doublets, or pairs of words from the same source language, a learned word alongside its popular counterpart (mots savants – mots populaires). Doublets, illustrated in (2), raise a number of interesting problems, of which the most important involves the issue of related word forms: are the phonological and semantic similarities between such words sufficient to conclude that they represent the same lexical item?9 (2) Doublets affliger – affliction

‘afflict – affliction’

angle – angulaire

‘angle – angular’

bête – bestial

‘beast – bestial’

bouillir – ébullition

‘to boil – boiling’

cendre– incinérer

‘cinder – to incinerate’

contredire – contradiction

‘to contradict – contradiction’

côte – costal

‘coast – coastal’

coupable – culpabilité

‘guilty – guilt’

croire – crédibilité

‘to believe – credibility’

diable – diabolique

‘devil – diabolical’

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Chapter 2

double – dupliquer

‘double – to duplicate’

école – scolaire

‘school – scholarly’

entier – intègre

‘entire – complete’

été – estival

‘summer – summery’

fête – festival

‘holiday – festival’

genou – génuflection

‘knee – genuflection’

goût – dégustation

‘taste – sampling’

mâcher – mastiquer

‘to chew – to masticate’

peuple – populaire

‘people – popular’

pied – pédestre

‘foot – pedestrian’

poudre – pulvériser

‘powder – to pulverize’

poumon – pulmonaire

‘lung – pulmonary’

recevoir – réception

‘to receive – reception’

recouvrer – récupérer

‘to recover – to recuperate’

restreindre – restriction

‘to restrain – restriction’

royal – régal

‘royal – regal’

sûreté – sécurité

‘safety – security’

However we decide to approach these examples in a discussion of French phonology, it will often be the case that special categories of words (loan words, learned words, proper nouns, highly frequent forms, and so on) will require separate treatment, either because of their specific properties or their exceptional behaviour. These distinctions between different types of lexical items, in other words, will be useful in the detailed descriptions of subsequent chapters. Finally, we must return to a set of issues associated with the relationship between lexical items and word forms. A lexical item is, in an important sense, the basic representative of what we first called a word. Word forms, in contrast, are the specific realizations of those items in particular contexts. Word forms, as well as their component parts – roots and affixes – often differ in their phonological shape; when the differences are systematic and not restricted to a single unit or a single morpheme, we will call them ‘alternations’.10 Alternations occur when stems and affixes (inflectional or derivational) are combined, when words vary because of the context in which they occur, or when stylistic or other variation takes effect. The examples in (3) illustrate some of the alternation types to be discussed below.

Key Descriptive and Theoretical Concepts

(3) Phonological alternations je pars – nous partons

/pa¯/

/pa¯t+n/

‘I leave – we leave’

je dors – nous dormons

/dn¯/

/dn¯m+n/

‘I sleep – we sleep’

nous venons – ils viennent /v‹n+n/

/vj'n/

‘we come – they come’

nous crevons – ils crèvent /k¯‹v+n/

/k¯'v/

‘we wear out – they wear out’

gros – grosse

/g¯o/

/g¯os/

‘big (m./f.)’

bon – bonne

/bn/

/bnn/

‘good (m./f.)’

sot – sotte

/so/

/snt/

‘silly (m./f.)’

drap – draperie

/d¯a/

/d¯ap+¯i/ ‘sheet – drapery’

son – sonner

/sn/

/snn+e/

‘sound – to sound’

honneur – honorer

/nnœ¯/

/nnn¯+e/

‘honour – to sound’

clair – clarté

/kl'¯/

/kla¯+te/

‘clear – clarity’

peuple – populaire

/pœpl/

/pnpyl+'¯/ ‘people – popular’

je pars – j’arrive

/<‹pa¯/

/
‘I leave – I arrive’

il le voit – il l’a vu

/ill‹vwa/

/illavy/

‘he sees it - he saw it’

petit gamin – petit enfant /p‹tigam'/ /p‹tit#f#/

‘small’

une menace – la menace /ynm‹nas/ /lamnas/

‘menace’

These alternations may be regular, systematic, predictable, phonologically plausible and productive (j’arrive – je pars), or the opposite – irregular and unproductive (l’art /la¯/ ‘art’ – le hart /l‹a¯/ ‘hart’). The contexts in which they occur may be defined in phonological, morphological, or syntactic terms, or the alternations may be totally idiosyncratic. (Needless to say, intermediate possibilities also exist.) Once again, the conditions in which we find these alternations will need to be identified as we undertake a description of the pronunciation of French, a description for which the discussions of the first two chapters have prepared us and to which we now proceed.

17

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Chapter 2

Notes 1.

This work does not pretend to be an introduction to phonetics, to general phonology, or to contrastive French-English analysis, for which many excellent manuals exist. For the first two areas, see Davenport and Hannahs (1998), Roca and Johnson (1999) or Goldsmith (1995). For the third, LeBel (1990, 1991), Ostiguy et al. (1996), and Picard (1987) all provide comparisons of English and French pronunciation.

2.

This example represents many others ending in /aC(C)/ where the final consonants are not pronounced: tabac, exact, ras, état, gars, etc. The same situation arises with virtually all vowels in word-final syllables.

3.

There exist other notational systems but that of the IPA is the best known. For details concerning notation, see Pullum and Ladusaw (1986) or the works cited in footnote 1 above. The standard French dictionaries (Larousse, Le Robert, etc.) as well as the major pronouncing dictionaries (Warnant, Martinet and Walter, Lerond) all use IPA notation.

4.

In other words, the description presented here will ignore for the most part the distinction between a phonetic and a phonemic or phonological description. Normally, the symbols used will represent SF phonemes, and we will refer specifically to the greater detail of phonetic variation as the need arises. In more theoretical terms, we will not normally distinguish phonemic from morphophonemic representations, nor lexical from post-lexical forms. Those familiar with the literature will recognize that this discussion has a strongly concrete orientation.

5.

Material in this section borrows heavily from Trask (1999), an excellent handbook for anyone interested in a survey of basic linguistic concepts.

6.

See Béchade (1992: 136–139) for a convenient summary of conversion processes.

7.

Inflectional processes may also be distinguished as to their productivity. For example, the formation of plurals in -aux from -al is nonproductive, while the formation of feminines by suffixation of -e (professeure, auteure) is widely used.

8.

See Walter (1997) for a detailed and fascinating exploration of the diverse components of the French lexicon. Picone (1996) provides an excellent discussion of the current dynamics of French borrowing and neologism.

9.

For discussion of the issues involved, see Dell and Selkirk (1978), Walker (1975) or Zwanenburg (1983). In general, learned words are longer, contain characteristic consonant clusters, lack schwa, are formed with a distinct set of learned affixes, and are more semantically specialized. We ignore here a large set of

Key Descriptive and Theoretical Concepts

items derived from Greek rather than Latin (e.g., apôtre – apostolique ‘apostle – apostolic,’ hypnotique ‘hypnotic,’ amnésie ‘amnesia,’ etc.). 10. Technical terminology in this area abounds; we refer here to the traditional concepts of morpheme, allomorph and morphophonemic alternation.

19

21

Chapter 3 Basic Descriptive Units and Domains

3.0

3.0 Introduction: The Segment

The sound structure of a language is usually described in terms of discrete sound units called ‘phonemes’ or ‘segments,’ as well as the contexts or domains within which these units function. The next two chapters will present in some detail the French segmental inventory, divided into the two primary groups (a) vowels and semi-vowels (or glides) and (b) consonants. In this chapter, we will present more general information concerning the descriptive framework to be used. The starting point for any description involves the establishment of the phonemic inventory. SF phonemes (or segments) are presented in tabular form below, a form organized according to the articulatory properties of the segments in question. Needless to say, we will have much more to say concerning these sounds and their functioning in the following pages. (1) SF vowels and semi-vowels front

back

spread round

round

semi-vowels

L

Ä

w

high

K

[

W

higher-mid

G

1

lower-mid

'



low

Q

‹ n C

#

nasal ' 

n #

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Chapter 3

(2) SF consonants labial

apical palatal velar

uvular

obstruents stops voiceless

p

t

k

voiced

b

d

g

voiceless

f

s

5

voiced

v

z

<

m

n

Õ

fricatives

sonorants nasals liquids

l

0 ¯

Despite the monolithic impression left by these symbols, the division into vowels and consonants and the description of the two sets in articulatory terms already indicate that we may also need to deal with smaller, subsegmental entities. These units are called phonological features, and features also play a fundamental role in phonological descriptions.1 Vowels, for example, are described as syllabic (in themselves, they may constitute syllables), acoustically sonorous, and produced with an unimpeded airstream, in functional, acoustic, and articulatory terms, respectively. Consonants, in contradistinction, are nonsyllabic, acoustically less intense, and produced with some type of blockage in the articulatory passage. In addition to giving ‘content’ to the segmental symbols of (1) and (2) (or to the more general classes of vowels and consonants), features play another exceedingly important role in phonological descriptions: they allow sounds to be grouped into classes on the basis of shared properties. In much of the phonology, it is classes or groups of sounds, rather than individual sounds, that behave in a unified way, undergo certain processes, or define the context for certain phonological operations. In SF, for example, all high vowels, not just /i/, become glides under certain circumstances; mid vowels (higher- and lower-mid alike) are subject to certain distributional restrictions; all nasal consonants may block the appearance of preceding nasal vowels; all liquids allow the definition of certain syllable types; and so on. As a result, we will make use of the articulatory features of (1) and (2) (high, nasal, velar, fricative, etc.), plus others as the need arises, in the descriptive chapters to follow.

Basic Descriptive Units and Domains

3.1

3.1 The Syllable

Segments are grouped together into the next higher unit in a phonological hierarchy: the syllable. Syllables, too, play a fundamental role in descriptions, since the distribution of segments is normally defined with respect to their position in the syllable (plus, on occasion, with respect to additional units) and since the syllable is normally the unit referred to for the assignment of stress or tone. Vowels, since they are by definition syllabic, may constitute syllables by themselves (e.g., où /u/, on /n/, à /a/, un //, etc.). In fact, the number of syllables in a (phonetic 2) sequence is equal to the number of vowels it contains. Going beyond this minimum, things become more elaborate, since complex syllables are formed by the conjunction of vowels and consonants. (Except in rare and peripheral circumstances, no SF consonant may form a syllable by itself.) Within syllables, consonants may precede the vowel (the syllable nucleus), in which case the syllable is open (vie /vi/, vous /vu/, etc.), or follow it, in which case the syllable is closed (île /il/, houle /ul/). Needless to say, the nucleus may be both preceded and followed by one or more consonants (vite /vit/, voûte /vut/, tarte /ta¯t/). The distinction between open and closed syllables is significant in SF, which is often said to be an open syllable language (i.e., one that favours open syllables). While this is no doubt true (as it is true of the majority of languages, open syllables being the most frequent crosslinguistically), we will also see certain productive processes in French that create closed syllables. Be that as it may, certain key phenomena in French, particularly distributional constraints on vowels, depend on the open or closed nature of the syllables involved. Syllables are structured into a beginning, middle, and end, technically an onset, (vocalic) nucleus, and coda. This structure may be diagrammed as in (3), where ‘x’ represents a segment occupying the syllable position in question. (3) A simple syllable structure

m

onset nucleus coda

x

x

x

It is likely, however, that syllables have a more complicated, hierarchical structure in which the nucleus and the coda group together to form a rhyme, as in (4).

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Chapter 3

(4) A hierarchical syllable

m rhyme onset nucleus coda

x

x

x

Rhymes are necessary because the nucleus and coda often function together as a single unit, and many phonological processes make reference to the structure of the rhyme as a significant entity (e.g., in discussions of heavy versus light rhymes or of phonotactic restrictions). Finally, the onset, nucleus, and coda may themselves be complex, or branching, in terms of the type of diagrams in (3) and (4). The degree of complexity of each unit is limited, as is the nature of the segments that may occur there (consonants but not glides are excluded from the nucleus, for example). A more elaborated syllable structure is given in (5), although the number of branches emanating from each node remains to be determined. (5) A more complex syllable

m rhyme onset nucleus coda

x x...

xx

x x...

A central task of any phonological description will be to identify possible syllable types in the language in question, both in terms of general structure as outlined in (5) and in terms of the specific combinations of vowels, semivowels, and consonants permitted. We will pursue the first subject below; the second will be surveyed in the discussion of vowels and consonants in chapters 4 and 5 respectively. We should first note, however, that general structures such as (5) offer additional possibilities for phonological representation, possibilities that lead us into the realm of the abstract.

Basic Descriptive Units and Domains

In considering the onset or coda positions, many phonologists allow empty nodes to occur in lexical representations, such nodes subsequently being filled in the course of phonological derivations. One such case from French involves latent or liaison consonants, those consonants which are normally silent but pronounced when the following word begins with a vowel, and which may move from the coda position of one word to an empty onset of the following word, other conditions also being satisfied. 3 In such approaches, not only may syllabic positions not be filled, it is also possible to have specific segments (represented by ‘x’ in the structures above) appear in representations without being linked to syllabic nodes. If such segments are not subsequently linked to some node in the course of phonological operations, a general convention will delete them. Liaison consonants, in this view, would be unlinked – when liaison takes place, these consonants become attached to the onset of the following word. In the absence of liaison, they disappear. Schwa, as well, has been treated as an unlinked vowel, deleted if no linking to a nucleus occurs, pronounced if there is a node for it to attach to. Much discussion continues about these enriched representational possibilities, but for our purposes here it will suffice to proceed to a description of possible syllables in SF without empty nodes or unlinked segments. Examples of French syllables are given in (6), where C, V, and G represent consonants, vowels and glides, (semi-vowels) respectively. (6) French syllable types (final schwa is not pronounced) V

/u/

ou

‘or’

CV

/vi/

vie

‘life’

CCV

/t¯'/

très

‘very’

CCCV

/sk¯y/

scru(pule)

‘scruples’

VC

/nt/

honte

‘shame’

VCC

/'t¯/

être

‘to be’

VCCC

/ast¯/

astre

‘star’

CVC

/pa¯/

par

‘by’

CCVC

/p¯iz/

prise

‘taken’

CCCVC

/st¯'s/

stress

‘stress’

CVCC

/pn¯t/

porte

‘door’

CVCCC

/mikst/

mixte

‘mixed’

CVCCCC /d'kst¯/ dextre

‘right side’

CCVCC

presque

‘almost’

strict

‘strict’

/p¯'sk/

CCCVCC /st¯ikt/

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Chapter 3

GV

/wi/

oui

‘yes’

GVC

/wat/

ouate

‘cotton’

GVCC

/w'st/

ouest

‘west’

VG

/aj/

ail

‘garlic’

CGV

/pÄi/

puis

‘then’

CCGV

/t¯wa/

trois

‘three’

CGVC

/dj't/

diète

‘diet’

CCGVC

/t¯Äit/

truite

‘trout’

CGVCC

/sj'¯
cierge

‘candle’

While not exhaustive, this list gives some indication that French allows a rich variety of syllables. Such lists can be misleading, however, since they do not distinguish between syllable types that are frequent, widespread crosslinguistically, and unmarked and those that are not. In the former case, we would retain for French at most the following major syllable types: V on /n/, CV bon /bn/, CCV trop /t¯o/, VC âme /am/, VCC Est /'st/, CVC par /pa¯/, CCVC blonde /blnd/, CCVCC triste /t¯ist/, GV oui /wi/, and CGV bien /bj'/, with open syllables and, in particular, CV syllables being considered the most simple. Nonetheless, the examples in (6) allow for the establishment of a general syllable template for SF, given in (7), where either of the terminal elements C or G in any position is optional. (7) A maximal French syllable template

m rhyme onset nucleus coda

CCC

GV

CCC

Even here, however, further comments are needed. The template in (7) allows for a complex nucleus including a glide preceding the vowel, but any postnuclear glide will be considered as part of the coda. In other words, the first C of the coda should be taken as also encompassing the possible inclusion of a glide. Moreover, the internal constraints within the onset and coda are also very severe. In triconsonantal onsets, for example, the first consonant must

Basic Descriptive Units and Domains

always be /s/; biconsonantal onsets are usually /s/ plus a voiceless obstruent or a nasal, or an obstruent plus a liquid. Similar restrictions, exemplified in some detail in chapter 5, apply to codas. Finally, we should note that languageindependent considerations also influence syllable structure – in general, the most sonorous elements are found closest to the nucleus, the least sonorous at the periphery of the onset or coda. Such evidence is important in defining socalled sonority or strength hierarchies among segments. These hierarchies, in turn, help in the definition of syllabification processes, to which we now turn. The establishment of syllable templates identifying possible syllable types is only one approach to syllabification. A related issue involves the division or parsing of sequences of segments into their respective syllables. Should a VCV sequence, for example, be syllabified V.CV or VC.V? This topic is central to an analysis of French, since French is usually said to be an open syllable language – one that favours open syllables wherever possible. The proper division of VCV, then, is V.CV, where the first syllable is open. But what of more complex cases, such as VCCV, VCCCV, or even VCCCCV sequences? The process of syllabification here depends on several principles, outlined in (8). (8) Syllabification principles (a) favour open syllables (b) respect possible onsets, as defined by the template (c) maximize onsets, minimize codas Let us illustrate the application of these principles in the syllabification of progressively more complex sequences. In the VCV case, the result is clear: V.CV, since that is the only result yielding an open syllable (and minimizing the coda). In the case of VCCV, two possibilities arise (once the obviously incorrect VCC.V is eliminated): VC.CV and V.CCV. Both types are found in French, and the distinction rests on principle (8b). If CC is a possible syllable onset (normally indicated by the appearance of these consonants in wordinitial position as well), then VCCV is syllabified V.CCV, maintaining open syllabification. If CC is not a possible syllable onset, then the sequence must be syllabified VC.CV. This distinction is illustrated in (9). (9) Contrasting syllabifications V.CCV après

VC.CV a.p¯'

‘after’ attribut ‘attribute’

arpent

a¯.p#

*.¯pV

‘acre’ (approximately) a.t¯i.by

artiste ‘artist’

a¯.tist

*.¯tV

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acropole

a.k¯n.pnl

‘acropolis’ abrutir

a.b¯y.ti¯ e.blu.i¯ a.pla.ti¯ a.g¯#.di¯ a.d¯'s

‘tributary’

alphabet

al.fa.b'

*.lfV

alpin

al.p'

*.lpV

acteur

ak.tœ¯

*.ktV

accelérer

ak.se.le.¯e

*.ksV

fil.me

*.lmV

ap.ti.tyd

*.ptV

‘to accelerate’ '.gln

‘eaglet’ affluent

*.¯bV

‘actor’

‘address’ aiglon

a¯.bn.¯e.al

‘alpine’

‘to enlarge’ adresse

arboréal

‘alphabet’

‘to flatten’ agrandir

*.¯kV

‘arboreal’

‘to dazzle’ aplatir

a¯.kad

‘arcade’

‘to exhaust’ éblouir

arcade

filmer ‘to film’

a.fly.#

aptitude ‘aptitude’

We must add some supplementary restrictions to this discussion of VCCV syllabification, linked, at least indirectly, to the question of learned loan words. First, obvious learned loans should be excluded from providing justification for certain clusters. The existence of words like pneumatique, psychologie, ptérodactyle, tmèse ‘disjunction,’ cténaires ‘comb jellies,’ knout ‘knout,’ phtisie ‘consumption,’ and so on with initial /pn, ps, pt, tm, kt, kn, ft/ does not justify syllabifying hypnotique, absent, capter ‘to capture,’ rythmique, affecter, strychnine or caftan as /i.pnn.tik/, /a.ps#/, /ka.pte/, /¯i.tmik/, /a.f'.kte/, /st¯i.knin/, or /ka.ft#/. A VC.CV syllabification is clearly justified in these cases, and some common-sense means of excluding rare and peripheral forms from a central role in the phonology is warranted. More significantly, the widespread occurrence of initial /sC/ clusters (sport, stop, scolaire, smoking ‘dress suit,’ snob, sphère, slip ‘underwear’) raises problems for syllabification, since, despite the frequency of many of these forms and the general prevalence and acceptability of /sC/ sequences word-internally as well as initially, the preferred syllabification appears to be Vs.CV: espoir ‘hope’ /'s.pwa¯/, mystère ‘mystery’ /mis.t'¯/, mosquée ‘mosque’/mns.ke/, and so on. (In word-internal positions, /s.C/ is consistently used by Warnant [1987], for example.) One piece of evidence supporting this syllabification might be claimed to be found in the behaviour of the vowels /o/ and /n/. Since /n/ appears to be favoured over /o/ in unstressed closed syllables in SF, the

Basic Descriptive Units and Domains

obligatory appearance of /n/ in such forms as bosquet ‘grove’ /bnsk'/, costaud ‘strong’ /knsto/, costume /knstym/, hostile /nstil/, postal /pnstal/, etc. could argue for a /s.C/ syllabification here. But even this argument is weakened by the appearance of both /o/ and /n/ in a few forms like caustique, cosmos, and so on, and the obligatory /o/ in words spelt with < au > such as saut-de-lit ‘negligee’ and sauvegarde ‘safeguard,’ all with /o/ in closed syllables since /.dl/ and /.vg/ are impossible syllable onsets. More importantly, since /n/ is also possible in open syllables, nothing prohibits the syllabification /bn.sk'/, and so on. However, what remains to be explained in this latter case is the impossibility of /o/ in many words like postal, since /o/ is normally permitted in such structures. Nor do the related mid vowels /e – '/ help here, despite the frequent claim that /e/ is excluded from closed syllables in French. 4 If such an exclusion were valid, we would not expect to find /e/ in words such as festin if these words were syllabified /…es.CV…/ since they would violate the exclusion of /e/ from closed syllables. Hence, the argument goes, the proper syllabification is /…V.sCV…/. Unfortunately for this proposal, SF does contain many words of the form /esCV/ rather than /'sCV/, whether syllabified /e.sCV/ or /es.CV/, and the behaviour of the mid vowels is consequently irrelevant in discussions of the syllabification of /sC/ clusters. 5 It is perhaps reassuring to know that cross-linguistically /s/ (and on occasion other fricatives) raise similar problems with respect to the structure of consonantal clusters, phonotactic restrictions, and the apparent violation of expected patterns. The preceding discussion has dealt with VCCV syllabification and illustrated the role of principles (8a-b). It is when we turn to VCCCV sequences that the role of (8c) is most evident. Consider the words in (10). (10) Word-internal triconsonantal clusters 6 portrait

‘portrait’

filtrer

‘to filter’

surplus

‘surplus’

surplis

‘surplice’

spectral

‘spectral’

perdrix

‘partridge’

cercler

‘to ring’

directrice

‘director (f).’

meurtrier

‘deadly’

arbrisseau

‘shrub’

marbrer

‘to marble, mottle’

administrer

‘to administer’

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Chapter 3

orchestral

‘orchestral’

escrime

‘fencing’

esclave

‘slave’

esprit

‘mind’

musclé

‘muscular’

embarquement

‘boarding’

forcené

‘deranged’

harcelé

‘harassed’

Here we are confronted with two possibilities: VC.CCV or VCC.CV. Often, the CC. will form a perfectly acceptable final cluster and .CC an acceptable initial cluster. In orchestral, for example, final /…Vst./ occurs in ouest, test, veste, etc., while initial /.t¯V…/ is widespread (très, trois, trop, and so on). Principle (8c) dictates the syllabification /n¯.k's.tral/, however, since this results in a minimal coda at the expense of a more complex onset. The other forms behave in an analogous fashion: if both a complex coda and a complex onset are possible, 7 minimize the coda and choose the complex onset. We see, then, how templates and syllabification principles interact to define both possible syllables in French and the proper division of longer sequences into appropriate syllabic units. Before moving to the next section, we should consider briefly one further potential unit in the phonological hierarchy, a combination of syllables into a unit known as the foot. Feet are well known in poetry, where they are used to represent relationships between strong and weak (accented and unaccented) units in accounting for the rhythmic patterns of sequences: iambic feet start with weak syllables; trochaic feet with strong, for example. The foot has been extended into phonological analyses to indicate not just strong and weak rhythmic patterns but more general relationships between strong and weak units – so-called full vowels versus schwa in French, to name one obvious possibility. However, because SF is usually seen as a language where syllables are isochronous and of equal strength (except for the last syllable in a phonological phrase), the foot is of less relevance to our current discussion, and we will not use it further here. 8 This allows us to pass to a consideration of the word in French.

3.2

3.2 The SF Phonological Word

In his classic article “Le mot est-il une entité phonétique en français,” Pierre Delattre questions the necessity of the word as a phonological unit in French. The question arises because two of the fundamental phonological attributes of SF, stress placement and the operation of liaison and enchaînement (the linking of a word-final consonant with the initial vowel of a following word), are

Basic Descriptive Units and Domains

apparently defined in terms not of words but of phonological phrases. Stress in French, for example, normally falls on the last syllable of the phonological phrase, and words in nonfinal position have no word stress independently of that affecting the last syllable of the phrase. When liaison and enchaînement are considered, we also see that the word loses its independence, in that wordfinal consonants are resyllabified to the beginning of the following unit. This, too, is seen as demonstrating lack of independence for the word in French and minimizing its importance in the description of SF. Recent work, however, some of which we will discuss in following chapters, indicates that in spite of Delattre’s concerns, the word must be retained as a unit in the description of French phonology.9 Many phonotactic constraints, for example, make reference to the word, such constraints being violated within larger units. Thus, if we consider words in isolation, nasal vowels do not normally precede nasal consonants in French (an isolated word such as /mnn/ is ill-formed),10 but /mnn/ occurs both in liaison (mon ami ‘my friend’ /mnnami/) and in phrases (mon nez ‘my nose’ /mnne/ (compare Monet /mnne/)). Various phonological processes – glide formation and the behaviour of nasal vowels in particular – also refer to the notion of phonological word, as Hannahs (1995b) has demonstrated.11 Thus, high vowels may become glides when followed by another vowel within words (il joue ‘he’s playing’ /il
3.3

3.3 The Phonological Phrase

In a prosodic hierarchy leading from the syllable through the foot, word, and clitic group to the phonological phrase, the phrase plays a major role in any description of French. As we will see, a number of the prototypical aspects of French phonology – stress and rhythm, vowel length, syllabification, the behaviour of schwa, intonation patterns – are described with reference to phrasal boundaries. In general terms, as the name itself suggests, 12 phonological phrases are larger than words, and manifest both grammatical (syntactic and/or semantic) and phonological relationships. Phonological phrases thus make a link with grammatical structure, although they are not always perfectly

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aligned with it. That being said, we will use both phonological and grammatical attributes in discussing the phonological phrase, identifying first the minimal phrases – that is, those phrases that may not be broken down into smaller (phrasal) units. In phonological terms, phrases are pronounced between pauses (at least potential pauses), are characterized by final stress and specific intonational patterns, and rarely exceed six syllables in length. Over longer stretches of speech, moreover, there is a tendency to have phrases of roughly equal length (cf. Wioland [1991: 37–38]). In grammatical terms, phrases are correlated with major lexical categories (nouns, verbs, adjectives) and their modifiers or dependents (articles, pronouns, adverbs, etc.). These are the units that constitute minimal phrases – those that may not be subdivided, even in slow speech. They are illustrated in (11). (11) Phonological phrases (a) verb-centred: single verbs (including auxiliaries, present participles, or infinitives) plus accompanying subject or object pronouns and negations je pars

‘I’m leaving.’

le voit-il

‘Does he see it?’

on vous en parlera

‘They’ll speak to you about it.’

je ne l’avais pas

‘I didn’t have it.’

je te les envoie

‘I’m sending them to you.’

donne-lui-en

‘Give him some.’

ne lui en donne pas

‘Don’t give him any.’

nous ne le voulons plus

‘We don’t want it any more.’

ne t’en fais pas

‘Don’t worry about it.’

le sachant

‘knowing it’

me le répéter

‘repeat it to me’

ne plus me le répéter

‘not repeat it to me any more’

n’en sachant plus rien

‘not knowing any more about it’

ne vous en donnera-t-il pas

‘Won’t he give you any?’

(b) noun-centred: nouns plus preceding (not following) determiners or modifiers un élément

‘an element’

trois chiens

‘three dogs’

Basic Descriptive Units and Domains

ses voisins

‘his neighbours’

mes deux enfants

‘my two children’

leurs anciens camarades

‘their former comrades’

quelques instants

‘a few moments’

plusieurs beaux tableaux

‘several pretty paintings’

de bons amis

‘good friends’

toutes ces petites maisons

‘all these little houses’

(c) adjective-centred: adjectives plus preceding adverbs très élégant

‘very elegant’

bien aimable

‘very nice’

assez complexe

‘rather complex’

toujours présent

‘always there’

souvent en retard

‘often late’

vraiment mesquin

‘really stingy’

récemment marié

‘recently married’

pas très loin

‘not very far’

si petit

‘so small’

(d) prepositional phrases sans lui parler

‘without speaking to him’

en arrivant

‘upon arrival’

pour les vérifier

‘in order to check them’

après tous les autres

‘after all the others’

d’une autre fois

‘of another time’

pour ne pas le gêner

‘in order not to bother them’

pendant une heure

‘for an hour’

en me les enlevant

‘taking them from me’

(e) subordinators and complementizers plus the following word que vous aimez

‘that you like’

qu’il a pris

‘that he took’

quand il viendra

‘when he comes’

afin qu’elle le prenne

‘so she’ll take it’

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si on pouvait

‘if we could’

depuis que Claude est là

‘since Claude has been there’

pendant que nous dormions

‘while we slept’

parce qu’on l’exige

‘because we have to’

dont on parlait

‘about which we were speaking’

ce qu’il voulait

‘what he wanted’

These minimal phrases are so named because (in normal speech) they must be pronounced as single units without interruption. For je ne le vois pas, for example, one cannot say *je…ne le vois pas, je ne le…vois pas, *je ne le vois… pas, and so on (where ‘…’ indicates a pause), or *très…important, *la prochaine…élection, *sans…y aller, *quand…il viendra, and so on. Phrases of varying syllable length, minimal and non-minimal, are given in (12).13 (12) Phonological phrases of increasing syllable length (1 syllable)

où

‘where’

oui

‘yes’

tiens

‘hold (this)’

zut

‘drat’

(2 syllables) bonjour

‘hello’

jamais

‘never’

part-il

‘Is he leaving?’

au secours

‘Help!’

tout de suite

‘right away’

à demain

‘See you tomorrow.’

d’accord

‘Okay.’

(3 syllables) attention

‘attention’

dans une heure

‘in an hour’

c’est à toi

‘It’s yours.’

quand vient-il

‘When is he coming?’

chez le médecin

‘at the doctor’s’

rappelez-moi

‘Call me back.’

à samedi

‘until Saturday’

oui d’accord

‘yes, Okay.’

Basic Descriptive Units and Domains

(4 syllables) c’est impossible

‘It’s impossible.’

on va se promener

‘We’re going for a walk.’

j’allais me baigner

‘I was going to go swimming.’

la semaine passée

‘last week’

généralement

‘generally’

je ne le vois pas

‘I don’t see it.’

pendant une heure

‘for an hour’

merci beaucoup

‘Thanks a lot.’

c’est ça n’est-ce pas

‘That’s it, isn’t it.’

(5 syllables) veuillez m’excuser

‘Please excuse me.’

j’ai mal à la tête

‘I have a headache.’

c’est au bout de la rue

‘It’s at the end of the street.’

ne pars pas tout de suite ‘Don’t leave right away.’ en avez-vous trop

‘Do you have too much?’

aux Etats-Unis

‘in the United States’

cet avertissement

‘this warning’

(6 syllables) rendez-vous à midi

‘meeting at noon’

il faudra en parler

‘We have to speak about it.’

pourquoi pas tout à l’heure

‘Why not in a little while?’

vous n’y arriverez pas ‘You won’t get there.’ à l’université

‘at the university’

il y fait toujours froid

‘It’s always cold there.’

considérablement

‘considerably’

As mentioned above, not all of these phrases are minimal phrases. Minimal phrases may be combined into longer sequences depending on a variety of factors, among which are the rate of speech (faster speech favours longer phrases), stylistic considerations (formal speech favours shorter phrases), and emphasis (phrase breaks may be used to mark items to be emphasized). Needless to say, a further controlling ingredient involves length: as we have seen, phrases rarely exceed six or seven syllables under normal circumstances. Again, under normal circumstances, the divisions between phrases will correlate with major syntactic divisions, as in (13) where the symbol ‘(||)’ is here used to indicate an optional break.

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(13) Longer phrases composed of two (or more) minimal phrases 14 (a) verb nucleus plus verb Je ne l’avais pas (||) entendu.

‘I hadn’t heard it.’

Il prétend (||) ne pas le vouloir.

‘He’s pretending not to want to.’

Tu devrais (||) lui en parler.

‘You should speak to him about it.’

Veuillez (||) ne pas me déranger.

‘Please don’t bother me.’

(b) noun phrase plus verb or vice-versa Le match (||) s’est bien terminé.

‘The game ended well.’

Le professeur (||) n’en sait rien.

‘The professor knows nothing about it.’

Il nous raconte (||) des bêtises.

‘He’s telling us nonsense.’

Elle promet (||) de nous suivre.

‘She promises to follow us.’

Connais-tu (||) ce jeune homme?

‘Do you know this young man?’

(c) noun plus following modifier un journal (||) hebdomadaire

‘a weekly newspaper’

une maison (||) de campagne

‘a country house’

l’autobus (||) de la ville

‘the city bus’

un appartement (||) à louer

‘an apartment to rent’

une histoire (||) pas très amusante ‘a not very funny story’ (d) verb plus following modifier Elle me le dit (||) assez souvent.

‘She tells me quite often.’

On vous rappellera (||) dès aujourd’hui.

‘We’ll call you today.’

Nous lui en parlons (||) constamment.

‘We talk to him about it constantly.’

Il faut y aller (||) tout seul.

‘You have to go there alone.’

Ils se parlent (||) avec difficulté.

‘They speak to each other with difficulty.’

The decision to combine shorter phrases into one longer one may have additional phonological consequences. To begin with, there will be only one stressed syllable rather than two: un appartement || à louer ‘an apartment to rent’ /napa¯t‹m# || alwe/ versus un appartement à louer /napa¯t‹m#alwe/.

Basic Descriptive Units and Domains

Moreover, since syllabification does not usually cross phrase boundaries, removal of a boundary may require resyllabification (enchaînement or liaison): Paul l’avait vite || oublié ‘Paul had quickly forgotten it’. /pnllav'vit || ublie/ versus Paul l’avait vite oublié /pnllav'vi.tublie/ or je ne l’avais pas || entendu ‘I hadn’t heard it’. /<‹nlav'pa || #t#dy/ versus je ne l’avais pas entendu /<‹nlav'pa.z#t#dy/.15 Finally, deletion of schwa is sensitive to phraseinitial versus phrase-internal position, so joining two phrases into one may often result in schwa deletion: elle promet || de nous suivre ‘She promises to follow us’. /'lp¯nm' || d‹nusÄiv¯/ versus elle promet de nous suivre /'lp¯nm'dnusÄiv¯/. We will discuss each of these, plus additional phraserelated phenomena such as intonation patterns, in more detail in later chapters.

3.4

3.4 Conclusion

This chapter has introduced the primary elements to be used in the description of SF that follows. These elements include the set of segments or phonemes of SF, defined in terms of articulatory features. Features, in turn, serve to define larger or smaller classes of sounds on the basis of shared properties – all vowels, nasal vowels, voiceless fricatives, liquids, and so on. Such classifications are crucial in phonological descriptions because classes of segments, rather than individual sounds, typically participate in the general phonological processes of a language or find themselves subject to phonotactic constraints. Classes also serve to define the segmental contexts in which these phonological processes occur. Processes or constraints are not defined exclusively in segmental terms, however. We will often need to refer to domains larger than those of individual segments or classes of segments. Segments, in other words, are part of a phonological or prosodic hierarchy which includes (for our purposes) syllables, words, and phrases. Many constraints on the distribution of segments in SF refer to syllable or word structure, for example, and the prototypical phenomena of liaison and enchaînement are defined crucially with respect to syllables as well. Finally, as the preceding section has indicated, the phonological phrase is of utmost importance in any description of French. Let us begin this description with a discussion of the vowel system.

Notes 1.

In fact, from certain points of view features may properly be seen as the fundamental units of phonological analysis. Feature theory is a specialized domain in its own right, one we cannot hope to examine in detail here. For some discussion, see Clark and Yallop (1990), Clements and Hume (1995), Davenport and Hannahs (1998) or Kenstowicz (1994).

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2.

The qualification ‘phonetic’ is needed because certain more abstract representations may represent semi-vowels as vowels, the latter subsequently being modified. Note also that, unlike their English counterparts (e.g., bottle, butter), French liquids may not be syllabic.

3.

For a detailed treatment of liaison, see Section 5.6.1.

4.

For such a claim, see Price (1991: 56). Tranel (1987: 52) also excludes /e/ from final closed syllables, a claim countered by such loan words as cake /kek/ or mail /mel/. We will return to this matter in the discussion of mid vowels in chapter 4, section 4.2.

5.

Martinet and Walter (1973) contains many examples showing both /e/ and /'/ in such contexts, including exprès ‘specially’ /eksp¯' – 'ksp¯'/, exploit /eksplwa – 'ksplwa/, exact /egza – 'gza/, where the syllabification can hardly be /e.ksp¯'/, /e.ksplwa/, or /e.gza/.

6.

We will ignore the less frequent VCCCCV possibilities (e.g., extra- ‘first-rate’ /'kst¯a/, abstrait ‘abstract’ /apst¯'/, expliquer ‘to explain’ /'ksplike/), which allow for either VC.CCCV or VCC.CCV (/'k.st¯a/ or /'ks.t¯a/, /ap.st¯'/ or /aps.t¯'/, /'k.spli.ke/ or /'ks.pli.ke/), depending on where /s/ is assigned. Principle (8c) favours the former option. We should also note that in popular speech, words like expliquer and exprimer ‘to express’ are reduced to espliquer and esprimer, with simplification to a triconsonantal cluster.

7.

This condition leads to a discussion of embarquement (where, as in forcené and harcelé as well, the schwa has exceptionally deleted to create the triconsonantal cluster). In embarquement /#ba¯km#/, a syllabification /#.ba¯.km#/ is impossible because /km/ is not a possible onset. Here, then, we must complicate the coda: /#.ba¯k.m#/. This data is taken from Juilland (1965).

8.

See, however, Selkirk (1978) or Bullock (1995) for work that makes crucial use of the foot in analysing aspects of French phonology – the behaviour of schwa in particular.

9.

Lyche and Girard (1995), in particular, revisit this question in detail.

10. Exceptions such as ennui ‘boredom’ /#nÄi/ or vînmes ‘we came’ /v'm/ are discussed below in Section 4.4.2. 11. See also Rochet (1977) or Lyche and Girard (1995). It is perhaps worth recalling that the concept ‘word’ is complex and notoriously difficult to define in crosslinguistic terms (cf. Trask [1999: 342–44] for a concise discussion). It is necessary to distinguish, particularly in French, between orthographic words (those written between white spaces) and phonological words (those pronounced as single

Basic Descriptive Units and Domains

units), with the latter of primary importance. For our purposes here, Hannah’s definition of the French phonological word as consisting of either prefixes or stems plus all associated suffixes is most useful. 12. Also known in the literature on French as ‘groupe rythmique,’ ‘groupe accentuel,’ ‘groupe de souffle,’ ‘groupe respiratoire,’ ‘groupe intonationnel,’ albeit with occasional subtle distinctions among the various units. If the syntactic or semantic underpinnings of the unit are involved, the term ‘groupe syntaxique’ is also found (e.g., in Béchade [1992: 60]). 13. Many of these examples are from Wioland (1991: 8–9), a work that provides excellent material concerning phonological phrases. Note the discrepancy in these examples between the orthography and the pronunciation arising from the deletion of schwa, a topic to be discussed in some detail in chapter 5. 14. Examples are based primarily on material from Mueller et al. (1968: 44–45). 15. Such liaison examples can be contradicted by liaison sans enchaînement (Encrevé 1988), as in /<‹nlav'paz#t#dy/ or by parenthetical insertions (un robuste || mais petit || enfant ‘a sturdy, but small, child’ /¯nbyst | m'p‹ti | t#f#/ [Pichon 1938: 123]). In the first instance, no resyllabification has taken place, we simply see the exceptional appearance of a liaison consonant in an abnormal position in a marked style. In the second, the phrase boundary (and associated pause) remain, but a liaison consonant still appears in the appropriate syllabic (phrase-initial) position.

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Chapter 4 Vowels and Semi-vowels

4.0

4.0 The Vowel System

Traditionally, SF is described as having a system of sixteen vowels, twelve oral and four nasal, as tabulated in (1) below (see also 3.0 above). To this must be added the semi-vowels or glides /j Ä w/, corresponding to the three high vowels /i y u/ respectively. (1) SF vowels and semi-vowels (glides) semi-vowels

L

Ä

w

high

K

[

W

higher-mid

G

lower-mid

'

1 ‹  C

low

Q

nasal

n

'



#

n #

(2) Examples (in word-level contexts) #__

__#

__C.

/i/ ivre

‘drunk’

vie

‘life’

vite

‘quickly’

/y/ une

‘a’

vue

‘sight’

jupe

‘skirt’

/u/ outre

‘besides’

vous

‘you’

voûte

‘vault’

1

‘cake’

/e/ été

‘summer’ fée

‘fairy’

cake

/ø/ euro

‘Euro’

jeu

‘game’

jeûne

‘fast’

/o/ autre

‘other’

sot

‘silly’

saute

‘sudden change’

/'/ être

‘to be’

mais

‘but’

dette

‘debt’

/œ/ heure

‘hour’

—

jeune

‘young’

/n/ or

‘gold’

—

fort

‘strong’

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/a/ art

‘art’

chat

‘cat’

patte

‘paw’

/#/ âge

‘age’

mât

‘mast’

pâte

‘pastry’

/‹/ —

(sur) ce ‘this’

—

/'/ impair ‘uneven’

fin

‘end’

sainte

// humble ‘humble’

brun

‘brown’

emprunte ‘he borrows’

/n / ongle

‘nail’

bon

‘good’

honte

‘shame’

/# / entre

‘between’ dent

‘tooth’

banque

‘bank’

#__

C__

V__V

‘holy’

__#

/j/ iode ‘iodine’ bien

‘well’

balayer ‘sweep’ paille ‘straw’

/Ä/ huit

‘then’

—

—2

couette ‘bunches’ —

—

‘eight’

/w/ ouest ‘west’

puis

In comparative or typological terms, this vowel system is relatively rich. In particular, it requires four degrees of tongue height and contains both front rounded vowels and nasal vowels.3 All vowels, with the exception of /‹/ (schwa, to which we return in detail below), are tense and nondiphthongized. There exist a number of complex phonological problems associated with this system, problems that we will treat in turn.

4.1

4.1 Vowel Length

Historically and dialectally, long vowels have played and continue to play a significant role in French. In SF, however, their role is significantly reduced. Long vowels are largely contextually determined, and the remnants of an earlier long-short opposition are minimal. The contextually determined long vowels occur in stressed closed syllables. Stress and syllable structure, in other words, provide the two fundamental conditions that must be present for vowel length to appear. Given the close relationship between stress and phonological phrases, moreover, long vowels are further restricted to phrase-final position in SF.4 (3) Constraints on contextually determined long vowels Long vowels occur in: (i) stressed syllables (ii) closed syllables If the foregoing conditions are met, two types of long vowels occur in SF: (i) those induced by the lengthening consonants /v z < ¯/5 and the cluster /v¯/, and (ii) the intrinsically long vowels /ø o #/ plus the nasal vowels /'n#/.

Vowels and Semi-vowels

4.1.1

4.1.1 Lengthening Consonants

The effects of the lengthening consonants are shown by the following contrasts:6 (4) Lengthening versus nonlengthening consonants /v – f/ /z – s/ /<–5/

/¯ – l/

vive [vi:v]

‘lively (f.)’

vif [vif]

grave [g¯a:v]

‘solemn’

graphe [g¯af] ‘written form’

vise [vi:z]

‘she aims’

vice [vis]

‘vice’

rase [¯a:z]

‘he shaves’

race [¯as]

‘race’

bouge [bu:
‘she moves’ bouche [bu5] ‘mouth’

cage [ka:<]

‘cage’

cache [ka5]

‘he hides’

juge [
‘judge’

ruche [¯y5]

‘hive’

vire [vi:¯]

‘ledge’

ville [vil]

‘city’

pour [pu:¯]

‘for’

poule [pul]

‘hen’

mère [m':¯]

‘mother’

mêle [m'l]

‘he mixes’

‘to live’

chiffre [5if¯]

‘figure’

‘she opens’

souffre [suf¯] ‘he suffers’

/v¯ – f¯/ vivre [vi:v¯] ouvre [u:v¯]

‘lively (m.)’

If the syllable containing a coda that begins with one of these consonants is not word-final, no lengthening occurs: berceau [b'¯.so] ‘cradle,’ partir [pa¯.ti:¯] ‘to leave,’ guirlande [gi¯.l#:d] ‘garland,’ for example, all have short first vowels. With the exception of the cluster /v¯/, there is one further constraint on the lengthening process: any additional consonant following a lengthening consonant blocks the appearance of a long vowel. Thus, despite the presence of /¯/ and even a second lengthening consonant, the vowel is short in words of the first column in (5) (compare the lengthened vowels of the second column): (5) Blocking of vowel lengthening moderne [mnd'¯n] ‘modern’

modère [mnd':¯]

‘she moderates’

verte [v'¯t]

‘green (f.)’

vert [v':¯]

‘green (m.)’

herbe ['¯b]

‘grass’

air [':¯]

‘air’

auberge [ob'¯<]

‘inn’

au pair [op':¯]

‘au pair’

réserve [¯ez'¯v]

‘reserve’

serre [s':¯]

‘greenhouse’

cierge [sj'¯<]

‘candle’

fier [fj':¯]

‘proud’

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parte [pa¯t]

‘leaves (subj.)’ part [pa:¯]

‘leaves (ind.)’

quatorze [katn¯z]

‘fourteen’

tort [tn:¯]

‘wrong;

orge [n¯<]

‘barley’

or [n:¯]

‘gold’

courte [ku¯t]

‘short (f.)’

court [ku:¯]

‘short (m.)’

lourde [lu¯d]

‘heavy (f.)’

lourd [lu:¯]

‘heavy (m.)’

purge [py¯<]

‘purge’

pur [py:¯]

‘pur (m.)’

4.1.2

4.1.2 Intrinsically Long Vowels

As noted above, the so-called intrinsically long vowels in SF include /ø o #/ and the nasal vowels /'n#/. These vowels are lengthened in stressed (i.e., word-final) closed syllables, no matter what the nature of the consonant closing the syllable, as indicated in (6), with a set of contrasting open syllable examples included as well. (6) Intrinsically long vowels /ø/

jeûne [<ø:n]

‘fast’

jeu [<ø]

‘game’

/o/

saute [so:t]

‘sudden change’ saut [so]

‘jump’

/#/

pâte [p#:t]

‘pastry’

dégât [deg#]

‘damage’

/'/

feinte [f':t]

‘feint’

fin [f']

‘end’

//

défunte [def:t] ‘deceased (f.)’

défunt [def]

‘deceased (m.)’

/n/

honte [n:t]

‘shame’

on [n]

‘one’

/#/

rampe [¯#:p]

‘ramp’

rang [¯#]

‘row’

Given this phonological behaviour, there have been various attempts to define a natural class of intrinsically long vowels in SF on the basis of a shared phonetic feature or property (e.g., vowel tension). It would appear, however, that these efforts will remain unsuccessful, and that the heterogeneous nature of this class of vowels is to be attributed to a number of independent historical events such as nasalization and compensatory lengthening, to which we will refer briefly below. Finally we should note that although the two higher-mid vowels /ø/ and /o/ are instrinsically long, the third member of this class, /e/, is rare in final syllables, occurring virtually exclusively in relatively recent English loan words, where it may be pronounced either long or short. There may be, in other words, a principled reason for this exclusion. In SF, unlike other dialects such as CF, /e/ is highly marked in final closed syllables. If there are no native SF words in /XeC./ (note the pronunciation of the English loan-

Vowels and Semi-vowels

words discussed in footnote 36 above), the conditions for /e/ to be realized as an intrinsically long vowel would not arise word-internally.7

4.1.3

4.1.3. The /' – 'Ö/ Opposition

Conservative SF preserves one length distinction in a limited number of forms between a long /'Ö/ (excluding those lengthened by a following lengthening consonant) and short /'/ (or all other short vowels). The list of words with /'Ö/ varies from author to author, but normally contains some 250 forms (Walter 1976: 126–133), among which the most notable include the following: (7) Long /'Ö/ /'Ö/

/'/

bêle

‘bleats’

belle

‘beautiful’

bête

‘animal’

bette

‘chard’

blême

‘pallid’

brème

‘bream’

caisse

‘box’

chaîne

‘chain’

chène

‘oak’

conquête

‘conquest’

crête

‘crest’

enquête

‘inquiry’

être (n.)

‘being’

être (v.)

‘to be’

évêque

‘bishop’

faîte

‘summit’

faites

‘you do’

fête

‘holiday’

fenêtre

‘window

gêne

‘discomfort’

grêle

‘hail’

maître

‘master’

mètre/mettre

‘metre/to put’

naître

‘to be born’

paître

‘to graze’

pêche

‘peach’

pêche

‘fishing’

prêtre

‘priest’

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reine

‘queen’

scène

‘scene’

tête

‘head’

traître

‘traitor’

Rennes

(city name)

tète

‘sucks’

Unlike the two preceding types of long vowels, long /'Ö/ is distinctive in SF, and as a consequence, examples of the vowel can be found in unstressed syllables, normally provided the syllable is word-final.8 Examples of this occurrence are found in (8). (8) Unstressed (phrase-internal) long /'Ö/ c’est une fête importante

‘It’s an important holiday.’

un maître-chanteur

‘a black-mailer’

il a reçu une grêle de balles

‘He suffered a hail of bullets.’

This opposition is increasingly unstable in SF, the long vowel being exceptional, so many speakers now have only one vowel /'/, the short version, with the words in (7) therefore showing assimilation to the regular pattern. To conclude this description of vowel length in SF, we may note that length is not cumulative. That is, intrinsically long vowels or long /'Ö/ followed by a lengthening consonant are not doubly long; length in rose [¯oÖz], chaise ‘chair’ [5'Öz] or genre ‘kind’ [<#Ö¯], in other words, is comparable to that in hausse ‘rise’ [oÖs], chaîne [5'Ön] or branle ‘swing’ [b¯#Öl]. The following sentences, where length appears only in the final syllable of the phrases, illustrate the role of stress in conditioning vowel length. (9) Stress and vowel length il faut y vivre […viÖv¯]

‘You have to live there.’

il faut vivre là […viv¯‹la]

‘You have to live there.’

regarde comme elle saute […soÖt]

‘Look how she jumps.’

qu’est-ce qu’elle saute bien […sotbj'] ‘Doesn’t she jump well?’ il est rouge […¯uÖ<]

‘It’s red.’

il est rougeâtre […¯u<#Öt¯]

‘It’s reddish.’

quelle honte […nÖt]

‘What a disgrace.’

quelle honte profonde […ntp¯nfnÖd]

‘What an awful disgrace!’

Vowels and Semi-vowels

4.1.4

4.1.4 Supplementary Comments

With the exception of the /' – 'Ö/ distinction, vowel length is fully predictable in SF, so length is not customarily indicated in phonological notation. Nor are there consistent orthographic indications of long vowels – none in the case of those arising from lengthening consonants and only marginal traces in the case of /' – 'Ö/ and the intrinsically long vowels. It may, however, be worth commenting on the role of the symbol ˆ , the accent circonflexe. Historically, this diacritic was introduced to indicate loss of vocalic hiatus or of an earlier consonant, usually /s/. This loss normally resulted in a lengthened vowel, with the resulting long – short distinction often playing a morphological role (indicating singular – plural or masculine – feminine distinctions, for example). With the virtual elimination of these distinctions from SF in the twentieth century,9 the link between the circonflexe accent and length has also been lost, since there are long vowels with no accent or a different accent (e.g., many intrinsically long /o/s as in zone; the long vowels in caisse ‘box,’ gène ‘discomfort,’ etc.) and accented vowels that are short (e.g., prête ‘ready (f.)’). There remain, nonetheless, certain words where the circonflexe serves as an indication of the intrinsic length of a vowel, especially /#/, where it is an orthographic trace of an earlier long-short distinction that has now become one of vowel backing, or where it reminds us of etymologically related (learned) words that retain the earlier consonants.10 Each of these cases is illustrated in (10). (10) The role of the accent circonflexe (a) < â > as an indication of /#/11 âge /#
‘age’

âpre /#p¯/

‘bitter’

bât /b#/

‘he beats’

grâce /g¯#s/

‘grace’

mât /m#/

‘mast’

pâle /p#l/

‘pale’

pâte /p#t/

‘pastry’

(b) orthographic distinctions cône /kon/

‘cone’

conne /knn/

‘stupid (f.)’

côte /kot/

‘coast’

cote /knt/

‘mark’

hôte /ot/

‘host’

hotte /nt/

‘basket’

jeûne /<øn/

‘fasts’

jeune /<œn/

‘young’

le nôtre /l‹not¯/ ‘ours’

notre /nnt¯/

‘our’

tâche /t#5/

tache /ta5/

‘mark’

‘task’

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(c) learned – nonlearned pairs âpre /#p¯/

‘bitter’

aspérité /aspe¯ite/

‘bitterness’

bête /b':t/

‘animal’

bestial /b'stjal/

‘bestial’

croûte /k¯ut/

‘crust’

croustillant /k¯ustij#/ ‘crusty’

fête /f':t/

‘holiday’

festoyer /f'stwaje/

‘to feast’

forêt /fn¯'/

‘forest’

forestier /fn¯'stje/

‘forest (adj.)’

goût /gu/

‘taste’

dégustation /degystasj/ ‘sampling’

hôpital /npital/

‘hospital’

hospitalier /nspitalje/ ‘hospital (adj.)’

île /il/

‘island’

insulaire /'syl'¯/

maître /m':t¯/

‘master’

magistral /ma
mâle /m#l/

‘male’

masculin /maskyl'/

‘insular’ ‘masculine’

Finally, we should note that vowel length has different manifestations in dialects other than SF. On the one hand, the long–short distinction is preserved in certain regions (especially where there is a following schwa); on the other, the phonetic realization of vowel length may be dramatically different. CF, for example, preserves the /' –'Ö/ distinction much more firmly than does SF, and long vowels (which may also appear in nonfinal syllables) are characteristically realized as diphthongs.12 Historically and dialectally, in other words, vowel length in French is significantly more complex than this SF survey would lead us to believe.

4.2

4.2 The Mid Vowels

The set of mid vowels in French is composed of three related pairs: /e – '/, /ø – /, and /o – n/. In SF, these vowels are subject to a variety of distributional constraints (or neutralizations) and exhibit, in certain contexts, a perplexing variability. (The situation in some other dialects, Midi French (MF) for example, is much more straightforward.) We will first consider a conservative standard pronunciation before reviewing additional questions. The two contextual factors that play a role in constraining the mid vowels involve position in the word and syllable structure: final versus nonfinal (or stressable versus unstressable) syllables and open versus closed syllables. In combination, these factors give four syllable types to be considered: final open, final closed, nonfinal open and nonfinal closed. These four possibilities and the vowels that appear in each are summarized in tabular form in (11).

Vowels and Semi-vowels

(11) Distribution of the mid vowels Open

Closed

Nonfinal

Final

e

ø

o

e

ø

o

' œ

n

'

–

–

(e) ø

o

(e) (ø) – ' œ

n

' œ n

4.2.1

4.2.1 Mid Vowels in Final Open Syllables

In final open syllables, there is an opposition between the front unrounded vowels /e – '/, but among the rounded vowels, only higher-mid /ø/ and /o/ are permitted; lower mid /œ/ and /n/ do not occur in word-final open syllables in SF.13 The exclusion of /œ/ from this context accounts for the alternation we see in pairs of words like oeuf ‘egg’ /œf/ – oeufs ‘eggs’ /ø/, boeuf ‘ox’ /bœf/ – boeufs ‘oxen’ /bø/, oeil ‘eye’ /œj/ – yeux ‘eyes’ /jø/, while the exclusion of /n/ yields alternations like sotte ‘silly’ /snt/ – sot /so/, chaotique /kantik/ – chaos /kao/, and so on. The /e – '/ distinction is of great morphological importance, since it serves to distinguish, among others, certain future forms from the corresponding conditionals (donnerai – donnerais ‘will give – would give’), the infinitive and past participle of first conjugation verbs from the imperfect (donner / donné – donnait / donnaient ‘to give/given – was/were giving’), and so on. There are also numerous words, illustrated in (12), that illustrate the difference between the two vowels in final open syllables. (12) /e/ versus /'/ in final open syllables /e/

/'/

clef

‘key’

craie

‘chalk’

donner

‘to give’

écossais

‘Scottish’

été

‘summer’

effet

‘effect’

poignée

‘handful’

forêt

‘forest’

et

‘and’

haie

‘hedge’

fée

‘fairy’

fait

‘fact’

pré

‘meadow’

près

‘near’

livrer

‘to deliver’

livret

‘booklet’

ouvrier

‘worker’

quai

‘quay’

vallée

‘valley’

vrai

‘true’

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Although the match between orthography and pronunciation is far from consistent in French, there are several patterns that allow for prediction of /e/ versus /'/ in this context. Final orthographic < é, ée, ez, er > (where the < r > is not pronounced, as in infinitives) are normally realized as /e/. Final < ai, aiC, aîC, eC or êC > are normally pronounced /'/, with the exception of the words et /e/ ‘and’ and les /le(z)/ ‘the,’ and the verbal ending < -ai > /e/, as in j’ai ‘I have,’ je mangeai ‘I ate,’ je mangerai ‘I will eat’.14 For the sake of completeness, (13) illustrates /ø/ and /o/ in final open syllables in a variety of orthographic guises; recall that /œ/ and /n/ are excluded from this context. (13) Final /ø/ and /o/ /o/

/ø/

beau

‘handsome’

jeu

‘game’

héros

‘hero’

ceux

‘those’

vos

‘your’

peut

‘she can’

animaux

‘animals’

noeud

‘knot’

zéro

‘zero’

queue

‘tail’

eaux

‘waters’

voeu

‘wish’

4.2.2

4.2.2 Mid Vowels in Final Closed Syllables

In word-final closed syllables, the situation is the converse of the preceding. The rounded pairs of vowels, front /ø – œ/ and back /o –n/, are distinct, while only the lower-mid unrounded /'/ occurs, /e/ being excluded from final closed syllables in SF (with the exception of loanwords such as ale /el/ discussed elsewhere). (14) /ø/ versus /œ/, /o/ versus /n/ in final closed syllables /œ/15

/ø/ jeûne

‘fast’

jeune

‘young’

neutre

‘neuter’

seul

‘alone’

meute

‘pack’

peur

‘fear’

beugle

‘to moo’

aveugle

‘blind’

meugle

‘to moo’

veuve

‘widow’

creuse

‘hollow (f.)’

deuil

‘bereavement’

Vowels and Semi-vowels

/o/

/n/

saute

‘change’

sotte

‘silly (f.)’

Beaune

(region)

bonne

‘good’

fausse

‘false (f.)’

fosse

‘ditch’

épaule

‘shoulder’

molle

‘soft (f.)’

paume

‘palm’

pomme

‘apple’

‘coast’

cote

‘mark’

16

côte

In fact, for the front rounded vowels, the number of words involved in this opposition is very low, since the appearance of /ø/ in this context is infrequent. Standard references normally list no more than a dozen items, while /œ/ occurs freely, and many speakers replace /ø/ with the lower-mid partner. There are, moreover, more specific distributional constraints on these two vowels: only /ø/ occurs before the lengthening consonant /z/, as in creuse or the feminine derivational suffix -euse (chanteuse ‘singer [f.]’), while only /œ/ appears before /¯/ (peur ‘fear’ or the suffixes -eur as in chanteur ‘singer [m.],’ grandeur ‘size’).17 The distinction between /o/ and /n/, on the other hand, is stable, although analogous distributional constraints are also in evidence. Specifically, only /n/ may occur before /¯/ and /Õ/ (store ‘blind,’ ivrogne ‘drunk’), while only /o/ appears before /z/ (rose).

4.2.3

4.2.3 Mid Vowels in Nonfinal Closed Syllables

Before treating nonfinal open syllables, we may deal easily with the least complex situation: nonfinal closed syllables, where the lower-mid vowels /'n/ normally appear. This neutralization of the higher-mid/lower-mid distinction leading to the absence of /e ø o/ from nonfinal closed syllables foreshadows the discussion of the loi de position to occur below and is illustrated in (15). (15) /'œn/ in nonfinal closed syllables /'/ fertile

/œ/ ‘fertile’

/n/

heurter

‘to strike’ dormir

personne ‘person’ meurtrier pèlerin festival

‘pilgrim’ seulement ‘festival’ effeuillement

18

‘to sleep’

‘deadly’

colporteur ‘pedlar’

‘only’

cordial

‘leaf fall’ nocturne

‘cordial’ ‘nocturnal’

There is, however, one complication in this area: the possibility, for some speakers, of /e/ in nonfinal closed syllables. (This minor effect is indicated by the parentheses surrounding the /e/ in the table in [11] above.) Such examples

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arise in three primary contexts: (i) closed syllables created by the deletion of mute-e:19 céleri ‘celery’ /sel.¯i/, démesure ‘excessiveness’ /dem.zy¯/, émeri ‘emery’ /em.¯i/, ennemi ‘enemy’ /en.mi/, événement ‘event’ /even.m#/, médecin ‘doctor’ /met.s'/, and so on; (ii) sequences of /…esC…/ (assuming the syllabification /es.C/): espoir ‘hope’ /es.pwa¯/, destin ‘destiny’ /des.t'/, digestion /di.<es.tjn/, festin ‘feast’ /fes.t'/, gestuel ‘gestural’ /<es.tÄ'l/, modestie /mn.des.ti/, and so on; and (iii) occurrences of < ex >: exact /eg.za/, examen ‘examination’ /eg.za.m'/, excellent /ek.se.l#/, exotisme ‘exoticism’ /eg.zn.tism/, exploit /eks.plwa/, extra /eks.t¯a/, textuel /teks.tÄ'l/, and many others. That this pronunciation of /e/ in closed syllables is restricted to unstressed position is indicated by the behaviour of related words: digeste ‘easily digested,’ geste ‘gesture,’ modeste, texte, where /e/ is impossible. Moreover, not all speakers of SF accept such pronunciations, allowing only /'/ in nonfinal closed syllables. As a result, we will continue to see /'/ as the primary realization of the mid front unrounded vowels in this context.

4.2.4

4.2.4 Mid Vowels in Nonfinal Open Syllables

If one were to indicate a single standard pronunciation for the mid vowels in nonfinal open syllables, it would no doubt be /e – ø – n/, as in (16): (16) Mid vowels in nonfinal open syllables /e/

/ø/

/n/

céder

‘to give up’

pleuvoir

‘to rain’

poteau ‘post’

témoin

‘witness’

jeudi

‘Thursday’

poème ‘poem’

fécond

‘fertile’

heureux

‘happy’

modèle ‘model’

deuxième

‘second’

folie

généreux ‘generous’

‘madness’

However, by far the greatest amount of variability and hence complexity in the pronunciation of the mid vowels occurs in this context, and consistent generalizations are difficult to establish. Paradoxically, the pronunciation of a vowel as higher-mid or lower-mid in such syllables has very little effect on the identification of words (unlike the distinction between saute ‘sudden change’ and sotte ‘silly (f.)’ or crée ‘create’ and craie ‘chalk,’ for example) or on communication in general. In addition to simple free variation, the realization of the vowels in nonfinal open syllables is influenced by several further factors, sometimes conflicting, sometimes mutually supportive. These factors include analogy (the persistent influence of the root vowel in derived forms), vowel harmony, and (perhaps) the loi de position. We will deal with each in turn.

Vowels and Semi-vowels

4.2.4.1 4.2.4.1 Analogy

French has a relatively rich system of inflectional and derivational morphology in which suffixes are added to roots to indicate a change in inflectional category or to form new words, as in il embauche – nous embauchons (root: embauch- ‘hire’) or bleu – bleuir, bleuâtre (root: bleu ‘blue’). If a vowel-initial suffix is added to a stem ending in a vowel or a single consonant (as in the preceding examples), the suffix will bear the stress and the root vowel will then be found in a nonfinal open syllable.20 As indicated in (17), there is a strong tendency in SF to preserve, through analogy, the root vowel in derived forms, even if this contradicts the indications in (16) above. (17) Preservation of root vowels gué

‘ford’

guéable

‘fordable’

/e/ /e/

thé

‘tea’

théière

‘teapot’

/e/ /e/

laide

‘ugly’

laideur

‘ugliness’

/'/ /'/

beau

‘handsome’

beauté

‘beauty’

/o/ /o/

gros

‘large’

grosseur

‘thickness’

/o/ /o/

bosse

‘hump’

bossu

‘hunchbacked’ /n/ /n/

école

‘school’

écolier

‘student’

/n/ /n/

roche

‘rock’

rocher

‘rock’

/n/ /n/

This pressure is particularly strong when it involves the vowels /ø – œ/; if the base contains either of these vowels, that vowel is normally preserved in both verb conjugations and derived words, as in (18).21 (18) /ø/ and /œ/ in roots feuille

‘leaf’

feuillu

‘leafy’

/œ/

/œ/

elle cueille ‘she gathers’

cueillir

‘to gather’

/œ/

/œ/

il pleure

‘he’s crying’

pleurer

‘to cry’

/œ/

/œ/

jeune

‘young’

rajeunir

‘to rejuvenate’ /œ/

/œ/

beurre

‘butter’

beurrer

‘to butter’

/œ/

/œ/

il creuse

‘he’s digging’ creuser

‘to dig’

/ø/

/ø/

deux

‘two’

‘second’

/ø/

/ø/

‘to fast’

/ø/

/ø/

deuxième

elle jeûne ‘she’s fasting’ jeûner heureux

‘happy’

heureusement ‘fortunately’ /ø/

/ø/

bleu

‘blue’

bleuâtre

/ø/

‘bluish’

/ø/

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In both (17) and (18), we see that this analogical pressure has produced forms that contradict the initial generalization in (16) above: raideur ‘stiffness’ /¯'.dœ¯/, not (or at least rarely) */¯e.dœ¯/; beauté ‘beauty’ /bo.te/, not */bn.te/; feuillu ‘broad-leafed tree’ /fœ.jy/, not */fø.jy/; and so on.

4.2.4.2

4.2.4.2 Vowel Harmony

Vowel harmony is a type of assimilation in French in which the vowel of the stressed syllable influences the pronunciation of a mid vowel in a preceding open syllable. If the stressed vowel is lower-mid or low (/'œ na #/), it will favour a lower-mid realization of the vowel in the open syllable preceding it. If it is higher-mid or high (/i y u e ø o/, especially /i y e/), it will, conversely, favour the appearance of a higher-mid vowel. Vowel harmony is never obligatory; it is characteristic of less rather than more formal speech; and it affects primarily the front unrounded pair of vowels /e '/, although its influence on the other mid vowels is not unknown. Vowel harmony is illustrated in (19). (19) Vowel harmony (a) higher-mid vowels through harmony aigre

‘bitter’

/'/ > aigri

bête

‘animal’

/'/ > bêtise

/e/ – /i/ /e/ – /i/ 22

terre

‘earth’

/'/ > territoire

/e/ – /i/

clair

‘clear’

/'/ > éclairer

/e/ – /e/

fête

‘holiday’

/'/ > fêter

/e/ – /e/

tête

‘head’

/'/ > têtu

/e/ – /y/

peur

‘fear’

/œ/ > peureux

/ø/ – /ø/

aveugle ‘blind’

/œ/ > aveugler

/ø/ – /e/

coeur

‘heart’

/œ/ > écoeurer

/ø/ – /e/

oeuvre

‘work’

/œ/ > oeuvrer

/ø/ – /e/

dot

‘dowry’

/n/ > doter

/o/ – /e/

code

‘code’

/n/ > décoder

/o/ – /e/

féroce

‘ferocious’

/n/ > férocité

/o/ – /i – e/

(b) lower-mid vowels through harmony aimer

‘to love’

/e/ > aimable

étiez

‘were (2pl.)’ /e/ > était

/'/ – /'/

pécher

‘to sin’

/'/ – /œ/

/e/ > pécheur

/'/ – /a/

Vowels and Semi-vowels

jeûne

‘fasts’

/ø/ > jeûneur

/œ/ – /œ/

il pleut

‘it’s raining’ /ø/ > pleuvoir

/œ/ – /wa/

meule

‘stack’

/ø/ > meulette

/œ/ – /'/

gros

‘fat’

/o/ > grossesse

/n/ – /'/

roder

‘to break in’ /o/ > rodait

/n/ – /'/

dos

‘back’

/o/ > dossard

/n/ – /a/

rose

‘rose’

/o/ > rosette

/n/ – /'/

4.2.4.3

4.2.4.3 The loi de position

The concept of loi de position refers to a constraint on the pronunciation of mid vowels that correlates their degree of opening (higher-mid or lower-mid) with syllable structure: higher-mid vowels in open syllables; lower mid vowels in closed syllables. Applied without exception, the loi would imply the existence of only a single series of mid vowels (e.g. /E Ø Œ/ in the approach of Taulelle [1989]) with two series of allophones: [e ø œ] in open syllables, [' œ n] in closed. In SF, unlike the situation in dialects of the Midi, the term loi de position is somewhat of a misnomer, however, since it does not apply with anything approaching law-like regularity, as the details given above make clear. Nonetheless, there are cases where patterns reminiscent of the loi de position emerge in SF, and we will outline them briefly here. Perhaps the clearest case involves nonfinal closed syllables where the loi is normally respected: only lower-mid vowels are found, as in fertile, heurter, portrait (with the exception of the effects of /z/, which requires a preceding /ø/: curieusement ‘curiously’ /...øz.m#/, and the few variable examples of /e/ discussed above). In the other three contexts with which we have been dealing (final open syllables, final closed syllables, nonfinal open syllables), certain mid vowel pairs follow the expectations of the loi de position while others contradict them. We see, for example, regular /e ø œ/ in final open syllables, contradicted by the appearance of /'/ in this context as well, or regular /' œ n/ in final closed syllables, contradicted by the appearance of /ø/ and /o/ as well. In nonfinal open syllables, our initial or unmarked expectations outlined in (16) above showed ‘regular’ /e/ and /ø/, contradicted by the preferred appearance of /n/, but as the survey of the effects of analogy and vowel harmony demonstrates, the loi is more often honoured in the breach in this context. The regularity of the behaviour of the mid vowels in MF, compared to the much more complicated situation in SF, is exemplified in (20) for those contexts where SF permits a distinction between the higher- and lower-mid vowels: that is, in final open syllables for /e – '/, final closed syllables for /ø – œ/, /o – n/ and in open non-final syllables for all mid vowels. MF, in other words, fully implements the loi de position, allowing only /e ø o/ in open syllables (final or nonfinal) and only /' œ n/ in the corresponding closed syllables.

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(20) Mid vowels in SF and MF SF

MF

donner

‘to give’

/dnne/

/done/

donnait

‘was giving’

/dnn'/

/done/

jeûne

‘fasts’

/<øn/

/<œn/

jeune

‘young’

/<œn/

/<œn/

saute

‘jumps’

/sot/

/snt/

sotte

‘silly (f.)’

/snt/

/snt/

rose

‘rose’

/¯oz/

/¯nz/

errer

‘to wander’

/'¯e/

/e¯e/

pleurer

‘to cry’

/plœ¯e/

/plø¯e/

beauté

‘beauty’

/bote/

/bote/

botté

‘with boots’

/bnte/

/bote/

To conclude this section, we may note that analogy, vowel harmony, and the loi de position may interact, sometimes reinforcing each other, sometimes contradicting each other. Where two or more pressures work in concert, the pronunciation of the forms in question is likely to be stable. Where they conflict, variability is the norm, as the rich data in Martinet and Walter (1973) confirm. In (21) we see examples where at least two factors work together to favour a certain pronunciation; in (22), one of these factors is contradicted by another (or by more than one other), and as a result, variable pronunciation is likely to occur. It would appear, if ranking is needed, that analogical pressures to preserve the root vowel and the tendency to pronounce /n/ in nonfinal open syllables are the two strongest tendencies, while vowel harmony and the loi de position are weaker and often inoperative. (21) Mutually supporting pressures (A, VH, LP, O = analogy, vowel harmony, loi de position, and tendency for /n/ in nonfinal open syllables, respectively) beauté ‘beauty’ /bote/: A with beau, VH with /e/, and LP all favour /o/; contradicted by O côté ‘side’ /kote/: A with côte, VH with /e/, and LP all favour /o/; contradicted by O bleuir ‘to turn blue’ /bløi¯/: A with bleu, VH with /i/, and LP all favour /ø/ essuyer ‘to wipe’ /esÄie/: VH with /i e/ and LP favour /e/

Vowels and Semi-vowels

(22) Conflicting pressures sottise ‘foolishness’ /sntiz/: A with sotte, O; contradicted by VH, LP /sotiz/: A with sot, VH with /i/, LP; contradicted by O mairie ‘city hall’ /m'¯i/: A with maire; contradicted by VH, LP /me¯i/: VH with /i/, LP; contradicted by A with maire maîtresse ‘mistress’ /m't¯'s/: A with maître, VH with /'/; contradicted by LP maîtrise ‘mastery’ /met¯iz/: VH with /i/, LP; contradicted by A with maître fêter ‘celebrate’ /f'te/: A with fête; contradicted by VH, LP /fete/: VH with /e/, LP; contradicted by A with fête jaunet ‘yellowish’ /
4.2.5

4.2.5 Grammatical Consequences of the Constraints on Mid Vowels

The preceding sections, particularly 4.2.1 and 4.2.2, have identified strong constraints on the appearance of certain mid vowels in SF: the general absence of /e/ from final closed syllables and the corresponding absence of /ø œ/ from final open syllables. In a number of cases in morphologically complex items (those involving suffixation), these constraints require adjustments in the pronunciation of words. On some occasions, particularly involving the vowels /e '/, these adjustments are indicated in the orthography using the letters < é > and < è >, as in (23), where /e/ in an open syllable in the first column changes to /'/ in the closed syllable on the right.23 Needless to say, many first conjugation verbs exhibit this phenomenon.

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(23) Alternations with /e - '/ (orthographically indicated) /e/

/'/

céder

il cède

‘to give up – he gives up’

posséder

elle possède

‘to possess – she possesses’

révéler

il révèle

‘to reveal – he reveals’

lépreux

lèpre

‘leprous – leprosy’

régler

règle

‘to settle/adjust – rule’

sévérité

sévère

‘severity – severe’

systématique

système

‘systematic – system’

Other cases where /'/, /o/, and /ø/ replace /e/, /n/, and /œ/ are given in (24); note, in particular, the consequences of an informal process of abbreviation of words. (24) Height adjustments in the mid vowels léger

/e/

légère

/'/

‘light (m.-f.)’

premier

/e/

première

/'/

‘first (m.-f.)’

prisonnier

/e/

prisonnière /'/

‘prisoner (m.-f.)’

pénible

/e/

peine

/'/

‘painful – pain’

agrégation

/e/

agreg

/'/

‘aggregation (degree)’

après-midi24

/e/

aprèm

/'/

‘afternoon’

bénéfice

/e/

bénef

/'/

‘profit’

idiote

/n/

idiot

/o/

‘idiotic (f.-m.)’

sotte

/n/

sot

/o/

‘silly (f.-m.)’

roter

/n/

rot

/o/

‘to belch – belch’

hebdomadaire /n/

hebdo

/o/

‘weekly’

elles peuvent

/œ/

elle peut

/ø/

‘they can – she can’

ils veulent

/œ/

il veut

/ø/

‘they want – he wants’

dégueulasse

/œ/

dégueu

/ø/

‘lousy’

boeuf

/œ/

boeufs

/ø/

‘ox – oxen’

oeuf

/œ/

oeufs

/ø/

‘egg – eggs’

oeil

/œ/

yeux

/ø/

‘eye – eyes’

Vowels and Semi-vowels

4.2.6

4.2.6 Orthography and Pronunciation

Although it is not the purpose of this study to present in detail the orthographic-phonological correspondences characteristic of SF, we saw above that the /e – ' / opposition was usefully, though not perfectly, correlated with certain orthographic signals: final < é, ée, ez, er > (where the < r > is not pronounced, as in infinitives) are normally realized as /e/; final < ai, aiC, aîC, eC or êC > as /'/. To this may be added the observation that orthographic < e > before two written consonants is also generally /'/. There are, however, wellknown instances where the pronunciation contradicts the orthography (événement ‘event’ /ev'nm#/ or médecin ‘doctor’ /m'ts'/, for example) or where over time the orthography has been influential in modifying speech patterns (socalled spelling pronunciations): cet ‘this’ as /s't/ rather that the former alternation among /s‹t/, /s't/, and /set/, ressui ‘lair’ as /¯‹sÄi/ or /¯'sÄi/, gageure ‘difficult undertaking’ as /ga<œ¯/ rather than /ga provides the virtually exclusive representative of the vowels /ø/ and /œ/; that word-final < eu > is only /ø/ (jeu ‘game’), as is < eû >(jeûne ‘fast’); and that the pronunciation of these mid vowels is very largely determined by the loi de position. Exceptions to this distribution are mainly those few cases of /ø/ in closed syllables, a set of forms best memorized (other than those required by a following /z/). As for /o/ and /n/, < o > without an accent mark represents /n/ except in absolute final position or preceding /z/, while /o/ appears most frequently as < ô >, < au >, or < eau >.

4.2.7

4.2.7 The Potential Merger of /n/ and /œ/

In a classic article entitled “C’est jeuli, le Mareuc!” Martinet (1958) discusses a tendency for many French speakers to pronounce the lower-mid back vowel /n/ in a fronted manner, to the extent that it overlaps with /œ/26 in both stressed (Maroc) and unstressed (joli) syllables. Further examples of the phenomenon, taken from some 450 items in Walter (1976: Chapter VIII), are given in (25). (25) Fronted realizations of /n/ (overlap of /n/ and /œ/) boulotte

‘plump (f.)’

économe

‘thrifty’

sole

‘sole’

sotte

‘silly (f.)’

anonyme

‘anonymous’

auto

‘car’

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beaujolais

‘Beaujolais wine’

blocage

‘freeze, block’

mauvais

‘bad’

motion

‘motion’

phonétique

‘phonetic’

potage

‘soup’

projet

‘project’

téléphoner

‘to telephone’

volage

‘fickle’

The fronting of /n/ initially appeared to be a variable but generalized phenomenon, insofar as the limited amount of available data permitted such a conclusion. According to Walter (1976), however, fronting is not now expanding in her data base, but it is stable, at least for older speakers, and may easily be heard in the spoken media. Hence, it would be currently inappropriate to speak of any threatened merger between /n/ and /œ/, but legitimate to point out the potential for overlap. Factors that were originally advanced to account for the shift include a ‘crowded’ back vowel space with pressures to distinguish the four vowels /u o n #/, as well as the small number of words distinguished by the /n – œ/ opposition. These pressures have no doubt been reduced by the weakening of the /a – #/ opposition in favour of /a/ (see below), leaving just three vowels to induce any pressure. Whatever the cause (or the ultimate outcome) of the fronting of /n/, we mention it here not just because it reflects a further complication among the mid vowels, but also because it interacts with another important vowel merger in SF. As we will see in a later section, the merger of schwa with /œ/ (or /ø/) has significant consequences for any analysis of SF. If /n/ is also to be considered in this context, the possibilities for confusion increase dramatically. In fact, Walter (1976) cites several examples of just such confusion: for example, agneler ‘to lamb’ [aÕnle], bourrelier ‘saddler’ [bu¯nlje], reblochon ‘kind of cheese from Savoie’ [¯nbln5n], and others, where the original schwa is pronounced [n] or [œ]. Nonetheless, the extension and impact of this phenomenon are minor and perhaps moribund at this stage,27and it is mentioned in passing only because of its presence in the general literature on the vowel system.

4.3

4.3 The Low Vowels /a/ and /#/

Conservative SF has two low vowels, a relatively more front /a/ and a back /#/, distinguished in forms such as those given in (26).28

Vowels and Semi-vowels

(26) /a/ versus /#/ /a/

/#/

art

‘art’

âpre

‘bitter’

bague

‘ring’

bâche

‘tarpaulin’

balle

‘bullet’

bas (n./adj.)

‘bottom/low’

cas

‘case’

bât

‘packsaddle’

flamme

‘flame’

glas

‘knell’

foire

‘fair’

hâte

‘haste’

lac

‘lake’

las

‘weary’

lave

‘lava’

mâle

‘male’

mare

‘pond’

mât

‘mast’

masse

‘mass’

pâle

‘pale’

page

‘page’

Pâques

‘Easter’

rouage

‘cogwheel’

pâte

‘pastry’

soit

‘so be it’

phrase

‘sentence’

stable

‘stable’

ras

‘short’

toile

‘cloth’

sabre

‘sabre’

In general, there is little unanimity among speakers as to which words in SF contain /a/ and which contain /#/, and most analysts note a significant tendency towards the elimination of the back vowel /#/ in favour of /a/. In very conservative speech, however, certain words that, for the majority of speakers, contain /a/ are pronounced with /#/: affres ‘pangs/torrents,’ âge ‘age,’ havre ‘haven,’ for example.29 For many other forms, the conservative speakers represented by several of the informants in Martinet and Walter (1973) give highly heterogeneous responses, and the generalizations to be extracted are rare. One of the most consistent is the appearance, with the exception or rare /¯#¯/, of /a/ preceding /¯/. A second tendency sees the vowel of root words preserved in derived forms: âpre ‘bitter’ – âpreté ‘bitterness,’ câble ‘cable’ – câbler ‘to cable’ with /#/, flamme ‘flame’ – enflammer ‘inflame’ with /a/, and so on, much as in the discussion of analogy affecting the mid vowels. Words contining < oi > (/wa/ or /w#/) are roughly evenly split between the two pronunciations, and many of them are highly variable between individuals (moi ‘me’ and mois ‘month’ as both /mwa/ and /mw#/, for example). Certain suffixes show favoured pronunciations in this general context: -âtre has a preponderance of /#/; -age, -al and -oir favour /a/; while -able, -ation, and -ois are variable.30

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Finally, there is a correlation, far from perfect, between orthographic < â > and /#/, as indicated already in the forms in (26).31 Historically, one of the reasons for this correlation is clear. As we saw earlier in (10), an accent circonflexe may often be an indication of an earlier deleted segment (consonant or vowel), deletion normally resulting in compensatory lengthening of the preceding vowel. In this respect, the /a –#/ opposition was earlier one of length, /a – aÖ/, and was only subsequently converted into one of vowel quality (with traces of lengthening remaining in the status of /#/ as an intrinstically long vowel in final closed syllables). Again, we can find nonlearned–learned pairs of words providing evidence of the earlier deleted consonant. (27) < â > – < as > in related words âpre

‘bitter’

aspérité

‘bitterness’

bâton

‘stick’

bastonnade

‘beating’

croître

‘to grow’

croissance

‘growth’

mâcher

‘to chew’

mastiquer

‘to masticate’

mâle

‘male’

masculin

‘masculine’

Pâques

‘Easter’

pascal

‘paschal’

pâtre

‘shepherd’

pasteur

‘shepherd/pastor’

As Walter (1976) and others have reported,32 the /a –#/ distinction is variable and unstable in SF. A merger in the direction of /a/ is well underway for younger speakers, with the result no doubt eventually to be a vowel system with only a single low vowel. In fact, certain recent pronouncing dictionaries no longer note the difference, using the single symbol /A/ (representing a low central vowel akin to [a]) for both earlier sounds.33 Given these circumstances, it would appear appropriate for those learning the SF vowel system to conform to the innovating pattern and to function with the single vowel /a/ in their linguistic performance.

4.4

4.4 Nasal Vowels

The conservative variety of SF that is the starting point for our discussion contains four nasal vowels,/n'#/, usefully captured in the mnemonic phrase un bon vin blanc. While this phonological notation of the four vowels reflects a long tradition in French linguistics, it is not without problematic aspects, since in detailed phonetic terms the actual pronunciation of nasal /'/ and /n/ in SF is closer to [3] and [õ] respectively (not unlike the vowels in the English words can’t and don’t).34 We see this problem in pairs such as bon – bonne or vain – vaine, which we will transcribe phonologically as /bn– bnn, v' – v'n/, even though the normal pronunciation is [bõ – bnn, v3 – v'n].35 Despite

Vowels and Semi-vowels

this discrepancy between notation and pronunciation, we will retain the traditional symbols, not just because of tradition, but also because of alternations (to be discussed below) between nasal vowels and sequences of oral vowels followed by nasal consonants, where (some of) the oral vowels corresponding to /'/ and /n/ are not /æ/ and /o/, but /'/ and /n/. Nonetheless, this difference in the articulation of these nasal vowels bears remembering, if for no other reason than the need for accurate pronunciation.

4.4.1

4.4.1 Merger of /'/ and //

Perhaps the most notable happening among the SF nasal vowels is the ongoing merger of // with /'/, leading to a three-vowel system /'n#/.36 For many speakers, particularly the younger generations, this merger is complete, although the data in Martinet and Walter (1973) show that conservative pronunciations are likely to persist for some time. Representative words illustrating the merger (from among the very small overall number of words with // in French) include those in (28): (28) The vowel // as /'/ à jeun

/C<'/

‘fasting’

aucun

/ok'/

‘no, not any’

brun

/b¯'/

‘brown’

chacun

/5ak'/

‘each’

commun

/knm'/

‘common (m.)’

défunt

/def'/

‘defunct (m.)’

emprunt

/#p¯'/

‘borrowing’

humble

/'bl/

‘humble’

lundi

/l'di/

‘Monday’

opportun

/npn¯t'/

‘timely (m.)’

parfum

/pa¯f'/

‘perfume’

quelqu’un /k'lk'/

‘someone’

un

‘a/one’

/'/

Various authors (e.g., Martinet [1955]) have seen in the paucity of forms with // the reason for this merger: the low functional yield of // (the small number of minimal pairs in which it participates) means that its disappearance would have little effect on the functioning of the system. (It would lead to little homophony.) Against this may be set the very high frequency of certain

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members of the list in (28) (e.g., un, aucun, quelqu’un, lundi), a frequency that may well counterbalance the lexical rarity of //. Be that as it may, we see here an additional example of a progressive reduction of the number of distinctions in the vowel system of SF.

4.4.2

4.4.2 Distribution of Nasal Vowels

Nasal vowels in French are subject to a number of word-internal distributional constraints that exclude these vowels from certain well-defined contexts and that invite further discussion. In general tems, while nasal vowels appear in most phonological contexts in SF, they may not occur preceding other vowels, nor may they appear preceding nasal consonants. We may note this as *XX and *X’. Thus, while année ‘year’ /ane/ and bonté ‘goodness’ /bnte/ are well-formed, bonheur ‘happiness’ and bonnement ‘just, quite simply,’ if pronounced */bnœ¯/ and */bnm#/, are not. There are, however, certain classes of exceptions to these restrictions. Consider first words such as Panhard (an older model of car) /p#a¯/, enhardir ‘to embolden’ /#a¯di¯/, enharnacher ‘to harness’ /#a¯na5e/, each with /#/ preceding a vowel. In such forms, we see the effects of the h aspiré, which, here and elsewhere in French, provides a ‘phantom consonant’ that conditions a variety of exceptional behaviours. The second and more general type of exception also involves the prefix en-/em- /#/, as in enregistrer ‘to record,’ entasser ‘to pile up,’ embellir ‘to make attractive’with the roots registre, tas, beau/belle. When this productive prefix is added to a word beginning with a nasal consonant, the pronunciation of the prefix as /#/ is retained, and we find a nasal vowel preceding a nasal consonant, as in (29).37 (29) /#/ preceding nasal consonants emmagasiner

/# + m…/

‘to store up’

emmailloter

‘to bandage’

emmancher

‘to put a handle on’

emmêler

‘to tangle’

emménager

‘to move in’

emmener

‘to take away’

emmerder

‘to bother’

emmieler

‘to sweeten (with honey)’

emmurer

‘to wall up’

enneigé

/# + n…/

‘snow-covered’

ennoblir

‘to ennoble’

ennuager

‘to cloud over’

Vowels and Semi-vowels

Finally, in a few forms, the addition of en- to vowel-initial words also contravenes the above constraints, since we find enamourer ‘to become enamoured of’ /#namu¯e/, enherber ‘to plant with grass’ /#n'¯be/, enivrer ‘to intoxicate’ /#niv¯e/ with the sequence /#nV/ (compare panafricain /panaf¯ik'/ with the nasal-final prefix pan- /p#/). This situation is similar to that arising with nasal vowels in liaison contexts (contexts that go beyond word boundaries), a discussion that will occur below. For the time being, we note simply that the *XX and *X’ constraints on nasal vowels remain robust, with the exception of two clearly circumscribed cases, each of which is subject to independent explanation.38

4.4.3

4.4.3 Alternations between X and VN

Nasal vowels – or, more specifically, alternations between nasal vowels and a corresponding oral vowel followed by a nasal consonant – play an important role in French morphology. These alternations occur in inflectional morphology (e.g., in the distinction between masculine and feminine forms of nouns, adjectives, and determiners, and between the singular and plural as well as the indicative and subjunctive forms of verbs), in derivational morphology (e.g., when a root ending in a nasal vowel is followed by a vowel-initial suffix or when a prefix ending in a nasal vowel precedes a vowel-initial root), and in certain close-knit syntactic contexts involving liaison. Each of these types is illustrated in (30). (30) Alternations involving nasal vowels (a) inflection (i) masculine – feminine (determiners, adjectives, nouns) / – yn/ 39 un

une

‘a/one’

aucun

aucune

‘no/none’

chacun

chacune

‘each’

commun

commune

‘common’

brun

brune

‘brown’

opportun

opportune

‘timely’

bon

bonne

‘good

breton

bretonne

‘Breton’

baron

baronne

‘baron’

lion

lionne

‘lion’

/n – nn/

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/# – an/ artisan

artisane

‘craftsperson’

catalan

catalane

‘Catalan’

paysan

paysane

‘peasant’

roman

romane

‘Roman’

le mien

la mienne

‘mine’

chien

chienne

‘dog’

canadien

canadienne (many suffixed forms in -ien)

européen

européenne (suffixed forms in -en)

certain

certaine (many suffixed forms in -ain)

plein

pleine

‘full’

sain

saine

‘healthy’

vain

vaine

‘vain’

copain

copine

‘pal’

cousin

cousine

‘cousin’

féminin

féminine

‘feminine’

fin

fine

‘thin’

latin

latine

‘Latin’

bénin

bénigne

‘benign’

malin

maligne

‘shrewd’

/' – 'n/; /j' – j'n/

/' – in/

/' – iÕ/

(ii) singular – plural (verbs) /j' – j'n/ tient

tiennent

‘hold’

vient

viennent

‘come’

craint

craignent

‘fear’

peint

peignent

‘paint’

/' – 'Õ/

Vowels and Semi-vowels

/w' – waÕ/ joint

joignent

‘join’

comprend

comprennent

‘understand’

prend

prennent

‘take’

/# – 'n/

(iii) indicative – subjunctive (verbs) /j' – j'n/ tient

tienne

‘hold’

vient

vienne

‘come’

craint

craigne

‘fear’

peint

peigne

‘paint’

joigne

‘join’

comprend

comprenne

‘understand’

prend

prenne

‘take’

/'– 'Õ/

/w' – waÕ/ joint /# – 'n/

(b) word formation (derivation or conversion) (i)

root + suffix

/# – an/ an

année

‘year – year’

clan

clanique

‘clan – clannish’

plan

aplanir

‘flat – to level’

volcan

volcanisme

‘volcano – vulcanism’

bon

bonifier

‘good – to improve’

colon

colonie

‘colonist – colony’

information

informationnel ‘information – informational’

jargon

jargonnesque

‘jargon – full of jargon’

rayon

rayonnage

‘shelf – shelving’

/n – nn/

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/– yn/ commun

communal

‘common – communal’

opportun

opportuniste

‘timely – opportunistic’

tribun

tribunat

‘tribute – tribunate’

un

unième

‘one – first’

/– ym/ parfum parfumerie

‘perfume – perfumery’

/' – en/ chien

chiénage

‘dog – tax requiring vassals to raise a certain number of dogs’

sain

assainir

‘healthy – to clean up’

serein

sérénité

‘serene – serenity’

plein

plénitude

‘full – fullness’

humain

humanitaire

‘human – humanity’

main

manier

‘hand – to handle’

poing

poignard

‘fist – dagger’

bouquin

bouquiniste

‘book – bookseller’

câlin

câliner

‘cuddly – to cuddle’

chauvin

chauvinisme

‘chauvinistic – chauvinism’

divin

divinité

‘divine – divinity’

fin

finesse

‘thin – sharpness’

mesquin

mesquinerie

‘stingy – stinginess’

pékin

pékinois

‘Beijing – Pekinese’

vin

vinifier

‘wine – convert into wine’

/' – an/

/w' – waÕ/

(ii) conversion (noun to verb) /# – an/ ruban

enrubanner

‘ribbon – trim with ribbons’

Vowels and Semi-vowels

/n – nn/ façon

façonner

‘way – to shape’

station

stationner

‘station – to park’

affamer

‘hunger – to starve’

essaimer

‘swarm – to swarm’

freiner

‘brake – to brake’

jeûner

‘fasting – to fast’

bain

baigner

‘bath – to bathe’

dédain

dédaigner

‘disdain – to disdain’

chemin

cheminer

‘road – to walk along’

jardin

jardiner

‘garden – to garden’

soin

soigner

‘care – to care for’

témoin

témoigner

‘witness – to witness’

/' – am/ faim /' – em/ essaim /' – en/ frein / – øn/ à jeun /' – 'Õ/

/' - in/

/w' - waÕ/

(iii) prefix + root /nnn/40

/nn/ non-belligérant

‘non-belligerant’

non-agression

‘nonagression’

non-combattant

‘non-combatant’

non-assistance

‘failure to assist’

non-conformisme ‘non-conformism’ non-engagé

‘nonaligned’

non-croyant

‘non-believer’

non-être

‘non-being’

non-paiement

‘non-payment’

non-intervention ‘nonintervention’

non-violence

‘nonviolence’

non-usage

‘non-use’

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/p#/

/pan/

panchromatique

‘panchromatic’

pangermanisme

‘pan-germanism’ paneuropéen

‘pan-European’

panthéisme

‘pantheism’

panhellénique

‘panhellenic’

panslavisme

‘panslavism’

panislamisme

‘panislamism’

/bj'/

panaméricain

‘panamerican’

/bj'n/

bien-dire

‘eloquence’

bien-aimé

‘beloved’

bienfaisant

‘beneficial’

bien-être

‘comfort’

bien-pensant

‘right-thinking’

bienheureux

‘blessed’

/si¯knm/41

/si¯kn/ circonlocution

‘circumlocution’

circumlunaire

circonscription

‘district’

circumnavigation

‘circumlunar’ ‘circumnavigation’

circonvenir

‘to circumvent’

/#/

circumpolaire /#n/

‘circumpolar’

42

emballer

‘to pack up’

enivrer

‘to intoxicate’

embellir

‘to beautify’

enrober

‘to coat’

embourgeoiser

‘to become middle class’

entraîner

‘to carry along’

emmener

‘to take away’

envisager

‘to envisage’

empaqueter

‘to wrap up’

empiétement

‘encroachment’

emprisonner

‘to imprison’

encadrer

‘to frame’

encercler

‘to encircle’

endolorir

‘to make painful’

/'/

/im/

imbattable

‘unbeatable’

immatériel

‘immaterial’

imbrûlé

‘unburnt’

immatriculation ‘registration’

imbuvable

‘undrinkable’

immigrant

‘immigrant’

immangeable

‘inedible’

immobile

‘immobile’

immanquable

‘impossible to miss’

Vowels and Semi-vowels

impair

‘uneven/odd’

impensable

‘unthinkable’

/'/

immodeste

‘immodest’

/in/

inchangé

‘unchanged’

inachevé

‘unfinished’

incorrect

‘incorrect’

inexactement

‘inexactly’

indécis

‘indecisive’

inhumain

‘inhuman’

inflexible

‘inflexible’

ininterrompu

‘uninterrupted’

insonoriser

‘to soundproof’

inopportun

‘untimely’

intolérable

‘intolerable’

inoubliable

‘unforgettable’

invendable

‘unsellable’

inutile

‘unuseful’

(c) liaison43 /#/ en partant

/#n/ ‘leaving’

en arrivant

‘arriving’

j’en prends deux ‘I’ll take two’

j’en ai deux

‘I have two’

/n/

/nn/

on part

‘we’re leaving’

on arrive

‘we’re arriving’

mon cousin

‘my cousin’

mon oncle

‘my uncle’

bon professeur

‘good professor’

bon élève

‘good student’

/'/

/'n/

bien parti

‘left’

bien arrivé

‘arrived’

rien trouvé

‘nothing found’

rien apporté

‘nothing brought’

Each of these sets of examples presents its own complexities. We will deal with them in turn, moving from less to more complex. As we have already seen, these data sets illustrate alternations between a nasal vowel (left-hand column) and an oral vowel followed by a nasal consonant (right-hand column). In some cases, the alternation appears to be correlated directly with a change in grammatical category; in others, it is phonologically conditioned (for the most part) depending on whether a consonant or a vowel follows the nasal vowel. Thus, in (30a, i-iii), the nasal vowel occurs in the masculine, the singular, or the indicative, while the oral vowel-nasal consonant sequence is in the feminine, the plural, or the subjunctive. Such relationships between phonological length or complexity and morphological markedness are widespread crosslinguistically and have given rise to extended discussion in the theoretical literature dealing with morphological structure and typology.44

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If the general pattern X – X’ is clear in (30a), the specific correlates of the nasal vowel are not. Only in the case of /n/ is there consistency. The three remaining nasal vowels do not allow their alternating counterparts to be predicted, as the set of correspondences in (31) makes clear. That is, neither the oral vowel nor the nasal consonant partnered with the nasal vowel is unique, although we may identify preferred patterns. (31) X – X’ alternations n

– nn

 – yn  – ym  – øn #

– an

#

– 'n

#

– am

'

– 'n

'

– 'Õ

'

– en

'

– em

'

– in

'

– iÕ

'

– an

'

– am

j' – j'n w' – waÕ From the correspondences in (31), /n/ consistently pairs with /nn/ (bon – bonne), // generally pairs with /yn/ (aucun – aucune), /#/ with /am/ in adverbs (constant – constamment ‘constantly’) and /an/ in adjectives or nouns (paysan – paysanne ‘peasant’), and /'/ with /'n/ (sain – saine ‘healthy’). This domain remains, however, one in which the morphological consequences of nasalization, to say nothing of the alternations involving /'/, are rich in their complexity. When we consider the forms in (30b-c), on the other hand, the role of the following segment is more evident. The nasal vowel appears in wordfinal position in (30b, i-ii) or preceding a consonant in (30b, iii); the oral vowel – nasal consonant sequence normally appears when a vowel follows, as

Vowels and Semi-vowels

in façon – façonner ‘to shape’ /fasn – fasnne/, inchangé ‘unchanged’– inachevé ‘unfinished’ /'5#<e – ina5‹ve/.45 This pattern is regular in all of the words formed from derivational suffixes in (30b, i) (and with the rarer consonantinitial derivational suffixes such as -té: bon – bonté ‘goodness’ /bn/ – /bnte/). It is also found with the regular prefixes non- and pan-, with circon- (although the absence of this prefix preceding vowels makes the question moot), and in most instances of in-. There is a significant class of exceptions to this pattern, however. First, bien does not ‘denasalize’ when added to a vowel-initial root (/bj'nø¯ø/, not */bj'nø¯ø/ for bienheureux ‘blessed,’ etc.) in violation of the *X’ constraint. The same is true for the prefix en- in enivrer /#niv¯e/, although this is the single example in Warnant (1987) of such a structure, en- apparently being largely limited to consonant-initial roots.46 The liaison of words ending in nasal vowels perhaps falls into this same category, as the cases of en ‘in,’ on ‘one,’ bien ‘well,’ rien ‘nothing’ and mon ‘my’ demonstrate in (30c), along with aucun ‘no/not a’ and commun ‘common’ (aucun homme /oknnm/), although constraints across word boundaries in French (as is the case with liaison) are typically less strong than those within words. Of additional liaison forms, ancien ‘ancient/former,’ bon ‘good,’ certain ‘certain,’ plein ‘full,’ and prochain ‘next’ are regular, in that the nasal vowel consistently denasalizes: bon ami ‘good friend’ /bnnami/, en plein hiver ‘middle of winter’ /#pl'niv'¯/, and so on.47 Finally, we must comment on the behaviour of the productive prefix in-.48 It is, for the most part, regular: /'/ before consonants, /in/ before vowels. There is, however, one set of exceptional cases. In a small number of words beginning with /m/ or /n/, we find not the expected preconsonantal form /'/, as in immanquable ‘impossible to miss’ /'m#kabl/, but rather /i(m)/ or /i(n)/, where the bracketed (m, n) indicate the possibility of a geminate consonant: immobile /i(m)mnbil/, innommable ‘unspeakable’ /in(n)nmabl/. Thus, despite a number of generalizations that are applicable to the behaviour of nasal vowels, we must conclude that their behaviour is governed by a complex interaction of phonological, morphological, and idiosyncratic factors. A brief discussion of the history of nasalization in French may shed further light on the matter.

4.4.4

4.4.4 History and Orthography

Much of the heterogeneity of the preceding discussion may be attributed to the complex interaction of several historical phonological processes that combined to produce the X – X’ alternations. These processes include the nasalization of vowels preceding nasal consonants, the lowering of nasal vowels, denasalization, and the loss of nasal consonants following nasal vowels. While we cannot hope to do justice to this rich and complex matter here,49 some idea of how nasal vowels developed is helpful in understanding the current situation in SF. Briefly, the evolution followed this general path:

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(a) all vowels (and diphthongs) preceding nasal consonants were nasalized, with (according to a now somewhat contested traditional view) the lower vowels nasalizing first and most strongly (b) the resulting nasal vowels became lower or more back in articulation, again beginning with the lower vowels (c) nasal consonants in coda (syllable-final) position were deleted (d) denasalization affected those nasal vowels where the following nasal consonant had not been deleted If we consider typical Gallo-Roman or early OF forms such as fin – fine ‘sharp’ or conte ‘story,’ first pronounced /fin/ – /fin‹/ and /knnt‹/, the processes described above would have the following effects: (32) Historical phonological processes initial form

/fin/

/fin‹/

/knnt‹/

nasalization

HK¿P

HK¿P‹

knnt‹

denasalization

—

fin‹

—

lowering

f'n

—

—

loss of nasal consonant

f'

—

knt‹

current form

f3

fin(‹)

knt(‹)

The interaction of these processes explains, in historical terms, the current distribution of nasal vowels – in particular the constraints on their distribution we saw in (4.4.2) – and the nature of the orthographic representation of these vowels. Note first that nasal vowels are normally found at the end of words or before oral consonants, but not before vowels or nasal consonants: XC, X#; VV, V’ are perfectly regular and produced by these (or other) processes, while *XV, *X’ are not. In order for XXto arise, the first vowel would have to nasalize and the nasal consonant delete, but we have seen that the nasal consonant does not delete when a vowel follows. (X’X requires denasalization of the first vowel, not nasal consonant deletion.) In order for X’to arise, the nasal consonant would need to remain, but we have seen that such consonants delete following nasal vowels, provided the vowels remain nasal. Lowering and backing also account for much of the variation in the basic vowel in many of the X– X’ pairs in (31). When nasal /'/, //, and /#/ correspond to oral /in/, /yn/, and /an/ respectively (fin – fine, un – une, an – année), the effects of these two processes on the nasal versus the oral vowels are evident. This situation illustrates how synchronic alternations as well as restrictions on the distribution of segments arise through the interaction of historical phonological processes.50 It is interesting that SF orthography reflects these constraints only indirectly, the orthography being conservative in nature and more akin to the situation in

Vowels and Semi-vowels

the first line of (32). In order to interpret the orthography correctly, we must ‘apply’ the processes in (32): a vowel followed by a nasal consonant at the end of words or before another consonant is nasal, and the nasal consonant is not pronounced; a vowel followed by a nasal consonant (or double nasal consonant) followed by a vowel is oral, and the nasal consonant is pronounced, as in bon /bn/, bonne /bnn/, bonté ‘goodness/kindness’ /bnte/, and bonasse ‘easygoing’ /bnnas/. There are, needless to say, exceptions to these orthographic tendencies, themselves produced by further historical phenomena such as the deletion of schwa or the incorporation of loan or slang words, such as caneton ‘duckling’ /kantn/, not */k#tn/ (compare canton ‘district/township’ /k#tn/); hameçon ‘fish-hook’ /amsn/, not */#sn/; stencil /st'nsil/, not */st#sil/; album /albnm/; binse /bins/; clamser /klamse/; and so on.51 Nonetheless, there are many regularities to be extracted from the structure of the French orthographic system, and these regularities often signal antecedent historical events.

4.4.5

4.4.5 Dialects

To conclude the discussion of nasal vowels, we may outline briefly the situation in two additional dialects, MF and CF, where the behaviour is strikingly different from SF. MF is somewhat simpler, in that the realization of the nasal vowels is closer to their oral counterparts and the loss of the nasal consonant following nasal vowels has not fully taken place. The degree of nasalization of the vowel may also be much less. The vowels /'/, /#/, and /n/ are often pronounced closer to ['], [a], and [n], respectively, and in word-internal position, a nasal consonant, homorganic to the following consonant, persists following the nasal vowel. In word-final position, on the other hand, the inserted nasal consonant is [0]. MF and SF pronunciations of representative words are contrasted in (33).52 (33) Nasal vowels in MF and SF MF

SF

simple

[s'mpl‹]

[s3pl]

‘simple’

dingue

[d'0g‹]

[d3g]

‘crazy’

danser

[FCPUG]

[d#se]

‘to dance’

attention

[CVCPULn0]

[at#sjn]

‘attention’

enfin

[Cnf'0]

[#f3]

‘finally’

bien

[bj'0]

[bj3]

‘well’

In CF, by way of contrast, the situation is more complex. CF makes a significant distinction between its phonetically long and short vowels. Short nasal vowels (those occurring in open syllables) have shifted frontward or rotated

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clockwise in the phonological space, while long nasal vowels have diphthongized (along with long oral vowels).53 These two sets of vowels are contrasted with those of SF in (34). (34) Nasal vowels in CF and SF CF

SF

on

[n]

[õ]

‘one’

honte

[nwt]

[õÖt]

‘shame’

(le) vent

[v3]

[v#]

‘(the) wind’

il vente

[ivCwt]

[ilv#Öt]

‘it’s windy’

vin

[v']

[v3]

‘wine’

quinze

[k'jz]

[k3Öz]

‘fifteen’

défunt

[defœ]

[def']

‘late/dead’

[il#p¯'Öt]

‘he borrows’

il emprunte [jCp]πt]

Thus, from a historical, dialectal, and sociolinguistic point of view, nasal vowels in French provide a rich, varied, and challenging domain of investigation in which continuous phonological innovation means that ongoing attention is always merited.

4.5

4.5 Schwa

Perhaps no topic in the study of French phonology (with the possible exception of liaison) has generated as much discussion as schwa, from both a descriptive and a theoretical point of view. Even the terminology is changeable: schwa, e-muet, e-instable, e-caduc, e-féminin, and so on are used to indicate the segment in question. These terms refer to a vowel whose precise phonetic properties are variable, whose normal orthographic representation is the unaccented letter < e >, and whose primary interest lies in the fact that its pronunciation or suppression depends on a wide variety of phonological, morphological, syntactic, and stylistic factors. In discussions of this vowel, distributional constraints, phonetic detail, retention or deletion, stylistic effects, orthographic correspondences, dialectal variation, inflectional and derivational alternations, and the interaction of phonological and nonphonological factors are all relevant. The following sections will attempt to bring some order into this descriptive miscellany.54

Vowels and Semi-vowels

4.5.1

4.5.1 Orthographic Representations of Schwa

As many of the designations indicate (e-muet, etc.), we are dealing almost exclusively with interpretations of the letter < e > in French, as in petit ‘small,’ premier ‘first,’ samedi ‘Saturday,’ étudiera ‘will study,’ vie ‘life,’ vite ‘quickly,’ presque ‘almost,’ grande ‘big,’ and so on. There are two minor exceptions to the schwa – < e > link: the first vowel of the word monsieur ‘Mister,’ where the < on > represents schwa, and the sequence < ai > in two additional roots, faisan ‘pheasant’ and faire ‘to do’. With faisan, in addition to the root itself, a number of derived forms also show < ai > as schwa: faisander, faisandé(e), faisandage, faisanderie, and faisandeau. With faire, the situation is somewhat more complex. Derivational forms built on faire have schwa: faisable, faisant, bienfaisant, bienfaisance, satisfaisant. In addition, certain inflectional forms have the same vowel: faisons and faisait (plus the rest of the imperfect), in contrast to the future and the conditional, both with schwa as < e >: ferai, ferait.55 These minor exceptions aside, the correlation between < e > and schwa is very strong. The frequency of the letter < e > in French, moreover, guarantees that we will be confronted with a range of issues involving schwa at virtually every stage of our study of French phonology.

4.5.2

4.5.2 Distributional Constraints on Schwa

As was the case with previous vowels, we may identify a variety of constraints on the appearance of schwa in SF words. (We leave aside for the moment the behaviour of schwa in phonological phrases.) For example, no SF word begins with schwa in absolute initial position. Nor may schwa occur immediately next to another vowel, in either preceding or following position (with one class of exceptions to be discussed shortly). In addition, at the level of the word in SF, schwa does not occur in closed syllables unless as the result of a process where one of the schwas in adjacent syllables has been deleted. Schwa may not be accented.56 Finally, although this is not precisely a distributional restriction, the presence of schwa in sequences such as VC‹# does not serve to provide an open penultimate syllable for certain phonological processes in French that are sensitive to syllable structure. Using the symbol /‹/ to represent schwa, we may represent these constraints more formally as in (35). (35) Distributional constraints involving schwa (i) *#‹ (ii) *‹V (iii) *V‹ (iv) *‹C. (v) *‹p (vi) VC.‹#

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The first of these constraints accounts for a set of orthographic conventions in French. In orthographic terms, no word in French begins with an unaccented < e > unless that letter is itself followed by the letter < x > or by two or more orthographic consonants.57 Thus, we find ébahir ‘to dumbfound,’ égorger ‘to slit the throat of,’ épinard ‘spinach,’ and so on with initial /e/ and examen ‘examination,’ effet ‘effect,’ essentiel ‘essential,’ être ‘to be,’ and so on with /'/, but never *epinard, *éxamen or *êxamen, and so on. The reasons for this are now clear. If the initial < e > followed by a single consonant were unaccented, it would be pronounced /‹/, in violation of the constraint against initial schwa. Conversely, no accent is needed in words like examen, essaim ‘swarm,’ and descendre ‘descend’ since the < x > or double consonants make the pronunciation clear.58 As for the second and third constraints, vocalic hiatus is frequent in French, except when schwa is involved: schwa-vowel or vowel-schwa sequences are blocked, with the exception of the recurrent influence of aspirate-h: dehors ‘outside’ /d‹n¯/, rehausser ‘to heighten’ /¯‹ose/ (and derived forms: e.g., rehaussement), Dehérain (proper noun ) /d‹e¯'/, and so on. Other than such cases (which are very rare), this pair of constraints is firmly anchored in SF speech patterns. The fourth constraint, often discussed in the context of a process called closed syllable adjustment, requires that schwa be found initially only in open syllables within words. Thus, while pesant ‘heavy’ /p‹.z#/ is wellformed, personne ‘person’ */p‹¯.snn/ is impossible; only /p'¯.snn/ is permitted. Exceptions to this constraint arise only in words with sequences of schwas in consecutive syllables – redevance ‘tax,’ redemander ‘to ask for again,’ Genevois ‘Genevan,’ etc. – where deletion of the second schwa gives /¯‹d.v#s/, /¯‹d.m#de/, /<‹n.vwa/, respectively, meaning that the first schwa is then in a closed syllable. This phenomenon becomes much more apparent in a phrasal context, a topic that will occupy us below. Finally, despite the status of schwa as a vowel, sequences like VC‹# often do not behave as if they were normal bisyllables (V.C‹#), but rather as if the initial syllable were closed (VC.‹#). This is shown by the fact that vowels that are excluded from closed syllables (e.g., schwa itself, as well as /e/) cannot appear in the context __C‹#. Thus, we find mère /m'¯(‹)/, never */me¯(‹)/; mène /m'n(‹)/, never */men(‹)/ or */m‹n(‹)/, despite menons /m‹nn/; and so on. We will return briefly to this question in a discussion of alternations involving schwa.

4.5.3

4.5.3 The Phonetic Realization of Schwa

Up to this point, we have used the symbol /‹/ to represent the vowel we are calling schwa. For many speakers, this representation of the vowel as a central, more or less rounded, lax vowel is accurate. However, there is a strong movement in current SF for many speakers to merge this vowel with one of the two front rounded vowels /ø/ or /œ/, usually /œ/.59 Thus, for analysts such as Dell (1973a) or Tranel (1987) (who are entirely representative concerning

Vowels and Semi-vowels

this matter), schwa is pronounced [œ], and the following pairs are completely homophonous: (36) Homophonous pairs: /‹/ and /œ/ je ne vaux rien – jeune vaurien

/<œnvo¯j'/

‘I’m worthless – young good-for-nothing’ je ne vois – jeune voix

/<œnvwa/

‘I don’t see – young voice’ elle se le demande – elle seule demande

/'lsœldœm#d/

‘she asks herself – she alone asks’ ample rang – en pleurant

/#plœ¯#/

‘wide row – crying’ quel genêt - quel jeunet

/k'l<œn'/

‘which jennet (a small Spanish saddle horse) – which youngster’ Schwa in word-final open syllables, as in dites-le ‘say it’ /ditlœ/ or quelle honte ‘what shame’ /k'lœnt/, for the great majority of speakers, is pronounced /ø/ or /œ/, not /‹/.60 Despite this well-advanced merger, we will continue to use a separate symbol for schwa for two reasons, one practical or pedagogical, one more theoretical. In practical terms, it is convenient to be able to identify a separate schwa for pedagogical purposes and to focus on the unstable or alternating properties of that vowel without having to confuse the issue by any reference to a competing /œ/. Related to this, in a more theoretically oriented way, is the following argument. Even if we recognize the merger and work with a single symbol /œ/ for both /‹/ and original /œ/, we must still distinguish two separate types of /œ/: those that delete freely and those that do not; as well as those that alternate with other vowels, opposed to those that are stable. We would need, in other words, to separate the /œ/ in cela dit ‘that being said’ /sœladi/ – /sladit/ from the /œ/ in seul à dire ‘the only one to say it’ /sœladi¯/, since only the former can delete – the second is stable. Likewise, we would need to distinguish the /œ/ in crever ‘to burst’ /k¯œve/ from that in pleurer ‘to cry’ /plœ¯e/ since the former alternates with /'/ (crevons – crève) while the latter does not (pleurons – pleure). Furthermore, if word-final schwas are also /œ/, then we would need to exempt them from being stressed in words like double /dúblœ/ or /dúblø/ (and recognize a limited exception to the exclusion of /œ/ from final open syllables). We would need, in other words, two distinct /œ/ vowels, a situation reflected in the decision to retain the symbol /‹/ for the first ‘schwa’ in each pair or for the nonstressable vowels in final position.61 For those speakers who have merged /‹/ with /œ/, whether regularly or sporadi-

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cally, we can deal with this independently since other elements of their speech will continue to distinguish the two vowels. The symbol /‹/, therefore, will be retained here.

4.5.4

4.5.4 The Deletion of Schwa

Two principal, and not unrelated, issues arise in discussions of schwa: how the vowel is to be represented in phonological terms, and what conditions control its variable behaviour – preservation, deletion or, (in certain cases) insertion. Representational questions over and above the merger of schwa and /œ/ involve a wide variety of theoretical issues beyond the boundaries of this manual – see Morin (1988) for further discussion. As for the behaviour of schwa, any consideration of its deletion begins with the phonological phrase. Phrasal conditions are highly relevant here, as they are in other key domains of French phonology.62

4.5.4.1

4.5.4.1 Schwa in the Phonological Phrase

Logically, phrases may be divided into three domains: a beginning, middle, and end, each with different effects on the behaviour of schwa. Perhaps the simplest case is provided by phrase-final position: here, schwa is uniformly and consistently deleted in SF, irrespective of other phonological factors such as the number of consonants preceding the vowel. This is illustrated in (37), where the schwa in question is given in bold face: (37) Schwa in phrase-final position une vie

/ ynvi || /

‘a life’

ils se marient

/ ils‹ma¯i || /

‘They’re geeting married.’

elle est petite

/ 'l'p‹tit || /

‘She’s small.’

il est trop jeune

/ il't¯o<œn || /

‘He’s too young.’

j’en ai quatre

/ <#nekat¯ || /

‘I’ve got four of them.’

voilà le comble

/ vwalalknbl || /

‘That’s the last straw.’

monsieur le ministre / m‹sjølminist¯ || /

‘Mister Minister’

c’est un filtre

/ s'tfilt¯ || /

‘It’s a filter.’

il est bien dextre

/ il'bj'd'kst¯ || /

‘He’s right-handed.’

Phrase-initial position governs a more complicated behaviour of schwa.63 In general terms in SF, it is always permissible to pronounce schwa in these

Vowels and Semi-vowels

syllables without creating negative stylistic impressions: cependant ‘however’ /s‹p#d#/, je pars ‘I’m leaving’ /<‹pa¯/, and so on. Nonetheless, there are contexts where, again without stylistic implications, it is normal to delete schwa. These contexts are defined in phonological terms: schwa deletes after the single fricatives /f v s z 5
‘Let’s do it together.’

venez nous voir

/ || vnenuvwa¯/

‘Come to see us.’

ce que vous dites...

/ || sk‹vudit /

‘what you say…’

chemin faisant...

/ || 5m'f‹z# /

‘in so doing…’

je t’aime

/ || 5t'm /

‘I love you.’

jetez-le-moi

/ || 5telmwa /

‘Throw it to me.’

/ || t‹vwatil /

‘Does he see you?’

que faites-vous

/ || k‹f'tvu /

‘What are you doing?’

demain on part

/ || d‹m'npa¯ /

‘We’re leaving tomorrow.’

me vois-tu

/ || m‹vwaty /

‘Do you see me?’

ne mens pas

/ || n‹m#pa /

‘Don’t lie.’

le voyez-vous

/ || l‹vwajevu /

‘Do you see it?’

revenez nous voir

/ || ¯‹vnenuvwa¯ / ‘Come back to see us.’

(a) faisons cela ensemble

(b) te voit-il64

(c) prenez-les

/ || p¯‹nele /

‘Take them.’

fredonnez-vous

/ || f¯‹dnnevu /

‘Are you humming?’

grenouillage

/ || g¯‹nuja< /

‘shady dealings’

Although these restrictions are stated in general terms, there may be very few items that instantiate them in specific cases. There are, for example, no words in French that begin with /z‹/, so any deletion in this case is moot. The same applies to many word-initial groups that are never followed by schwa. Nonetheless, the general principle is clear: strong phonological constraints apply to the presence or absence of schwa in phrase-initial position. This situation is further complicated by certain idiosyncratic examples that we will see in section 4.5.4.3 below. First, however, we need to review the behaviour of schwa in medial position.

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Phrase-internal schwas present, at first glance, the most complicated type of behaviour, but there is a strong general pattern that simplifies matters greatly. We should perhaps first note that the phrase-internal context also includes, in addition to words ending in schwa, all word-internal schwas (any schwas in neither the first nor the last syllable of a word), since such schwas are automatically in internal position in any phrase in which the word in question appears. The key phrase-internal factor involves the number of consonants preceding the schwa. If there is a single consonant, the schwa deletes; if there are two or more, the schwa is pronounced. In simplified formal terms, we may schematize these conditions as follows: if the sequence is VC‹CX (where ‘X’ represents any sequence of sounds65), the schwa deletes. If the sequence is XCC‹CX, the schwa is pronounced. These two constraints reflect in a more accurate manner what has traditionally been called the loi des trois consonnes in French, a constraint against a sequence of three consonants that would be produced by the deletion of schwa. In fact, however, schwa deletion often produces such triconsonantal sequences if two of the consonants follow the schwa; it is only if two consonants precede the schwa that deletion is blocked, so the loi is somewhat of a misnomer. To this primary constraint, we must add an interesting further condition blocking the deletion of schwa in a sequence VC‹LGV. That is, if the group of segments following the schwa consists of a liquid-glide (LG) cluster, deletion is also blocked. These three constraints are illustrated in (39), where the VC‹CX and VCC‹CX contexts are given in bold face. (39) Phrase-internal schwas (a) VC‹CX (deletion of schwa) médecine

/medsin/66

‘medicine’

honnêtement

/nn'tm#/

‘honestly’

samedi

/samdi/

‘Saturday’

il arrive tôt

/ila¯ivto/

‘He arrives early.’

en deuxième position

/#døzj'mpnzisjn/ ‘in second place’

salade niçoise

/saladniswaz/

‘salade niçoise’

à demain

/adm'/

‘until tomorrow’

nous venons

/nuvnn/

‘We’re coming.’

sans demander

/s#dm#de/

‘without asking’

cette préoccupation

/s'tp¯enkypasjn/ ‘this preoccupation’

une flèche

/ynfl'5/

la dernière station

/lad'¯nj'¯stasjn/ ‘the last station’

‘an arrow’

Vowels and Semi-vowels

(b) VCC‹CX (preservation of schwa) âpreté

/ap¯‹te/

‘bitterness’

diablerie

/djabl‹¯i/

‘mischief’

département

/depa¯t‹m#/

‘department’

à contre coeur

/aknt¯‹kœ¯/

‘reluctantly’

presque terminé

/p¯'sk‹t'¯mine/ ‘almost finished’

forme principale

/fn¯m‹p¯'sipal/ ‘principal form’

nous prenons

/nup¯‹nn/

‘we take’

tout crevé

/tuk¯‹ve/

‘completely worn out’

sept semaines

/s'ts‹m'n/

‘seven weeks’

ils menaient

/ilm‹n'/

‘They were leading.’

(c) VC‹LGX (preservation of schwa; LG cluster) atelier

/at‹lje/

‘workshop’

bachelier

/ba5‹lje/

‘bachelor’

Richelieu

/¯i5‹ljø/

‘Richelieu’

vous trouveriez

/t¯uv‹¯je/

‘you would find’

vous seriez

/vus‹¯je/

‘you would be’

Any of the examples in (39) indicates the phrasal nature of these constraints on schwa deletion. Word boundaries play no role in constraining the suppression or preservation of the vowel, since word-internal schwas (samedi), word-final schwas (salade niçoise), or schwas in the first syllable of a word itself preceded by another word (sans demander ‘without asking’) all delete. Moreover, deletion can produce a sequence of three consonants, provided two of the three follow the vowel (une flèche /…nfl…/). By the same token, the position of the two blocking consonants is also independent of word structure. The consonants may be word-internal (diablerie), word-final (with the exception of the schwa itself) (presque terminé), word-initial within the phrase (tout crevé), or members of adjacent words (sept semaines). What counts is their presence, not the forms to which they belong. Phrase-internal schwas (usually in combination with phrase-initial partners) are involved in a further complicated set of interactions that arise when adjacent syllables contain schwa. The number of words where this pattern is found word-internally is very small (Genevois ‘Genevan,’ chevelure ‘hair,’ ensevelir ‘to bury/shroud’ and derivatives, words with the prefix re- [redemander, revenir], the highly variable papeterie ‘stationary shop’ [pronounced as /pap't¯i/, /pap‹t¯i/ or /papt¯i/], crevettier ‘shrimp net/boat’ [with /‹/ or /'/ in either

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of the first two syllables] and so on), but phrasal structures are exceedingly common given the nature of many pronouns and other clitic forms that combine in sequence (i.e., je, me, te, se, le, ne). (40) Sequences of schwas je le prends

‘I’m taking it.’

je me demande

‘I wonder.’

il se levait

‘He was getting up.’

on te le propose

‘Someone suggests it to you.’

je ne le comprends pas

‘I don’t understand it.’

il te le recommande

‘He recommends it to you.’

je ne te le redemanderai pas (!)

‘I won’t ask you for it again.’

In SF, the general tendency in these structures is for at least one schwa to delete, but which one (or ones, as the case may be) is often variable – in particular, either the first or the second of the sequence drops: je le prends /<‹lp¯#/ or /
4.5.4.2

4.5.4.2 A Rhythmic Constraint

We owe to Pierre Léon (e.g., Léon 1966: 73) the discovery of this particular behaviour of schwa. Consider the forms in (41).

Vowels and Semi-vowels

(41) A rhythmic constraint porte-monnaie

porte-plume

‘wallet – pen-holder’

porte-crayon

porte-clé

‘pencil-case – key-case’

garde-malade

garde-fou

‘nurse – railing’

garde-mobile

garde-côte

‘mobile guard – coastguard ship’

perce-oreille

perce-neige

‘earwig – snowdrop’

gagne-petit

gagne-pain

‘low wage earner – job’

vide-ordures

vide-poches

‘garbage chute – glove box’

ouv(re)-bouteille

ouvre-boite

‘bottle opener – can opener’

In the left-hand column, there is a tendency for the final schwa of the first element of the compound to delete, despite the fact that this produces a violation of the VCC‹CX constraint (e.g., porte-monnaie /pn¯tmnn'/). On the right, in contrast, the schwa is retained. It was Léon who pointed out that if the second element of the compound is monosyllabic, the schwa is retained, while bisyllabic second elements favour schwa deletion. In each case, the result is a trisyllabic compound. This pattern is often violated in that the schwa of the first column, even when followed by bisyllabic elements, may be retained. Moreover, the phenomenon still respects additional conditions governing schwa (deletion before a vowel: perce-oreille; retention after a CL cluster: souffre-douleur ‘whipping-boy’; etc.), but, as we will see below, this rhythmic pattern is not an isolated one in French phonology. It even extends, at least optionally, to phrasal constructions such as il parle bas ‘He speaks softly.’ /ilpa¯l‹ba/ versus il parle beaucoup ‘He speaks a lot.’ /ilpa¯lboku/.

4.5.4.3

4.5.4.3 Epenthesis

Up to now, we have dealt with conditions favouring or blocking the deletion of mute-e. Additional examples show the opposite effect: the insertion of a schwa even when there is no orthographic justification for it. Consider the forms in (42). (42) Epenthesis of schwa film russe

/film‹¯ys/

‘Russian film’

ours brun

/u¯s‹b¯œ/

‘brown bear’

t-shirt jaune

/ti5œ¯t‹
‘yellow t-shirt’

arc-boutant

/a¯k‹but#/

‘flying buttress’

match nul

/mat5‹nyl/

‘tie game’

Parc des Princes

/pa¯k‹dep¯'s/ (a stadium)

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This epenthesis is clearly linked to the earlier VCC‹CX constraint, although in this case, the presence of a word boundary is necessary for epenthesis to take place: VCC#CX, since insertion only occurs following words ending in two consonants, not before words beginning with two consonants (sept Françaises ‘seven French women’ */s't‹f¯#s'z/). Furthermore, it is more frequent when the second word is monosyllabic than when it is polysyllabic, in keeping with the rhythmic constraint on deletion illustrated in (41): concept clé ‘key concept’ /kns'pt‹kle/ versus concept difficile ‘difficult concept’ /kns'ptdifisil/, ours brun ‘brown bear’ /u¯s‹b¯/ versus ours polaire ‘polar bear’ /u¯spnl'¯/, for example. A second type of schwa epenthesis also seems to be gaining ground in SF: that following /¯/ in phrase-final position, as in bonjour‹ ‘hello,’ bonsoir‹ ‘good evening,’ j’en avais peur‹ ‘I was afraid of it,’ à tout à l’heur‹ ‘see you soon,’ prends le bus‹‘take the bus,’ soixante-quinz‹ ‘seventy-five,’ c’est pas croyabl‹ ‘that’s unbelievable,’ despite the fact that schwa does not usually appear phrase-finally. This epenthesis may, in fact, be more general, and may play a role in emphatic speech: qu’il est snob‹ ‘what a snob,’ arrête ‘stop!,’ merde ‘shit!,’ and so on, as Léon (1992: 145-46) points out. Nor is it unknown in word-internal contexts: consider the colloquial forms lorsque ‘when’ /ln¯s‹k‹/, exprès ‘on purpose’ /'ks‹p¯'/. Here, we see the presence of schwa whether or not is it supported by an < e > in the orthography. Just how widespread and stable this phenomenon will become remains to be determined – at the moment, it is in the early stages of development and remains highly sporadic.69

4.5.4.4

4.5.4.4 The Tendency towards Irregularity

The preceding discussion has perhaps left the impression that the behaviour of schwa, while complicated, is generally regular or predictable. While there are obvious generalizations to be extracted from the data we have seen up to this point, it is nonetheless necessary to recognize that nothing is as orderly as it might first seem. There is a myriad of additional material to analyze, some apparently irregular because of stylistic variation, some due to the influence of phonotactic constraints, some simply attributable to lexical idiosyncracy. Without attempting full coverage, we will summarize some of the most notable exceptions in this section.70 Although we will treat this topic more fully in an independent discussion in a later chapter (see section 5.4), we should note that here, as elsewhere, aspirate-h words furnish a class of systematic exceptions to schwa deletion. We have seen a strong constraint that blocks schwa preceding vowels: *‹V, both word-internally and phrase-internally. Words beginning with aspirate-h, which are in fact vowel-initial in phonetic terms, permit schwa to be pronounced: le héros ‘the hero’ /l‹e¯o/, une housse ‘a dust cover’ /yn‹us/, cette hache ‘this axe’ /s't‹a5/, quelle honte ‘what a shame’ /k'l‹nt/, and so on.71

Vowels and Semi-vowels

Secondly, despite the general tendency for schwa to delete in phrase-initial position following fricatives, there are words where this does not occur: celuici/-là/que ‘this one/that one/the one which’ /s‹lÄi…/; ce ne sont pas… ‘they aren’t’ /s‹nsnpa/ but not */sn‹snpa/; ce à quoi ‘that at which’ /s‹akwa/, not */sakwa/; for example. Furthermore, there are examples, albeit much more colloquial, where deletion may occur even after a nasal or stop consonant, as in the forms monsieur /msjø/, petit voyou! ‘little scamp’ /ptivwaju/, and so on. (See also the examples in [45] below.) Conversely, there are cases in SF where, despite the presence of orthographic < e >, schwa is never pronounced (e.g., samedi ‘Saturday,’ hameçon ‘fish hook,’ caneton ‘duckling’), and the phonological rather than the orthographic form of these words would reflect the absence of any vowel. In addition, there are cases where schwa deletes in very specific contexts involving clitic pronouns: (re)garde-la ‘look at her’ /(¯‹)ga¯dla/, for example. In more rapid (i.e., informal) speech, schwa may even delete following two consonants: il fera ‘he’ll make’ /ilf¯a/, vous ne serez… ‘you won’t’ /vuns¯e/, département ‘department’ /depa¯tm#/. (Recall that schwa deletion after CL clusters is very rare word-internally in SF, though not uncommon regionally). Thirdly, there are patterns that seem to override the alternating deletion pattern we saw in the discussion of sequences of schwas. Certain frequent determiners, such as quelle, cette, une, have feminine forms ending in schwa. If these determiners precede a word with initial schwa (e.g., une semaine ‘one week’), the alternating pattern would lead us to expect either /yn‹sm'n/ or /yns‹m'n/, quelle menace ‘what a menace’ as /k'l‹mnas/ or /k'lm‹nas/, and so on. In fact, only the second possibility is found: the schwa of the determiner deletes obligatorily. This might lead us to question whether the phonological representation of such forms even includes a schwa, a question that has been highly debated in theoretical circles. Be that as it may, here, as elsewhere in sequences of schwas, there are patterns that are fixed, and the alternating possibilities outlined above are not fully realized in many cases. Fourthly, there are what might be called ‘distance constraints’ on schwa deletion, perhaps not unrelated to the rhythmic pattern we saw above. In general, the further removed schwa is from the stressed syllable, the more easily it may be deleted. Thus, in a sentence like il ne reste pas ‘He’s not staying,’ the schwa in reste is obligatorily pronounced in SF: /iln‹¯'st‹pa/. In il ne reste pas longtemps ‘He’s not staying long,’ however, it may be deleted: /iln‹¯'stpalntC/. Finally, the distinction between inflectional and noninflectional morphology is also relevant in a discussion of the behaviour of schwa. In first conjugation verbs (the productive category with infinitives in -er) in future and conditional forms, a schwa may be optionally deleted before the tense marker /¯/, even if two consonants precede, in violation of XCC‹CX from (39ii) above.

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(43) Inflectional conditioning (future and conditional) parlera

/pa¯l(‹)¯a/

‘will speak’

fixera

/fiks(‹)¯a/

‘will fasten’

formera

/fn¯m(‹)¯a/

‘will form’

forgera

/fn¯<(‹)¯a/

‘will forge’

ripostera

/¯ipnst(‹)¯a/

‘will answer back’

In forms such as forgeron ‘blacksmith’ /fn¯<‹¯n/, palmeraie ‘palm grove’ /palm‹¯'/, fumisterie ‘fraud’ /fymist‹¯i/, (or even porcelet ‘piglet’ /pn¯s‹l'/) with consonant groups analogous to those of the futures/conditionals in (43), and where the schwa is obligatorily present, we see evidence that the inflectional forms behave differently. Thus, although there are general patterns that clearly emerge when schwa is considered, there remains a large residue of forms that continue to show considerable variability. This variability is compounded when we consider stylistic variation, the topic of the next section.

4.5.4.5

4.5.4.5 Stylistic Considerations

The behaviour of schwa that we have considered up to this point is, despite its complexity and heterogeneity, fully characteristic of SF. It demonstrates, in fact, that SF itself is not the rigid and perfectly homogeneous linguistic system it is sometimes taken to be. At the risk of complicating matters further, we will consider two additional areas relevant to a discussion of this phenomenon. The first involves the division of utterances into phonological phrases; the second involves the formality of the speech situation. Looked at closely, there is somewhat of a contradiction involving the interaction between division into phrases, degree of formality, and schwa retention. Formal speech tends to be slower and more deliberate, and phrases tend to be shorter. But because phrases are shorter, more schwas will potentially fall in phrase-final position and be deleted, reducing rather than increasing the number of schwas pronounced. The contradiction arises because formal speech normally implies more schwas. The following examples, with the more formal pronunciation (and shorter phrases) occurring first, illustrate this situation. (44) Short versus long phonological phrases (a) / || le théâtre || fermera à vingt heures || /

/ || l‹teat¯ || f'¯m‹¯aav'tœ¯ || /

/ || le théâtre fermera à vingt heures || /

/ || l‹teat¯‹f'¯m‹¯aav'tœ¯ || /

‘The theatre will close at 8:00 p.m.’

Vowels and Semi-vowels

(b) / || dans quelle chambre || dorment-ils || / / || d#k'l5#b¯ || dn¯m‹til || / / || dans quelle chambre dorment-ils || / / || d#k'l5#b¯‹dn¯m‹til || / ‘In which room are they sleeping?’ In (a) and (b), we see that the schwa at the end of the first phrase has been deleted in the slower and more formal versions. In the single longer phrase, because the schwa in question is preceded by two consonants phrase-internally, it is now pronounced. However, in (c) we can see the opposite effect – combining shorter phrases into one longer one creates a context in which schwa may now be deleted: (c) / || je ne sais pas || le trouver facilement || / / || <‹ns'pa || l‹t¯uvefasilm# || / / || je ne sais pas le trouver facilement || / / || <‹ns'palt¯uvefasilm# || / ‘I don’t know how to find it easily.’ If we ignore the implications of shorter versus longer phonological phrases, there is a clear correlation between the number of times schwa is pronounced and the formality of the speech situation: the more schwa is pronounced, the more formal is the discourse. Consequently, we will look briefly at two further situations, a more formal one involving poetry, song, or formal oratory where schwa is maximally preserved, and a popular or colloquial variety of speech that suppresses schwa (and often other segments) as much as possible. Poetry and related forms are perhaps the easiest to describe. In classical verse, and in solemn public declarations and related ‘performances,’ all schwas followed by a consonant are pronounced. Rimbaud’s line Je ne parlerai pas, je ne penserai rien has twelve syllables; de Gaulle’s declaration Cela, je ne le ferai pas! has eight. Songs by Edith Piaf provide further testimony: Non, je ne regrette rien, for example, has seven syllables. Needless to say, the situation is much more complicated than this sketch implies,72 but the general tenor of SF is appropriately summarized in the following passage by Léon (1992: 147): “Même en l’absence de toute donnée scientifique, on peut affirmer que dans la conscience linguistique d’un Français, le E caduc prononcé est associé avec l’idée du ‘beau langage’. If it is fair to say that the most formal varieties of French retain all possible schwas, then colloquial French suppresses them maximally, normally in conjunction with additional phonological changes. For example, in SF il venait ‘it was coming’ is pronounced /ilv‹n'/, and deletion of the schwa is blocked by the two preceding consonants. In colloquial speech, on the other hand, il is normally reduced to /i/, so il venait is /ivn'/. Moreover, the negative particle ne is also usually absent, so vous ne venez pas ‘you’re not coming’ /vunv‹nepa/ would be /vuvnepa/. Deletion of word- or phrase-final schwa following CL clusters also exposes the liquid to deletion, so one hears à table ‘dinner’s served’ /atab/, j’en ai quatre ‘I’ve got four’ /<#nekat/, quatre voitures ‘four

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cars’ /katvwaty¯/, and so on. In fact, the deletion of vowels goes far beyond that of schwa in colloquial or popular French, as the examples in (45) illustrate.73 (45) Vowel deletion in colloquial French tu as

/ta/

‘you have’

tu sais

/ts'/

‘you know’

vous êtes

/z't/

‘you are’

cet homme

/stnm/

‘this man’

cet été

/stete/

‘this summer’

peut-être

/pt't/

‘perhaps’

mais enfin

/m#f'/

‘finally’

pas tout à fait

/pattaf'/

‘not completely’

celui-là

/sÄila/ ‘that one’ (less frequently: /slÄila/)

voilà

/vla/

‘there’

c’est à dire

/stadi¯/

‘that is to say’

qu’est-ce que c’est que ça

/k'ks'ksa/

‘What’s that?’

pourquoi est-ce que

/pu¯kwask/

‘why…’

où est-ce que

/usk/

‘where…’

The medial vowel in words like déjeuner ‘to eat lunch’ /de
4.5.4.6

4.5.4.6 The Stabilization of Schwa

According to a number of recent analyses,74 SF has a large number of words where schwas have apparently lost their status as e-caduc or e-instable and instead fail to delete even when all conditions for their suppression are met. Such schwas occur typically in the first syllable of a word preceded by a single consonant; these vowels normally delete in the phrasal context VC‹CX. Thus, trois semaines ‘three weeks’ /t¯wasm'n/ but sept semaines ‘seven weeks’ /s'ts‹m'n/ shows the typical pattern of deletion, while trois vedettes ‘three stars,’ exclusively /t¯wav‹d't/, shows a stable schwa. Examples of such stable schwas are found in the initial syllables of the words in (46).

Vowels and Semi-vowels

(46) Stable schwas bedaine

‘paunch’

belote

‘belote’

degré

‘degree’

depuis

‘since’

genèse

‘genesis’

guenon

‘female monkey’

menotte

‘handcuffs’

neveu

‘nephew’

pesant

‘heavy’

querelle

‘quarrel’

requin

‘shark’

secret

‘secret’

vedette

‘star’

Walker (1996) examines some 400 such words, plus over 800 beginning with the prefix re-. The schwa of re- remains unstable, but fully half of the remaining words with initial schwa show either a stable vowel or one that is becoming stable (cf. Warnant’s “mais le ‹ se maintient souvent” comment). The phenomenon, then, is widespread. Two complementary factors appear to be aiding this stabilization process. First, as Walter and others have noted, there is a tendency in contemporary French to expand the use of an accent d’insistance or emphatic stress, placed on the first syllable of words. Stress on the first syllable would obviously hinder any vowel deletion in that syllable, including deletion of schwa. Secondly, we may return to the merger of schwa and /œ/ discussed above in 4.5.3. /œ/, if we exclude the recent ‘invasion’ from schwa, is clearly a stable vowel in SF. To the extent, then, that schwa becomes identified with /œ/, it is not unreasonable to expect that it also adopt the stable properties of the new vowel and begin to resist deletion.75 The dynamism of the SF phonological system is, therefore, made apparent in the interaction of these three innovations: the occurrence of stress on initial syllables expands, schwa merges with the stable vowel /œ/, schwa stabilizes in initial position. Whether the merger and stabilization of schwa will become permanent features of SF phonology is a question only the future can answer. In the meantime, we must consider further complexities of the SF phonological and morphological system linked to this enigmatic vowel.

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4.5.5

4.5.5 Alternations Involving Schwa

Several elements of French inflectional and derivational morphology involve alternations between schwa and other vowels. While it is impossible to treat these questions fully here, some indication of the extent and the complexity of the issues is appropriate. In inflectional terms, alternations involving schwa are most evident in the verb system, in the classic cases illustrated by mène – menons ‘lead’ or appelle – appelons ‘call’. Derivationally, there are also many sets related by the presence of a schwa in unstressed position paired with various stressed vowels: hôtel – hôtelier ‘hotel – hotel keeper’ /ot'l/ – /ot‹lje/, chapeau – chapelier ‘hat – hatter’ /5apo/ – /5ap‹lje/ and a host of less frequent and more irregular pairings.76 The most pervasive and regular of the schwa-vowel alternations occurs in verb forms, where stressed /'/ alternates, in most forms, with unstressed /‹/, the latter also subject on many occasions to the normal deletion processes. There are approximately 170 verbs in SF that fall into this category; they are often subdivided according to their orthography, depending on whether the stem-final consonant is doubled or whether an accent is added to the stem vowel.77 Examples are given in (47). (47) /'/ – /‹/ in verb stems /‹/ or deletion

/'/

/‹/ or deletion

(Infinitive)

(3 sg.)

(1 pl.)

acheter

achète

achetons

‘buy’

crever

crève

crevons

‘burst’

haleter

halète

haletons

‘pant’

jeter

jette

jetons

‘throw’

feuilleter

feuillette

feuilletons

‘leaf through’

souffleter

soufflette

souffletons

‘slap’

appeler

appelle

appelons

‘call’

débosseler

débosselle

débosselons

‘flatten out’

morceler

morcelle

morcelons

‘divide up’

In these verbs, the alternation between /'/ and /‹/ is found in all finite forms, with the exception of the future and the conditional, which (in the normative description of SF corresponding to the official spelling) present /'/ uniformly throughout, despite a following syllable containing schwa and despite the absence of stress: achèterai ‘buy’ /a5't(‹)¯e/;78 achèterions /a5't‹¯jn/; appellerais ‘call’ /ap'l(‹)¯'/; appellerions /ap'l‹¯jn/, etc. This and similar alternations have generated much theoretical debate under the name of ‘closed

Vowels and Semi-vowels

syllable adjustment,’ particularly since in forms like appellerions, the /‹/ alternating with /'/ does not appear to be in a closed syllable.79 The situation is equally, if not more complicated when we investigate derivational morphology. We will consider here only a single case: that concerning the behaviour of stems whose final vowel, when stressed, is /'/. When a suffix is added to such stems, the /'/ should then reduce to schwa and be subject to deletion if the appropriate conditions (essentially the familiar VC‹CX pattern or a following vowel) are present. This is indeed the case for many types of forms, as illustrated in (48). (48) Schwa in derivational morphology /'/

/‹/

crochet

crochetage

‘hook – hooking’

promène

promenade

‘walk – a walk’

pucelle

pucelage

‘virgin – virginity’

chapelle

chapelain

‘chapel – chaplain’

duvet

duveteux

‘down – downy’

jumelle

jumelage

‘twin (f.) – twinning’

Genève

genevois

‘Geneva – Genevan’

vilaine

vilenie

‘nasty (f.) – vileness’

If the suffix begins with a consonant (a rare occurrence in SF) or with schwa (much more frequent) this situation is again quasi-regular, since the stem vowel will occur in a closed syllable and therefore not reduce: vilainement ‘wickedly’ /vi.l'n.m#/, étincellement ‘glitter’ /e.t'.s'l.m#/ (cf. étincelant ‘sparkling’ / e.t'.s‹l#/ – /eV'UN#/), etc. The first type of difficulty arises when we consider a set of learned suffixes, -atif, -ateur, -ation, -isme, -iste, and so on. Despite the fact that these suffixes begin with a vowel and thus create a preceding open syllable, reduction of /'/ to schwa does not occur, as in (49): (49) Learned suffixes /'-e/

/‹/

appellatif

appeler

‘appellative – to call’

congélateur

congeler

‘freezer – to freeze’

dénivellation

niveler

‘unevenness – to make uneven’

récipiendaire

recevoir

‘recipient – to receive’

nouvelliste

renouveler

‘short story writer – to renew’

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perception

percevoir

‘perception – to perceive’

élévation

élever

‘elevation – to raise’

The learned status of a word, here and elsewhere, serves to block the operation of a number of synchronic processes and provides us with a reminder of the phonological history of French.80 Schwa – /'/ alternations are not the only ones involved in such cases. There exists a large set of less frequent, less productive derivational relationships as well. One type is represented in (50), where a link between /o/ (orthographically < eau > in most cases) and /‹l/ (< el >) is evident: (50)

/o/

/‹l/

bateau

batelier

‘boat – boatman’

cerveau

cervelet

‘brain – cerebellum’

chapeau

chapelier

‘hat – hatter’

ciseau

ciseler

‘scissors – to chisel’

créneau

crénelé

‘crenel – crenellated’

jumeau

jumelage

‘twin – to twin’

morceau

morceler

‘piece – to divide’

niveau

niveler

‘level – to level’

Such minor cases may be extended almost indefinitely, as we see in (51). (51) Minor alternations involving schwa tenace

ténacité

/‹ – e/

‘tenacious – tenacity’

cafetière

café

/‹ – e/

‘coffee pot – coffee’

dangereux

danger

/‹ – e/

‘dangerous – danger’

mercerie

mercière

/‹ – j'/

‘notions shop – haberdasher’

chenil

chien

/‹ – j'/

‘kennels – dog’

chasseresse

chasseur

/‹ – œ/

‘huntress – hunter’

chevelure

cheveu

/‹ – ø/

‘hair – hair’

peser

poids

/‹ – wa/

‘to weigh – weight’

champenois

Champagne

/‹ – a/

‘from Champagne – Champagne’

menotte

main

/‹ – '/

‘handcuff – hand’

Vowels and Semi-vowels

To pursue such alternations would take us too far afield. We will return, on occasion, to the question of learned versus nonlearned forms in French. For the time being, however, let us consider one last role played by mute-e, a role with dramatic phonological and morphological implications. Two of the key elements of French structure involve differences between masculine and feminine forms on the morphological side and the pronunciation of final consonants in the phonological domain. Schwa plays a key role in relating these two areas. If we restrict ourselves simply to adjectives, many feminine forms have final < e > in the orthography, compared to a lack of this vowel in the masculine:81 (52) < e > in the feminine petit

petite

/-t/

‘small’

grand

grande

/-d/

‘big’

long

longue

/-g/

‘long’

gros

grosse

/-s/

‘fat’

jaloux

jalouse

/-z/

‘jealous’

gentil

gentille

/-j/

‘kind’

soûl

soûle

/-l/

‘drunk’

premier

première /-¯/

‘first’

sain

saine

‘healthy’

/-n/

In phonological terms, however, the distinction in these forms is between the presence and absence of a final consonant. Most discussion has focused on the best way to represent this distinction in phonological terms: (i) a representation that mirrors the orthography and includes both a final schwa and a final consonant (/p‹ti+t+‹/); (ii) a representation without schwa but with a final consonant, necessitating schwa insertion on various occasions (/p‹ti+t/); (iii) a representation lacking both final consonants and schwa, and requiring a variety of rules for both consonant and schwa insertion (/p‹ti/). Whatever the solution chosen (we will discuss some of the issues later), it is clear that any approach involves significant decisions regarding the functioning of schwa in French phonology.

4.5.6

4.5.6 Dialects and History

The behaviour of schwa across dialects of French is of a complexity equal to that found in SF alone. CF, for example, appears to preserve the vowel as [‹], distinct from [ø] and [œ], and popular forms of many dialects (including CF) manifest an interesting type of metathesis: /‹¯ga¯de/ (regarder ‘to look at’), /‹lga¯sn/ (le garçon ‘the boy’), /fev‹¯je/ (février ‘February’), and so on.82 But

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perhaps the best recognized example of the distinctive behaviour of schwa is found in MF, where the general (but not fully correct) impression is that all mute-e are pronounced.80 Examples are found in (53). (53) Schwa in MF bête

/b't‹/

‘animal’

bêtise

/betiz‹/

‘stupidity’

tellement

/t'l‹mC0/

‘so’

la carte de la ville

/laka¯t‹d‹lavil‹/

‘the map of the city’

je ne vois ni Pierre ni Jacques

/<‹n‹vwanipj'¯‹ni
‘I see neither Pierre nor Jacques.’

Needless to say, the situation in MF is not nearly this homogeneous, particularly as the region falls under the influence of northern dialects. Nonetheless, the behaviour of schwa is highly distinctive and widely recognized as one of the primary signals of southern speech. Schwa in SF is the product of a variety of historical phonological processes, and some discussion of these phenomena may help clarify the details of the preceding sections. In the developments that led from spoken Latin through Gallo-Roman to Old French, many unstressed vowels, particularly those in final syllables or in nonfinal open syllables, were reduced to schwa and subsequently deleted. Such deletion normally affected all Late Latin vowels except /a/, this vowel resisting deletion and remaining as schwa. Furthermore, because of constraints on syllable structure, certain final consonant clusters were proscribed in Gallo-Roman and OF, and to block their appearance in word-final position, a second type of schwa vowel, a voyelle d’appui, developed in that context. Examples of vowel loss, of /a/ becoming /‹/, and of final support vowels are given in (54). (54) Vowel loss and development of schwa Latin

French

(a) loss of final vowels viginti

vingt

‘twenty’

venit

vient

‘comes’

habere

avoir

‘to have’

scriptum

écrit

‘writes’

ferrum

fer

‘iron’

amarum

amer

‘bitter’

Vowels and Semi-vowels

murus

mur(s)

‘wall’

largum

larc (> large)

‘wide’

grandem

grant (> grand)

‘big’

dura

dure

‘hard’

luna

lune

‘moon’

alba

aube

‘dawn’

pluma

plume

‘pen’

amas

aimes

‘loves’

(b) /a/ > /‹/

(c) /‹/ as a support vowel patrem

père (OF pedre)

‘father’

duplum

double

‘double’

nostrum

nôtre

‘our’

inter

entre

‘between’

juvenum

jeune (OF juevne)

‘young’

numerum

nombre

‘number’

hospitem

hôte (OF hoste)

‘host’

comitem

comte

‘count’

Without going into detail, we may note that several of these forms show the interaction of phonological changes. For example, the consonant cluster requiring a support vowel in SF words like jeune or hôte is no longer transparent, since changes subsequent to the development of that vowel have eliminated the cluster. In words like inter or comitem, a consonant cluster (and the consequent need for a support vowel) is present only after the syncope of the penultimate vowel. Subsequent to the OF period, vowel loss continues, affecting the remaining weak vowel, namely schwa. As we have seen, this process is still going on. The examples in (54) allow us to understand some of the synchronic details we have seen above. First, let us consider the constraint excluding schwa (wordinternally) from closed syllables. If the diachronic process of vowel reduction did not fully apply in closed syllables, then it is evident that schwa would not be produced in that context, and its absence synchronically is easily understood. In the same way, if schwa is the result of a weakening in unstressed syllables or of the insertion of a final support vowel following the stressed syllable, the absence of stressed schwas is again not surprising. Finally, the partial correlation between schwa (orthographic < e >) and feminine nouns

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and adjectives may be clarified. In Late Latin, the antecedent of Gallo-Roman and OF, the great majority of feminine nouns and adjectives, those belonging to the first declensional class, had case suffixes with /-a/ as the characteristic vowel. As the language evolved, this noun class retained the original gender (and attracted, on phonological grounds, additional members, specifically a number of Latin neuter plurals with a collective meaning and also ending in /-a/: folia [feuille ‘leaf’], festa [fête ‘holiday’], labra [lèvre ‘lip’], vela [voile ‘sail’], etc.). Because the final /a/ was a feminine marker and because OF /-‹/ is the direct continuation of this marker, /‹/ became as well a general signal of feminine gender in French. The correlation is less than perfect, however, because final /‹/ in OF has a second source – as a support vowel following a consonant cluster, independent of the gender of the noun or adjective involved. Hence, we see many OF masculine nouns or adjectives also ending in /‹/, leading to much of the ambiguity in the formal expression of gender in the modern language. Examples are found in (55). (55) Ambiguity of final /‹/ (a) feminine nouns and adjectives robe

‘dress’

salade

‘salad’

ville

‘city’

mine

‘expression’

petite

(m. petit)

‘small’

grosse

(m. gros)

‘fat’

grande

(m. grand)

‘big’

bonne

(m. bon)

‘good’

(b) masculine nouns and epicene adjectives cloître

‘cloister’

type

‘type’

maire

‘mayor’

âpre

‘bitter’

jeune

‘young’

double

‘double’

vide

‘empty’

tiède

‘luke warm’

Vowels and Semi-vowels

Nonetheless, a good first approximation in attempts to determine the gender of French substantives is provided by an examination of the final segment of the word: final schwa often implies feminine gender.84 Needless to say, these historical developments are not without exception (and are, in fact, much more complex than we have been able to outline here). It is useful to discuss, however, one recurrent and more general type of exception that provides a contrast to vowel reduction and that is also reflected in alternations involving schwa: further evidence supplied by learned or borrowed words. A number of such words, from the OF period onwards, fail to show reduced vowels, as in the word-internal /a/ in the following OF words: amaritude ‘bitterness’ (cf. amertume); citadelle ‘citadel,’ from Italian cittadella; medicamental ‘medicinal’ (cf. medecine); paradiset ‘small paradise’; and so on. More important for our understanding of derivational morphology, however, are pairs of learned and nonlearned words where schwa reduction (among other changes) is absent in the learned forms in comparison with their popular counterparts, as in (56). (56) Nonreduced learned vowels versus reduced popular vowels Learned

Popular

appellation

appeler

‘designation – to call’

congélation

congeler

‘freezing – to freeze’

élévation

élever

‘elevation – to raise’

génuflexion

genou

‘genuflection – knee’

népotisme

neveu

‘nepotism – nephew’

projectile

projeter

‘projectile – to plan’

rébellion

rebelle

‘rebellion – rebel’

réception

recevoir

‘reception – to receive’

ténacité

tenace

‘tenacity – tenacious’

divination

deviner

‘foretelling – to guess’

satisfaction

satisfaisant

‘satisfaction – satisfying’

Discussion of schwa in French, in other words, puts us immediately in contact with questions of phonetic detail, distributional constraints, orthography, the lexicon, alternations between grammatically related forms, the phonological phrase, historical considerations, stylistic and regional variation, and, no doubt, any other area of phonological investigation one might wish to name. It is little wonder, therefore, that schwa continues to preoccupy students and phonologists alike. Given the dynamics of the SF vowel system, this situation is unlikely to change.

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4.6

4.6 Semi-vowels

The SF phonological system contains the three semi-vowels (or glides, sometimes also called semi-consonants) /j Ä w/. In articulatory terms, these semivowels correspond to the three high vowels /i y u/, being front unrounded, front rounded, and back rounded, respectively, but they lack syllabic status. These segments are illustrated in (57) and (58). (57) French semi-vowels /j/

/Ä/

/w/

iambe

‘iambic’

huer

‘to boo’

ouailles

‘flock’

iode

‘iodine’

huit

‘eight’

ouate

‘cottonwool’

ionique

‘Ionic’

huile

‘oil’

ouest

‘west’

iota

‘iota’

huissier ‘usher’

oui

‘yes’

yacht

‘yacht’

cuiller

‘to gather’

wallon

‘Walloon’

yaourt

‘yogurt’

lui

‘him’

week-end ‘weekend’

yeuse

‘oak’

nuit

‘night’

whisky

‘whisky’

yeux

‘eyes’

puis

‘then’

jouer

‘to play’

yiddish

‘Yiddish’

suer

‘to sweat’

louer

‘to rent’

yoga

‘yoga’

aiguille ‘needle’

avouer

‘to confess’

youpi

‘yippee’

annuel

épanoui

‘in full bloom’

yucca

‘yucca’

essuyer ‘to wipe’

secouer

‘to shake’

hier

‘yesterday’ graduel ‘gradual’

anchois

‘anchovy’

‘annual’

hiérarque ‘hierarchic’ habituel ‘habitual’

bourgeois ‘middle class’

bien

‘well’

insinuer ‘to insinuate’ foin

‘hay’

liaison

‘liaison’

saluer

‘to greet’

moi

‘me’

lion

‘lion’

usuel

‘usual’

moins

‘less’

pied

‘foot’

moyen

‘medium’

scier

‘to saw’

noyer

‘to drown’

tiers

‘third’

roidir

‘to stiffen’

viable

viable’

soir

‘evening’

Vowels and Semi-vowels

vieux

‘old’

balayer

‘to sweep’

effeuiller ‘to thin out the leaves’ égayer

‘to cheer up’

essayer

‘to try’

éveiller

‘to awaken’

filleul

‘goddaughter’

loyal

‘loyal’

payer

‘to pay’

vieillir

‘to age’

ail

‘garlic’

bail

‘rent’

émail

‘enamel’

rail

‘rail’

abeille

‘bee’

brille

‘shines’

fille

‘daughter’

maille

‘stitch’

(58) CL clusters and vowel – semi-vowel alternations /ijV/ bouclier

‘shield’

/Ä/ – /[/

/w/ – /u/

/Ä/

/w/

bruine

‘drizzle’

adroit

‘adroit’

brièvement ‘briefly’

bruit

‘noise’

Blois

‘Blois’

client

‘client’

druide

‘Druid’

croire

‘to believe’

fabliau

‘fable’

fruit

‘fruit’

croix

‘cross’

grief

‘grief’

pluie

‘rain’

gloire

‘glory’

lévrier

‘greyhound’ truite

‘trout’

octroyer ‘to grant’

pliable

‘pliable’

/y/

prieur

‘prior’

cruel

‘cruel’

/u/

fluette

‘slender’

brouette ‘wheelbarrow’

quatrième ‘fourth’

trois

‘three’

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sablier

‘hourglass’ fluide

‘fluid’

clouer

triage

‘sorting out’ influer

‘to influence’ prouesse ‘feat’

triomphe

‘triumph’

truand

‘gangster’

vitriol

‘vitriol’

truelle

‘trowel’

trouer

‘to nail’ ‘to pierce’

While their articulatory properties may be straightforward, these sounds manifest a series of other characteristics involving their orthographic representation, their distribution, and particularly their participation in a series of alternations with the corresponding high vowels. We will deal with each in turn.

4.6.1

4.6.1 Orthographic Representations of the Semi-vowels

Perhaps the most straightforward orthographic link is that between /Ä/ and < uV >. That is, /Ä/ is uniformly represented by the letter < u >, and the letter < u > in that case must itself be prevocalic. (Not all prevocalic < u > are /Ä/, however, as we shall see.) Word-initially, the < u > may be preceded by an < h >, either aspirate (huit ‘eight’) or nonaspirate (huile ‘oil’), and /Ä/ may occur in word-initial or word-medial position. A consonant may precede /Ä/ in either of these contexts. The back rounded semi-vowel /w/ is slightly more complicated. The normal representation is < ouV >, initial or medial, preceded or not by a consonant (or by < h > initially). However, certain instances of < w > are also realized as /w/, while other instances of < w > are pronounced /v/ (whisky versus wagon). The sequences < oi > and < oy >, moreover, require separate treatment: their normal interpretation is /wa/ or, in nasalizing contexts, /w'/ (mois; moyen; moins). Finally, the status of /j/ is more complicated, both orthographically and phonologically. Orthographically, /j/ is represented primarily by < y > in wordinitial position, although there are also several instances of < i >, some preceded by < h >: yaourt ‘yogurt,’ iode ‘iodine,’ hier ‘yesterday’.85 Immediately following a consonant, word initially or word medially, /j/ is written with < i >: bien ‘well,’ dernier ‘last’. Intervocalically, /j/ is divided between < y > and < ill > (or < ll > following /i/): essayer ‘to try,’ veiller ‘to stay up,’ briller ‘to shine,’ with < ill > predominating numerically. In word-final position, /j/ is divided between < il > (ail ‘garlic,’ deuil ‘bereavement,’ éventail ‘fan,’ rail ‘rail,’ sommeil ‘sleep’) and < ille > (abeille ‘bee,’ canaille ‘cheap,’ cédille ‘cedilla,’ feuille ‘leaf,’ paille ‘straw,’ rouille ‘rust’).86 Here again, there are subregularities: only < ille > occurs following /u/ (< ou >); < ll > is used instead of < ill > after /i/ (< i >), and only < lle > occurs in that context (with the exceptions of the loanwords drill and mandrill), and so on. Difficulties arise with a few forms where < ill(e) > is /il/, not /ij/: mille ‘thousand’ (plus millésime and

Vowels and Semi-vowels

other derivatives), ville ‘city’ (plus village and other derivatives), tranquille ‘tranquil,’ distiller ‘to distil,’ and osciller ‘to oscillate’ are the most common, but the usual interpretation of < ill > involves /j/. Let us now move to a consideration of the phonology of the semi-vowels.

4.6.2

4.6.2 The Phonology of the Semi-vowels

Phonologically, the semi-vowels raise a number of interesting questions, the first involving their independent phonological status. Here, we must distinguish between /j/ and /Ä - w/. The latter two segments are highly restricted in their occurrence: they occur only in prevocalic position,87 and many analysts conclude that they are not independent phonemes. The basis for this conclusion, given the limitation of these segments to prevocalic position, is the absence of a phonemic contrast between [y] and [Ä] or [u] and [w] before vowels; that is, the impossibility of a contrast between, for example, [yi] and [Äi] or [ui] and [wi] in that position. From this, it is concluded that [Ä] and [w] are predictable positional variants (allophones) of /y/ and /u/, respectively. The situation involving these segments is, however, slightly more complicated. First, we must take into account the constraints illustrated in (58) above. There, we see examples of [y] and [w] preceding vowels, but these sounds are themselves preceded by CL clusters (cruel /k¯y'l/, fluide /flyid/, brouette /b¯u't/, clouer /klue/). If the larger context is taken into consideration, it could be argued that the clusters block the appearance of the glides and that the allophonic status of [Ä] and [w] is preserved, since their predictability is maintained. This argument is contradicted, unfortunately, by the existence of words like monosyllabic (and monomorphemic) bruit /b¯Äi/, pluie /plÄi/, Blois /blwa/, croix /k¯wa/. To this, we may add the well-known examples loi ‘law’ /lwa/ versus (il) loua ‘(he) praised’ /lua/, trois ‘three’ /t¯wa/ versus (elle) troua ‘(she) pierced’ /t¯ua/, which also seem to argue for a phonemic distinction (although perhaps somewhat artificially, given the place of passé simple forms in spoken French). This being said, the forms with the glides following CL clusters are clearly in the minority, are of marked status, and often have an explanation based on their etymology.88 Moreover, as we will see below, there are additional arguments involving ‘two types of semi-vowels’ that support phonemic status for /Ä/ and /w/. As a result, we will, for the sake of convenience and where warranted, continue to use the symbols /Ä/ and /w/, even if in many cases the semi-vocalic status of these segments is predictable. The case of /j/ is different in several ways. First, unlike its round counterparts, /j/ may occur postvocalically (as syllable coda) and preconsonantally as well as prevocalically: paille ‘straw’ /paj/, empaillement ‘to stuff’ /#pajm#/, feuille ‘leaf’ /fœj/, feuilleter ‘to leaf through’ /fœjte/, and so on. Secondly, there are the well-known postvocalic /i/ – /j/ contrasts in pays ‘country’ /pei/ versus paye ‘pay’ /p'j/ or abbaye ‘abbey’ /abei/ versus abeille ‘bee’ /ab'j/. Further, unlike the marked but possible appearance of /Ä/ and /w/ following CL clusters (pluie /plÄi/, gloire /glwa¯/), no instances of CLj occur in SF. We find, instead

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of *CLjV sequences, the outcome CLijV: /plije/, not */plje/, for plier ‘to fold’; /tablije/, not */tablje/, for tablier ‘apron’; and so on. Nor are we finished with the idiosyncracies of /j/. This glide is also inserted automatically as a transitional segment whenever the diphthong < oi/oy > (/wa/) occurs prevocalically: voit – voyons ‘see’ /vwa/ – /vwajn/, croit – croyez ‘believe’ /k¯wa/ – /k¯waje/, envoi – envoyer ‘shipment – to send’ /#vwa/ – /#vwaje/, joie – joyeux ‘joy – joyful’ /<wa/ – /<wajø/, loi – loyal ‘law – loyal’ /lwa/ – /lwajal/, and so on. In fact, this transitional glide is even more widespread: balai – balayer ‘broom – to sweep’ /bal'/ – /baleje/, ennui – ennuyer ‘boredom – to bore’ /#nÄi/ – /#nÄije/, appui – appuyer ‘support – to lean on’ /apÄi/ – /apÄije/, and so on. Finally, because of the presence of a number of suffixes in French that begin with /j/, such as -ions, -iez, -ier, we find frequent occurrences of geminate /jj/, especially in imperfect or subjunctive forms of verbs when the verb stem itself ends in /j/: cueuilliez ‘were gathering’ /kœjje/, fouillions ‘were searching’ /fujjn/, as well as aiguilliez ‘were directing’ /'gÄijje/, although less formal speech allows pronunciation with a single /j/. In fact, those verbs that require a /j/ to be inserted before a vowel-initial suffix (envoie – envoyer /Cvwa/ – /Cvwaje/, appuie – appuyer /apÄi/ – /apÄije/, etc.) retain this /j/ before those imperfect or subjunctive suffixes that begin with /j/, creating a large number of additional /jj/ geminates, as in envoyions /Cvwajjn/, appuyiez /apÄijje/. All these different processes demonstrate that the case of /j/ is unlike that of the other semi-vowels /Ä/ and /w/, in that it is impossible to derive /j/ from prevocalic /i/. As a consequence, the independent phonemic status of /j/ seems far less controversial, in fact necessary. We may now turn to another major alternation in SF: the alternation between the high vowels /i y u/ and the corresponding semi-vowels in morphologically complex forms. This alternation occurs across morpheme boundaries and is most easily illustrated with vowel-final verb stems, which (other things being equal) have the full vowel in the singular indicative and the semi-vowel in the infinitive, as in (59). (59) Vowel and semi-vowel alternations étudie

étudier

/i/ – /j+e/

modifie

modifier

‘to modify’

manie

manier

‘to handle’

distribue

distribuer

remue

remuer

‘to twitch’

accentue

accentuer

‘to accentuate’

secoue

secouer

échoue

échouer

‘to fail’

avoue

avouer

‘to confess’

/y/ – /Ä+e/

/u/ – /w+e/

‘to study’

‘to distribute’

‘to shake’

Vowels and Semi-vowels

Vowel-initial derivational suffixes also condition this alternation: mari – mariage ‘husband – marriage’ /ma¯ja
/w'tvuale/

‘Where did you go?’

si elle venait

/sj'lvn'/

‘if she came’

ni avant, ni après

/njav#njap¯'/

‘neither before, nor after’

tu arrives tard

/tÄa¯ivta¯/

‘You’re arriving late.’

puis elle disait

/pj'ldiz'/

‘then she said’

Finally in this section we should note a phenomenon involving glides that is reminiscent of the behaviour of aspirate-h and in fact intersects with it in certain cases. Semi-vowels in French appear to behave in two separate ways, one analogous to vowels, one to consonants, in the same way that h-initial words are partitioned into two classes. Some glides, that is, permit liaison and elision of schwa just like vowel-initial words (61b); others block it in consonantal fashion, as in (61a). (61) Two types of glides (a) consonantal glides

(b) vocalic glides

il le jodle

/ill‹jndl/

‘He yodels it.’ l’iode

/ljnd/

‘the iodine’

le yaourt

/l‹jau¯/

‘the yogurt’

les yeux

/lezjø/

‘the eyes’

le yoga

/l‹jnga/

‘the yoga’

l’yeuse

/ljøz/

‘the oak’

/ljatys/

‘the hiatus’

la hiérarchie /laje¯a¯5i/ ‘the hierarchy’ l’hiatus

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la huée

/laÄe/

le huitième /l‹Äitj'm/

‘the booing’

les huîtres /lezÄit¯/ ‘the oysters’

‘the eighth’

l’huile

/lÄil/

‘the oil’

l’huissier /lÄisje/ ‘the hussar’ le ouistiti

/l‹wistiti/

‘the marmoset’ l’ouest

le western

/l‹w'st'¯n/ ‘the western’

l’ouïe

/lw'st/

‘the west’

/lwi/

‘hearing’

There is, not surprisingly, variation in additional items: l’hyène or la hyène ‘hyena,’ d’hier or de hier ‘of yesterday,’ l’ouate or la ouate ‘cotton-wool,’ as well as the frequent (but nonstandard) le iambe ‘the iamb’ or le hiatus ‘the hiatus’ alongside l’iambe and l’hiatus. Here, as elsewhere, one must simply recognize the irregularity, as must be done as well with aspirate-h in general, as we shall see below. This does not, of course, preclude theoretical discussion of how this irregularity should be described, again as we shall see. At this stage, however, we may leave the discussion of specific aspects of the SF vowel system, and return to a review of two more general matters.

4.7

4.7 Further Effects of the Phonological Phrase

In much of the preceding discussion, we have referred to distributional constraints that regulate the appearance of a number of SF sounds, normally by excluding them from specific contexts. These constraints have been formulated largely with respect to the notion of the word. As is well known, however, the role of the word is often subordinated to that of the phonological phrase in French phonology,90 and it is worthwhile to examine the status of several of these distributional constraints in a phrasal context. The patterns with which we are concerned are repeated in (62). (62) Summary of distributional constraints (a) mid vowels:

/e/ does not appear in closed syllables /n/ and /œ/ do not appear in word-final open syllables

(b) nasal vowels:

nasal vowels may not precede vowels or nasal consonants

(c) schwa:

schwa does not appear prevocalically or in closed syllables

Vowels and Semi-vowels

When words (including clitic pronouns and other dependent morphemes) are put together to form phonological phrases, additional processes take place that often override word-level constraints. This is the case, in fact, with the restrictions in (62), each of which is violated at the phrasal level. The mechanisms directly responsible for these violations include, in addition to the simple concatenation of words, the processes of schwa deletion and the resyllabification involved with enchaînement and liaison. The simplest examples are provided by aspirate-h words. When morphemes ending in schwa or in a nasal vowel precede such forms, we find both /‹/ and nasal vowels in prevocalic position: le héros ‘the hero’ /l‹e¯o/, cette housse ‘this slipcover’ /s't‹us/, un héros /e¯o/, mon héros /mne¯o/, and so on. Likewise, sequences of words freely bring together nasal vowels and nasal consonants, either because of liaison following a nasal vowel (en avril ‘in April’ /#nav¯il/, un homme ‘a man’ /nnm/) or because the second word begins with a nasal consonant (en mai ‘in May’ /#m'/, un matin ‘one morning’ /mat'/). Schwa deletion also leads to contradiction of word-level restrictions. Whenever there are sequences of schwas in which deletion occurs, the remaining schwas are inevitably in closed syllables: je ne te le dirai pas ‘I won’t tell you.’ /<‹n.t‹l.di¯epa/, for example. Such deletion can also yield /e/ in a closed syllable: une heure et demie ‘an hour and a half’ /ynœ¯ed.mi/, ces remarques ‘these remarks’ /se¯.ma¯k/, and so on. Finally, resyllabification across word boundaries (enchaînement) within the phonological phrase moves a word-final consonant to the beginning of the following word, potentially leaving /œ/ or /n/ in word-final position: fort intéressant ‘very interesting’ /fn#¯'te¯'s#/, une peur abominable ‘a terrible fear’ /ynpœ#¯abnminabl/, jeune homme ‘young man’ /<œ#nnm/, and so on. Despite the ease with which the above constraints are violated within phrases, they remain generally valid at the level of the word, as is shown by the adaptation of loan words, for example. SF speakers pronounce steak as /st'k/, not */stek/; after-shave as /aftœ¯5'v/, not */…5ev/;91 camping as /k#pi0/, not */k#mpi0/; tango as /t#go/, not */t#ngo/; and so on.92 The persistence of these constraints argues, pace Delattre, for the continued relevance of the word as a phonetic and phonological unit highly relevant to the functioning of French phonology.93

4.8

4.8 Concluding Remarks

To conclude this discussion of the SF vowel system, we will return to the question of variation to consider what might be the state of the SF vowel system if all of the mergers we have indicated as in progress are fully realized. The changes in question involve // - /'/, /a/ - /#/, /‹/ - /œ/ and the complete neutralization of the mid vowels based on syllable structure (the loi de position). Implementing all of these changes would produce the vowel system in (63).

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(63) The reduced vowel system i E

y

u

Œ

94

O a

'

n #

In typological terms, this system is much less complicated than that of (1) in section 4.0 above, and is even a system instantiated in certain dialects or sociolects of French. Valdman (1993), for example, proposes a related simplified system as an appropriate starting point for learners of French as a second language. We have retained the maximal system in this work, however, since the functioning of the phonology itself, independent of second-language pedagogical considerations, appears best illustrated if we move from ‘more to less’ rather than from ‘less to more,’ from reduction of the system rather than to its expansion. The same approach will be applied in a consideration of the SF consonant system, although, as we will see, the consonants raise far fewer questions than do the vowels.

Notes 1.

/e/ is rare in final closed syllables, and largely if not exclusively restricted to loan words from English: ale /el/, attaché-case /ata5ekez/, date /det/, mail /mel/, etc. Even here, there is variation, since Rey-Debove and Gagnon (1980) list ale and cake as /'l/ and /k'k/ respectively, along with numerous additional words adapted with /'/ from English /e/: airdale, brain, break, claim, cornflakes, grapefruit, maid, milk-shake, raid, skate, teen-age, trade-union, and up-to-date are all pronounced with /'/ according to their description. No doubt a greater familiarity with English since that work was prepared has permitted the recent adaptation of words with /e/ rather than /'/.

2.

/Ä/ and /w/ do not appear post-vocalically, nor may they appear in word-final position (the two contexts are not mutually exclusive). Cacah(o)uète ‘peanut’ appears to provide the only common exception to the constraint blocking post-vocalic /w/.

3.

Compare this to Spanish, with the following inventory: /j w i e a o u/.

4.

Recall that normal stress in SF falls on the last syllable of a phonological phrase, unless the final syllable contains schwa, in which case stress is penultimate.

5.

Of these four consonants, only /¯/ consistently provokes lengthening. There is variation for certain speakers with the other consonants, but the generalization holds here for the standard variety we are describing. See Walter (1977: 44–45).

6.

Length induced by such consonants is a more general phenomenon cross-linguistically; see Chen (1970).

Vowels and Semi-vowels

7.

/e/ is found in nonfinal closed syllables: émeri ‘emery’ /em.¯i/, médecin ‘doctor’ /met.s'/ , céleri ‘celery’ /sel.¯i/, etc. (all with lexicalized deletion of schwa). But since nonfinal syllables do not constitute a lengthening context, these examples are not relevant to a discussion of vowel length. Within phrases, schwa deletion can also produce closed syllables containing /e/, as in des melons ‘some melons’ /dem.ln/, a question to be discussed in the section dealing with schwa. We should also note that verlan forms also systematically exclude /e/ from closed syllables: bouger > gébou > geb /<'b/ ‘sortir,’ not */<eb/, condé > décon > dèk /d'k/ ‘cop,’ not */dek/, and many others. (For a brief introduction to verlan, see chapter 7.)

8.

There are rare instances of /'Ö/ in nonfinal syllables (e.g., bêler [b':.le] ‘to bleat,’ pêle-mêle [p':l.m':l] ‘any old way’), but these are highly variable and need not concern us further. For detailed discussion of this phenomenon, see Walter (1976), chapter IV.

9.

Passy (1892), for example, notes much more extensive vowel length than is allowed for by the description here.

10. Catach (1995: 1129 ff.) provides much useful information. 11. The lack of consistent use of < â > for /#/ is indicated by words such as phrase, proie ‘prey,’ cadre ‘frame,’ gars ‘guy,’ gaz ‘gas,’ sabre, tas ‘pile,’ and many others, which also contain the back vowel. 12. For the /'- 'Ö/ opposition in CF, see Santerre (1974); for a general survey of colloquial CF pronunciation, see Walker (1984). 13. It is important to note that this constraint applies at the level of the word. Once words are concatenated into phrases and resyllabification occurs, the constraints are relaxed, as we will see below in 4.7. The discussion of schwa also complicates matters, since the merger of schwa with /œ/ produces an easily described set of exceptions to this pattern, a matter described in 4.5.3.. 14. For detailed discussion, see Warnant (1996). Warnant also notes that there is a tendency for the first singular future suffix to be pronounced /'/, thereby merging it with a number of conditional forms. In fact, as Tranel (1987: 51–53) shows, this distinction is far from stable, even in SF. For further discussion focusing on the role of the distinction in the verb system (where, despite some variation, it retains considerable importance), see Richman (1976). 15. Jeûne – jeune provides the only true minimal pair opposing /ø/ to /œ/ in this set (with beugle – aveugle providing an identical following context). Thus, while both vowels occur in closed syllables, the distribution is not totally free, being affected by both random and systematic factors (such as the influence of /z/ and /¯/ discussed below).

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16. Since /ø/ and /o/ are intrinsically long vowels, they will be realized as [øÖ] and [oÖ] respectively in these words. 17. As is often the case, there are a few exceptions to this constraint. For example, Martinet and Walter (1973) list dinosaur, maure, saur, and taure (all spelled with < au >) where a minority of their speakers have /o/ rather than /n/ before /¯/. 18. The apparent presence of the schwa in words such as pèlerin, seulement, or effeuillement does not suffice to create an open syllable, since the vowel is never pronounced here in SF. We should note, however, that the distributional constraint involving /ø/ before /z/ remains in effect, requiring /ø/ rather than // in words such as heureusement ‘fortunately’ (and others with -eusement). A few additional exceptions (lieutenant, veulerie ‘spinelessness’) may be attributed to the influence of the stems in /ø/ (lieu ‘place’ /ljø/, veule ‘spineless’ /vøl/), a topic to which we will return. 19. Mute-e, also known as schwa, is discussed in detail in section 4.5. 20. Recall that …VCV… sequences are syllabified …V.CV… within the phonological phrase. In fact, stems ending in …CL clusters behave in the same way: trouble – troubler /t¯ubl/ – /t¯u.ble/. 21. The forms malheur ‘misfortune’ /malœ¯/ – malheureuse /malø¯øz – malœ¯øz/, peuple ‘people’ /pœpl/ – peuplade /pøplad – pœplad/, peur ‘fear’ /pœ¯/ – peureuse /pø¯øz – pœ¯øz/, where derivative pronunciations with /ø/ are frequent, provide exceptions. 22. This word is exceptional in that the vowel causing the harmony is not the stressed vowel, but the penultimate /i/. 23. In one of the very perplexing phenomena of French phonology, the presence of orthographic < e > following the final consonant, whether this < e > is realized as schwa or not, does not result in an open syllable. Thus lèpre, whether /l'p¯/ or /l'p¯‹/, functions as a monosyllabic closed syllable for purposes of this alternation. 24. Despite the orthography in < è >, Martinet and Walter (1973) note that this form is often pronounced /ap¯emidi/. 25. See Buben (1935) for a detailed treatment of this matter. 26. This sound is transcribed [nA] by Martinet and Walter (1973) and Walter (1973), a notation that indicates that a full merger with /œ/ has not been achieved, but one that also raises the possibility of overlap with realizations of /‹/.

Vowels and Semi-vowels

27. The question must remain open, however, since Landick (1990) presents results that indicate that the phenomenon is still very much alive in her data (obtained in the late 1980s from students at the Ecole normale supérieure and from employees of the Parisian metro system). 28. (26) contains examples of /a – #/ in monosyllables. The results are entirely comparable for these vowels in polysyllables, whether in the final syllable or not. Walter (1976: Chapter III) presents a comprehensive analysis of this pair of vowels, clearly demonstrating the great variability in pronunciation. Further data is available in Warnant (1997). 29. For additional such forms, characterized by Warnant as older Parisian speech, see Warnant (1987). 30. Unlike CF, where -ation and -ois are frequently pronounced with /#/. 31. This correlation breaks down quickly, since there are numerous words that etymologically show deletion of consonants but no circumflex: avocat ‘lawyer’ < advocatus; coudre ‘to sew’ < consuere; faire ‘to make/do’ < facere; moudre ‘to grind’ < molere; noir ‘black’ < niger; ouir ‘to hear’ < audire; etc. On the other hand, when we examine the forms in (10) or (27), or words such as âge < aetaticum (OF eage); châsse ‘reliquary’ < capsa; dû ‘must (past part.)’ < debutu (CL debitu, OF deu); flûte ‘flute’ < OF flaute, flehute; jeûner ‘to fast’ < jejunare; sûr ‘sure’ < securu (OF seur); mûr ‘mature’ < maturu (OF meur); soûl ‘drunk’ < satullus; and many others, we see the basis for a link between a circumflex accent and historical deletion. In other words, a circumflex may often indicate deletion; no circumflex does not indicate no deletion. 32. See, for example, Fagan (1989), Mettas (1979). 33. E.g., Taulelle (1989), Lerond (1980). Lerond characterizes any pronunciation with /#/ (which is subject to a separate notation) as ‘vieilli Paris’. 34. There are, in fact, additional shifts affecting the pronunciation of SF nasal vowels, which Hansen (1998) discusses in detail. The most striking of these, discernable in listening carefully to spontaneous speech, involves a movement of /'/ towards /#/ and a shift of /#/ towards /n/, threatening distinctions such as blanc – blond ‘white – blond,’ vent – vont ‘wind – they go’. Neither of these innovations is as far advanced as the /'/–// merger, and they will not be discussed further here. 35. For an alternate and, to my mind, confusing approach to the transcription of nasal vowels, see Valdman (1993: 111 ff.). 36. This merger is not taking place in other dialects, such as CF or MF.

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37. To this type of case we may also add two forms with non-: non-métal /nnmetal/ and non-moi /nnmwa/. The word ennui ‘boredom’ /#PÄK/ (and related forms: e.g., ennuyer) are also exceptional with respect to the *v’ constraint. 38. The situation is somewhat more complicated if nonstandard forms are considered. Nasalization of stops can yield XN sequences (lendemain ‘the next day’ > /l#PO'/), as can verlan formations (maison ‘house’ > zonmai /\nOG/), a variety of disguised speech where violation of Xv is also found (argent ‘money’> gen-ar /<#a¯/). For further discussion, see Walker (1999). 39. For speakers who have merged // and /'/, this alternation is between /'/ and /yn/. 40. This pronunciation reflects the normative approach of Warnant (1987). In fact, as Martinet and Walter (1973) demonstrate, /nn/ and /nnn/ are also found prevocalically (non-être as /nnn't¯/, /nn't¯/, or /nnn't¯/). The same variation may also be found in the prefix pan-: /pan/, /p#/, or /p#n/. 41. According to Warnant (1987), the two prefixes circon- and circum- appear only in preconsonantal position. In this context, one might expect the latter to end in a nasal vowel (/si¯kn/), but SF contains many VNC or VN# sequences, rendering attempts to predict the nasality of the prefix vowel impossible. 42. There are very few examples where the prefix en- appears before a vowel; along with enivrer, we find only enamourer and enamouracher ‘to become enamoured of’. 43. We will not deal here with highly idiosyncratic cases such as divin enfant, liaison in compound words or fixed expressions, etc. For further discussion of such examples, see Fouché (1959) or Tranel (1981, 1987). 44. See, for example, Greenberg (1966), Dressler (1985a, b). 45. Recall the constraint from 4.4.2 above blocking nasal vowels from appearing before other vowels or before nasal consonants. This data set presents additional exceptions, to which we will return shortly. 46. Martinet and Walter (1973) and Warnant (1987), among others, list s’enamourer (both with and without an accent aigu on the first < e >), pronounced as /#namu¯e/ or /enamu¯e/. In the former case, it would be exceptional as well. 47. Most authors note the possibility of variation (presence or absence of denasalization) for mon, ton, son, with preservation of a nasal vowel predominating. See Fouché (1959: 436). Tranel (1987: 81-85) presents an excellent survey of this variation.

Vowels and Semi-vowels

48. The variants il- (illégal) and ir- (irréel) are not productive and will not be discussed here. Tranel (1976) remains the definitive treatment of this form (or set of forms). 49. Standard references for this topic include Fouché (1969), Morin (1994), Nyrop (1935), Pope (1934), Rheinfelder (1968), and Rochet (1976). 50. We may point out here two additional distributional constraints on nasal vowels that are also historically explicable: nasal vowels are absent in SF before /Õ/ and /j/. Historically, the palatal nasal arose in OF through various processes that required that the source of /Õ/ be followed by a vowel. But if that is the case, the following vowel removes the context needed for nasalization to occur. Hence, only oral vowels are found preceding /Õ/. As for the constraint blocking *Xj, once again /j/ can only arise historically through various diphthongization or palatalization processes in contexts that never involve a nasal consonant preceding those sources. The absence of such a consonant preceding /j/ excludes, as a result, any subsequent nasal vowel from that position. 51. The last two words belong to a different register and should probably not be considered to belong to SF. Binse means ‘mess’ or ‘hassle’; clamser (also spelt clamecer) means ‘kick the bucket’. 52. For details, see Walter (1982) or Carton et al. (1983). 53. In fact, CF allows for long vowels to occur in nonfinal syllables much more frequently than does SF, and these vowels may also optionally diphthongize, as in pantoute ‘not at all’ (= pas du tout) [p#wt7t], je comprends ‘I understand’ [5knwp]3], etc. Walker (1984) discusses this phenomenon in more detail. 54. For further discussion, see (from among literally hundreds of possibilities) Dauses (1973), Dell (1973a, b), Fouché (1959), Varney Pleasants (1956) or Verluyten (1988). 55. The same applies to dervied verbs: refaire, défaire, contrefaire, satisfaire. The exceptional nature of the interpretation of < ai > as schwa is shown by the fact that certain speakers in Martinet and Walter (1973) pronounce faisan and related forms, as well as satisfaisant, with /'/ rather than schwa. 56. Analysts are generally in agreement that the vowel in structures such as dites-le ‘say it,’ sur ce ‘on that,’ parce que ‘because,’ Je, soussigné… ‘I, the undersigned…’ is /ø/ or /œ/, not /‹/. 57. Here, as elsewhere, loanwords may provide sporadic exceptions: edelweiss /ed'lv's/ or /ed'lvajs/, et cetera /'ts'te¯a/. Note also the prefix en-, as in enivrer, enamourer, with no orthographic accent.

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58. The situation is somewhat more complicated, in reality. An accented < é > is needed in words like échelon or ébranler because the < ch > represents a single segment (unlike < x >, which represents /ks/ or /gz/), and because CL clusters syllabify with the following vowel, leaving the < e > in an open syllable and subject to pronunciation as schwa unless an acute accent on the letter is included. Thimonnier (1970) discusses such cases in detail. 59. But see Malécot and Chollet (1977) for a study which identifies schwa more closely with /ø/. 60. Note that the realization of schwa as /œ/ in this context furnishes an exception to the constraint that excludes /œ/ from word-final position. The constraint must, accordingly, be modified to refer to ‘original’ /œ/, not to those that are an innovative pronunciation of /‹/. 61. For additional discussion of this matter, see Morin (1988) or Walker (1993). 62. Recall the discussion of the definition and role of phonological phrases from 3.3 above. We will use || to indicate phrase boundaries. 63. Since schwa can never appear in absolute word- (hence phrase-) initial position, we use this expression as a convenient shorthand for ‘schwa in the initial syllable of a phrase.’ 64. In less formal speech, schwa may delete in the contexts of (38b): r(e)garde-moi ça, d(e)main on part, etc. 65. Inclusion of the symbol ‘C’ following the schwa is not, strictly speaking, necessary here – we could simply refer to the number of preceding consonants. If the segment following the schwa is a vowel (e.g., la vie humaine ‘human life’ /laviym'n/), the schwa is prohibited by the constraint in (35ii) above. If no segment follows the schwa, we are no longer dealing with a phrase-internal context, since the schwa would be in final position. Lastly, recall that the constraint against schwa in closed syllables prohibits structures of the type C‹C#, if syllabified C‹C.. 66. An alternate pronunciation, /m'dsin/ (or with assimilation, /m'tsin/) reflects the constraint against /e/ in closed syllables, a constraint violated on numerous occasions when schwa deletion is involved (and, as we have seen, in various other ways as well). 67. See Malécot (1976: 99-103) for a detailed study of preferences governing which of two schwas deletes in sequences of this type. 68. Dell (1973a) established the standard for any discussion of this phenomenon. See also Dell (1973b, 1978).

Vowels and Semi-vowels

69. See Hansen (1997), Faygal (1998) for recent discussion of this phenomenon. 70. A glance at Fouché (1959: 91-139) will confirm the complexity of the behaviour of schwa. 71. The situation with aspirate-h is, in fact, significantly more complicated. While schwa is always possible here, it may also be deleted, provided that the preceding consonant is not subsequently linked to the initial vowel of words with aspirate-h. Thus, schwa cannot delete in || le huitième ‘the eighth’ (i.e., in phrase-initial syllables) but may drop in c’est le huitième ‘it’s the eighth’ /s'l.Äitj'm/. In the same fashion, the schwa of une and cette can also drop in une housse, cette housse, provided no linking occurs: /yn.us/, /s't.us/; */y.nus/, */s'.tus/. In such cases, a slight glottal constriction (glottal stop) may precede the initial vowel of the aspirate-h word. Nonlinking also applies to final consonants not followed by schwa: sept haches /s't.a5/ (although even this constraint may be overridden in rapid speech: /s'.ta5/). Cornulier (1981) provides a detailed discussion of these matters. 72. See Morier (1975: 146-168, 378-88) for an insightful discussion of the complexities that arise in poetry. 73. For further discussion, see Gadet (1989), Guiraud (1965), or the classic works of Bauche (1920) and Frei (1929). 74. Cf. Hansen (1994), Walker (1996), Walter (1982: 221-23). Even Warnant (1987) contains numerous word-specific indications of stability: pelade as /p‹lad(‹)/ with stable schwa in the first syllable; menu as /m(‹)ny/ with the comment “mais le ‹ se maintient souvent” ‘but the ‹ is frequently retained’ (passim). 75. Although schwa emulates /œ/ in most cases, there are indications in a small number of forms that the merger is leading /œ/ to behave as unstable schwa by deleting in word-internal syllables: déjeuner ‘to have lunch’ /de
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79. Once again, Morin (1988) and Tranel (1988) provide the best analyses of this complex set of problems. Morin, in particular, discusses nonstandard variation in the stem vowels of these verbs ranging from the general substitution of /'/ (lever ‘raise’ /l've/) to forms where schwa appears under stress (je jeute ‘I throw’ /<‹<‹"t/) or where an expected /'/ disappears, having been replaced by schwa (elle cach’te /'lka5t/ for elle cachète ‘she seals’). This latter usage seems to be expanding. 80. For some discussion of the phonological consequences of learned status, see Dell and Selkirk (1978), Zwanenburg (1983), or Walker (1975). 81. We limit ourselves to the simplest cases here. 82. As a result, these popular varieties allow schwa in absolute initial position, as well as in closed syllables, in contrast to SF. 83. As in SF, schwa does not appear adjacent to vowels: je pars ‘I’m leaving’ /<‹pa¯/ versus j’arrive ‘I’m arriving’ / in forms like paye intervocalic, despite the pronunciation /p'j/. 87. To be completely accurate, we should note that a few (unassimilated) loanwords have variants with postvocalic /w/: outlaw as (among others) /awtlo/ or /utlaw/, crown-glass as /k¯awnglas/, etc. 88. Basically, the glides following CL clusters developed historically as elements of diphthongs that arose in the course of phonological change. Their appearance following the clusters is accidental in the sense that they derive from simple vowels in that context, and the simple vowels involved were unconstrained in their occurrence. Trois is from Latin tres, for example, gloire from gloria, fruit from fructus, and several complicated series of changes led to the current diphthongs developing from simple vocalic nuclei.

Vowels and Semi-vowels

89. There is also an infrequent tendency in less standard speech to insert a transitional /j/ or /w/ (not /Ä/) glide when the conversion to a semi-vowel does not occur: diode ‘diode’ /dijnd/, boueux ‘muddy’ /buwø/, etc. 90. Consult in this regard Delattre (1940). 91. Recall, however, the complexities involving the appearance of /…eC./ (/e/ in closed syllables) in unassimilated loan words (e-mail /imel/) and in nonfinal syllables discussed earlier. 92. Samba, however, can exceptionally be pronounced both /s#mba/ and /s#ba/. 93. For detailed arguments leading to the same conclusion, see Rochet (1977) or Lyche and Girard (1995). 94. These three symbols, a traditional archiphonemic notation in French phonology, represent the neutralization of an opposition between the higher-mid and lowermid vowels /e – ø – o/ and /' – œ – n/.

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5.0

5.0 The Consonant System

Unlike the vowel system, the SF consonant system is typologically straightforward. With the possible exception of /¯/, it contains no segments of great phonetic complexity, nor is its structure unduly complicated. Whatever difficulties arise are found not in the segmental inventory, but in the behaviour of word-final consonants, a topic of considerable descriptive and theoretical interest. Before addressing that issue, however, there are several preliminary matters to examine. The SF consonant inventory is given in (1); the consonants are exemplified in (2). (1) SF consonants labial apical palatal velar uvular obstruents stops voiceless

p

t

k

voiced

b

d

g

voiceless

f

s

5

voiced

v

z

<

m

n

Õ

fricatives

sonorants nasals liquids

l

0 ¯

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(2) Examples #__

V__V

__#

p

pas

‘step’

appât

‘lure’

cep

‘stock’

t

tas

‘pile’

athée

‘atheist’

net

‘clean’

k

cas

‘case’

accord ‘agreement’ sec

‘dry’

b

bas

‘low’

abbé

‘abbot’

snob

‘snob’

d

dos

‘back’

adieu

‘adieu’

bled

‘village’

g

gai

‘gay’

aguets ‘lookout’

bague ‘ring’

f

fée

‘fairy’

effet

‘effect’

nef

‘nave’

s

ses

‘her’

assez

‘enough’

bis

‘repeat’

5

chez ‘at’

hacher ‘to chop’

hache ‘axe’

v

ville ‘city’

avant

rive

z

zone ‘zone’

misère ‘misery’

quinze ‘fifteen’

<

geai ‘jay’

agir

‘to act’

âge

‘age’

‘before’

‘bank’

m mai

‘May’

amont ‘uphill’

âme

‘soul’

n

nez

‘nose’

année ‘year’

âne

‘donkey’

Õ

gnôle ‘hooch’ agneau ‘lamb’

bagne ‘penal colony’

0

—

swing ‘jive’

l

lai

¯ raie

— ‘lay’

allée

‘lane’

fil

‘thread’

‘line’

arrêt

‘stopping’

tir

‘shooting’

A recurrent topic of discussion in consideration of the consonant system involves distributional constraints affecting consonants. For our purposes, these constraints are best outlined in terms of the structure of the syllable: consonants and consonant groups in syllable-initial and syllable-final position. In SF, all single consonants may be found syllable-initially, with the exception of /0 /, whose marginal status we will discuss in more detail below. Likewise, all consonants occur in syllable-final position. The situation becomes more interesting when we consider groups of consonants because here (as in all languages), there are severe restrictions on both the size and composition of consonant clusters. In SF, for example, the size of such clusters, with rare exceptions, is limited to a maximum of two consonants in syllable-initial position and three in syllable-final. In syllable-initial position clusters are normally composed of a stop or fricative followed by a liquid or by any consonant followed by a glide.1 In syllable-final position, conversely, we see liquids followed by fricatives or stops, as well as CL. and some CC. groups.

Consonants

Moreover, not all .CL, LC., or CC. combinations are possible, and the fricative /s/ also supplies some atypical cases. Representative examples are given in (3), divided into normal and more marked categories. (3) Consonant clusters in SF (a) syllable-initial (unmarked) /pl/

plan

‘plan’

/p¯/

prend

‘takes’

/t¯/

train

‘train’

/kl/

clair

‘clear’

/k¯/

crime

‘crime’

/bl/

blond

‘blond’

/b¯/

brun

‘brown’

/d¯/

drame

‘drama’

/gl/

gland

‘acorn’

/g¯/

grand

‘big’

/fl/

flan

‘custard tart’

/f¯/

front

‘forehead’

/v¯/

vrille

‘tendril’

/sp/

sport

‘sport’

/st/

store

‘blind’

/sk/

score

‘score’

/sm/

S.M.I.C

‘minimum wage’

/sn/

snob

‘snob’

(b) syllable-initial (marked) /spl/

splendeur

‘splendor’

/sp¯/

sprint

‘sprint’

/st¯/

strict

‘strict’

/skl/

sclérose

‘sclerosis’

/sk¯/

scrupule

‘scruple’

/vl/

vlan

‘wham’

/zb/

sbire

‘henchman’

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/gz, ks/ xénophobe/xylophone

‘xenophobe/xylophone’

/ps/

psychique

‘psychological’

/pn/

pneu

‘tire’

/pt/

ptérodactyle

‘pterodactyl’

(c) consonant-glide groups syllable-initially /j/

/Ä/

/w/

/p/ pied

‘foot’

puits

‘well’

poids

‘weight’

/t/ tient

‘holds’

tuile

‘tile’

toile

‘cloth’

/k/ inquiet

‘worried’ acuité

‘acuteness’ quoi

‘what’

/b/ biais

‘skew’

buisson

‘bush’

bouée

‘buoy’

/d/ Dior

‘Dior’

duel

‘duel’

doigt

‘finger’

/g/ figuier

‘fig tree’ arguer

‘to deduce’ gouache ‘gouache’

/f/ fiable

‘reliable’ fuir

‘to flee’

foin

‘hay’

/s/ sieur

‘Mister’ sueur

‘sweat’

soie

‘silk’

/5/ chiot

‘puppy’ chuintant ‘hushing’

/v/ avion

‘airplane’ revuiste

/z/ asiatique ‘Asian’

désuet

chouette ‘cute’

‘reviewer’ voit

‘sees’

‘outdated’ zouave ‘Zouave’

/
‘to juillet plagiarize’

‘July’

joint

/m/ miette

‘crumb’ muet

‘mute’

mouette ‘seagull’

/n/ panier

‘basket’ nuage

‘cloud’

noix

‘nut’

/l/ lion

‘lion’

‘uvula’

loin

‘far’

‘ruin’

rouage ‘cogwheel’

/¯/ rien

luette

‘nothing’ ruine 2

(d) syllable-final /pl/

triple

‘triple’

/p¯/

âpre

‘bitter’

/bl/

table

‘table’

/b¯/

sobre

‘sober’

/t¯/

quatre

‘four’

/d¯/

cidre

‘cider’

‘joint’

Consonants

/kl/

oncle

‘uncle’

/k¯/

vaincre

‘to conquer’

/gl/

ongle

‘fingernail’

/g¯/

aigre

‘sharp’

/fl/

buffle

‘buffalo’

/f¯/

chiffre

‘figure’

/v¯/

vivre

‘to live’

/lp/

poulpe

‘octopus’

/lb/

galbe

‘curve’

/lt/

halte

‘stop’

/ld/

solde

‘balance’

/lk/

calque

‘tracing’

/lg/

algue

‘seaweed’

/lf/

golfe

‘gulf’

/lv/

salve

‘salvo’

/ls/

valse

‘waltz’

/lm/

calme

‘calm’

/ln/

Elne

(place name)

/¯p/

écharpe

‘scarf’

/¯b/

verbe

‘verb’

/¯t/

porte

‘door’

/¯d/

absurde

‘absurd’

/¯k/

arc

‘bow’

/¯g/

orge

‘barley’

/¯f/

cerf

‘stag’

/¯v/

morve

‘mucus’

/¯s/

farce

‘farce’

/¯z/

quatorze

‘fourteen’

/¯5/

torche

‘torch’

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/¯
ça urge

‘it’s urgent’

/¯m/

charme

‘charm’

/¯n/

borne

‘milestone’

/¯Õ/

hargne

‘spite’

/¯l/

perle

‘pearl’

/sp/

aspe

‘reel’

/st/

ouest

‘west’

/sk/

risque

‘risk’

/sm/

réalisme

‘realism’

/ft/

naphte

‘naphtha’

/mn/

hymne

‘hymn’

/0g/

pouding

‘pudding’

/ps/

éclipse

‘eclipse’

/pt/

crypte

‘crypt’

/ts/

ersatz

‘substitute’

/tm/

rythme

‘rhythm’

/tl/

axolotl

‘axolotl’

/t5/

match

‘game’

/dn/

hydne

‘hydnum’

/d
bridge

‘bridge’

/kt/

acte

‘act’

/ks/

syntaxe

‘syntax’

/km/

drachme

‘drachma’

/gm/

flegme

‘composure’

/¯p¯/

pourpre

‘purple’

/¯b¯/

arbre

‘tree’

/¯t¯/

meurtre

‘murder’

Consonants

/¯d¯/

ordre

‘order’

/¯kl/

cercle

‘circle’

/¯sk/

lorsque

‘when’

/¯st/

verste

‘verst’

/sp¯/

aspre

‘rocky hillside (in Roussillon)’

/st¯/

ministre

‘minister’

/spl/

asple

‘spore’

/skl/

muscle

‘muscle’

/5t¯/

fichtre

(interjection)

/lsk/

Volsques

‘Volsci’

/lk¯/

sépulcre

‘sepulchre’

/lt¯/

filtre

‘filter’

/pt¯/

sceptre

‘sceptre’

/kt¯/

spectre

‘ghost’

/kst/

texte

‘text’

/kst¯/ dextre

‘dextral’

What is interesting about these combinations is the fact that, as soon as we leave the unmarked groups, the words take on a decidedly learned or foreign flavour – such items are often the result of learned or foreign borrowings, and, in many cases, are not yet fully integrated into the standard phonological system. Examples of this type demonstrate that the phonology of French is far from being a perfectly homogeneous and internally undifferentiated system, either in terms of the status of the constraints that are operative or (as we have seen in the case of the vowels) in terms of an invariant norm. It is also striking that the number of syllable-final clusters exceeds by a significant margin those found initially. There are, however, ways of explaining this discrepancy. First, as the examples make clear, most of the syllablefinal clusters are defined with respect to word-final position, and historically a schwa was present in these forms. This schwa would have allowed for bior polysyllabic words with a different syllabification, as in pourpre ‘purple’ /pu¯.p¯‹/, filtre ‘filter’ /fil.t¯‹/, rythme ‘rhythm’ /¯it.m‹/, flegme ‘composure’ /fl'g.m‹/ instead of monosyllabic /pu¯p¯/, /filt¯/, /¯itm/, and /fl'gm/ respectivley, with the clusters in the latter forms being reduced to more simple (wordinternal) sequences when final schwa is present. We see this further in the syl-

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labification of derived forms such as absurdité ‘absurdity’ /ap.sy¯.di.te/, quatorzième ‘fourteenth’ /ka.tn¯.zj'm/, éclipser ‘to eclipse’ /e.klip.se/, rythmique ‘rhythmic’ /¯it.mik/, musclé ‘muscled’ /mus.kle/, filtrer ‘to filter’ /fil.t¯e/, flegmatique ‘phlegmatic’ /fl'g.ma.tik/, etc., where the complex final clusters of the roots (/apsy¯d/, /katn¯z/, /eklips/, /¯itm/, /myskl/, /filt¯/, and /fl'gm/) are simplified (‘decomposed’) when a vowel-initial derivational suffix is added. In other words, the set of final clusters has been somewhat artificially expanded and complicated by the loss of word-final schwa, but when word-medial sequences are considered, the situation is much less intimidating. Nor should it be thought that any permitted final cluster can combine with a permitted initial cluster in the interior of words, despite the fact that either type may occur elsewhere. To take an extreme example, final /skl/ (muscle) may not combine with initial /spl/ (splendeur) to form a medial sequence */VsklsplV/. To use a more realistic case, final /¯k/ (arc) may not precede initial /5/ (chez) in French, despite the fact that both are simple and well-formed independently. That is, no SF word contains the internal sequence */V¯k5V/. As Morin (1987) has demonstrated, significant further restrictions, beyond the scope of this description, apply to the combination of syllable codas and onsets word-internally. Finally, we should return to the issue of consonant-glide clusters in word-or syllable-initial position (#CGV, .CGV), since such groups provide an opportunity to exploit the differing syllabic representations outlined in chapter 3 (section 3.1) above. Note first that the preceding inventory allows for #CGV clusters, but not for structures of the form #CCGV (i.e., with two consonants preceding the glide). But how, then, can we account for the relatively frequent items with just that shape (cf. bruine ‘drizzle,’ fruit ‘fruit,’ pluie ‘rain,’ croire ‘to believe,’ gloire ‘glory,’ trois ‘three,’ from (58) in section 4.6 above)? The answer resides in the assignment of the glide to a complex syllable nucleus rather than to the initial cluster, as in (4) rather than (5) (4) Simple onset; complex nuclus

m rhyme onset nucleus coda C L

G V

C

b ¯

Ä i

n

(bruine, croire, etc.)

Consonants

(5) Complex onset; simple nucleus

m rhyme onset nucleus coda C L G

V

C

b ¯ Ä

i

n

This differential assignment of the glide in .CGV versus .CLGV onsets allows us to preserve the unity and simplicity of the constraints on initial clusters. It also means, in fact, that glides may be of two types in French. Some, those that appear in initial clusters, are more consonant-like. Others, those appearing in the nucleus, are more vowel-like. Interestingly, this differential representation correlates directly with another distinction we have already seen in the discussion of glides and ‘aspiration’. We saw in the examples of (61) in section (4.6) that some instances of the glides /j Ä w/ permit elision and liaison while others block these processes: l’iode ‘the iodine,’ l’huile ‘the oil,’ l’ouest ‘the west’ versus le yacht ‘the yacht,’ le huitème ‘the eighth,’ le western ‘the western,’ respectively. This behaviour may also be described using distinct syllabic representations. Those glides that block elision and liaison will be assigned to an initial consonantal position in the syllable, as in (6), thereby identifying the words as consonant-initial: (6)

m rhyme onset nucleus coda G

V

C

j

C

t

(yacht)

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Since the initial consonant position is filled, this class of words behaves in a fashion similar to other words beginning with consonants: liaison does not occur, because there is no ‘space’ available into which a liaison consonant could move. Exceptionally, schwa may also be maintained even in these VC‹CV structures, as in j’en prends le huitième ‘I’m taking the eighth.’ /<#p¯#l‹Äitj'm/ versus j’en prends le neuvième ‘I’m taking the ninth.’ /<#p¯#NPœvj'm/, although deletion is normal in both cases phrase-internally.3 Here, the ‘consonantal’ glides also condition behaviour in a way parallel to aspirate-h (for a detailed discussion of the latter, see section 5.4). In words like huitre ‘oyster’ or ouest ‘west,’ where both liaison and elision take place (les huitres /lezÄit¯/; l’ouest /lw'st/), the glide is considered as part of the syllable nucleus, as in (7): (7)

m rhyme onset nucleus coda C

G V

C C

Ä i

t ¯

(huitre)

Since the onset is empty, liaison can occur. Since a final schwa in any preceding word is immediately followed by the nucleus rather than by a word-initial consonant, elision can occur. Thus, we see how a type of representation that makes explicit formal distinctions between syllable structures can account in a unified way for processes that initially appear dissimilar. Such theoretical developments are particulary important in a language such as French, where the nature of syllables plays such a large part in the functioning of the phonology. This concludes our description of the general constraints on sequences of consonants in SF. Before turning to more specific topics, however, we will illustrate one case where a restriction of this type has left a significant trace in French morphology – where an examination of the phonological history of French illuminates certain irregularities in verb conjugations and elsewhere. The case involves an excursus into the domain of consonantal epenthesis. At the earliest stages of OF, nasals, liquids and fricatives appeared freely in syllable-final position (_.), and could be followed by a syllable-initial liquid (_.L). However, when syllable-final /l m n Õ s z/ preceded /l/ or /¯/ (e.g., …l.¯…, as in OF molre ‘to grind’), this cluster was subsequently interpreted

Consonants

as an unacceptable syllable contact, and an epenthetic consonant was inserted between the two segments, as indicated in (8). (8) Epenthetic consonants in OF l+¯

>

ld¯

m+¯ >

mb¯

n+¯

>

nd¯

Õ+¯

>

nd¯

s+¯

>

st¯

z+¯

>

zd¯

m+l

>

mbl

Various explanations have been proposed for this transitional consonant, linked to the articulatory transition between the segments in question or to their relative phonological strength.4 In any event, we note that the inserted consonant agrees in voicing and in place of articulation with the first consonant: voiceless /t/ after /s/, voiced /d/ elsewhere; labial /b/ after /m/, apical /t/ or /d/ elsewhere.5 In addition to its intrinsic interest, epenthesis has left a number of traces in the morphology of SF, traces that may help to illuminate the behaviour of ‘irregular’ verbs in particular. Consider the forms in (9). (9) Remnants of epenthesis falloir

faudra

‘be necessary’

valoir

vaudra

‘be worth’

moulons

moudre

‘grind’

résolvons

résoudre

‘resolve’

cumulatif

comble, combler

‘cumulative – packed, fill in’

humilité

humble

‘humility – humble’

numéro

nombre

‘number – number’

simuler

semble

‘simulate – seem’

tenir

tiendra

‘hold’

venir

viendra

‘come’

craignons

craindre ‘fear’ (OF cremons - criembre)

incinérer

cendre

connaissons connaître

‘incinerate – cinder’ ‘know’

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naissons

naître

‘be born’

paraissons

paraître

‘appear’

sera

être

‘be’

cousons

coudre

‘sew’

These forms recapitulate, in a sense, several elements of the phonological history of French. The early precursors (Late Latin, effectively) of the words in the right-hand column contained a vowel that initially separated the segments conditioning epenthesis. When that vowel dropped, the sequences of (8) were created, and epenthesis took place. Subsequent changes (some of which we will explore below) involved vocalization and then loss of the /l/, nasalization of a preceding vowel and loss of the nasal consonant, or loss of preconsonantal /s/: compare OF faldra /fald¯a/, nombre /nnmb¯‹/, conoistre /knnnjst¯‹/ with modern faudra /fod¯a/, nombre /nnb¯/, and connaître /knn't¯/, respectively. From this perspective, the notoriously irregular verbs of (9) may be seen to be historically regular (in that they reflect the regular operation of a number of sound changes). This data indicates, once again, that SF is the heterogeneous result of interacting and overlapping historical processes, and that history can often provide explanations for situations that otherwise seem inexplicable.

5.1

5.1 Geminate Consonants

All of the consonants exemplified in (2) of section 5.0 are single or simple consonants, despite an orthographic representation that may include double letters: abbé ‘abbot,’ accord ‘agreement,’ effet ‘effect,’ and so on. SF does contain long or geminate consonants, however. Such geminates may arise in a number of ways.6 Perhaps the simplest examples occur in the irregular verbs courir ‘to run,’ mourir ‘to die,’ acquérir ‘to acquire’ and related forms (e.g., accourir ‘to rush up,’ parcourir ‘to travel,’ conquérir ‘to conquer,’ s’enquérir ‘to inquire,’ etc.), where the future and conditional paradigms (courrai /ku¯¯e/, courrais /ku¯¯'/, mourrai /mu¯¯e/, mourrait /mu¯¯'/, acquerrai /ake¯¯e/, etc.) show a geminate /¯¯/ in opposition to the remaining verb forms (courir /ku¯i¯/, mourais /mu¯'/, acquérons /ake¯n/, and so on).7 Secondly, as we might expect, the deletion of schwa may, on occasion, bring identical consonants into contact, and these two consonants merge into a single long consonant: la-dedans ‘inside’ /ladd#/, honnêteté ‘honesty’ /nn'tte/, sainteté ‘saintliness’ /s'tte/ (also /s'te/), deuxièmement ‘secondly’ /døzj'mm#/, embaumement ‘embalming’ /#bomm#/, bizarrerie ‘strangeness’ /biza¯¯i/, verrerie ‘glassworks’ /v'¯¯i/, and so on. Thirdly, particularly in more formal contexts, a number of learned words containing orthographic geminates may also be pronouned with phonological geminates: additif ‘additive’ /dd/, arrogant ‘arrogant’ /¯¯/, attique ‘Attic’ /tt/, collègue ‘colleague’ /ll/, immédiat ‘immediate’ /mm/, innombrable ‘innumerable’ /nn/, and so on.

Consonants

When we turn to a phrasal context, many additional geminates arise through the juxtaposition of words where the first ends in a consonant identical to the initial consonant of the second (with or without schwa deletion). Examples are given in (10). (10) Geminate consonants in phrasal contexts sept tables

/s'ttabl/

‘seven tables’

cette table

/s'ttabl/

‘this table’

chaque consonne /5akknsnn/

‘each consonant’

robe bleue

‘blue dress’

/¯nbblø/

bague grandiose /bagg¯#djoz/

‘imposing ring’

chef formidable

/5'ffn¯midabl/

‘great chef’

grosse salade

/g¯ossalad/

‘large salad’

juge genevois

/
‘Genevan judge’

drame mystérieux /d¯ammiste¯jø/

‘mysterious drama’

ville lorraine

‘city in Lorraine’

/villn¯'n/

Finally, still in a phrasal context, there is a phenomenon in SF known as the accent d’insistance or emphatic stress, a phenomenon that seems to be expanding in contemporary usage. One of the manifestations of this accent involves the reinforcement through gemination of the first consonant of the highlighted word, a word normally occurring near the beginning of the phonological phrase, as in (11). (11) Accent d’insistance quel crétin

/k'lkk¯et'/

‘What an idiot!’

c’est formidable

/s'ffn¯midabl/

‘It’s great.’

c’est terrible

/s'tt'¯ibl/

‘It’s awful.’

c’est super beau

/s'ssyp'¯bo/

‘It’s really nice.’

magnifique, son geste /mmaÕifiksn<'st/

‘Magnificent, his gesture.’

Gemination is not the only manifestation of this type of accentuation. We will return to the problem in the chapter on prosody. In the meantime, we turn to the next consonantal domain, that dealing with nasal consonants.

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5.2

5.2 Nasal Consonants

Modern SF has the four nasal consonants /m n Õ 0/. Only the first two, however, are fully integrated into the system in the sense that they are free of major distributional restrictions. /m/ and /n/ occur freely word-initially, medially, and finally, and are found in various types of consonant clusters from which /Õ/ and /0/ are excluded: (12) Constraints on nasal consonants mon

/mn/

‘my’

non

/nn/

‘no’

gnon

*/Õn/8

‘blow’

*ngon

*/0n/

smash

/sma5/

‘smash’

snob

/snnb/

‘snob’

*sgnob

*/sÕnb/

*sngob

*/s0nb/

asthme

/asm/

‘asthma’

prisme

/prism/

‘prism’

The constraints on /Õ/ and /0/ arise from the diverse historical processes by which they were introduced into French. The palatal nasal /Õ/, for example, was produced through various palatalization processes, and the contexts where these processes took place were limited. Hence, the contexts where /Õ/ may occur are similarly limited. For example, no /Õ/ occurs without a following vowel in the orthography (vigne ‘vine,’ vigneron ‘wine grower,’ never *vign) since vigne < Latin vinea [winja] with assimilation of [n] to the [j] and retention of the final [a] as [‹].9 A full discussion of the nasals will involve examination of the interchange between /Õ/ and /nj/, of the mechanism of introduction of /0/ through loanwords, and of a process of nasal assimilation.

5.2.1

5.2.1 The /Õ/ – /nj/ interchange

The relationship between palatal /Õ/ and a /nj/ sequence is still evident in SF. For many speakers, /Õ/ may be realized as /nj/, while for others /nj/ may occur as /Õ/. Some speakers, in other words, have /Õ/ in both peigner ‘to comb’ and panier ‘basket,’ magnifique ‘magnificent’ and manier ‘to handle,’ others have /nj/ in both, and still others maintain a /Õ/ – /nj/ distinction. The confusion may even extend to word-initial position, since Martinet (1945: 170 – 73) reports

Consonants

a confusion between, for example, la nielle ‘corn-cockle’ and l’agnelle ‘lamb (f.)’. Currently, according to Walter (1976: 392 – 400), the tendency appears to be to favour /nj/ intervocalically and word-initially, with /Õ/ preferred preconsonantally and word-finally. The distinction appears to be on the verge of complete neutralization (with [nj] and [Õ] in complementary distribution or free variation). The phoneme /Õ/, in other words, appears to be facing elimination from the SF system, although conservative speakers maintain the /Õ - nj/ opposition and Warnant (1987: LXXXIX) continues to see it as part of ‘le bon usage’. Representative examples, taken from Walter (1976), are given in (13), where again a majority of the informants represented in Martinet and Walter (1973) (on which Walter [1976] is based) have /nj/ rather than /Õ/ in initial and prevocalic position, while /Õ/ is favoured preconsonantally and finally.10 (13) /Õ/ and /nj/ (a) /nj/ favoured

(b) /Õ/ favoured

agneau

‘lamb’

baignerais

‘would bathe’

baigneur

‘bather’

bénignement

‘benignly’

daigner

to deign’

clignement

‘blinking’

gagnant

‘winner’

cognement

‘banging’

oignon

‘onion’

gagne-pain

‘job’

peigner

‘to comb’

renseignement ‘information’

poignard

‘dagger’

rogne-pied

‘hoof trimmer’

saigner

‘to bleed’

saignement

‘bleeding’

signifier

‘to mean’

gnagnan

‘soppy’

cagne

‘preparatory class’

gnocchi

‘gnocchi’

charogne

‘carrion’

gnognotte

‘useless’

châtaigne

‘chestnut’

gnôle

‘hooch’

empoigne

‘grab’

gnon

‘bash’

hors-ligne

‘road allowance’

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5.2.2

5.2.2 The Importation of /0/

If SF appears to be losing a nasal consonant on the one hand, it appears to be gaining one on the other. The velar nasal /0/ is establishing itself as part of the system, albeit with certain restrictions on its distribution due to the mechanism of its importation. The primary source of /0/ is through English loan words containing the suffix -ing, as seen in (14). (14) /0/ in SF briefing

‘briefing’

camping

‘camping’

doping

‘doping’

footing

‘jogging’

forcing

‘pressure’

jogging

‘jogging/sweat suit’

karting

‘go-carting’

lifting

‘face lift’

living

‘living room’

parking

‘parking lot’

shopping

‘shopping’

smoking

‘evening suit’

training

‘training’

yachting

‘yachting’

zapping

‘channel surfing’

dinghy

‘dinghy’

dring

‘ding-a-ling’

gong

‘gong’

junker

‘type of falcon’

lemming

‘lemming’

ring

‘boxing ring’

shilling

‘shilling’

swing

‘jive’

tanker

‘tanker’

Consonants

The majority of occurrences of /0/ are found in word-final position for an obvious reason: their source is the English suffix -ing. We do find /0/ in monomorphemic forms as well, although again virtually exclusively in loan words, as well as a few instances of the segment in preconsonantal position (campingcar /k#pi0ka¯/, chewing-gum /5wi0gnm/). The fact that -ing may be used productively in SF (with the meaning of the French derived forms not being predictably related to the source, as in parking ‘parking lot or garage,’ caravaning ‘camping in a trailer,’ lifting ‘face lift,’ living ‘living room’) indicates an independence for the suffix and with it a growing independence of the phoneme /0/. This independence is reinforced by a process we will examine in the next section, the assimilation of stops to a following nasal (e.g., diagnostique ‘diagnostic’ /dja0nnstik/), which introduces additional instances of the segment and which expands the contexts in which /0/ may occur. This expansion may well provide for, or at least contribute to, full integration of /0/ into the phonology of SF, particularly since the parallelism of the bilabial and dental series /p b m/, /t d n/ reinforces the position of /0/ among the velars: /k g 0/. Finally in this context we should note that certain speakers pronounce word-final < ing > as /iÕ/, not /i0/. The former pronunciation appears to be restricted to older, more conservative speakers, and is being gradually replaced (Warnant [1987], for example, uses only /0/), a replacement no doubt aided by the increasing knowledge of English in France and perhaps linked as well to the instability of /Õ/ in general, as we saw in the preceding section.

5.2.3

5.2.3 Nasal Assimilation

We have already seen that /0/ may appear as a variant of /g/ in certain contexts. This appearance is part of a more general process whereby oral stops become nasal in nasal contexts, such contexts provided by either a preceding nasal vowel or a following nasal consonant. Examples of the phenomenon are given in (15). (15) Nasal assimilation lendemain

‘next day’

/l#nm'/

< /l#d‹m'/

vingt-deux

‘twenty-two’

/v'ndø/

< /v'tdø/

diagnostique

‘diagnostic’

/dja0nnstik/

< /djagnnstik/

subjonctif

‘subjunctive’

/syb
< /syb
bombe atomique ‘atomic bomb’

/bnmatnmik/

< /bnbatnmik/

et demie

‘and a half’

/enmi/

< /ed‹mi/

grande ville

‘big city’

/g¯#nvil/

< /g¯#dvil/

/l#0pnpyl'¯/

< /l#gpnpyl'¯/

langue populaire ‘working-class speech’

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/s#nm#de/

< /s#d‹m#de/

bande de voyous ‘bunch of crooks’

/b#nd‹vwajo/

< /b#dd‹vwajo/

longue marche

/ln0ma¯5/

< /lngma¯5/

chambre de bonne ‘maid’s room’

/5#md‹bnn/

< /5#b¯‹d‹bnn/

on va prendre le métro

‘we’re taking the metro’

/nvap¯#nl‹met¯o/
une épingle de cravate

‘tie clip’

/ynep'0d‹k¯avat/
en novembre

‘in November’

/#nnv#m/

sans demander

‘without asking’ ‘long march’

< /#nnv#b¯‹/

These examples show that nasal assimilation may occur both word-internally and between words. Such assimilation, perhaps surprisingly, is widespread in both standard and less formal speech (especially in the pronunciation of the numbers – e.g., vingt ‘twenty,’ trente ‘thirty’ – which allow it freely). The final set of four examples illustrates the interaction of schwa and liquid deletion with nasal assimilation, since the simplification of word-final CL‹# clusters is also closely associated with the process.11 Be that as it may, when the velar consonant /g/ participates in the process, we see that /0/ is again introduced into the phonology of SF, this time in preconsonantal position. We may also note that nasal assimilation (as in grande ville ‘large city’ /g¯#nvil/) provides a further set of circumscribed exceptions to the constraint blocking nasal vowels from appearing before nasal consonants. As a result, it serves to illustrate the complex interaction between synchronic phonotactic constraints, stylistic variation and historical phonological change.

5.3

5.3 Voicing Assimilation

Nasal assimilation is only one of the general assimilatory processes affecting French consonants. Another affects voicing and calls into play notions of consonantal strength and syllable structure. Once again, this phenomenon occurs both within and between words, and is exemplified in (16), where a superscript or subscript indicates a normally voiced consonant that has devoiced, while ˚ a subscript ˇ indicates the converse, a normally voiceless consonant which has become voiced.

Consonants

(16) Voicing assimilation (a) syllable-initial pied

[RLG]

‘foot’

tiens

[VL']

‘hold’

quiet

[ML']

‘calm’

puis

[pāi]

‘then’

tuile

[tāil]

‘tile’

cuir

[kāi¯]

‘leather’

poids

[RYC]

‘weight’

toit

[VYC]

‘roof’

coiffe

[MYnf]

‘headdress’

plan

[RN#]

‘plan’

clair

[MN'¯]

‘clear’

prince

[p¯'s]

‘prince’

trou

[t¯u]

‘hole’

crêpe

[k¯'p]

‘crepe’

flan

[HN#]

‘custard tart’

pneu

[pPø]

‘tire’

aplatir

[CRNCVK¯]

‘to flatten’

attrait

[at¯']

‘appeal’

ancrer

[#k¯e]

‘to anchor’

je pars

[5pa¯]

‘I’m leaving’

je te vois

[5t‹vwa]

‘I see you’

je fais

[5f']

‘I’m doing’

chemin faisant

[5O'f‹z#]

‘in so doing’

la cheville

[la5Xij]

‘the ankle’

un cheval

[5Xal]

12

‘a horse’

(b) word-final âpre

[CR¯…]

‘bitter’

traître

[t¯…'t¯]

‘traitor’

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encre

[#k¯]

‘ink’

triple

[t¯…ipN]

‘triple’

socle

[snkl]

‘plinth’

souffle

[sufl]

‘breath’

soufre

[suf¯]

‘sulphur’

sarcasme

[sa¯kasO]

réalisme

[¯ealisO]

rythme

[¯itO]

13

‘sarcasm’ ‘realism’ ‘rhythm’

(c) syllable-final obstruents obtenir

[nDV‹ni¯]

‘obtain’

absurde

[CDU[¯d]

‘absurd’

médecin

[OGFU']

‘doctor’

ci-dessus

[UKFU[]

‘above

robe chic

[¯nD5KM]

‘chic dress’

tas de problèmes [VCFR¯nbl'm]

‘lots of problems’

tout de suite

[VWFUÄKV]

‘right away’

blague stupide

[blaIstypid]

‘stupid joke’

brave type

[b¯CXVKR]

‘good guy’

onze parties

[n\pa¯ti]

‘eleven parts’

village corse

[vila<kn¯s]

‘Corsican village’

à jeter

[a<te]

‘to throw away’

jupe bleue

[
‘blue skirt’

cette dame

[s'V„FCO]

‘this woman’

chaque boîte

[5CM„DYCV]

‘each box’

chef de file

[5GH„F‹fil]

‘leader’

nous faisons

[PWH„\n]

‘we’re making’

neuf bouteilles

[nœf„DWV'L]

‘nine bottles’

tasse de café

[VCU„F‹MCHG]

‘cup of coffee’

dix secondes

[diU„gnd]

‘ten seconds’

il se marie

[KU„OC¯i]

‘he’s getting married’

tâche difficile

[V#5„FKHKUKN]

‘difficult job’

Consonants

(d) syllable-final sonorants (no assimilation) valser

[valse]

‘to waltz’

altitude

[altityd]

‘altitude’

partir

[pa¯ti¯]

‘to leave’

fertile

[f'¯til]

‘fertile’

quel cretin

[k'lk¯…et']

‘What an idiot!’

par qui

[pa¯ki]

‘by whom’

caneton

[kantn]

‘duckling’

mannequin

[mank']

‘model’

hameçon

[amsn]

‘fish hook’

drame typique

[d¯amtipik]

‘typical drama’

bonne chose

[bnn5oz]

‘good thing’

feuilleté

[fœjte]

‘foliated’

pailleté

[pajte]

‘sequined’

paille tassée

[pajtase]

‘packed down straw’

To begin with, we may note that voicing assimilation is a realization of the general cross-linguistic tendency of consonant clusters to agree in voicing. Thus, SF words may begin with /sp, st, sk/, but not with /*sb, *sd, *sg/, and end in /pt, kt, gd/ (concept, acte ‘act,’ Agde [place name]) but not /*bt, *kd, *gt/, and so on.14 Moreover, it is the ‘weaker’ sounds, the liquids, nasals, and semi-vowels that most frequently undergo voicing assimilation, becoming devoiced in the context of a voiceless consonant, particularly when they follow that consonant (as in [16a-b]). We must, however, indicate two significant exceptions to this ordering: (i) the pronoun je (following loss of the schwa) assimilates fully to the voicelessness of any following obstruent, as in je tiens ‘I hold.’ /5tj'/, je pense que oui ‘I think so.’ /5p#sk‹wi/, qu’est-ce que je fais ‘What am I doing?’ /k'sk‹5f'/, etc.; and (ii) the classic example of word-internal /5v/ (achever /a5fe/, not */a
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voiced; voiced consonants become voiceless.15 Syllable-final sonorants (the liquids, nasals, and glides) resist this assimilation and retain full voicing, as in (16d). Here, as elsewhere, there is much individual variation in the degree of assimilation, which (as in the case of other assimilatory processes) is greater in rapid speech, itself an indication of the lesser degree of formality of the speech situation.16

5.4

5.4 Aspirate-h

‘Aspirate-h’ refers, somewhat contradictorily, not to a current phonetic problem in SF, but rather to a division of the lexicon that raises both phonological and morphological issues. There is, in other words, no sound [h] in SF.17 The term is used to indicate a distinction among words containing, usually beginning with, the letter < h >. Nonaspirate-h words, the productive and larger class, behave transparently. There is no phonetic realization of the letter < h > and the words function, with respect to several processes that we will discuss below, exactly as if they were vowel-initial or as if there were an empty syllable onset preceding the vowel. Aspirate-h words, by contrast, also show no phonetic traces indicating < h >, but they behave as if they were consonantinitial or as if the syllable onset were filled by a consonant of some type.18 Despite the potentially confusing nature of the term, we will continue the tradition of using ‘aspirate’ to refer to this latter, irregular class. Before discussing the processes involved, let us exemplify aspirate and nonaspirate-h words.19 (17) Aspirate-h words (partial list)

Nonaspirate-h words (small sample)

hache

‘axe’

habile

‘skilful’

haddock

‘haddock’

habitude

‘habit’

haie

‘hedge’

haleine

‘breath’

haine

‘hatred’

harmonie

‘harmony’

haïr

‘to hate’

herbe

‘grass’

haler

‘to haul in’

hérésie

‘heresy’

halte

‘stop’

hertz

‘hertz’

hameau

‘hamlet’

hésiter

‘to hesitate’

hanche

‘hip’

heure

‘hour’

handicap

‘handicap’

heureux

‘happy’

hanter

‘to haunt’

hexagone

‘hexagon’

harceler

‘to harass’

hiver

‘winter’

hardi

‘bold’

homme

‘man’

Consonants

harem

‘harem’

honnête

‘honest’

hareng

‘herring’

honneur

‘honour’

haricot

‘bean’

hôpital

‘hospital’

harmattan ‘harmattan’

horreur

‘horror’

harnais

‘harness’

hôte

‘host’

hasard

‘stroke of luck’

hôtel

‘hotel’

hâte

‘haste’

huis

‘door’

haubert

‘coat of mail’

huile

‘oil’

hausser

‘to raise’

huître

‘oyster’

haut

‘high’

humain

‘human’

heaume

‘helmet’

humble

‘humble’

hennir

‘to neigh’

humeur

‘mood’

héraut

‘herald’

héros

‘hero’

hêtre

‘beech tree’

heurt

‘collision’

hideux

‘hideous’

Hitler

‘Hitler’

hocher

‘to nod (one’s head)’

Hollande

‘Holland’

homard

‘lobster’

honnir

‘to hold in contempt’

honte

‘shame’

hors

‘apart from’

houblon

‘hops’

housse

‘cover’

huit

‘eight’

hurler

‘to scream’

hussard

‘hussar’

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(18) Variable words (with or without aspirate-h) 20 haïtien

‘Haitian’

hameçon

‘fish hook’

harpaille

‘herd’

21

hâtelle

‘small piece of meat’

hâtif

‘precocious’

heimatlos

‘stateless’

hellène

‘Hellenic’

hernie, hernié

‘hernia, herniated’

hiatus

‘hiatus’

hittite

‘Hittite’

H.L.M.22

‘public housing’

These lists, despite their apparently straightforward nature, hide a certain number of complexities and require further comment. First, the aspirate-h words, as do most others, participate in a number of derivational paradigms. Complex forms derived from aspirate-h words also normally contain aspirate-h, in conformity with the behaviour of the base. Thus, derived hachoir ‘cleaver,’ hache-viande ‘meat grinder,’ hardiesse ‘boldness,’ hâtivement ‘hurriedly,’ hautain ‘haughty,’ hauteur ‘height,’ haut-parleur ‘loudspeaker,’ heurter ‘to strike,’ hideusement ‘hideously,’ hollandais ‘Dutch,’ hors-jeu ‘offside,’ hors-la-loi ‘outlaw,’ housser ‘to cover,’ huitième ‘eighth,’ rehausser ‘to heighten,’ dehors ‘outside,’ and so on, are also aspirate-h words. There are, however, several items where the situation is less regular. First, among the base forms that vary between aspirate and nonaspirate-h, we note two items where the derivatives are uniformly nonaspirate: hameçon and hellène vary, but hameçonner ‘to hook,’ hellénique ‘Hellenic,’ plus the additional suffixed forms hellénisant, -isation, -iser, -isme, and -iste are exclusively nonaspirate. Hâte has several aspirate derivatives (e.g., hâtivement), but hâtif ‘precocious’ varies and may be nonaspirate. Aspirate héraut, héros, and Hitler have the exclusively nonaspirate derivatives héraldique, héraldiste, héroine, héroique, héroisme, and hitlérien respectively. On the reasonable assumption that the aspirate forms are irregular (a proposal to be justified below when we consider the phonological implications of aspiration), the behaviour of the variable and derived forms may be seen as a step towards regularization: the tendency for words to pass from the marked aspirate to the unmarked nonaspirate class. This same tendency is more general cross-linguistically, affecting the relationship between basic and derived or neological forms, where the latter often lose irregularities present in the base (e.g., leaf – leaves but Toronto Maple Leafs; life – lives but Miller High Lifes; mouse – mice but two computer mouses; two

Consonants

lice, but metaphorically two individuals who are louses, etc.). What, then, are the phonological consequences of aspiration? Fundamentally, although aspirate-h words (or syllables) begin phonetically with a vowel, they behave as if they begin with a consonant. There are several phonological process in French that are sensitive to the distinction between vowel-initial and consonant-initial words: liaison and enchaînement, elision and the general behaviour of schwa, and the selection of certain special variants of adjectives and determiners. These processes are illustrated in (19). (19) Effects of the word-initial segment #C

#V

(a) elision in le, la: le garçon

‘the boy’

/l‹ga¯sn/ la fille

l’automne

‘autumn’

/lotnn/ ‘the girl’

/lafij/

l’église

‘the church’

/legliz/

(b) elision of schwa: lorsque nous…

‘when we…’

/ln¯sk‹nu/ double jeu

lorsqu’il…

‘when he…’

/ln¯skil/ ‘double play’

/dubl‹<ø/

double échec

‘double failure’

/duble5'k/

(c) enchaînement: vite parti

‘left quickly’

vite arrivé

‘arrived quickly’

/vit.pa¯ti/

/vi.ta¯ive/

chaque personne ‘each person’

chaque enfant ‘each child’

/5ak.p'¯snn/

/5a.k#f#/

(d) liaison: les personnes

‘the people’

‘the children’

/le.z#f#/

/lep'¯snn/ petit livre

les enfants

‘small book’

petit enfant

‘small child’

/p‹ti.t#f#/

/p‹tiliv¯/ (e) special forms: beau livre

‘nice book’

bel emblème

‘nice emblem’

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/boliv¯/ nouveau livre

/b'l#bl'm/ ‘new book’

/nuvoliv¯/ ce livre

/nuv'lnb<'ktif/ ‘this book’

/s‹liv¯/ du livre

‘of the book’

‘this emblem’

de l’emblème

‘of the emblem’

/d‹l#bl'm/ ‘old book’

/vjøliv¯/ ma maison

cet emblème /s't#bl'm/

/dyliv¯/ vieux livre

nouvel objectif ‘new objective’

vieil objet

‘old object’

/vj'jnb<'/ ‘my house’

mon admission ‘my admission’

mamezn/

/mnnadmisjn/

#aspirate

#nonaspirate

(a) elision in le, la: le héros

‘the hero’

/l‹e¯o/ la housse

l’homme

‘the man’

/lnm/ ‘the cover’

/laus/

l’heure

‘the hour’

/lœ¯/

(b) elision of schwa: quelle honte

‘what a shame’ quelle honneur ‘what an honour’

/k'l‹nt/ quatre héros

/k'lnnœ¯/ ‘four heros’

/kat¯‹e¯o/

quatre honneurs ‘four honours’ /kat¯nnœ¯/

(c) enchaînement: sept hêtres23

‘seven beeches’ sept hôtes

/s't.'t¯/ quel héraut

‘seven hosts’

/s'.tot/ ‘which herald’ quel homme

/k'l.e¯o/

‘which man’

/k'.lnm/

(d) liaison: dix hérauts

‘ten heralds’

dix hommes

‘ten men’

Consonants

/die¯o/ nous haïssons

/di.znm/ ‘we hate’

/nuaisn/

nous honorons ‘we honour’ /nu.znnn¯n/

(e) special forms: beau heaume

‘nice helmet’

/bo.om/ nouveau hasard

‘new hazard’ ‘this top’ ‘of the top’

/ma.a5/

cet hôtel

‘this hotel’

de l’hôtel

‘of the hotel’

/d‹lot'l/ ‘old hero’

/vjøe¯Q/ ma hache

‘new outfit’

/s'tot'l/

/dyo/ vieux héros

nouvel habit /nuv'labi/

/s‹o/ du haut

‘nice hotel’

/b'lot'l/

/nuvoaza¯/ ce haut

bel hôtel

vieil homme

‘old man’

/vj'jnm/ ‘my ax’

mon honneur

‘my honour’

/mnnnnœ¯/

To this data we may add certain minimal pairs that also demonstrate the distinctive role played by aspiration: l’eau ‘the water’ – le haut ‘the top,’ l’aine ‘the groin’ – la haine ‘the hatred,’ l’auteur ‘the author’ – la hauteur ‘the height,’ l’air ‘the air’ – le hère ‘the wretch,’ l’être ‘the being’ – le hêtre ‘the beech tree,’ l’heure ‘the hour’ – le heurt ‘the blow,’ l’île ‘the island’ – le hile ‘the hilum,’ dors ‘sleeps’ – dehors ‘outside,’ and so on. As the examples show, aspirate-h words parallel the behaviour of consonantinitial words, despite the fact that phonetically they begin with vowels.24 This, then, is their phonologically irregular behaviour, and it is little wonder that we see steps, albeit minor ones, leading towards their regularization. In fact, informal and popular speech goes further in this direction, since many commentators note ‘errors’ that involve liaison with putatively aspirate-h words: les haricots ‘the beans’ /leza¯iko/, les handicapés ‘the handicapped’ /lez#dikape/, les homards ‘the lobsters’ /leznma¯/, ils harcèlent ‘they harrass’ /ilza¯s'l/, and so on. Interestingly in such cases, the ‘errors’ in liaison do not appear to extend to elision in the articles. While one might well say /leza¯iko/, l’haricot for le haricot has not yet appeared. There are also cases showing liaison in the plural, but not the singular: un hors-d’oeuvre /n¯dœv¯/ versus des hors-d’oeuvre /dezn¯dœv¯/, or un(e) hernie /yn.'¯ni/ (with no enchaînement) versus des hernies /dez'¯ni/.25 General schwa elision also appears to be expanding, continuing a trend noted by Damourette and Pichon at the beginning of the

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twentieth century, since in rapid speech schwa may sometimes fail to appear before aspirate-h, although enchaînement does not occur: donne-moi une housse […yn.us], une bonne hache [ynbnn.a5], and so on.26 Any full regularization in the direction of nonaspirate status, therefore, is likely to spread slowly and to be linked to specific contexts or types of behaviour, and is at best in its very early stages. This process will no doubt be further complicated by the appearance of recent loan words, largely from English, that are spelled with < h > and that, for many speakers, contain an initial phonetic [h]: half-track, halva, hard-top, herdbook, highlander, hobby, holding, home, and so on.27

5.4.1

5.4.1 Other Types of ‘Aspiration’

We have been using the term ‘aspirate’ to indicate a type of phonological behaviour where certain forms spelt with < h >, despite a pronunciation beginning with a vowel, behave as if they were consonant-initial. There are, in other words, two types of vowel-initial words: aspirate and nonaspirate. In fact, it is not only words spelt with < h > that exhibit this behaviour. We have already seen one additional indication of such bipartite structures in the section on semi-vowels; the data is repeated here for information. (20) Two types of glides Consonantal

Vocalic

le iambe

/l‹j#b/

‘iamb’

l’iode

/ljnd/

‘iodine’

le yaourt

/l‹jau¯/

‘yogurt’

les yeux

/lezjø/

‘eyes’

le yoga

/l‹jnga/

‘yoga’

l’yeuse

/ljøz/

‘oak’

/ljatys/

‘hiatus’

la hiérarchie /laje¯a¯5i/

‘heirarchy’ l’hiatus

la huée

/laÄe/

‘booing’

les huitres /lezÄit¯/ ‘oysters’

le huitième

/l‹Äitj'm/

‘eighth’

l’huile

/lÄil/

l’huissier

/lÄisje/ ‘usher’

le ouistiti

/l‹wistiti/

‘marmoset’ l’ouest

le western

/l‹w'st'¯n/ ‘western’

l’ouie

‘oil’

/lw'st/

‘west’

/lwi/

‘hearing’

Here again, the two types of glides (which we might also call ‘aspirate’ and ‘nonaspirate’) act in a way that correlates exactly with that shown in (19), to which we may add the expected variation: l’hyène or la hyène ‘hyena,’ d’hier or de hier ‘yesterday,’ l’ouate or la ouate ‘cotton-wool,’ and so on. Finally, to complete the picture, we should note certain additional structures, such as acronyms or metalinguistic usages (where forms are cited as linguistic objects) in which, despite the presence of an initial vowel, neither liaison nor elision occurs: les SDF réclament ‘the homeless ask for’ /le'sde'f¯eklam/; il a dit

Consonants

‘envers’ non ‘envoi’ ‘He said envers, not envoi’. /iladi#v'¯nn#vwa/, and so on. This behaviour affects the use of numbers and letters in particular, a situation that serves to confirm the complexity of ‘aspiration’ in general: le onze ‘eleven’ /l‹nz/, not */lnz/; son onzième ‘eleventh’ /snnzj'm/, not */snnnzj'm/; le h ‘letter h’ /l‹a5/; du y ‘letter y’ /dyig¯'k/, not de l’y */d‹lig¯'k/, for example. As might be expected, the situation here is still far from stable. We find page onze ‘page eleven’ /pa
5.4.2

5.4.2 Historical Comments Regarding < h >

An examination of the lists in (17 – 18) indicates that many of the aspirate-h words have a non-French or borrowed ‘flavour,’ while the nonaspirates (with the obvious exceptions of hertz and heimatlos) appear more Latinate. This impression is correct: nonaspirate words are largely derived from Latin and in the general history of the language lost the [h] very early (i.e., during the late Empire, prior to the diversification of the Romance languages, much less the beginnings of French). Since the [h] had disappeared, these words were consequently vowel-initial and free to participate in the historical processes conditioned by the presence of a vowel that led to the phenomena of liaison and elision so characteristic of French. On the other hand, the majority of the aspirate forms arise from Germanic or other loan words and were introduced into the language after the loss of the original Latin [h]. As a consequence, this segment was not deleted by the initial historical process, and was present phonetically when liaison and elision were implemented. Aspirate-h words, that is, were in fact consonant-initial at this early stage, and the [h], just like other consonants, blocked liaison and elision. When this [h] was itself subsequently lost, liaison and elision had ‘hardened’ (i.e., were no longer fully productive) so the newly appearing vowel-initial words resulting from the second loss of [h] failed to be affected and preserved their idiosyncratic status. As we have noted, this marked status leads to some fluctuation in their current behaviour, but not (yet) to full regularization. In this and other respects, the current lexicon of SF is a mixture of forms reflecting different historical stages and processes. This mixture, particularly the aberrant status of the aspirate-h forms, has led to various theoretical proposals, the most abstract of which seek to assimilate these forms to consonantinitial words through the introduction of a ‘phantom’ consonant. While there is no room to debate these issues here, one might argue that the best solution is simply to recognize aspirate words as exceptional (a status confirmed by the changes they are undergoing) and to mark them as lexically distinct, a solution adopted by lexicographers but resisted by phonologists, who prefer, in many cases, to seek generalizations while minimizing or ignoring sets of lexical (and other) exceptions.

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5.5

5.5 Final Consonants

With the possible exception of schwa, no topic has more preoccupied students of French than the behaviour of final consonants. Most attention has gone to liaison, and we will devote ample time to that matter in due course. First, however, we must review a somewhat more prosaic issue – word-final consonants in general: their stability, role in the morphology, and relation to the orthography. As (2) in section 5.0 above makes clear, all SF consonants may appear in word-final position and three of them (/¯ t l/) are very frequent, whether considered lexically or textually. Statistics gleaned from Juilland (1965) also allow the conclusion that SF has no major sanctions on closed syllables, despite claims that it is primarily an open syllable language. (As might be expected on typological grounds, open syllables are more frequent, but there also exist productive processes, such as schwa deletion and the formation of acronyms and abbreviations, that produce closed syllables.) The situation is complicated by the role of orthographic < e >, which, in the great majority of cases, does not result in an open syllable phonologically but is instead an indication that the final (orthographic) consonant is to be pronounced. The issue is not, therefore, one of phonotactics, but rather one of lexical representation: which specific words end in which consonants? After the basic division into vowel-final28 and consonant-final morphemes (e.g., agenda /a<'da/, zéro /zero/ versus arc ‘bow’ /a¯k/, fat ‘smug’ /fat/), we must divide consonant-final morphemes into two fundamental groups defined on the basis of their phonological behaviour: those that end in a permanent consonant (vite ‘quickly,’ dame ‘woman,’ ville ‘city,’ père ‘father,’ net ‘clean,’ islam ‘Islam,’ fil ‘thread,’ hiver ‘winter,’ etc.) and those whose final consonant is latent, unstable or, in modern parlance, floating (we will use the term ‘latent’). The former type of consonant is present in all realizations of the morpheme in question;29 the latter varies – present in certain phonological, morphosyntactic or lexical contexts, absent in others.

5.5.1

5.5.1 Stable Final Consonants

As the name implies, stable consonants are not subject to variation – they are permanent parts of the morphemes or words in question. Among these consonants, there is a further division to be made, linked to the orthography. The most straightforward group of words with stable final consonants ends not in the consonant itself, but in orthographic < e >.30 A second set contains ‘bare’ consonants in the orthography, and the difficulty here is to distinguish between bare consonants that are stable and those that are latent. The examples in (21) illustrate the two types of stable consonants.

Consonants

(21) Stable consonants 31 (a) word-final < e >

(b) ‘bare’ consonants

/p/ crêpe

‘crepe’

cap

‘cape’

/t/ gîte

‘shelter’

mat

‘dull’

/k/ banque

‘bank’

cognac

‘cognac’

/b/ robe

‘dress’

snob

‘snob’

/d/ vide

‘empty’

bled

‘village’

/g/ bague

‘ring’

zinc /z'g/, erg ‘zinc, erg’

/f/ gaffe

‘blunder’

soif

‘thirst’

/s/ bouillabaisse

‘fish soup’

atlas

‘atlas’

/5/ riche

‘rich’

Foch

(surname)

/v/ rive

‘shore’

Kiev

‘Kiev’

/z/ trapèze

‘trapezoid’

gaz

‘gas’

/
‘judge’

hadj (/ad
‘haj’

/m/ femme

‘woman’

islam

‘Islam’

/n/ baleine

‘whale’

lichen

‘lichen’

/Õ/ cagne

‘preparatory course’

—

/l/ rafale

gust’

bal

‘dance’

/¯/ mère

‘mother’

mer

‘sea’

As indicated, one major difficulty in dealing with the group in (21b) involves the relationship between the orthography and the phonology. How does one know when to pronounce bare final consonants? While ultimately there will be some arbitrariness in the phonological patterning, there are also generalizations to be extracted from this material. In what follows, we refer, in summary form, to Tranel (1987: 154 – 67 and to Moody (1978).32 Those interested in further details should consult the original sources. Much of this data will identify latent rather than stable consonants; we will deal with the former in the next section. As for stable consonants, the lexical entries for these words pose no problem: the consonant in question is directly included in the phonological representation without need for further specification as to its status.

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(22) Realization of bare orthographic consonants B: rare; normally pronounced (exception: plomb ‘lead’ /pln/) C: relatively rare; pronunciation varies (parc ‘park’ /pa¯k/ versus porc ‘pig’ /pn¯/); silent after nasal vowels (banc ‘bank’ /b#/), with the exception of donc ‘therefore,’ usually /dnk/ D: relatively rare; normally silent (exceptions: sud ‘south,’ week-end, other loan words, and liaison [grand homme ‘big man,’ prend-il ‘is he taking’] where it is pronounced /t/) F: relatively rare; normally pronounced (exceptions: clef ‘key’[also clé], nerf ‘nerve’) G: relatively frequent; pronounced after vowels; silent after < r > (with the exception of erg /'¯g/) and < n >; (suffix -ing is /i0/) K: rare; always pronounced (e.g., bifteck ‘steak’) L: relatively frequent; normally pronounced (exceptions: cul ‘ass,’ soûl ‘drunk,’ and several words in < -il >: fusil ‘rifle,’ outil ‘tool,’ gentil ‘kind,’ etc.) M: rare; pronunciation varies (maximum /maksimnm/ versus parfum ‘perfume’ /pa¯f/); use of final < m > to indicate nasalization of preceding vowel (faim ‘hunger’ /f'/) N: frequent; normally indicates nasalization of the preceding vowel (bon ‘good’ /bn/, fin ‘end’ /f'/, an ‘year’ /#/), except polysyllabic words in < Cen > are /C'n/ (abdomen /abdnm'n/, pollen /pnl'n/; exception: examen ‘examination’ /egzam'); normally pronounced in English loans (gin /d, which yield the possibilities /e/, /'¯/, /œ¯/: /e/ in infinitives in < -er > (parler ‘to speak’ /pa¯le/); the adjectives dernier ‘last’ /d'¯nje/, entier ‘whole’ /#tje/, leger ‘light’ /le<e/, premier ‘first’ /p¯‹mje/; and the suffixes -ier and -er (croupier /k¯upje/, boucher ‘butcher’ /bu5e/); /'¯/ elsewhere (cher ‘expensive’ /5'¯/, fier ‘proud’ /fj'¯/, enfer ‘Hell’ /#f'¯/, hiver ‘winter’ /iv'¯/, gangster /g#gst'¯/, revolver /¯evnlv'¯/), except for some English loans in < -er >, were it is /œ¯/ (leader /lidœ¯/, speaker /spikœ¯/)

Consonants

S: very frequent and variable; situation complicated by the use of < s > as an inflectional marker for plurals and second person singular verb forms; extensive liaison; silent (except for liaison) in plural endings, verb endings, adverbs, and prepositions (e.g., alors ‘then,’ toujours ‘always,’ dans ‘in,’ vers ‘towards’; exception: jadis ‘formerly’ / (e.g., Français ‘Frenchman,’ bois ‘wood’), and adjectives (e.g., bas ‘low,’ épais ‘thick,’ gros ‘fat,’ confus ‘confused’); pronounced in words ending in < -ss, -ps > (e.g., express ‘fast train,’ laps ‘lapse’); variable elsewhere (ours ‘bear’ /u¯s/ – secours ‘help’ /s‹ku¯/, virus /vi¯ys/ – abus ‘abuse’ /aby/, vis ‘screw’ /vis/ – avis ‘opinion’ /avi/, pataquès ‘mistaken liaison’ /patak's/ – progrès ‘progress’ /p¯ng¯'/, and many others), but more frequently silent in these cases T: like < s >, very frequent and variable; extensive use as third person inflectional marker (il peut, ils peuvent ‘he/they can’), where it is always silent (except in liaison); normally silent in words ending in < ait, aut, uit, oit, et, ot, at > (souhait ‘wish,’ haut ‘high,’ fruit, droit ‘right,’ guichet ‘counter,’ sot ‘silly,’ chat ‘cat’), after nasal vowels (gant ‘glove,’ vent ‘wind’), and after < r > (art, vert ‘green’); normally pronounced following < c, l, p, s > (correct, contact, volt, abrupt, concept, ouest ‘west,’ test; exceptions: distinct /dist'/, succinct /syks'/, exact /'gza(kt)/, suspect /sysp'(kt)/, il est ‘he is’ /il'/); variable elsewhere (déficit /defisit/ – esprit ‘mind’ /'sp¯i/, knock-out /knnkut/ – debout ‘standing’ /d‹bu/, brut /b¯yt/ – début /deby/, etc.) X: relatively frequent; pronounced /s/ in six ‘six’ /sis/, dix ‘ten’ /dis/, pronounced /ks/ in learned forms (thorax /tn¯aks/, sphinx /sf'ks/, larynx /la¯'ks/, phénix ‘phoenix’ /feniks/); normally silent elsewhere, including as a plural or verb ending (choux ‘cabbage,’ je veux ‘I want,’ prix ‘price,’ paix ‘peace,’ voix ‘voice,’ faux ‘false,’ doux ‘soft,’ deux ‘two’) Z: rare; pronounced in fez /f'z/, gaz ‘gas’ /gaz/, jazz /d, assez ‘enough,’ chez ‘at’ (except in liaison), rez-de-chaussée ‘ground floor,’ raz de marée ‘tidal wave’ (< h > is rare in isolation (e.g., Allah), and never pronounced; in combination with < c > it varies between /k/ (varech ‘seaweed’), /5/ (Foch), and /t5/ (match); in combination with < t > it is always /t/ (zénith); < j > and < w > do not occur word-finally; < v > is very rare, limited to loan words (e.g., Kiev, Tel-Aviv) and always pronounced.) A subsidiary issue that arises in this context involves consonants whose pronunciation is optional in final position. A list illustrating this phenomenon appears in (23).

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(23) Optional final consonants33 almanach

/almana(k)/

‘almanac’

ananas

/anana(s)/

‘pineapple’

août

/u(t)/

‘August’

but

/by(t)/

‘goal’

Cassis

/kasi(s)/

(city name)

cerf

/s'¯(f)/

‘stag’

fait

/f'(t)/

‘event’

fat

/fa(t)/

‘smug’

joug

/
‘yoke

legs

/l'(g)/

‘legacy’

nombril

/nnb¯i(l)/

‘navel’

os (plural) /o/ or /ns/

‘bones’

radoub

/¯adu(b)/

‘refitting’

serf

/s'¯(f)/

‘serf’

sourcil

/su¯si(l)/

‘eyebrow’

yaourt

/jau¯(t)/

‘yogurt’

Tranel (1987: 154–67) provides a brief and useful summary of the principal generalizations involving bare final consonants, useful in particular for learners of French as a second language. He notes, for example, that (with the exception of liaison) grammatical markers are usually silent; that final consonants are usually silent in adjectives and are usually pronounced in borrowed or learned words; that < s > and < t > present the greatest difficulty; and that, in statistical terms, the consonants most likely to be pronounced are < b, c, f, k, l, m, q, r >. These remarks apply to bare word-final consonants. When we examine morphologically more complex structures, however, we find that many of the silent consonants can, in fact, make an appearance.

5.5.2

5.5.2 Latent Final Consonants

Latent consonants in French raise a number of fascinating theoretical problems. Simply put, are they present in lexical representations and deleted in those contexts where they are not pronounced? Are they absent from lexical representations and inserted when needed? Is there a mixed solution paralleling both inserted and deleted schwas? Does the grammar list both forms (or all

Consonants

forms, if more than two are involved) and establish some more abstract link between them, including a specification of the contexts in which they appear? What type of generalizations are we seeking to identify? Consider, for example, the pairs petit – petite ‘small’ or vert – verte ‘green’. The final consonants in petit and vert clearly qualify as latent, but what about the /t/ in petite, followed by < e >? Since this form (the feminine) is exclusively /p‹tit/, is the final consonant stable or latent? As to vert – verte, what does the form verdure ‘greenery’ imply? These questions, about which opinion still seems divided, will find no answer in the descriptively oriented material presented here, but they may help to illuminate the patterns and complexities involved. In particular, the frequency, range of distribution, and importance of latent consonants should become evident. Latent consonants are realized in a variety of contexts in French, contexts involving both inflectional and derivational morphology as well as syntax. For the latter case, which involves liaison, we will postpone the discussion to the next section. Here, we will examine latent consonants in inflectional and derivational processes. Historically, latent consonants became latent because consonants were deleted in preconsonantal position and at the end of phonological phrases, but retained before vowels. When these deletion processes developed, final < e > was still realized as a vowel (i.e., schwa), and schwa served to block deletion. It is with the subsequent deletion of schwa that many of the complexities arise, particularly when the relationship between orthography and pronunciation is considered: petit – petite but /p‹ti/ - /p‹tit/, where in the first pair a final orthographic consonant is present in both cases. Be that as it may, three major inflectional processes in French involve the presence or absence of a latent consonant, a C – Ø alternation (or, in orthographic terms, a < C# > – < Ce > or < C# > – < CV > alternation). They include the formation of (a) feminine adjectives (and nouns), and of (b) plural and subjunctive forms of verbs.34 These inflectional contexts are illustrated in (24). (24) Latent consonants in inflection (a) adjectives /t/

/z/

haut

‘high’

creux

‘hollow’

dissout

‘dissolved’

acquis

‘acquired’

plat

‘flat’

confus

‘confused’

court

‘short’

jaloux

‘jealous’

fort

‘strong’

clos

‘closed’

vert

‘green’

/s/

cuit

‘cooked’

doux

‘soft’

petit

‘small’

gros

‘fat’

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abstrait

‘abstract’

bas

‘low’

absent

‘absent’

épais

‘thick’

saint

‘holy’

épars

‘sparse’

défunt

‘deceased’

divers

‘varied’

gras

‘fatty’

tiers

‘third’

/o/ – /nV/ sot

‘foolish’

idiot

‘idiotic’ M

/d/ chaud

‘hot’

franc

froid

‘cold’

5

picard

‘Picard’

franc

‘frank’

laid

‘ugly’

blanc

‘white’

blond

‘blond’

frais

‘fresh’

grand

‘big’

/g/

' – /'P

long

vain

‘vain’

/j/

urbain

‘urban’

gentil

/'/ – /in/

‘Frankish’

‘long’ ‘kind’

/l/

fin

‘thin’

alpin

‘alpine’

malin

‘shrewd’

// – /yn/

soûl

‘drunk’

/e/ – '¯ léger

‘light’

un

‘one’

premier

‘first’

chacun

‘each’

gaucher

‘left-handed’

/n/ – /nn/

/o/ – /'N/

bon

‘good’

beau

‘handsome’

breton

‘Breton’

nouveau

‘new’

/#/ – /an/

/u/ – /nl/

catalan

‘Catalan’

fou

‘foolish’

paysan

‘rustic’

mou

‘soft’

Consonants

/-kt/ abject

‘abject’

suspect

‘suspect’

exact

‘exact’

distinct

‘distinct’

Suffixes: -ier/-ière

prisonier

/-je/ – /-j'¯/

‘prisoner’

-ain/-aine

hautain

/-'/ – /-'n/

‘haughty’

-éen/-éenne

européen

/-e'-/ – /-e'n/

‘European’

-ien/-ienne

canadien

/-j'/ – /-j'n/

‘Canadian’

-eux/-euse

amoureux

/-ø/ – /-øz/

‘in love with’

-ais/-aise

libanais

/-'/ – /-'z/

‘Lebanese’

-ant/-ante

agissant

/-#/ – /-#t/

‘active’

-in/-ine

blondin

/-'/ – /-in/

‘fair-haired’35

(b) plural and subjunctive verb forms rompt

rompent

rompe

/p/

‘break’

met

mettent

mette

/t/

‘put’

part

partent

parte

/t/

‘leave’

vainc

vainquent

vainque

/k/

‘conquer’

répand

répandent

répande

/d/

‘spread’

mord

mordent

morde

/d/

‘bite’

écrit

écrivent

écrive

/v/

‘write’

sert

servent

serve

/v/

‘serve’

finit

finissent

finisse

/s/

‘finish

connaît

connaissent

connaisse

/s/

‘know’

lit

lisent

lise

/z/

‘read’

dors

dorment

dorme

/m/

‘sleep’

prend

prennent

prenne

/n/

‘take’

vient

viennent

vienne

/n/

‘come’

feint

feignent

feigne

/Õ/

‘pretend’

bout

bouillent

bouille

/j/

‘boil’

sait

savent

sache

/v – 5/ ‘know’36

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Latent consonants also surface in many derived forms, particularly given that the great majority of French derivational suffixes, both learned and popular, begin with a vowel. The number of latent consonants that appear in this way is surprisingly large, so much so that many vowel-final items as well as many of those with supposedly silent orthographic consonants in (20) above actually manifest a consonant in a variety of forms, not all of which contain the phonological equivalent of the letter involved (e.g., nu – nudité ‘nude – nudity’; vie – vital ‘life – vital’; chaos – chaotique ‘chaos – chaotic’; tabac – tabagie – tabatière ‘tobacco – smoke shop – snuff box’; etc.). In the same vein, the consonant appearing in derivation will, in normal cases, be identical to that appearing in inflection (and liaison), but not always (vert – verte – verdure; jus – jusée – juteux ‘juice – liquid used in tanning leather – juicy’). Derivational examples are given in (25). (25) Latent consonants in derivation abandon

abandonner

‘desertion – to abandon’

abricot

abricotier

‘apricot – apricot tree’

absolu

absolutisme

‘absolute – absolutism’

abus

abuser

‘abuse – to abuse’

an

annuel

‘year – annual’

bénin

bénignité

‘benign – mildness’

biseau

biseauter

‘bevel – to bevel’

blanc

blanchir

‘white – to whiten’

blond

blondin

‘blond – fair-haired’

bois

boisé

‘wood – wooded’

bras

brassard

‘arm – armband’

caoutchouc

caoutchouter

‘rubber – to rubberize’

chocolat

chocolatier

‘chocolate – chocolate maker’

clef

clavier

‘key – keyboard’

clin

cligner

‘wink – to blink’

cul

culotte

‘ass – shorts’

dos

adosser

‘back – to lean against’

écrit

écrivain

‘writes – writer’

étain

étamer

‘pewter – to tin-plate’

fusil

fusiller

‘rifle – to shoot’

Consonants

gai

égayer

‘gay – to cheer up’

gentil

gentillesse

‘kind – kindness’

humain

humanité

‘human – humanity’

instinct

instinctif

‘instinct – instinctive’

jonc

jonchaie

‘rush – reedbed’

jour

journée

‘day – day’

jus

juteux

‘juice – juicy’

loup

louveteau

‘wolf – wolf cub’

nu

nudité

‘nude – nudity’

parfum

parfumerie

‘perfume – perfume shop’

plomb

plombage

‘lead – filling’

piano

pianoter

‘piano – to tinkle at the piano’

pied

piétiner

‘foot – to stamp one’s foot’

sang

sanglant

‘blood – bloody’

soûl

soûler

‘drunk – to intoxicate’

tabac

tabagie

‘tobacco – smoke shop’

un

unième

‘one – first’

vie

vitalité

‘life – vitality

voisin

voisinage

‘neighbour – neighbourhood’

zéro

zérotage

‘zero – zero setting’

In most cases, the relationship between the latent consonant and the orthography is clear, and the orthography provides a direct indication of the specific consonant to appear in derived forms. In several cases, however, either a consonant different from the orthography of the base form appears (caoutchouc-caoutchouter, clin-cligner, étain-étamer,37 jonc-jonchaie, jour-journée, jus-juteux, tabac-tabagie-tabatière, etc.), or no consonant is present in the base (absoluabsolutisme, biseau-biseauter, nu-nudité, zéro-zéroter, etc.). Here, again, learners are confronted with arbitrary lexical occurrences reflecting the history of the items in question. Before turning to the last topic, enchaînement and liaison, one further discussion related to final consonants and their history is in order. This discussion involves and alternation of /al – 'l – ‹l/ with /o/ or /ø/. Strictly speaking, this phenomenon involves instances of /l/ that are (or were historically) in syllable codas either at the end of words or in preconsonantal position, rather than /l/ in strictly word-final position. SF presents a number of words where such preconsonantal /l/s and the vowel that precedes

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them often show the effects of a historical change leading to an alternation with /o/ or /ø/. Synchronically, we find here the historical remnants of a process, no longer productive, where in OF the phoneme /l/ had two variants, a ‘light’ or apical [l] and a ‘dark’ or heavily velarized [NÏ] (comparable to English pill [p+NÏ] or milk [m+NÏk]), the latter occurring before consonants (in OF, final < s > [subsequently < x > in many cases], was pronounced /s/; deletion of this /s/ is a later occurrence). In the course of time, the velarized allophone weakened to [w], a closely related sound acoustically and articulatorily, and this new glide combined with a preceding vowel to form a diphthong. These new diphthongs were often identified with existing diphthongs and followed the same evolutionary path, notably in monophthongizing to /o/ or /ø/ as the case may be. Thus, the OF plural of animal was animals, with the [NÏ] vocalizing to [w]. The resultant diphthong [aw] monophthongized to [o] (as did additional diphthongs from other sources: e.g., Latin causa, aurum > French chose ‘thing,’ or ‘gold’). Likewise Gallo-Roman els (< illos) > OF [ews] els > eus > SF [ø] eux. The orthographic < x > in each of these cases is a medieval rendering of the < s > (usually a case marker) following < u > and was reinterpreted as the letter < x >. Various types of examples are given in (26). (26) Alternations involving /l/ (a) singular – plural alternations (nouns and adjectives) animal

animaux

‘animal’

capital

capitaux

‘capital’

cheval

chevaux

‘horse’

ciel

cieux

‘sky – heavens’

journal

journaux

‘newspaper’

national

nationaux

‘national’

oral

oraux

‘oral’

original

originaux

‘original’

signal

signaux

‘signal’

social

sociaux

‘social’

(b) derivationally related forms altitude

haut

‘altitude – high’

châtelain

châteaux

‘lord of the manor – castles’

ciseler

ciseaux

‘to chisel – scissors’

coutellerie

couteaux

‘cutlery – knives’

crénelé

créneaux

‘crenelated – crenels’

Consonants

falsifier

faux

‘to falsify – false’

fuseler

fuseaux

‘to taper – spindles’

héraldique

héraut

‘heraldry – herald’

jumeler

jumeaux

‘to twin – twins’

loyal

loyauté

‘loyal – loyalty’

morceler

morceaux

‘to divide up – pieces’

niveler

niveaux

‘to level – levels’

sceller

sceaux

‘to seal – seals’

chevelure

cheveu

‘head of hair – hair’

(c) additional inflectionally related forms celle

ceux

‘this one – these’

elles

eux

‘them (f.) – them (m.)’

falloir

il faut

‘to be necessary – it’s necessary’

meilleur

mieux

‘better – best’

valoir

il vaut

‘to be worth – it’s worth’

voulons

veut

‘we want – want’

Exceptions to the vocalization exemplified in (26) are seen in two areas: learned forms such as altitude or falsifier, which entered the language subsequent to the process in question, and analogical reformations like cheveu, niveau, sceau, where the singular was remodeled on the basis of the plural. In any event, we have here another example of apparent irregularities in SF that, in a historical context, reflect regular phonological change, analogical restructuring, and learned loan words. The synchronic structure of SF contains many such mixtures and provides many internal clues to the history of the language.38 Finally, after this brief excursus, we arrive at liaison, a complex domain with links to virtually every problematic aspect of French phonological structure. Since liaison is closely allied with enchaînement (in terms of issues of syllabification, for example) we will treat the two topics together.

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5.6

5.6 Linking Phenomena: Enchaînement and Liaison

Enchaînement and liaison reflect the difference between stable and latent final consonants. Enchaînement involves stable consonants, while liaison involves latent consonants, but the contexts that determine their behaviour are identical: both types of word-final consonant are linked or resyllabified to the following vowel, within but not between phonological phrases.39 The difference between enchaînement and liaison is illustrated in (27). (27) Enchaînement versus liaison (a) enchaînement jeune enfant

/<œ.n#f#/

‘young child’

vite égaré

/vi.tega¯e/

‘quickly led astray’

seize enfants

/s'.z#f#/

‘sixteen children’

petite orange

/p‹ti.tn¯#
‘small orange’

bon enfant

/bn.n#f#/

‘good child’

petit éléphant

/p‹ti.telef#/

‘small elephant’

six enfants

/si.z#f#/

‘six children’

petit orage

/p‹ti.tn¯a
‘small storm’

(b) liaison

In the present context, enchaînement raises few issues we have not already seen in earlier sections, particularly those dealing with (re)syllabification and the domains within which it operates. As a consequence, we now turn our attention to a more detailed consideration of liaison.

5.7

5.7 Liaison

Liaison in French is clearly one of the most extensively studied of external sandhi phenomena, in part because of its fascinating complexity, in part because of its theoretical implications. Any attempt to deal with liaison must immediately confront semantic, syntactic, morphological, phonological, lexical, orthographic, historical, and stylistic questions, even in a variety of the language as highly circumscribed (and thoroughly analyzed) as Standard French. Liaison is normally described as follows:

Consonants

Liaison involves the phonetic realization of a word-final consonant that is normally silent. When such a latent consonant precedes a vowel-initial word within the same phonological phrase, it is pronounced. When the consonant is pronounced, it is syllabified with the following vowel as the syllable onset, not with the preceding vowel as part of the coda, despite the intervening morphological or syntactic boundaries.40 Already in this descriptively oriented statement, we see the emergence of a number of complex issues, not all of which we can address here. What precisely, for example, does ‘latent’ mean in this context? Since many of the major participants in liaison are cliticized articles and pronouns, how do they relate to the notion ‘word-final’? How are phonological phrases defined? How do syllabification and resyllabification take place? The situation is further complicated by the traditional tripartite classification of liaison into ‘obligatory,’ ‘optional,’ and ‘prohibited’. It might seem that the apparent categorical nature of the first and last types renders them more straightforward, but this is not the case, since an important lexical or item-specific component (i.e., exceptions) enters into play in both domains, as do questions of the definition of the phonological phrase. In optional liaison, moreover, stylistic factors (level of usage, rapidity of speech, etc.), as well as the variable constitution of phrases (the decision to combine two or more minimal phrases into one longer one) complicate matters still more. Such questions serve to indicate why phonological theorists have been so preoccupied with this topic. For our purposes, however, it will suffice to provide a description of the main constraints involved in a description of liaison phenomena. (28) Central properties of liaison 41 (a) Liaison is a prototypical phrasal phenomenon: it takes place across word boundaries within phonological phrases but never occurs across phrase boundaries:42 || Sans ces_accords || | || aucune solution n’est possible.|| /s#.se.za.kn¯. || | || o.kyn.sn.ly.sjn.n'.pn.sibl./ ‘Without these agreements, no solution is possible.’ || les recherches realisées || | || en_attendant le résultat de l’enquête || /le¯.5'¯5.¯e.a.li.ze. || | || #.na.t#.d#l.¯e.zyl.tad.l#.k't./ ‘the tests done while waiting for the results of the inquiry’ || Je n’ai pas de temps || | || á perdre. || /
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(b) Some potential instances of liaison (within phrases) are obligatorily realized, some are prohibited, and some are optionally realized (with varying degrees of frequency): (i) obligatory: •

•

•

determiner (+ adjective) + noun aux_enfants

/o.z#f#/

‘to the children’

ses_élèves

/se.zel'v/

‘his students’

un grand_ami

/g¯#.tami/

‘great friend’

les petits_amis

/lepti.zami/

‘the small friends’

(subject pronoun) (+ object pronoun) + verb (+ object pronoun) nous_arrivons

/nu.za¯ivn/

‘we arrive’

elles_insistent

/'l.z'sist/

‘they insist’

on_appelle

/n.nap'l/

‘Someone’s calling.’

je les_ai vus

/<‹le.zevy/

‘I saw them.’

nous_en_avons

/nu.z#.navn/

‘We have some.’

il nous_embête

/ilnu.z#b't/

‘He’s bothering us.’

vivent_elles

/viv.t'l/

‘do they live’

allez_y

/ale.zi/

‘go ahead’

prenez_en

/p¯‹ne.z#/

‘take some’

monosyllabic preposition + following word dans_un_instant /d#.z.n'st#/

‘in an instant’

sous_un_arbre

/su.z.na¯b¯/ ‘under a tree’

en_Espagne

/#.n'spaÕ/

‘in Spain’

sans_hésitation

/s#.zezitasjn/

‘without hesitation’

(ii) prohibited: •

between a singular noun + adjective un bois | immense

/bwaim#s/

‘an enormous wood’

une voix | élevée

/ynvwaelve/

‘a raised voice’

ce banc | ombragé

/s‹b#nb¯a<e/

‘this shady bench’

un temps | idéal

/t#ideal

‘ideal weather’

le drap | effilé

/l‹d¯aefile/

‘the frayed cloth’

Consonants

•

•

in plurals of compound words des arcs | en-ciel

/deza¯k#sj'l/

‘rainbows’

les porcs | épics

/lepn¯kepik/

‘porcupines’

les salles | à manger

/lesalam#<e/

‘dining rooms’

les moulins | à vent

/lemul'av#/

‘windmills’

with proper nouns, acronyms, citations, metalinguistic usage, etc. Paris | est une grande ville

/pa¯i'tyng¯#dvil/

‘Paris is a large city.’ les | SDF réclament...

/le'sde'f¯eklam/

‘the homeless ask for…’ ses | “Ah, je le vois” ne me convainquent plus /sea<‹lvwa…/ ‘His “oh, I see” doesn’t convince me any more.’ il a dit | “envers” non | “envoi”

/iladi#v'¯nn#vwa/

‘He said “envers”, not “envoi”.’ •

when the word ends in /¯/ + consonant vers Angers

/v'.¯#<e/

‘towards Angers’

bourg animé

/bu.¯anime/

‘lively city’

rapport exact

/¯apn.¯'gza/

‘exact connection’

(Note: when the final consonant is the plural maker < s >, liaison occurs: rapports exacts /¯apn¯.z'gza/; in the absence of liaison, the /¯/ resyllabifies.) (iii) optional: •

•

after verb forms je suis (|) en colère

/<‹5ÄK(z)#MnN'¯

‘I’m angry.’

ils vivent (|) à Paris

/ilviv(.t)apa¯i/

‘They live in Paris.’

elles_étaient (|) allées

/'lzet'(.t)ale/

‘they had gone’

after polysyllabic prepositions pendant (|) un repas

/p#d#(.t)¯‹pa/

‘during a meal’

durant (|) une heure

/dy¯#(.t)ynœ¯/

‘for an hour’

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•

after specific words long (|) hiver

/ln(.g)iv'¯/

‘long winter’

il m’a beaucoup (|) impressionné /ilmaboku.(p)'R¯'ULnPG ‘He impressed me greatly.’ (c) certain structures, classes of words, or individual words provide systematic or variable exceptions to liaison: •

adjective + noun versus noun + adjective un petit[Adj]_Irlandais[N] – un petit[N] | irlandais[Adj] ‘a small Irishman – a small person who is Irish’ /pti.ti¯l#d'/ – /ptii¯l#d'/

•

compound words

•

aspirate-h words

•

polysyllabic prepositions

•

et, trop, oui, vers, avant, selon, etc.: groupes écologistes | et | associations

/g¯upeknln
‘ecological groups and associations’ elle sort | et | il s’en va

/'lsn¯e'ls#va/

‘she goes out and he leaves’ des | ouis catégoriques

/dewikategn¯ik/

‘categorical yesses’ (compare l’ouie /lwi/) les | oui-dire

/lewidi¯/

‘hearsay’ (d) liaison is associated with item-specific allomorphy: ma/ta/sa + V, ce, beau, nouveau, vieux, etc. mon_affaire (f.) /mn.naf'¯/

‘my business’

cet_élément

/s'.telem#/

‘this element’

bel_enfant

/b'.l#f#/

‘handsome child’

nouvel_objectif

/nuv'.lnb<'ktif/ ‘new objective’

vieil_homme

/vj'.jnm/

‘old man’

Consonants

(e) the realization of a liaison consonant may occur without associated resyllabification (liaison sans enchaînement)43: j’avais /z/ un rêve

/
‘I had a dream.’

nous voulons /z/ entendre /nuvulnz.Ct#d¯C/ ‘We want to hear.’ il est /t/ inscrit

/il't.'sk¯i/

‘He’s registered.’

ont /t/ abouti

/nt.abuti/

‘have succeeded’

il faut /t/ encourager

/ilfot.#ku¯a<e/

‘one must encourage’

qui sont /t/ en vérité

/kisnV#ve¯ite/

‘which are, in truth’

dans son /n/ interprétation /d#snn.'t'¯p¯etasjn/ ‘in his interpretation’ (f) widespread ‘erroneous’ overapplication of liaison (so-called fausse liaison, cuirs, velours, pataquès, plus extension to aspirate-h forms) occurs. This behaviour frequently appears in the speech of those who have not fully mastered the formal variety of the language when they try to speak more ‘correctly’ than they normally do:44 je ne sais pas /t/ à qui est-ce

/<‹ns'pa.taki's/

‘I don’t know whose it is.’ c’est pas /t/ à moi

/s'pa.tamwa/

‘It’s not mine.’ elle devra /t/ être présente

/'ld‹v¯a.t't¯‹p¯ez#/

‘She should be present.’ ils étaient /z/ amis

/ilzet'zami/

‘They were friends.’ lorsque j’y ai /z/ été

/ln¯sk‹
‘when I was there’ sous une forme ou /z/ une autre

/suzynfn¯mu.zynot¯/

‘in one form or another’ un fin [t] esprit

/f'.t'sp¯i/

‘a keen mind’ les /z/ Hollandais ‘the Dutch’

/le.znl#d'/

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les allocations aux /z/ handicappés

/…o.z#dikape/

‘the benefits to the handicapped’ ils ont /t/ harcelé

/lizn.ta¯s‹le/

‘they harassed’ le palais tout /t/ hérissé de drapeaux /l‹pal'tu.te¯ised‹d¯apo/ ‘the palace all covered in flags’ (g) a variety of restricted phonological adjustments is associated with liaison, involving nasal vowels, final consonant changes, vowel adjustments, and so on: mon_ami

/mn.nami/

‘my friend’

un_instant

/.n'st#/

‘an instant’

grand_homme

/g¯#.tnm/

‘big man’

six_hommes

/si.znm/

‘six men’

dernier_instant

/d'¯nje.¯'st#/ – /d'¯nj'.¯'st#/ ‘last instant’

premier_étage

/p‹¯mje.¯eta
As we have seen, the relationship between the consonant appearing in liaison and that appearing in derived forms is usually one of identity, a link that simplifies descriptive (and learning) problems. On occasion, however, there are discrepancies. Both types of behaviour are illustrated in (29). (29) Correspondences between liaison and derivational consonants (a) identical consonants petit – petitesse – petit ami /p‹titami/ ‘small – smallness – small friend’ bon – bonifier – bon ami /bnnami/ ‘good – to improve – good friend’ deux – deuxième – deux amies /døzami/ ‘two – second – two friends’ (b) different consonants45 grand – grande – grand homme /g¯#tnm/ ‘big (m.) – big (f.) – big man’ fond – fonder – de fond en comble /d‹fnt#knbl/

Consonants

‘bottom – to found – from top to bottom’ gros – grosse – un gros inconvénient /g¯oz'knvenj#/ ‘big (m.) – big (f.) – a big inconvenience’ Against this heterogeneous background, what are the most salient properties of liaison? First, liaison is not the unified phenomenon that the definition at the beginning of section 5.7.1 might lead us to believe. Although there are clearly systematic aspects to the behaviour of liaison consonants – aspects involving the presence of a following vowel, sensitivity to phonological phrases, syllabification, and so on – each of these properties is also subject to greater or lesser degrees of exceptional behaviour. Recall, for example, the fact that aspirate-h words, despite being phonetically vowel-initial, normally block liaison, or the fact that liaison sans enchaînement results in the realization of a latent consonant without that consonant being resyllabified. Nonetheless, the central properties in (28) above, those that occur consistently, appear to characterize liaison most simply. (Alternatively, learners of French would be well advised to concentrate on the following simplified review of the basic features of liaison.) (30) Basic features of liaison (a) contexts (relatively few lexical items are involved: determiners, prenominal adjectives, numerals, third person verb forms, monosyllabic adverbs and prepositions, idioms): •

•

•

determiners and following elements (nouns, adjectives) les_arbitres

‘the referees’

un_autre jardin

‘an other garden’

tout_autre problème

‘every other problem’

mes_ennemis

‘my enemies’

adjectives and following nouns petit_oiseau

‘small bird’

gros_ennui

‘big problem’

grand_homme

‘big man’

de graves_incidents

‘serious incidents’

six_élèves

‘six students’

pronouns plus verbs vous_allez

‘You’re going.’

elles_arrivent

‘They’re arriving.’

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•

•

•

•

on_est là

‘We’re there.’

vient_elle

‘Is she coming?’

je les_ai vus

‘I saw them.’

following monosyllabic prepositions dans_un_instant

‘in an instant’

en_hiver

‘in winter’

sans_y réfléchir

‘without thinking about it’

sous_un_autre angle

‘from another angle’

following monosyllabic adverbs très_intéressant

‘very interesting’

trop_important

‘too important’

moins_habile

‘less skilful’

plus_exigeant

‘more demanding’

tant_aimée

‘so loved’

bien_aimable

‘very likeable’

the verb form est elle est_arrivée

‘she arrived’

il est_en colère

‘He’s angry.’

in numerous fixed expressions (including most compound words) rien_à faire

‘nothing to do’

comment_allez-vous

‘How are you?’

Etats-Unis

‘United States’

pied-à-terre

‘temporary lodging’

pot-au-feu

‘stew’

vis-à-vis

‘opposite’

(b) morphological role (SF structure dictates that the most frequent occurrences of liaison will signal [or be correlated with] either plural noun or pronominal forms, or third person verb forms): les_éléments

‘the elements’

mes_enfants

‘my children’

ces_indications

‘these indications’

Consonants

elles_arrivent (cf. elle arrive)

‘They arrive.’

ils_indiquent (cf. il indique)

‘They indicate.’

vient_il

‘Is he coming?’

parle-t_elle

‘Is she speaking?’

aux jeunes_élèves (cf. au jeune élève)

‘to the young students’

petites_oranges (cf. petite orange)

‘small oranges’

These morphological functions have the further consequence that /z/ and /t/ are by far the most frequent consonantal participants in liaison, whether it be obligatory or optional.46 (c) influence of the phonological phrase: although the correlation is far from perfect, phonological phrases are closely related to syntactic phrases. Syntactic phrases may, needless to say, be longer or shorter; in rapid or informal speech, minimal phrases may be conjoined to form longer phrases, with consequences for liaison: liaison never occurs at the end of phrases, only between words within phrases. Hence, if minimal phrases are joined into one longer phrase, conditions for liaison may be created, as in the examples below. || songez || au lendemain ||

|| songez_au lendemain ||

‘think about tomorrow’ || ils travaillent || ensemble ||

|| ils travaillent_ensemble ||

‘they work together’ || j’en suis || extrêmement fier ||

|| j’en suis_extrêmement fier ||

I’m very proud of it’ (d) tendencies: there exists a general tendency in SF, except in the most formal style, to reduce the number of optional liaisons. This tendency even extends, in less formal registers, to the elimination of formerly obligatory liaisons (e.g., en | un jour). Against this background, it is less likely to cause comment if one ‘errs’ by failing to make obligatory liaisons than if one over-extends the process. This being said, the cases indicated in (30a) remain central to the phonology of French, and their absence in the language of learners will inevitably have sociolinguistic consequences. This concludes the discussion of liaison and, in fact, of consonants in general. The next topic to be considered involves prosody – a discussion of intonation in particular, as well as a return to elements of stress assignment.

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Notes 1.

The two nasal consonants /Õ 0/ may not be followed by glides, for reasons linked to the way these segments were introduced into the language. There are also gaps in the set of vowels following these glides (the sequences /j', j', wa, w'/ predominate, again for historical reasons), but the absences appear accidental rather than systematic.

2.

As might be expected, some further observations are relevant to this list. For example, many clusters (e.g., hydne ‘hydnum’ (type of mushroom) or axolotl ‘axolotl’) are represented by a single anomalous example. /¯z/ is uniquely found in quatorze ‘fourteen,’ but the frequency of this word makes the cluster appear much less strange than /dn/ or /tl/, to name but two. /0g/ varies with /0/ in words like pouding ‘pudding,’ with the latter pronunciation predominating, in fact. Because of the syntactic constraints on its use, lorsque ‘when’ rarely if ever appears phrase-finally. As a consequence, it will either be followed by a vowel, and pronounced /ln¯.skV/, or by a consonant, in which case a schwa is required and the structure will be /ln¯.sk‹C/. The cluster /¯sk/, in other words, is artificial in final position.

3.

Phrase-initially, schwa is obligatorily retained in the huitième example: le huitième est difficile ‘The eighth is difficult.’ /l‹Äitj'm'difisil/.

4.

These proposals are not mutually exclusive. For preliminary discussion of the first possibility, see Walker (1978); for a theory of the second, Vennemann (1988).

5.

/Õ/ represents a special case, since it assimilates to /n/ upon contact either with the /4/ (the precursor of Modern French /¯/) or epenthetic /d/.

6.

By ‘geminate’ is meant a single articulation whose duration is prolonged, not a repeated or rearticulated consonant. Functionally and phonetically, geminate consonants in French would normally be expected to provide both a syllable-final and a syllable-initial component, by ‘straddling’ the syllable boundary. This appears to be the case except for the geminates arising from the accent d’insistance (see [11] below), which may occur word- and hence syllable-initially (super /ssyp'¯/) and which, when intervocalic, may also be syllable-initial (affreux ‘hideous’ /a.ff¯ø/).

7.

To such forms we might add the geminate /jj/ produced in the imperfect forms of verbs whose stem ends in /j/ (fouillions ‘search,’ travaillions ‘work,’ etc.) although this geminate may simplify, in informal speech, to a single consonant. In fact, the geminate /¯¯/ in these verb forms is also often simplified in less formal contexts.

8.

/Õ/ (< gn >) does occur word-initially, but only in a relatively small number of words of ‘peripheral’ status (slang, onomatopoeia, child language, loans): gnaf ‘cobbler,’ gnangnan ‘soppy,’ gnard ‘brat,’ gnôle ‘hooch,’ gnouf ‘the clink,’ gnocchi ‘gnocchi,’ gnognote ‘useless,’ gnon ‘bash,’ gnaf-gnaf ‘bow-wow,’ etc.

Consonants

9.

The situation is, as usual, somewhat more complicated. On occasion, /Õ/ did occur historically in final position following apocope, but it subsequently merged with /n/ in that position (cf. bain ‘bath’ [OF baign] – baigner, malin – maligne ‘shrewd,’ soin – soigner ‘care,’ gain – gagner ‘wages,’ etc). This merger, along with the other factors leading to the development of /Õ/, accounts for its absence word-finally.

10. Note the presence of < e > (normally deleted) in the case of /Õ/ in preconsonantal and final position. For completeness, we should also note the frequent pronunciation of < gn > as /gn/ in a set of learned words (although /Õ/ and /nj/ occur here too): cognitif /kngnitif/ ‘cognitive,’ diagnostic /djagnnstik/ ‘diagnosis,’ gnostique /gnnstik/ ‘gnostic,’ magnitude /magnityd/, récognition /rekngnisjn/, etc. 11. Malecot (1972) and Malécot and Metz (1972) provide a detailed description of schwa deletion and nasal assimilation in SF as they relate to this data, including the social conditioning of both phenomena. 12. In CF, tradition has it that the assimilation works in the opposite direction – /5/ assimilates to the /v/, which itself weakens to /w/, yielding the notorious /<wal/ joual, a term for both ‘horse’ and for the often stigmatized CF vernacular. 13. There is much variation, both regional and individual, in the pronunciation of the suffix -isme: [isO] or [izm]. 14. The words sbire ‘henchman,’ Sganarelle, sgraffite ‘sgrafitto’ normally begin with /zb/ or/zg/. 15. There is a certain debate in the phonetic and phonological literature concerning the precise realization of these assimilated consonants and their phonological interpretation. According to some (e.g., Valdman [1993: 213]), they remain distinct from their voiced or voiceless correlates respectively, while Carton (1974: 83 – 86, following Martinet) argues for the phonological identity of assimilated and nonassimilated pairs (e.g. /p/ = /D/; /b/ = /R„/). In the former view, devoiced /b/ would remain distinct from /p/ because it remains lax, while /p/ is tense. The other voiceless-voiced pairs behave in a similar fashion. This residual tense-lax distinction explains why certain speakers may distinguish à jeter from acheter: the first contains voiceless but lax /</, while the second has voiceless tense /5/. There has been some study of this matter (Kohler et al. [1979, 1981], as well as Gather [1998], the latter using notions of syllable structure) but further instrumental work would be of benefit. 16. Walter (1976: 410-23), who provides a very detailed description of voicing assimilation, notes that assimilation is more frequent when the consonants in question are not separated by a schwa: greater frequency of assimilation in disgrâce ‘disgrace’ than in tête-bêche ‘head to tail,’ for example.

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17. We exclude certain marginal forms (largely interjections or onomatopoetic items) such as hop!, hé!, hein!, houp-là! which may occur with [h]. 18. On occasion, one may hear, in deliberate speech, a glottal stop preceding aspirate-h words. However, as Malecot (1975) demonstrates, this is part of a more general phenomenon in French, and the presence of glottal stop is clearly not correlated with < h >. 19. Or at least those where orthographic < h > is involved; recall that certain glideinitial words (yacht, watt) also behave as if there were an ‘aspirate’ consonant present. 20. Examples are from Martinet and Walter (1973). Current observers note that many additional words (hollandais, haricot, etc., as well as words with no < h >: iambe, ouatte) also vary. A related type of variation is seen in verbs like houer /we/ or /ue/, huer /Äe/ or /ye/ (both consistently aspirate) where the variation is between an initial vowel or semi-vowel. We omit from this discussion the interesting cases of proper nouns with aspirate-h, cases that bring their own complexities (e.g., variation between aspirate and nonaspirate in several forms such as Hugo, aspiration in hérisson but not in le comte d’Hérisson, and so on). For discussion of the latter items (as well as the phenomenon of < h > in general), see Fouché (1959: 251 – 65, especially 258 ff). 21. From hâte ‘spit,’ leading to the meaning ‘small piece of roast meat’. 22. This acronym, pronounced [a5'l'm], stands for habitation à loyer modéré ‘public housing’. 23. One frequent exception should be noted here: hasard ‘stroke of luck’ is an aspirate-h word (le hasard), but it does show enchaînement with par: /pa.¯aza¯/. 24. This parallelism is not perfect, as there is perhaps no need to say. For example, deletion of the schwa in le is possible before consonant-initial words (c’est le garçon /s'lga¯sn/), but may not occur before aspirate-h words (c’est le héros /s'l‹e¯o/). Thus, aspirate-h words do not always behave as if they were consonant-initial. 25. See Catach (1995: 1148). 26. See Tranel (1981: 286 – 88) for further examples and discussion. 27. Data from Martinet and Walter (1973). 28. For reasons that will become clear shortly, this group is smaller than one might believe, since many putative vowel-final morphemes have derivational variants where the stem ends in a consonant: vie – vital ‘life – vital,’ nu – nudité ‘naked – nudity,’ or even noeud – nodosité ‘knot – node,’ for example.

Consonants

29. To be fully accurate, this statement needs a slight modification: the consonant itself may vary, but some consonant is present in all versions of the morpheme, as in sec ‘dry’: sèche, sèchement, séchoir, sècheresse; loup ‘wolf’: loupiot, louve, louvet, louveteau, louveter, louveterie, etc. 30. Whether this < e > represents schwa – i.e., a phonological segment present in the representation of the forms in question – remains a hotly debated topic. If it does, we need to refer to the conditions under which it is maintained or deleted (as in the preceding chapter). If it does not, we will need to specify the contexts in which it is inserted where needed (e.g., preceding aspirate-h, in VCC#C sequences, and so on). In all likelihood, the best solution is for there to be a mixture of underlying and inserted schwas, not all of which are linked to the presence of < e >. 31. Innumerable comments could be made concerning these forms, some of which will occur in (22) below. Perhaps the simplest observation involves the fact that, with the exception of < r >, bare stable consonants are relatively rare in French compared to those ‘protected’ by < e >. Furthermore, because of a variety of historical processes, certain restrictions apply. For example, < se > does not occur in this list representing /s/, since < VsV > is realized as /Vz(V)/ (hence, bouillabaisse with double < ss >); < c > and < g > do not occur followed by < e > if they are to be interpreted as /k/ or /g/, since < ce > and < ge > represent /s/ and / and < n > are rare in final position since ‘unprotected’ nasal consonants in this context usually indicate nasalization of the preceding vowel; < gn > does not occur as a representative of a bare consonant, since the conditions producing /Õ/ require a following (orthographic) vowel at all times; and so on. 32. Moody is based on a circumscribed data set drawn largely from Savard and Richards (1970), so is less ‘intimidating’ than Tranel, whose more complete data set inevitably contains more exceptions. 33. See Walter (1976: 451–58) for many more examples. Malécot and Richman 1972 provide details of usage, correlated with sociolinguistic factors, for several of these forms. 34. Historically, once again, many adjectives form the feminine by adding an orthographic < e >, and the plural subjunctive verbal suffixes are also vowel initial. (Many additional verb forms [e.g., the imperfect] use vowel-initial suffixes and also provoke the appearance of the latent consonant.) 35. Needless to say, this does not exhaust the problem of latent consonants in noun or adjective formation, but it does give some idea of the nature and extent of the issue. We have not, for example, mentioned the processes involved in the formation of names (Fernand-Fernande, Clément-Clémence, etc.) or the interchange of final consonants (sec-sèche ‘dry,’ actif-active ‘active,’ among others). For much more detail, see Durand (1936).

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36. Once again, we are far from exhausting the implications of latent consonants in the verb conjugation, and give these examples for illustration only. In particular, the latent consonant appears much more widely in the conjugation – in infinitives, in the imperfect, etc. Although the latent consonant is usually constant across all verb forms, this is not always the case: dit-dites-disent ‘say,’ sait-sachent-savent ‘know,’ peut-puisse-peuvent ‘be able,’ etc. Encyclopedic catalogues of the details of the SF conjugation abound; for more general discussion, consult Le Goffic (1997), Martinet (1958b) or Fouché (1967). For initial discussion of the role of latent consonants in the CF vernacular, see Walker (1995). 37. This and the preceding example illustrate the historical process merging wordfinal nasal consonants to /n/, and reflect the phonotactic constraint on /Õ/ discussed above in section 5.2. 38. Here, as elsewhere, we have only scratched the surface of a complicated set of problems. For example, the circumscribed domain of animal names, where the forms for offspring or female animals are often derivationally related to the masculine, provides much additional data: chameau – chamelle ‘camel,’ corbeau – corbillat ‘crow,’ crapaud – crapelet ‘frog,’ hirondeau – hirondelle ‘swallow,’ maquereau – maquerelle ‘mackerel,’ moineau – moinelle ‘sparrow,’ oiseau – oiselle ‘bird,’ etc. Certain forms ending in < ail > (= /aj/), such as bail – baux ‘lease,’ corail – coraux ‘coral,’ travail – travaux ‘work,’ and vitrail – vitraux ‘stained glass window,’ demonstrate that earlier palatalized /l/ also vocalized to [w] under similar coda conditions, while becoming /j/ in others. Finally, the wide existence of plurals ending in < als > rather than < aux > (carnavals ‘carnivals,’ chacals ‘jackals,’ festivals ‘festivals,’ finals ‘final,’ nasals ‘nasal,’ etc.), as well as many forms that vary (vals – vaux ‘valleys,’ idéals – idéaux ‘ideals’), further indicate that the process of vocalization is no longer productive. 39. As expected, aspiration (in the general sense, involving semi-vowels as well) blocks both enchaînement and liaison: sept homards ‘seven lobsters’ /s't.nma¯/ and ces homards ‘these lobsters’ /senma¯/. 40. For definitions of ‘liaison,’ consult Encrevé (1988), Fouché (1959), Tranel (1987), or Valdman (1993), among innumerable others. The description to follow owes much to Klausenburger (1984). Several terminological alternates to ‘phonological phrase’ are also in widespread use, among which the most common are groupe rythmique and groupe accentuel. As we will see, the realization of the liaison consonant must be separated from its enchaînement ‘– i.e., its (re)syllabification with the following vowel – since there exist instances where the former but not the latter occurs. 41. In what follows, _ , (|), and | are used to indicate obligatory, optional, and prohibited liaisons respectively, and || to indicate phonological phrase boundaries. This brief survey is illustrative only, intended to indicate certain properties relevant to our general discussion, not to present a complete survey of the phenomenon.

Consonants

For well-organized discussion of the phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic constraints on liaison, see Esposito (1994), Tranel (1987, chapter 11) or Valdman (1993, chapters 10 and 11). 42. While this formulation is generally true, we should note two types of case where a liaison consonant may be pronounced at a phrase boundary: the celebrated cases of liaison sans enchaînement: je ne l’avais pas entendu ‘I hadn’t heard it’ /<‹n‹lav'paz || #t#dy/ [Encrevé 1988], and the realization of a liaison consonant in parenthetical insertions where, by definition, the liaison consonant is in phraseinitial position (un robust, mais petit, enfant ‘a strong, but small, child’ /'¯nbyst || m'pti || t#f#/ [Pichon 1938]). 43. Examples from Encrevé (1988, chapters I and II). 44. In other words, speakers who normally use popular language produce false liaisons (a type of hypercorrection) when they try to use a formal style that they do not fully control. False liaisons, then, are not characteristic of spontaneous popular usage, but of efforts by speakers of the vernacular to use a formal register that is not a full part of their repertoire. Interestingly, Encrevé (1988) also notes false liaisons in the formal speech of politicians who produce liaison sans enchaînement as well. 45. The sometimes claimed lack of correspondence affecting long (long – longue /g/ – un long hiver ‘a long winter’ /lnkiv'¯/), though still sometimes found in textbooks (e.g., Fouché [1959: 436]), has been obsolete for close to a century (cf. Pichon and Damourette 1936). Other apparent mismatches (de pied /t/ en cap ‘from head to foot,’ sang /k/ impur ‘tainted blood’) are also archaic or part of fixed expressions. Finally, the realization of < d > as /t/ in a number of inverted verb constructions (perd – perdons – perd-il /p'¯til/ ‘does he lose,’ etc.) should probably be seen as a separate morphological adjustment rather than as liaison, since the /t/ appears following vowels (ira-t-on ‘will we go’) as well as with verbs whose (sometimes abstract) stem ends in a consonant other than /t/, e.g. craquet-il /k¯aktil/ ‘does it creak,’ rampe-t-il /¯#ptil/ ‘does it crawl,’ mord-il /mn¯til/ ‘does it bite,’ me convainc-t-il /m‹knv'til/ ‘does it convince me,’ vainc-t-il /v'til/ ‘does he defeat,’ and so on). 46. Both the frequency and the morphological role no doubt account for the appearance of these consonants in many instances of false liaison: quatres enfants ‘four children’ /katz#f#/, il va-t et vient ‘he comes and goes’ /ilvatevj'/, etc., as well as neologisms such as zyeuter /zjøte/ ‘to eye’ (< les yeux ‘eyes’) or Zanimo /zanimo/ (< les animaux), a trade name for animal crackers.

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6.0

6.0 Introduction

Traditionally applied to the study of the structure of meter and verse, ‘prosody’ is now used more generally within phonology to refer to variations in pitch, loudness, duration, rhythm, rate of speaking, and occasionally syllabification.1 Without identifying them explicitly as such, we have already discussed several prosodic phenomena in SF: syllabification in section 3.1, vowel length in 4.1, and long or geminate consonants in 5.1. In this chapter, we will be primarily concerned with stress, rhythm, and intonation. Prosodic phenomena, intonation in particular, have often been neglected in phonological studies. This reduced attention no doubt arises in part because of the complexity of the physical properties through which prosody is manifested (and the need for complex instrumentation and techniques to study these properties), because of the variety of syntactic structures involved (and the concomitant need for large bodies of data), because prosody involves virtually every component of the grammar from phonetic detail to semantic and pragmatic considerations, and because of the complex intermingling of general linguistic structures with highly variable individual expressivity. In what follows, we will concentrate more on the general, systematic structures of French than on those elements reflecting individual attitudes or emotions.2

6.1

6.1 Stress and Rhythm

Stress involves the assignment of greater prominence to one syllable in comparison with its neighbours. Cross-linguistically, the physical correlates of stress may include one or more of greater loudness, longer duration, or higher pitch. In SF, stress is usually indicated by the greater length assigned to stressed syllables3 (rather than by reliance on tonal prominence, for example, although variations in tone or increased loudness may also be present). Assuming a difference between prominent and nonprominent syllables, rhythm refers in general terms to a perceived pattern of prominent syllables. Rhythmically, it is common to divide languages into those with stress-timed rhythmic patterns (where stressed syllables occur at approximately equal intervals of time,

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interspersed with varying numbers of unstressed syllables) versus those with syllable-timed patterns (where each syllable takes roughly the same amount of time to produce and has roughly the same importance).4 French, in contrast to English, is described as a syllable-timed language, with all syllables within a phonological phrase given equal prominence as they lead up to the phrase-final stressed syllable. The contrast between stress and syllable timing may be seen in (1), where stressed syllables are in bold face. (1) Stress versus syllable timing (a) stress timing Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds Or bends with the remover to remove.

(Shakespeare, Sonnets)

(b) syllable timing Si je la haïssais, je ne la fuirais pas.

(Racine, Phèdre)

J’ose dire pourtant que je n’ai mérité Ni cet excès d’honneur, ni cette indignité (Racine, Britannicus) J’ai perdu ma force et ma vie Et mes amis et ma gaieté

(Musset, Tristesse)

Against this general background, we are in a position to discuss stress assignment in French in more detail.

6.1.1

6.1.1 Phrasal Stress

Stress in French is considered to be a phrasal phenomenon: the final syllable of phonological phrases is stressed (with the exception of syllables consisting of schwa): l’arbitre ‘the referee’, jamais ‘never’, je le vois ‘I see it’, je ne le vois jamais ‘I never see it’. Nonfinal syllables, even those that are word-final within the phrase, are unstressed. French stress is, then, predictable and fixed, once phrase boundaries have been determined. (Consult section 3.3 for discussion and exemplification of phonological phrases.) Because French stress is predictable and consequently nondistinctive, it is unlike stress in Spanish or English, where stress may fall on different syllables within words (often correlated with morphological or syntactic categories) and distinguish one word from another: permit, compress (nouns) versus permit, compress (verbs); photograph versus photography; Spanish término ‘end’, termino ‘I finish’, terminó ‘he finished’; and so on. French stress is also unlike stress in a language

Prosody

like Latin, where the position of stress may vary within the word, but where (in longer words) its placement is determined by the weight of the penultimate syllable. The SF phrasal stress pattern is illustrated in (2), where the stressed syllables are again in bold face. (2) Phrasal stress oui

‘Yes.’

voilà

‘there is/are’

le voilà

‘There it is.’

il y en a

‘There are some.’

il y en a trop

‘There are too many.’

il y en a trente-quatre

‘There are 34 of them.’

elle revient

‘She’s coming back.’

son élève || revient

‘Her student’s coming back.’

son ancien élève || revient demain

‘Her former student’s coming back tomorrow.’

son ancien élève || revient || sans le lui dire

‘Her former student’s coming back tomorrow without telling her about it.

Unstressed syllables are given equal weight within the phrase; they are pronounced, that is, with a regularity and equilibrium that block any vowel reduction and lead toward the prominence of the syllable at phrase end.5 In this case, the contrast between English and French is instructive, since English shows a widespread weakening of unstressed vowels which reduce to schwa. Consider the contrasts in (3), particularly (in English) the variation in pronunciation between stressed and unstressed versions of the same syllable. (3) French versus English: vowel reduction F Canada

/kanada/

E Canada

/kæn‹d‹/

F canadien

/kanadj'/

E Canadian

/k‹nedj‹n/

F photographe

/fntng¯af/

E photograph

/fod‹græf/

F photographie

/fntng¯afi/

E photography

/f‹tngr‹fi/

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F communiquer

/knmynike/

E communicate

/k‹mjun‹ket/

F c’est une question difficile

/s'tynk'stjndifisil/

E that’s a difficult question

/&æts‹dIf‹k‹ltkw'st5‹n/

F son attitude || ne me surprend pas

/snnatityd n‹msy¯p¯#pa/

E his attitude || doesn’t surprise me

/h+zæd‹tjud d¡z‹nts‹prajzmi/

Since stress is phrase-final in French, decisions concerning the combination of minimal phrases into one longer phrase (see chapter 3, section 3.3) will affect the stress and rhythmic patterns of longer utterances. This contrast is seen in (4). (4) Minimal versus longer phrases je ne l’avais pas || entendu

je ne l’avais pas entendu

‘I hadn’t heard it.’ tu devrais || lui en parler

tu devrais lui en parler

‘You should speak to her about it.’ le match || s’est bien terminé

le match s’est bien terminé

‘The game ended well.’ elle a promis || de nous suivre

elle a promis de nous suivre

‘She promised to follow us.’ un journal || hebdomadaire

un journal hebdomadaire

‘a weekly newspaper’ l’autobus || de la ville

l’autobus de la ville

‘the city bus’ un appartement || à louer

un appartement à louer

‘an appartment to rent’ elle me le dit || assez souvent

elle me le dit assez souvent

‘She tells me often enough.’ il faut y aller || tout seul ‘You have to go there alone.’

il faut y aller tout seul

Prosody

Finally, recall that vowel length (chapter 4, section 4.1) is also conditioned by stress: long vowels occur only in stressed closed syllables. As a consequence, if a minimal phrase containing a long vowel is combined into a longer phrase, the loss of stress on its final syllable will result in the loss of vowel length as well: il espère || nous y rencontrer ‘He hopes to meet us there.’ (['sp'Ö¯] ) versus il espère nous y rencontrer (['sp'¯]), il compte || y aller ‘He’s counting on going there.’ [knÖt] versus il compte y aller [knt].

6.1.2

6.1.2 Emphatic Stress

In addition to its normal phrase-final emphasis, SF also uses stress to signal a variety of semantic or affective contrasts. Examples are given in (5). (5) Emphatic stress j’ai dit intention, pas attention

‘I said INtention, not Attention.’

un effet fondamental

‘a fundamental effect’

une erreur impardonnable

‘an unforgivable mistake’

par contre, tu ne comprends pas

‘On the other hand, you don’t understand.’

des visiteurs très nombreux

‘very many visitors’

rien de plus scandaleux

‘nothing more scandalous’

il a parfaitement raison

‘He’s perfectly correct.’

c’est si amusant

‘It’s so funny.’

c’est tout à fait impossible

‘It’s completely impossible.’

Encore de la morue! Voilà huit ‘Cod again! We’ve eaten nothing jours que nous ne mangeons que but cod all week! It’s de la morue; c’est dégoûtant! disgusting!’ (from Grammont [1914: 144]) Phoneticians and phonologists begin to comment more extensively on the appearance of the accent d’insistance or emphatic stress around the beginning of the twentieth century (e.g., Nyrop 1934, first edition 1902; Grammont 1914), and indications are that the phenomenon is expanding. Most generally, this emphasis falls on the first syllable of the word or phrase, either by emphasizing the first vowel (intention, pas attention) or, more frequently, by lengthening the first consonant of the word (c’est essentiel [s't'ss#sj'l]; for more examples cf. section 5.1). Although emphatic stress normally affects ‘full’ words (nouns, verbs, adjectives), it is not unknown for clitic forms to be accented as well, as the examples above make clear. Further, because emphatic

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stress does not replace phrase-final stress but is in addition to it, it is easy to see how it may contribute to alternating rhythmic patterns within phonological phrases. As indicated, most analysts agree (cf. Lucci 1983: 69) that use of emphatic stress is increasing in frequency, and that this stress pattern is characteristic of a certain type of discourse or discourse situation, particularly more formal situations involved with speaking in public: interviews, conferences, oratory. It is also widely heard in news broadcasts.6 The increasing currency of emphatic stress is also showing effects on other components of the phonological system. Walter (1977: 51), for example, explicitly attributes the increasing stability of schwa in initial syllables (discussed in section 4.5.4.6) to the increased frequency of emphatic stress affecting those same syllables: “Ce serait alors par le biais de la prosodie, grâce à l’accent d’insistance dans ce cas, plus directement sensible aux effets du sens, que serait favorisé une modification du statut d’un élément phonique, par phonologisation de cet élément dans une position donnée.” We see here, in other words, a classic example of the desire to produce stylistic effects having an impact on the frequency of certain prosodic structures, with these prosodic changes in turn affecting the segmental phonology. Intonation, as we will see in the next section, is also directly linked to stylistic effects, as well as to more concrete syntactic patterns, in a variety of ways.

6.2

6.2 Intonation

Intonation involves variation in pitch over stretches of speech usually larger than the word (except, evidently, in cases where the word and the phonological phrase are co-extensive).7 Since no utterance can take place without the simultaneous realization of both a segmental component (consonants and vowels) and an intonational contour, the central role (or roles) of intonation in communicative acts should be clear. These roles may include the delimitation of grammatical structure (phrase or clause boundaries), the distinguishing of sentence types (assertions, questions, etc.), the highlighting of new information (topic/comment distinctions), or the communication of expressive information reflecting the speaker’s attitude or state of mind (agreement, doubt, anger, sarcasm, surprise, and a host of other possibilities). Although there exist very widespread cross-linguistic tendencies linking specific intonational patterns with specific grammatical functions (e.g., rising intonation in yes-no questions, falling intonation for declarative sentences), the amount of dialectal or individual variation in intonation contours makes the topic dauntingly complex. In what follows, we will outline only the rudiments of French intonational structures, focusing on grammatical and pragmatic rather than expressive features. This outline will take place using several descriptive parameters. First, the domain of intonational contours will be described in tems of the phonological phrases previously discussed (Chapter 3, Section 3.3).8 Secondly, as the term ‘contour’ itself implies, intonational patterns will be described using

Prosody

continuous lines representing relative pitch or pitch changes within phonological phrases. Finally, these pitch changes occur within a range, and may begin or end at different “heights” within the range. Schematically, this is diagrammed in (6), using the basic reference point for the discussion to follow: a neutral declarative sentence. (6) A simple intonation contour (one phrase) high range

mid low

syllables

m

m

m

m

m

m

phrase

|| Michelle est arrivée. || ‘Michelle arrived.’

After an initial presentation of stress, rhythm, and prosodic units, Di Cristo (1998: 200-16) surveys the principal intonation patterns of SF in terms of the following categories: a basic nonemphatic pattern (simple declarative sentences), modality and expressivity (questions, imperatives and vocatives, expressivity), focalization and contextual effects (focus and topic/comment organization), and intonational clichés. We list the principal contours in (7) and then exemplify each of them in turn. (7) Principal SF intonational contours (a) basic non-emphatic contour (b) questions (c) imperative and vocative (d) expressivity (e) focalization (f) topic/comment (g) intonation clichés The basic nonemphatic contour is often described as a contour tone with a rising falling pattern; in shorter phrases (as in elliptical answers to questions), the rising component may be minimal.

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c’est un ami ‘He’s a friend.’ je lui en ai parlé ‘I spoke to him about it.’ sans exception ‘without exception’ voilà ‘there’ Contour patterns are particularly evident in long utterances consisting of more than one phonological phrase, where the end of the rise corresponds to the end of the first phrase and indicates noncompletion of the utterance. je lui ai parlé || de ses devoirs ‘I spoke to him about his homework.’ ils sont tous venus || sans exception ‘They all came, without exception.’ Questions may be classified into several types, the most frequent being yes/no questions and partial or wh-questions. Syntactically, yes/no questions can be marked either by inversion (Jean vient-il? ‘Is John coming?’) or by the use of the phrase est-ce que (Est-ce que Jeanne vient? ‘Is Jean coming?’). More frequent in the current spoken language, however, are questions with no syntactic marking and solely a characteristic final rising intonation pattern (Jean vient?).9 ta soeur a-t-elle terminé ses études? ‘Has your sister finished her studies?’ veux-tu du vin? ‘Do you want some wine?’ est-ce que le patron est libre? ‘Is the manager free?’ vous partez demain? ‘Are you leaving tomorrow?’

Prosody

Di Cristo notes a striking parallelism between interrogative and continuative intonation, the former occurring in utterance-final position, the latter in nonfinal position. As a result, he finds reasonable the generalization that “there is a single overall intonation pattern for both continuative and interrogative utterances in French (202),” both being indicated by a phrase-final rise in intonation, the difference residing in the final or prefinal position of the phrase in question. The second major type of question, the so-called wh-question, involves interrogative morphemes such as qui ‘who’, où ‘where’, quand ‘when’, comment ‘how’, pourquoi why’.10 In these structures, the interrogative morpheme normally represents the high point of the intonation countour, which then falls to the end of the sentence. As a result, these questions manifest a pattern similar to the basic contour of simple declaratives. qui est-là? ‘Who’s there?’ où êtes-vous allés? ‘Where did you go?’ comment peut-on y accéder? ‘How can we get there?’ pourquoi le dit-il ainsi? ‘Why does he say it like that?’ lequel préférez-vous? ‘Which one do you prefer?’ Finally, to be complete, let us mention that two further question types occur: alternative questions (Partez-vous demain ou après demain? ‘Are you leaving tomorrow or the day after?’) and elliptical questions (Et ta fille? ‘And your daughter?’; Quoi ma voiture? ‘What, my car?’). Each type uses the risingfalling or falling contours with which we are already familiar. In the imperative and vocative domain, imperative sentences are said to be characterized by a rapid drop in pitch from high to low (Delattre 1966b, Léon 1974). While this general pattern is widely accepted, analysts disagree about certain details, such as whether this pattern is exclusive to imperatives. Given the admixture of expressive possibilities with imperative structures, this variation is not surprising. Vocatives, in turn (the last two examples), show a risingfalling pattern, but with a rise and a fall on the last syllable, including a high starting point and consequent large fall at phrase end. Examples follow:

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venez demain

‘Come tomorrow.’

ne faites pas ça

‘Don’t do that.’

donne-le moi

‘Give it to me.’

Anne-Marie

‘Anne-Marie’

excusez-moi, monsieur

‘Excuse me, sir.’

Expressivity is no doubt one of the most complicated domains of phonetic study. It combines intonation, nonverbal communication, and a range of additional linguistic factors (pitch range, register, complex pitch movement, loudness, tempo, and voice quality; cf. Di Cristo [209]) to communicate a variety of attitudes. One very frequent pattern involves a large rise-fall movement on the last syllable of the utterance coupled with deaccentuation of the preceding stressed syllables. This pattern, however, may convey subtly different meanings depending on the associated syntactic structures: exasperation with partial questions, a polite invitation with imperatives, and so on, so it is difficult to isolate specific independent expressive features (Di Cristo 208). Léon (1971, 1993) and van den Berghe (1976) are basic references in this area. Focalization, involving extra pitch prominence, is a process used to intensify or contrast certain words and is closely related to the accent d’insistance discussed earlier. Examples, in addition to those from 6.1.2 above, include the following (Di Cristo 209 – 10): il ne dit jamais rien ‘He never says anything.’ qui va te rencontrer ‘Who’s meeting you?’ le professeur a la clé…pas l’étudiant ‘The professor has the key, not the student.’ With respect to topic/comment, speakers often, in context, choose to indicate a distinction between information presupposed to be known by the listener (the topic) and that which is new (the comment). Normally, this difference is signalled both by syntactic means (dislocation, resumptive pronouns, etc.) and by intonational contours, as in the following, where voisin ‘neighbour’ represents the topic and …toujours malade ‘always sick’ the comment, the latter characterized by regular contours – falling for statements, rising for yes-no questions: mon voisin, il est toujours malade ‘My neighbour, he’s always sick.’

Prosody

mon voisin? il est toujours malade ‘My neighbour? He’s always sick.’ mon voisin, le connais-tu? ‘My neighbour, do you know him.’ Further discussion of these types of pattern occurs in Di Cristo (210 – 14). Clichés in general are fixed, frequent, and stereotypical expressions. In the prosodic domain, intonation clichés11 are frequent in certain situations, highly melodic, and consequently often compared to singing. A typical example is the la-la-lère or na-na-nère ‘nyah, nyah’ expression used by children to make fun of someone. Other examples include hop là! ‘off you go/oops’ with a highlow pitch pattern; Tu as perdu! ‘You lost!’ or Elle est partie! ‘she’s gone’ with a rise on the penultimate and a sustained mid-level tone on the last syllable; or Bonjour! ‘hello’ or coucou! ‘peek-a-boo’ with high-mid tonal patterns announcing someone’s arrival. In an interesting article, Fónagy et al. (1983) survey a wide variety of intonation clichés in SF, linking them to a variety of expressive functions as well. This concludes the survey of SF intonation patterns, a survey that cannot do justice to the richness and complexity of the domain. As the examples make clear, syntactic and discourse function, expressivity, variable syntactic structures (some more characteristic of spoken and occasionally familiar language), stress, and rhythmic patterns all combine (or collide) to render a discussion of intonation more than challenging. To close this chapter, we will present a few additional examples from colloquial speech, examples that illustrate some of the syntactic variability that is possible in that register, and that have intonational consequences.

6.3

6.3 Colloquial Constructions

The structures to follow, drawn from le français informel are most appropriately restricted to certain less formal contexts and may give some indication of the direction in which French syntax will evolve. A brief, nontechnical description of the innovation precedes each example set.12 (8) Sample colloquial constructions (a) interrogative morpheme at end rather than beginning of sentence tu l’as vu où?

‘You saw it where?’

vous partez quand?

‘You’re leaving when?’

tu l’as payé combien?

‘You paid how much?’

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(b) lack of inversion after interrogative morpheme où tu vas?

‘Where are you going?’

de quoi tu parles?

‘What are you talking about?’

à quoi ça sert?

‘What’s that for?’

(c) suppression of pronominal subject (often with falloir) faut pas faire ça

‘Don’t do that.’

faudrait lui téléphoner

‘You should call her.’

ça, pas question tu sais

‘Don’t even think about it.’

Rue Mouffetard?, connais pas

‘Rue Mouffetard, I don’t know it.’

(d) nominal subject or object accompanied by resumptive pronoun son frère il est malin

‘His brother, he’s tricky.’

ses voisins ils sont pas gentils

‘His neighbours aren’t nice.’

les artichauts je les aime pas

‘Artichokes, I don’t like them.’

il l’a raté son examen

‘He failed his exam.’

enfin, il l’a eu, son bac?

‘So did he get it, his degree?’

(e) pronouns repeated with corresponding disjunctive forms tu veux y aller, toi?

‘Do you want to go there?’

j’ai l’air d’un flic, moi?

‘Do I look like a cop, me?’

toi, tu me fatigues

‘You’re bothering me.’

moi, lui, je l’aime pas

‘Him I don’t like.’

(f) prepositions ‘stranded’ in final position combien t’as payé pour?

‘You paid how much?’

on peut se laver sans

‘We can wash without it.’

tu viens avec?

‘You coming with us?’

la fille que je sors avec

‘the girl I’m dating’

These examples give only the briefest indication of a very rich set of morphological and syntactic innovations in contemporary spoken French.13 Further data and discussion, indicating the frequency and extent of these changes, may be found in Bauche (1920), Frei (1929), Gadet (1989), Guiraud (1965), or Mougeon (1998). Rather than dwell on an area that has at best only indirect implications for our current phonological discussions, let us turn, in the next chapter, to certain phonological phenomena that occur at what one might call the periphery of the phonological system.

Prosody

Notes 1.

For studies of SF addressing these topics, see Lucci (1983) or Lacheret-Dujour and Beaugendre (1999). There are additional, theory-specific uses of the term ‘prosody’ in Firthian Prosodic Analysis, or in approaches known as Prosodic Phonology and Morphology, which need not concern us here.

2.

For the latter, Léon (1993) represents an excellent introduction.

3.

As was observed, for example, by Delattre (1938).

4.

This distinction is an approximation only. For some discussion of the complexities involved, see Wenk and Wioland (1982).

5.

To be complete, we should note that there is by now an extensive literature dealing with nonfinal or secondary stress in French, seen in terms of rhythmic patterning. This topic is beyond the bounds of our current discussion. For further information, consult (in addition to Di Cristo [1998: 196–99, 1999, 2000]), Dell (1984), Fónagy (1979), or Lacheret-Dujour and Beaugendre (1999). The existence of these phrase-internal rhythmic patterns does not lead synchronically to the reduction of rhythmically weak vowels. It does mean, however, that the approximate equality attributed above to all pretonic syllables is an idealization for expository and pedagogical purposes. The terms ‘emphatic’ and ‘phrasal’ stress are used in the sense of Di Cristo (1988). Lucci (1983), who presents one of the most substantial studies of emphatic stress in SF, also notes the terminological richness in this area. Phrasal stress is also known as ‘l’accent d’intensité, dynamique, tonique, normal, final’, among others. Emphatic stress is variously called ‘l’accent d’insistance, intellectuel, distinctif, oratoire, affectif, émotionnel’ (with certain authors – e.g., Marouzeau [1924] – distinguishing, within emphatic stress, between ‘affectif’ and ‘intellectuel’). Lucci uses the term ‘accent didactique’ for what we are calling emphatic stress. See also Séguinot (1977).

6.

Because the reading of the words lists is also a formal exercise, the speakers heard on the accompanying CD-ROM also manifest a tendency to accent the initial syllable of the words being read.

7.

Pitch, in turn, is the perceptual correlate of the frequency of a sound, such frequency determined in speech by the rate of vibration of the vocal cords: the more rapid the rate of vibration, the higher the pitch. Languages in which pitch variation occurs within words rather than over longer sequences, where such changes produce different meanings when associated with identical sequences of consonants and vowels, are known as tone languages. In simplified terms, therefore, ‘tone’ refers to pitch changes within words while ‘intonation’ refers to pitch changes within phrases and longer sequences. As noted by Trask (1996: 184), studies of intonation may additionally involve factors such as tempo, loudness,

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and pauses; see Fougeron and Jun (1998) for an analysis of the effect of tempo on French intonation. 8.

It is possible to distinguish intonational phrases from phonological phrases, as do Nespor and Vogel (1986, chapter 7). This distinction is not necessary for our purposes here. The discussion to follow relies heavily on Di Cristo (1998: 200 - 17). For much more detailed information, see Rossi (1999).

9.

There is a second type of yes/no question, also frequent in spoken language, called tag questions. This type ends in markers such as oui, non, si, hein, d’accord, n’est-ce pas, and shows the normal declarative contour followed by a rapid rise on the tag marker: Elle est malade, non? ‘She’s sick, isn’t she?’; On part, d’accord? ‘Let’s go, okay?’

10. Actually, as Di Cristo describes (1998: 205), there are two main types of partial questions: the neutral partial questions illustrated below and echo partial questions, in which the speaker asks for a repetition or reformulation of a response not . fully understood. Echo questions show a contour similar to that of yes/no questions: Qui est tombé? = ‘Who did you say fell?’ 11. Also called clichés mélodiques; cf. Fónagy et al. (1983). 12. Note, as a general rule, that the negative particle ne is virtually absent from cur. rent spoken French, except in the most formal registers. 13. Lexical choice is also obviously correlated with stylistic level – consider a series such as véhicule, voiture, bagnole, char, ‘vehicle, automobile, car, jalopy’ for example. A separate work would be needed to consider this matter fully.

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Chapter 7 Around the Phonological Periphery: Playing with Language.

7.0

7.0 Introduction

Virtually all languages allow manipulation of their phonological structure for what we might call recreational or expressive purposes. Punning, onomatopoeia, nicknames, and diminutives provide four widespread and familiar examples of the type of activity involved and indicate further the primary sociolinguistic connotations of such phonological manipulations. Word play is, at least at the outset, more characteristic of casual or relaxed situations where the participants know each other well than it is of formal contexts. This being said, however, one of the intriguing aspects of French word play is the degree to which acronyms or the use of verlan, to take the two most obvious examples, have extended into standard usage. In the following sections, we will illustrate four types of processes with which all speakers of French are familiar and which have been widely discussed in both the technical and the popular literature. While each of these processes involves obvious phonological manipulations, we should also note that they may be considered, along with derivation and compounding, as word-formation mechanisms (albeit of a minor kind) that serve to expand the contents of the lexicon. 1

7.1

7.1 Abbreviations

Abbreviation, also often called clipping, is a word-formation process by means of which a new item is formed by the removal of part of a larger word or phrase. The new formation has the same meaning and grammatical category membership as its ‘parent’. A variety of straightforward abbreviations is given in (1).2 (1) Simple abbreviations Abbreviation

Full form

abrèv

abréviation

‘abbreviation’

agreg

agrégation

‘competitive degree’

appart

appartement

‘apartment’

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alu

aluminium

‘aluminum’

bénèf

bénéfice

‘benefit’

calva

calvados

‘Calvados’

dég

dégueulasse

‘disgusting’

dégueu

dégueulasse

‘disgusting’

diapo

diapositive

‘slide’

estome

estomac

‘stomach’

fac

faculté

‘faculty’

fana

fanatique

‘fan’

impec

impeccable

‘perfect’

imper

imperméable

‘raincoat’

Libé

Libération

‘Libération newspaper’

manif

manifestation

‘demonstration’

maths

mathématiques

‘math’

perpète

perpétuité

‘life sentence’

prof

professeur

‘professor’

pub

publicité

‘commercial’

récré

récréation

‘recess’

sécu

sécurité (sociale)

‘Social Security’

sensa

sensationnel

‘terrific’

sensass

sensationnel

‘terrific’

sympa

sympathique

‘nice’

tiche

t-shirt

‘t-shirt’

‘Simple’ in these cases refers to the fact that the abbreviations are identical to part of the original forms and show no further phonological changes (other than the regular adjustments of the mid vowels). The examples here all truncate the final part of the word, and this appears to be the most frequent pattern, despite the existence of forms like ricain for américain ‘American’, pitaine for capitaine ‘captain’, or bib for toubib ‘doctor’. Otherwise, we find some variation (e.g. sensa and sensass) and both monosyllabic and polysyllabic examples, as well as both vowel and consonant final forms.3 More complicated types of abbreviation also exist, of which we will illustrate only two: abbreviation of phrases or compound words and the

Around the Phonological Periphery: Playing with Language

generalization of the suffix -o, both illustrated in (2). Note that -o in some forms may not actually be a suffix, but rather part of the word itself. These forms are included here because of their general similarity to suffixed forms in form and in impression conveyed. (2) Complex abbreviations Abbreviation

Full form

(a) phrases à ctap

à cet après-midi

‘until this afternoon’

à plute

à plus tard

‘see you later’

aprèm

après-midi

‘afternoon’

à tout à

à tout à l’heure

‘see you shortly’

beau-f

beau-frère

‘brother-in-law’

cité-u

cité universitaire

‘student residences’

comif

comme il faut

‘properly’

d’acc

d’accord

‘okay’

deuxch

Deux Chevaux

(type of car)

d’occase

d’occasion

‘second hand’

sans dec

sans déconner

‘no kidding’

sciences po

sciences politiques

‘political science’

tag

ta gueule

‘shut up’

Boul Mich

Boulevard Saint Michel (street)

Nouvel Obs

Nouvel Observateur

(magazine)

ado

adolescent

‘adolescent’

amerlo

amerloque (américain) ‘American’

anarcho

anarchiste

‘anarchist’

apéro

apéritif

‘aperitif’

aristo

aristocrate

‘aristocrat’

bolcho

bolchéviste

‘Bolshevist’

collabo

collaborateur

‘collaborator’

débilos

débile

‘moron’

(b) suffixes

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démago

démagogue

‘demagogue’

diapo

diapositive

‘slide’

écolo

écologiste

‘ecologist’

gaucho

gauchiste

‘leftist’

hebdo

hebdomadaire

‘weekly paper’

hystéro

hystérique

‘hysterical’

intello

intellectuel

‘intellectual’

interro

interrogation

‘interrogation’

labo

laboratoire

‘laboratory’

Macdo

McDonald

‘McDonald’s restaurant’

météo

météorologie

‘weather’

mollo

mollement

‘take it easy’

Montparno

Montparnasse

‘Montparnasse quarter’

moto

motocyclette

‘motorcycle’

parano

paranoïaque

‘paranoid’

rapido

rapidement

‘quickly’

resto

restaurant

‘restaurant’

socio

sociologie

‘sociology’

toxico

toxicomane

‘junkie’

In many of these forms (e.g., aristo, labo, toxico), the final /o/ can be simply the segment preceding the truncated part of the abbreviation. In others, however, there is no trace of the /o/ in the original, and the vowel must be interpreted as a suffixal addition to the base word (apéro, intello, rapido, and so on). Many of these creations have a jocular or sarcastic tone, as indicated in the observation of Prigniel (1966: 63): “Il [le suffix -o] a une allure bon enfant, il est familier et désinvolte, vulgaire, ironique. Sa bonne humeur, souvent, donne une nuance enjouée aux propos.”4 The formation of words in -o is very productive (cf. Macdo), a productivity reinforced by the ability of -o to combine with other segments in an expanded series: classicos (classique), débilos (débile), vulgos (vulgaire), cinoche (cinéma), féloche (félicitations), and others.

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7.2

7.2 Acronyms

Acronyms, not unrelated to abbreviations, are words formed by combining into a new word the initial letters of the constituents of a phrase: UFO (unidentified flying object); AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). Sometimes the acronym is spelled out (the letters are read individually), as in UFO; sometimes the combination of letters is pronounced or read as a new word (AIDS). There are even mixed forms, such as CD-ROM (compact disk, read-only memory). It takes very little contact with contemporary France to be convinced that acronyms (acronymes or sigles in French) now play a significant communicative role, reflect a very large set of mutually understood cultural concepts, and are freely used at all levels of communication. (It is difficult to read the current press without a grasp of a large number of acronyms.) The examples in (3) are a tiny proportion of those that may be found in SF. 5 (3) Acronyms (a) spelled acronyms AJ

Auberges de jeunesse

‘youth hostels’

ANPE

Agence nationale pour l’emploi

‘national employment agency’

BCBG

bon chic, bon genre

‘preppy’

BD

bande dessinée

‘comic strip’

BNP

Banque nationale de Paris

(name of bank)

CCP

compte chèque postal

‘post office bank account’

CEE

Communauté économique européenne

‘EEC’

CES

collège d’enseignement secondaire

‘junior high school’

CGT

Confédération générale du travail

(trade union)

CNPF

Conseil national du patronat français

(employers’ federation)

CNRS

Centre national de recherche (research council) scientifique

CPFH

collier de perles, foulard Hermès

‘snooty’

CRS

Compagnies républicaines de sécurité

‘state security police’

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DST

Direction de la surveillance du territoire

(comparable to CIA)

EDF

Electricité de France

(national electric company)

GDB

gueule de bois

‘hangover’

HLM

habitation à loyer modéré

‘public housing’

IVG

interruption voluntaire de grossesse

‘abortion’

JO

Jeux olympiques

‘Olympic games’

MLF

Mouvement de libération des femmes

‘Women’s Lib’

ORTF

Office de la radiodiffusion et télévision françaises

(French national broadcasting service)

PCI

Parti communiste international

‘International Communist Party’

PDG

président-directeur général

‘chairman and CEO’

PME

petites et moyennes entreprises

‘small and medium business’

PNB

produit national brut

‘gross national product’

PPH

passera pas l’hiver

‘on death’s door’

PS

Parti socialiste

‘Socialist Party’

PTT

Postes, télégraphe, téléphone

(national post office and telephone service)

PV

procès-verbal

‘parking/speeding ticket’

RAS

rien à signaler

‘nothing new’

RATP

Régie autonome des transports parisiens

(Paris city transport authority)

RER

Réseau express régional

(high speed train service in Paris region)

RPR

Rassemblement pour la République

(political party)

SDF

sans domicile fixe

‘homeless person’

SNCF

Société nationale des chemins de fer français

(French national railway company)

TGV

train à grande vitesse

‘high speed train’

TP

travaux pratiques

‘lab work’

Around the Phonological Periphery: Playing with Language

TVA

taxe à la valeur ajoutée

‘value added tax’

UDF

Union pour la démocratie française

(political party)

VO

version originale

‘original version’

VTT

vélo tout terrain

‘mountain bike’

(b) read acronyms CAPES

Certificat d’aptitude au ‘high school teacher’s professorat d’enseignement diploma’ secondaire

CHRU

Centre hospitalier régional universitaire

‘regional university hospital centre’

DEUG

diplôme d’études universitaires générales

‘diploma received after two years at university’

DOMTOM Départements d’Outre-Mer ‘French overseas departments and et Territoires d’Outre-Mer territories’ ENA

Ecole nationale d’administration

‘college for senior civil servants’

FNAC

Fédération nationale d’achat pour les cadres

(national chain of stores)

INSEE

Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques

‘national institute of economic and statistical information’

ONU

Organisation des Nations Unies

‘UN’

OPEP

Organisation des pays exportateurs de pétrole

‘OPEC’

OTAN

Organisation du Traité de l’Atlantique du Nord

‘NATO’

OVNI

objet volant non-identifié

‘UFO’

RIB

relevé d’identité bancaire

‘particulars of one’s bank account’

SAMU

Service d’aide médicale d’urgenceservice’

‘mobile emergency medical service’

SDECE

Service de documentation extérieure et de contre-espionnage

(comparable to CIA)

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SIDA

syndrome immunodéficitaire acquis

‘AIDS’

SMIC

salaire minimum interprofessionnel de croissance

‘minimum wage’

TUC

travail d’utilité collective

‘community work/ employment training’

ZUP

zone d’urbanisation prioritaire

‘urban development zone’

The productive role of acronym formation is further indicated in two ways: by the possibility that their innovative pronunciation violates regular phonotactic constraints (CHRU [5¯y], SDECE [sd's], FNAC [fnak] are phonotactically irregular) and by the appearance of acronyms as the base for new derivational formations, as exemplified in (4). (4) Acronyms in derived forms ajisme, ajiste

‘youth hostelling, hosteller’

bécébégisme

‘preppiness’

bédéphile

‘comic strip fan’

capésien

‘student preparing the CAPES’

cégétiste

‘member of the CGT’

énarque

‘student or former student of the ENA’

hachelèmiser

‘to develop public housing’

onusien

‘UN official’

otanesque

‘NATO-like’

sidéen, sidatique

‘with AIDS, AIDS sufferer’

smicard

‘minimum wage earner’

tucard, tuciste

‘community worker, employment trainee’

ufologie

‘ufology’

vététeux

‘mountain biker’

zupage, zuper

‘rapid urbanization’

Initially characteristic of the spoken language and of certain limited domains (names of countries, political parties, businesses, etc., as in USA, URSS ‘USSR’, PC, PTT, SNCF), use of acronyms has exploded since the Second

Around the Phonological Periphery: Playing with Language

World War. Now, virtually every semantic domain is replete with its own siglaisons, and the frequency of many forms has led to their replacing the original phrases (e.g., le smic). Rather than being limited to the shortening of the names of organizations or official structures, acronyms based on slang or common phrases (TP, VO, BCBG, CPFH) now demonstrate the continually expanding importance of this means of lexical enrichment.

7.3

7.3 Reduplication

Reduplication is a process of word formation whereby all or part of a word is repeated for grammatical or semantic purposes. Certain languages use reduplication productively in their inflectional systems (e.g., for plural formation). Others, like English, make limited use of it for expressive purposes (really, really big; teeny weeny problem; etc.). Reduplication can be total (where a whole word is repeated) or partial (where only a part of the word is involved). The process has interesting theoretical implications, particularly involving syllable structure, regarding the identification of that part of the word to be repeated and the places where the repeated parts may appear. The semantic effects of the phenomenon are also intriguing. While reduplication need not be considered a major aspect of French morphology, it does occur widely and productively, as demonstrated convincingly by Morin (1972).6 Morin considers reduplication to have two primary functions in French: the production of diminutives (chouchou ‘favourite’) and of onomatopoeic words (ron-ron ‘cat’s purring’). The use of such forms occurs primarily in informal situations, where the speakers know each other well, or in child language. Morin also established a basic phonological description for French reduplication. In partially reduplicated forms, the first or reduplicated syllable is a partial copy of the second or stem syllable, which must itself begin with a consonant.7 Examples of reduplicated forms and their proposed bases are given in (5); note that a further characteristic of onomatopoeic forms is that they have no obvious base. (5) Reduplication in French (a) partial

base form

bébête

bête

‘silly’

coco

communiste,

‘communist’

coco

cocaïne

‘cocaine’

cracra

crasseux

‘dirty’

dodo

dormir

‘sleep’

fanfan

enfant

‘child’

fofolle

folle

‘mad, foolish’

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jojo

joli

‘pretty’

joujou

jouet

‘toy’

mémé

grand-mère

‘grandma’

mémère

grand-père

‘grandpa’

mimi

minet

‘cat’

nounours

un ours

‘teddy bear’

zonzon

maison, prison ‘house, prison’

(b) full

base form

blabla

—

‘chatter, babble’ (cf. blablater)

bobo

—

‘hurt’

bonbon

bon

‘candy’

chaud chaud

chaud

‘hot’

coin-coin

—

‘sound of duck’

durdur

dur

‘quite difficult’

foufou

fou

‘mad, foolish’

gaigai

gai

‘happy’

glouglou

—

‘sound of running liquid or of turkey’ (cf. glouglouter)

menumenu

menu

‘tiny’

miamiam

—

‘yum yum’

ronron

—

‘purr’ (cf. ronronner)

tata

tante

‘aunt’

tonton

tata+oncle

‘uncle’

vroumvroum

—

‘sound of engine’

Fully in line with Morin’s proposals, these examples should suffice to convey both the informal nature and general semantic character of reduplication in French.8

7.4

7.4 Word Games: Verlan

Language games, secret languages, or disguised speech, such as the Pig Latin familiar to many English speakers, are very widespread throughout the world’s

Around the Phonological Periphery: Playing with Language

speech communities. Such phenomena give rise to a number of interesting theoretical and descriptive questions involving both the phonological structures resulting from the formal manipulations and the conditions of their use.9 Structurally, the processes normally involve the movement of a sound or syllable from one point in the word to another and/or the insertion of sounds at a specifiable point, as well as potential further adjustments depending on the nature of the sequences resulting from these operations. Use of such devices is sociolinguistically complex, not unrelated to the functions of slang, professional jargon, or other indications of social class membership. In French, the disguised language currently garnering the most attention is verlan (French spoken à l’envers).10 Linked to the vernacular of the northern suburbs of Paris and initially used as a symbol of group membership by younger and marginalized speakers of North African immigrant communities,11 verlan has now become increasingly integrated into the linguistic mainstream. Verlan forms appear as the title of films (Les Ripoux [= Les Pourris, ‘crooked policemen’], in songs (Laisse béton [= laisse tomber ‘drop it’] by Renaud Séchan) and les bédés [= bandes dessinées ‘comics’], in publicity (Le rap est dans la cepla [= place ‘place’], in a Virgin Records advertisement), in book titles (Seguin, Boris: Les Céfrans [= les Français ‘the French] parlent au Français, Seuil) and even in the speech of the President of the Republic (Mittérand’s famous Mais on ne dit plus chébran [= branché ‘with it’] on dit câblé ou même bléca [= câblé ‘with it’], in response to an interviewer). The ‘co-opting’ of such expressions by mainstream media also reflects a normal sociolinguistic trajectory and contributes to the constant renewal of slang: once the forms become too well known, they no longer serve their original purpose of in-group identification and are replaced. How, then, is verlan spoken? The name itself gives a good initial indication: in bisyllabic words, the order of the syllables is reversed (l’envers ‘wrong way around’ > verlan, café ‘coffee’ > féca, métro ‘subway’ > tromé, bonjour ‘hello’ > jourbon, paquet ‘dose of cocaine’ > képa, etc.). Needless to say, however, the situation is more complicated. Inversion may also apply to longer words, but differentially. The syllable order 1-2-3 may change to 3-2-1, as in portugais ‘Portuguese’ > guétupor, cigarette > rettegaci, or to 1-3-2, as in enculer ‘to sodomize’ > enlécu, écouter ‘to listen to’ > étécou.12 Monosyllabic words may simply have the order of sounds reversed (fou ‘crazy’ > ouf, chaud ‘hot’ > auche). More frequently, though, such words, especially when they are consonant-final (whether or not they end in mute-e in the orthography), are treated is if they were pronounced with final schwa (realized as [ø] or [œ]). Inversion then takes place, with any residual word-final vowel deleted: mec ‘guy’ > keum (from /m'k‹/), femme ‘woman’ > meuf (from /fam‹/). Finally, once inversion has taken place, further truncation of syllables can occur, rendering words still more difficult to recognize: écouter > étécou > técou; jobard ‘looney’ > barjo > barge; Arabe > Beura > Beur; bidon ‘phoney’ > dombi /dnbi/ > dombe /dnb/; etc. The following set of examples illustrates these processes more completely. (The social domains where this type of vocabulary is primarily used will be evident from the translations.)

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(6) Verlan (a) vowel-final monosyllables bien > iemb

‘well’

bon > ombe

‘good’

ça > aç

‘this’

chier > ièche

‘to be very bored’

feu > euf

‘a light (for a cigarette)’

moi > wam

‘me’

nez > zen

‘nose’

(b) consonant-final monosyllables (often with addition of final < e > [= [ø] or [œ], subsequently spelled < eu >] to provide the new base vowel), plus optional truncation of the final vowel. bac > keuba

‘baccalaureate degree’

Beur > Rebeu < Arabe

(a ‘reverlanized’ verlan form)

cher > reuch

‘expensive’

cul > luc

‘ass’

femme > meuf

‘woman, girl’

fesse > seffe

‘buttock’

fête > teuf

‘party’

flic > keuf

‘cop’

juif > feuj

‘Jew, Jewish’

mec > keum

‘guy’

mère > reum

‘mother’

punk > keupon

‘punk, punk rocker’

skin > neusk

‘skinhead’

soeur > reuss

‘sister’

thunes > nuts

‘dough’

tronche > chetron

‘face (pejorative)’

(c) bisyllables à poil > oilpé, à oilp

‘naked’

arnaque > karna

‘swindle’

Around the Phonological Periphery: Playing with Language

bagnole > gnolba

‘car’

baskets > sketba

‘sneakers’

bizarre > zarbi

‘weird’ (also > zarb)

blouson > zomblou

‘jacket’

bouffe > fébou

‘food’

braquer > kébra

‘to stick up’

camé > méca

‘stoned’

choper > pécho

‘to catch’

clochard > charclo

‘hobo’

drogué > guédro

‘drug addict’

gonzesse > zessegon

‘chick’

hachisch > chicha

‘hashish’

Paris > Ripa

‘Paris’

pédale > dallepé

‘homosexual’

pinard > narpi

‘wine’

pétard > tarpé

‘joint’

salope > lopsa

‘bitch’

voler > lévo

‘to swipe’

voyou > youvoi

‘hooligan’

(d) longer forms défoncé > foncédé

‘drunk, drugged’

dégueulasse > lasdégueu

‘dirty, repulsive’

fatigué > guétifa

‘tired’

frangine > négifran

‘sister’

ma parole > marolepe

‘you don’t say!’

oublier > bliou

‘forget’

partouze > zetoupar

‘orgy’

rigoler > golerie

‘to kid around’

(e) truncated forms bouffer > fébou > feb

‘eat’

bouger > gébou > geb

‘move’

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braquer > kébra > keb

‘steal’

condé > décon > dec

‘cop’

copain > painco > painc

‘pal’

déguisé > kisdé

‘plainclothes policeman’

mongol(ien) > golmon > gol

‘stupid, moron’

(for)niquer > kéni > ken

‘to copulate’

parents > rempas > remps

‘parents’

pédé > dépé > dep

‘homosexual’

ticket > keuti > keut

‘ticket’

A closer look at certain complex forms reveals additional details that demonstrate the relevance of language games in confronting a number of questions of phonological theory, such as the behaviour of certain latent consonants (the appearance of /z/ in nez ‘nose’ > zen), of consonant clusters (/bl/ remain together in bliou < oublier ‘to forget’, while /rt/ are separated in zetoupar < partouze ‘orgy’), of nasal vowels (no latent nasal consonant appears: bon ‘good’ > ombe, not *nombe), of schwa (schwa is identified with one of the vowels /ø/ or /œ/, and accordingly written with < eu >), and so on. While these issues are very interesting, they take us beyond our current descriptive concerns. Much further detail concerning the theoretical implications of verlan, as well as large amounts of additional data, is available in the references of footnote 9. This concludes our discussion of language ‘play’. The phenomena considered here have counterparts in most languages. They reflect, in a further way, the adaptation of language to its context of use, and implement in addition a very widespread tendency in informal speech: the shortening of words by various means. More generally, language play shows yet again how phonological processes are intimately involved in word formation – in relating the varying word forms of a single lexical item. This theme, a reflection of the discussions throughout previous chapters, underlines the close connections between phonology and morphology and reinforces the conclusion that one cannot study French sounds in isolation but only as part of an integrated set of linguistic systems, systems used in a variety of speech situations. Hence the title with which we began: French Sound Structure.

Around the Phonological Periphery: Playing with Language

Notes 1.

See Valdman (2000b) for an excellent survey of this type of speech behaviour.

2.

This data is taken from Scullen (1997), the most comprehensive general analysis of the various phenomena involved in this chapter. Scullen worked with a corpus of approximately one thousand abbreviated items from SF.

3.

The ease with which consonant-final abbreviations are formed contradicts the claim that French is a strongly open-syllable language.

4.

For many additional examples and further analysis, see Offord (1989).

5.

The terminology ‘spelled’ and ‘read’ acronyms is that of Scullen (1997). Dictionaries of acronyms now run to hundreds of pages.

6.

In Morin’s approach, reduplicated forms are called ‘echo words’. For further discussion, in addition to Scullen (1997), see Thiele (1987: 107 – 08).

7.

Scullen (1997: 135) recognizes this description as largely correct. Subsequent analyses reflect theoretical developments in phonology since Morin’s groundbreaking work.

8.

We cannot discuss here one additional complicated and very productive area of reduplication (and, in fact, of abbreviation as well): the formation of hypocoristics or nicknames. Scullen (1997: 148 – 70) divides nicknames into four classes: reduplicated (Kiki < Christophe, Bébert < Albert, Coco < Colette, Vévette < Yvette, Popol < Jean-Paul), abbreviated (Dom < Dominique, Isa < Isabelle, Gus < Auguste), compounded (Mahé < Marie-Hélene, Marie-Té < Marie-Thérèse), and suffixed (Thomassou < Thomas, Alexo < Alexandre, Toinon < Antoine). Variants of many nicknames abound, often combining different abbreviatory or reduplicative processes. Further discussion these processes may be found in the work of Marc Plénat (e.g., Plénat 1984).

9.

For an insightful review of this question in the French context, see Lefkowitz (1991), especially chapters 2 and 3, as well as Antoine (1998). Villon, in his Ballades en jargon from the mid-1400s, presents one early and well-known example of a secret language in the French literary domain. Further information may be found in Azra and Cheneau (1994), Plénat (1995), Scullen (1997), or various recent issues of Le Nouvel Observateur (e.g., No. 1771 of October 15, 1998).

10. Other possibilities, far less actively used at the moment, include javanais (formed by inserting -av-, -va-, or -ag-: chatte ‘cat’ > chagatte, jeudi ‘Thursday’ > javeudavi), largonji (formed by replacing the first letter of the word by l and moving the first letter to the end of the word and adding a vowel: jargon > largonji, café > laféké), or loucherbem, a creation of Paris butchers (formed by replacing the

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first consonant or consonant cluster by l, moving the initial segments to wordfinal position and adding -em: boucher ‘butcher’ > loucherbem, truc ‘thing, trick’ > louctrèm). For further details, cf. Plénat (1985, 1991). 11. The verlan form Beur (= Arab) is widely used as a designation for second generation North African immigrants, and one can now listen to Radio Beur. 12. In a number of polysyllabic verlan forms, the order of syllables actually appears random: cigarette > rettegaci, garettci, or retciga; défoncé ‘smashed’ > foncéde, fondécé, or céfondé; etc.

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Appendix Appendix

Text: Le Premier Ministre ira-t-il à Beaulieu Diagnostic Word List: Standard French Diagnostic Word List: Canadian French Speaker 1: Georges Blary, Pontoise, Val-d'Oise Speaker 2: Jean-Bernard Gauthier, Oucques, Loir-et-Cher Speaker 3: Séverine Lamontre, Chaumont, Haute-Marne Speaker 4: Etienne Grangé, Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques Speaker 5: Fleur Larocque, Montréal, Québec The Appendix contains the text of recordings of the following passage and word lists, read by five speakers and included on the CD-ROM. (The speaker from Montréal reads the additional list designed to illustrate certain phonological properties of the French language as spoken in Canada.) The purpose of these recordings is to give examples of connected speech and to illustrate three different varieties of French, a standard northern accent, a southern accent and a Canadian accent. Northern speakers: Georges Blary, Pontoise, Val-d'Oise Jean-Bernard Gauthier, Oucques, Loir-et-Cher Séverine Lamontre, Chaumont, Haute-Marne Southern speaker: Etienne Grangé, Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques Canadian speaker: Fleur Larocque, Montréal, Québec

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Appendix

Note: as has been made abundantly clear in the text itself, there is considerable variation in the pronunciation of Standard French. This means that the speakers reading the texts or lists of data will themselves manifest elements of this variation, and that the examples read may not always correspond exactly to the point being discussed in the text. This lack of correspondence primarily affects vowel length, the mid vowels /e ', 1  ,o n/, the nasal vowels /' /, the low vowels /a #/, the retention or deletion of e-muet, certain final consonants, and the use of an accent d’insistance (inital stress on words). It is, however, a useful exercise for listeners to be made aware of these minor discrepancies.

Le Premier Ministre ira-t-il à Beaulieu? Le village de Beaulieu est en grand émoi. Le Premier Ministre a, en effet, décidé de faire étape dans cette commune au cours de sa tournée de la région en fin d'année. Jusqu'ici les seuls titres de gloire de Beaulieu étaient son vin blanc sec, un champion local de course à pied (Louis Garret), quatrième aux jeux olympiques de Berlin en 1936, et plus récemment son usine de pâtes italiennes. Qu'est-ce qui a donc valu à Beaulieu ce grand honneur? Le hasard, tout bêtement, car le Premier Ministre lassé des circuits habituels qui tournaient toujours autour des mêmes villes veut découvrir ce qu'il appelle "la campagne profonde". Le maire de Beaulieu – Claude Bousquet – est en revanche très inquiet. La cote du Premier Ministre ne cesse de baisser depuis les élections. Comment, en plus, éviter les manifestations qui ont eu tendance à se multiplier lors des visites officielles ? La cote escarpée du Mont Saint Pierre qui mène au village connaît des barrages chaque fois que les opposants de tous les bords manifestent leur colère. D'un autre côté, à chaque voyage du Premier Ministre, le gouvernement prend contact avec la préfecture la plus proche et s'assure que tout est fait pour protéger le Premier Ministre. Or, un gros détachement de police comme on en a vu à Jonquière et des vérifications d’identité risquent de provoquer une explosion. Un jeune membre de l'opposition aurait déclaré: "Dans le coin, on est jaloux de notre liberté. S'il faut montrer patte blanche pour circuler, nous ne répondons pas de la réaction des gens du pays." De plus, quelques articles parus dans La Dépêche du Centre, L'Express, Le Nouvel Observateur et Ouest-Liberté indiqueraient que des activistes des communes voisines préparent une journée chaude au Premier Ministre. Quelques fanatiques auraient même entamé un jeûne prolongé dans l'église de St Martinville. Le sympathique maire de Beaulieu ne sait plus à quel saint se vouer. Il s'est, en désespoir de cause, décidé à écrire au Premier Ministre pour vérifier si son village était vraiment une étape nécessaire dans la tournée prévue. Beaulieu préfère être inconnue et tranquille plutôt que de se trouver au centre d'une bataille politique dont, par la télévision, seraient témoins des millions d’électeurs.

Appendix

Diagnostic Word List: Standard French 1. roc

31. déjeuner

2. rat

32. ex-femme

3. jeune

33. liège

4. mal

34. baignoire

5. ras

35. pécheur

6. fou à lier

36. socialisme

7. des jeunets

37. relier

8. intact

38. aspect

9. nous prendrions

39. niais

10. fêtard

40. épais

11. nièce

41. des genêts

12. pâte

42. blond

13. piquet

43. creux

14. épée

44. reliure

15. compagnie

45. piqué

16. fête

46 malle

17. islamique

47. gnôle

18. agneau

48. bouleverser

19. pêcheur

49. million

20. médecin

50. explosion

21. paume

51. influence

22. infect

52. mâle

23. dégeler

53. ex-mari

24. bêtement

54. pomme

25. épier

55. étrier

26. millionnaire

56. chemise

27. brun

57. brin

28. scier

58. lierre

29. fêter

59. blanc

30. mouette

60. petit

209

210

Appendix

61. jeûne

78. quatrième

62. rhinocéros

79. muette

63. miette

80. piquais

64. slip

81. trouer

65. compagne

82. piquer

66. peuple

83. creuse

67. rauque

84. beauté

68. cinquième

85. patte

69. nier

86. pâte

70. extraordinaire

87. épais

71. meurtre

88. épée

72. vous prendriez

89. jeune

73. botté

90. jeûne

74. patte

91. beauté

75. étriller

92. botté

76. faites

93. brun

77. feutre

94. brin

Diagnostic Word List – Canadian French 1. mettre

13. vire

2. maître

14. juge

3. écoeurer

15. court

4. évêque

16. courte

5. sable

17. boulevard

6. vite

18. filtrer

7. libre

19. abusif

8. juste

20. ministre

9. plume

21. pilule

10. couple

22. touriste

11. pitoune

23. cuisine

12. ville

24. cuisiner

Appendix

25. pur

56. toi

26. rouge

57. bois

27. neige

58. boivent

28. neutre

59. noir

29. chaude

60. boisson

30. père

61. voyons

31. beurre

62. soirée

32. port

63. doigt

33. part

64. avoir

34. pâte

65. boire

35. crainte

66. froid

36. emprunte

67. crois

37. honte

68. poigné

38. lente

69. bain

39. équiper

70. quinze

40. député

71. un

41. écouter

72. jungle

42. professuer

73. crayon

43. piscine

74. honte

44. malle

75. absent

45. mâle

76. il vente

46. Jacques

77. reculer

47. cadenas

78. brouette

48. éclater

79. février

49. éclat

80. tabernacle

50. il est là, là

81. coutume

51. voyage

82. rendu

52. voyager

83. dire

53. mauvais

84. diète

54. jamais

85. duel

55. parfaite

86. tube

211

212

Appendix

87. tuile

102. champagne

88. pas d’idée

103. dehors

89. voûte immense

104. hâler

90. le prêtre

105. chercher

91. aveugle

106. arbre

92. convaincre

107. plutôt

93. vinaigre

108. il en a

94. orchestre

109. je l’ai vu

95. anglicisme

110. c’est-tu têtu

96. debout

111. cent piastres

97. pourrie

112. sur la table

98. ombre

113. dans la maison

99. épingle

114. je les ai vus

100. signe

115. sans les voir

101. enseigner

213

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Index Index

/a - #/, 60-62 /e - '/, 48-59 /':/ , 45 /o - n/, 48-59 /ø - /, 48-59 /sC/, 28, 52 CL, 85, 87, 89, 101, 103, 120-121, 136 X - VN, 65 VC.CV, 27-28, 139 VCC‹CX, 82-86 VC‹CX, 82-86, 90 abbreviation, 191-194 accent d insistance, 91, 131, 181-182, 186 acronym, 195-199 affix, 14 alternation, 16, 49, 59, 71, 92, 104-105, 153, 157-158 analogy, 52-56, 61 aspirate-h, 9, 78, 86, 105, 107, 128, 140, 147 assimilation, 135, 140 Canadian French, See CF CF, 5-6, 44, 48, 75-76, 95 circonflexe, 47, 62 clitic, 31, 84, 87, 105, 107, 181 closed syllable, 50-52, 57, 78, 93, 107, 110 coda, 23-27, 30, 43, 74, 103, 126-128 colloquial, 3, 86-90, 187 compensatory lengthening, 44, 62

compound, 85, 163, 168, 192 conjugation, 49, 57, 87 conservative, 45, 48, 60, 63, 133 constraint, 48, 55, 64, 77-78, 84, 86, 105, 136 derivation, 14, 67, 156, 191 dialect, 6 emphasis, 181 en-, 64-65, 73 enchaînement, 30-31, 37, 107, 143-145, 160, 165, 167 English, 1, 5, 15, 44, 62, 134-135, 146, 158, 178-179 epenthesis, 85-86, 128-130 exception, 50, 55, 61, 64-65, 78-79, 83, 92, 99, 120, 150-151 false liaison, 165 familiar, 4, 187 feminine, 14, 47, 51, 65, 71, 87, 95, 97-99, 153 final consonant, 95, 148-152, 163 formal, 2-6, 35, 54, 88-89, 104-105, 130, 136, 165, 169, 182, 187, 201 geminate, 73, 104, 130-131, 177 gender, 13-14, 95, 98-99 glides, See also semi-vowels, 21-22, 24-25, 31, 41, 100, 103-106, 127-128, 146 hiatus, 47, 78, 105-106, 146 high vowels, 22, 31, 41, 100, 104 inflection, 14, 65, 153, 156 informal, 4, 58, 87, 145, 169, 199-200, 204

228

Index

insertion, 80, 85-86, 95, 97, 201 latent, 25, 148-149, 152-157, 160-161, 167, 204 Latin, 1, 6-8, 15, 96, 98, 130, 147, 179, learned, 8, 15-16, 28, 47-48, 62, 93-95, 99, 125, 130, 151-152, 156, 159 lengthening consonants, 42-43, 47 lexicon, 14, 140, 147, 191 liquids, 22, 81, 119-120, 128, 139-140 loi de position, 51-52, 55-56, 59, 107 loi des trois consonnes, 82 masculine, 14, 47, 65, 71, 95, 98 merger, 59-60, 62-63, 79-80, 91, MF, 48, 55-57, 75, 96, 111, 116 mid vowels, 22, 29, 48-60, 106-107, 192 Midi French, See MF minimal phrase, 34-36, 88-89, 180-181 morphology, 13-17, 53, 65, 87, 92-93, 99, 128-129, 148, 153, 199, 204 mute-e, See also schwa, 52, 85, 95-96, 201 nasal consonants, 22, 31, 63-64, 73-74, 106-107, 132, 136 nasalization, 44, 71-75, 130, 150 neologism, 14-15 nonstandard, 3, 106, 191-194, 199-204 nucleus, 23-27, 126-128 number, 13-14, 158 -o, 193-194 OF, 6-7, 15, 74, 96-99, 128-130, 147, 158 Old French, See OF onset, 23-27, 30, 126-128, 140, 161 open syllable, 23, 27, 44, 48-50, 52-57, 93, 148 optional, 26, 35, 105, 151-152, 161, 163-164, 169, 202 orthography, 7, 11-12, 50, 57, 59, 73-75, 86, 92, 95, 99, 132, 148-149, 153, 157, 201 person, 14, 151, 167-168

phoneme, 13, 103, 133, 135, 158 phonological hierarchy, 23, 30 phonological phrase, 30-37, 80-84, 88-89, 99, 106-107, 131, 161, 169, 178, 182, 184 phonology, 5, 13, 16-17, 22, 28, 30-31, 91, 95, 103, 107, 125, 128, 149, 177, 182, 204 phonotactic, 24-25, 29, 31, 37, 77, 86, 106-107, 121-128, 136, 198 phrase-initial, 37, 80-81, 83, 87, 181 plural, 14, 47, 65-66, 71, 145, 151, 158-159, 163, 168, 199 popular, 3-4, 6, 15, 89-90, 99, 145, 156, 191 prefix, 14, 64-65, 69, 73, 83, 91 productivity, 14, 194 proper noun, 78 prosody, 131, 169, 177-187 rapid speech, 13, 105, 115, 140, 146 reduplication, 14, 199-200 register, 3-6, 186-187 resyllabification, 37, 107, 161, 165 rhythm, 31, 84-85, 177-178, 183 root, 14, 52-53, 56, 61, 65, 73, 77 schwa, See also mute-e, 3, 25, 30-31, 37, 42, 48, 60, 75, 99, 105-107, 125-126, 128, 130-131, 136, 139, 143-146, 148, 153, 178-179, 182, 201, 204 semi-vowels, See also glides, 21, 24-25, 41, 100, 102-105, 139, 146 SF, See also Standard French, 6, 21, 25, 29, 41-42, 48, 55-56, 75, 88, 107, 119, 121, 135, 140, 147 singular, 14, 47, 65-66, 71, 145, 151, 158-159, 162 slang, 2, 4, 75, 199, 201 stable, 51, 56, 60, 79, 86, 90-91, 147-149, 153, 160 standard, 2-6, 18, 48, 136, 191 Standard French, See also SF, 2-3, 5, 8, 160 strength, 27, 30, 129, 136 stress, 7, 23, 30-32, 42, 46, 53, 91-92, 108, 116, 131, 169, 177-182, 187

Index

style, 5, 169 suffix, 14, 51, 53, 65, 93, 104, 126, 134-135, 193-194 syllabification, 27-31, 52, 125, 139, 159-161, 167, 177 syllable-final, 74, 120, 125, 128, 138-140 syllable-initial, 120-121, 126, 128, 137, 139 variation, 2-3, 5, 8, 12, 16, 52, 74, 76, 86, 88, 99, 106-107, 133, 136, 140, 146, 148, 179, 182 variety, 2, 5-6, 62, 76, 89, 95-96, 160, 165, 182, 191 verlan, 191, 200-202, 204 vowel harmony, 52, 54-56 vowel system, 41-42, 57, 60, 62, 64, 106-108 word, 13-16, 30-31, 37, 48, 67, 73, 77-78, 82-83, 86-87, 90, 99, 102, 105-107, 126, 128, 131, 161-163, 178-179, 181-182, 191-195, 199-201, 204 word-final, 30-31, 43-44, 46, 49-50, 59, 72, 75, 79, 83, 96, 102, 106-107, 119, 125-126, 135, 137, 148-149, 152, 157, 160-161, 178, 201

229

French Sound Structure provides a comprehensive, detailed and well-illustrated description of the pronunciation of Modern Standard French, incorporating comments on regional and social variation, on abbreviatory processes and “word play,” and on certain historical phonological changes which continue to be reflected in the contemporary language. It is written in a way that presupposes little or no formal training in linguistics proper (other than some familiarity with phonetic notation, to which students of linguistics are normally exposed independently). This work will be of interest to university students studying French and to students of linguistics in general. Others wishing to know more about the nature of the French language will also find the material useful, since pronunciation is rarely considered in any detail in general handbooks of French. The accompanying CD-ROM is an additional valuable asset, providing oral examples relevant to the linguistic material under study.

well-organized and systematic presentation of the major questions of modern French phonology in a “…[a]

clearly updated fashion.” — Jurgen

D

Klausenburger, University of Washington, Seattle

ouglas Walker, a Professor of French and Linguistics in the Department of French, Italian and Spanish at the University of Calgary, teaches French

and general linguistics. He has held academic positions in both Canada and the United States and has authored An Introduction to Old French Morphophonology, The Pronunciation of Canadian French, and numerous articles and reviews. ISBN 1-55238-033-5

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