83 5.16: Structure – Voyelles nasales

Les voyelles nasales

You have probably already noticed that the French language has a lot of nasal sounds. That’s because there are 4 different types of nasal vowels in French. This means that for some words, the sound makes the nose vibrate. Try closing your mouth and making a sound with your nose. French nasal sounds sound almost like that.

In French, there are 4 nasal sounds. The people of the south clearly distinguish between these 4 sounds, but the people of the northern France can only hear 3 nasal vowels. Here they are.

(i) The first one is the [ɔ̃] sound, or nasal o. Your mouth should be round when pronouncing these vowels. There are two ways to write these vowels: on and om. But remember that if on or om is followed by another vowel, the sound is no longer nasal.

pompier     décontracté     tomber     contrôle

(ii) The next one is the [ɛ̃] sound, or nasal i. Your mouth should open for this sound, as if you were about to smile. There are many ways to write this vowel sound: in, im, yn, ym, ain, aim, ein, and very rarely en (like in examen).

pain     vin        important    thym

(iii) People from the northern region of France would say that this third category can also be placed under the [ɛ̃ ] sound category, but people from the south say that this is a third nasal sound, the [œ̃] sound, or nasal u. In order to make this sound, try contracting your mouth. There are two ways to write this sound: un and um.

parfum     un     brun     aucun

(iv) The final nasal sound is [ɑ̃] or nasal a. There are 5 ways to write this vowel sound: am, an, en, em, and very rarely aon.

lentement     pandémie     paon     jambe

Practice pronouncing the following: lundi, trompe, temps, intelligent, syndicat, matin, maison, ombre, peinture, main, maintenant, impermeable, lapin.

Watch this video for additional practice: French Nasal Vowels.

Activité

Choisissez si les mots dans le fichiers audio contiennent une voyelle nasale ou non.

1. Y a-il une voyelle nasale, oui ou non ?
2. Y a-il une voyelle nasale, oui ou non ?
3. Y a-il une voyelle nasale, oui ou non ?
4. Y a-il une voyelle nasale, oui ou non ?
5. Y a-il une voyelle nasale, oui ou non ?
6. Y a-il une voyelle nasale, oui ou non ?
7. Y a-il une voyelle nasale, oui ou non ?
8. Y a-il une voyelle nasale, oui ou non ?
9. Y a-il une voyelle nasale, oui ou non ?
10. Y a-il une voyelle nasale, oui ou non ?