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 >me sieBtial and Adequate 
 to French ProDunciatioa 
 and Rhy thiB 
 
 KNOW'LES-FAVARB 
 
GIFT OF 
 M. G. Luck 
 
 ' 
 
'M 
 
Perfect French Possible 
 
 Some Essential and Adequate Helps 
 
 to French Pronunciation 
 
 and Rhythm 
 
 MARY H. KNOWLES 
 
 MEMBRE ACTIF DE L' ASSOCIATION PHONETIQUE INTERNATIONALE. 
 
 PRESIDENT FOR TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF THE CLUB FRANQAIS DE CHICAGO. 
 
 NOMMEE OFFICIER D'ACADEMIE LE SEIZE OCTOBRE 1902. 
 
 AND 
 
 BERTHE DES COMBES FAVARD 
 
 TEACHER OF FRENCH IN THE HYDE PARK HIGH SCHOOL, CHICAGO. 
 
 D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 
 BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1910 
 
 BY D. C. HEATH & Co. 
 
 i E 7 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 When one reflects that language is made up of sounds, it 
 seems too obvious for mention that the acquisition of a new 
 language should begin by a mastering of its sounds. Notice 
 the word "mastering". There are thousands of persons who 
 know perfectly well that French i equals English ee, and who 
 nevertheless go through life pronouncing the past participle 
 "finished", finny, instead of fee-nee, which, had it been firmly 
 fixed in the mind at the outset, would be quite as easy as 
 1 finny', since all the sounds in this word fini are English sounds 
 (fee-knee). 
 
 We all know what "playing by ear'* means to a trained musi- 
 cian. Would it not be pedagogically as absurd for a teacher of 
 language to expect his pupil to speak before he can pronounce, 
 as it would be for a music teacher to expect his pupil to play 
 an air upon the violin, before he has taught him to tune his 
 instrument or to sound each note upon the strings? 
 
 This little manual of pronunciation is not a technical work 
 on phonetics. It contains simply those elements of phonetics 
 which are necessary to the correct pronunciation of French, 
 and, by our use of English equivalents and rules for the form- 
 ation of those sounds which have no English equivalents, we 
 have been able to perfect a system of applied phonetics, with- 
 out having had recourse to the symbols of the phoneticians, 
 who compel one to learn what appears to the eye to be one 
 foreign language simply as a preparation for the study of 
 another. It differs from other works on pronunciation, because 
 
 iii 
 
 M41889 
 
IV PREFACE 
 
 it leaves out everything but the essentials, and is the only work 
 in which rules for rhythm, as such, are given in a form that 
 will secure correct and musical inflection. It is unique in that 
 it gives infallible rules for the production of those sounds that 
 cannot be approximated in English. 
 
 To an objector, who might say that all this takes too much 
 time, we could reply by actual proof with large classes in the 
 school-room, as well as with private pupils, that, on the con- 
 trary, by the use of this method a great saving of time is 
 effected; for, when once the learner has mastered the thirty- 
 six sounds of the French language, and the rules for rhythm, 
 he can pronounce any word at sight unerringly. Thousands of 
 words of Latin derivation are the same in the two languages, 
 but the vowel sounds of the two offer so many differences that 
 no beginner would recognize the French word e'ducation , for 
 instance, when pronounced by a French person, although to 
 the eye it is exactly the same as the English word. A pupil, 
 however, who has been trained in our me,thod, recognizes all 
 these words instantly, no matter how rapidly they may be 
 uttered by a French person, even before he has begun the 
 study of the language as such. Our method has given him at 
 once the key to this large and varied vocabulary. 
 
 While we have made an exhaustive study of Nyrop, Littre', 
 L'Abbe' Rousselot, Leon Ricquier, Yersin, Ahn, Legouve, and 
 Paul Passy, and make nowhere any statement which is not 
 backed by one or more of these authorities, we have, in the 
 majority of cases, done away with pages of rules by deducing 
 from them general laws which experience has proved to be 
 true ; notably in the treatment of the nasal sounds, in that of 
 the liquid /, which has been reduced to three rules of one line 
 each, and, most important of all, in that of the mute <?, which is 
 disposed of in two rules. These two rules with remarks, foot- 
 notes, etc., concerning them, have been condensed into three 
 
PREFACE V 
 
 pages, and, together with those for the formation of French 
 sounds having no English equivalents (0, u, eu? en* and uvular 
 r) as formulated here, are absolutely original, and can be found 
 in no other work. 
 
 We feel safe in asserting, that this tabulated system of ap- 
 plied phonetics is the briefest, simplest, and most complete 
 work on pronunciation ever published; its briefness and its 
 simplicity being the most valuable result of our wide exper- 
 ience and long years of study. 
 
 It is not a mere theory that we are trying to advance, but the 
 result of long years of practical application in the class-room, 
 where these principles have been slowly evolved, daily prac- 
 ticed, and found to produce the desired results. 
 
 We have never believed in the "French Without a Master" 
 systems, for we think that a teacher is an absolute necessity, 
 but, if ever there were a system in which a pupil, determined 
 to learn, and unable to procure a master, could teach himself 
 to pronounce as French people do, this is the one. 
 
 Disputed points and exceptions have been purposely omit- 
 ted, so that the essential principles of pronunciation may be- 
 come deeply rooted and have unobstructed growth in the mind 
 of the learner, who, in order to keep first impressions clear and 
 fresh, must at first remain in ignorance of disputed points.* 
 
 We take pleasure in expressing our sincerest thanks to 
 professors of the University of Chicago, and others, for the 
 valuable help their counsel and kindly criticism have been to 
 us. The rapid sale of our first four editions, unadvertised as 
 they were, and the adoption for use of this book in the Public 
 Schools of Chicago, and schools and colleges elsewhere, have 
 encouraged us to have this enlarged and revised edition pub- 
 lished on a larger scale. Great care has been taken in the 
 
 * Exceptions to rules for pronunciation are noted in the Grammaire de la 
 Conversation. 
 
VI PREFACE 
 
 eleventh edition to correct errors that had crept into the pre- 
 vious ones, and we shall be grateful for any suggestions that will 
 enable us further to perfect our work in succeeding editions. 
 
 The most perfect application of this method of pronunciation 
 and drill may be obtained by using it in conjunction with the 
 Grammaire de la Conversation (Knowles-Favard), D. C. Heath 
 & Co., publishers. This book, with the exception of a few pages 
 of necessary explanation, is written entirely in French. The 
 lessons are so graduated as to be understood from the first by the 
 beginner. In the first twenty lessons, no abnormal or nasal sounds 
 are included ; only those sounds are used which (by proper voice- 
 placing) can be easily pronounced by English-speaking people. 
 In the next twenty lessons, the nasal and the abnormal sounds 
 are taken up in proper order, and in all lessons throughout the 
 book, the practical application of this system of pronunciation 
 and rhythm is further carried out by constant references to 
 Perfect French Possible (see page 1 4). 
 
 The careful following-out of the system laid down in these 
 two books, which have been written for each other or we may 
 more properly say, evolved from and by each other will give 
 to the ordinary student a rhythmical and musical French, simple 
 in form and correct in idiom. 
 
 For particulars in regard to a normal course and other 
 courses in the Knowles-Favard system, address New School 
 of Conversational French, Fine Arts Building, Chicago, 111. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 A WORD TO TEACHERS ......... x 
 
 SOME ESSENTIAL AND ADEQUATE HELPS TO FRENCH PRONUNCIATION 
 AND RHYTHM. i 
 
 Intrinsic difference between French and English Three things 
 necessary to perfect French. 
 
 CHART OF FRENCH SOUNDS 2 
 
 Thirty-six elementary sounds a, a, e, e, e, e, i, 6, o, u, eu, 1 eu, 2 
 an, in, on, un, ou, ch, b, d, f, g, gn, h, j, k, 1, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, y, z 
 English equivalents Signs used in this book. 
 
 THE FRENCH ALPHABET 3 
 
 VOWEL SOUNDS 3 
 
 Exercises invaluable to singers Articulation Phoneticians' 
 diagram of normal vowel sounds Pronunciation of / indicated 
 Poule and pool compared Diagram including abnormal vowel 
 sounds. 
 
 NASALIZED VOWELS ......... 5 
 
 Formation of Nasals Helpful experiments Exercise for uvular 
 r serviceable in the study of nasals Diagram including nasalized 
 vowels. 
 
 CONSONANT SOUNDS 8 
 
 Approximately the same as in English Initials Finals. 
 
 SYLLABIC PRACTICE 9 
 
 Exercise for / Daily practice necessary Ien, final Mono- 
 syllables Final Not final Verb and Participle endings 
 -5* and ent final in verbs. 
 
 SYLLABLES 13 
 
 Dividing words into Syllables Importance of Syllabication 
 Mute syllable defined Peculiarities of phonetic syllabication 
 Tonic accent. 
 
 vij 
 
viii TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 How TO LEARN TO PRONOUNCE A FRENCH WORD PERFECTLY . 15 
 VOWELS 16 
 
 a e, preceding mm d a, preceding s as, a(tion), and a(ille) 
 in nouns, final e, at the end of a syllable / ez er at, 
 final in verbs e at ei et (final) e, before a combination 
 of consonants e, when not the last letter of a syllable e i 
 2 y, vowel ou d ati eau 0(s) 0(tion) os, ot, and o, 
 final Four sounds which have no English equivalents Rule 
 for the formation of o Exercise with English words Rule for 
 the formation of z/ Words showing abnormal resultant of two 
 normal sounds Exercise for u and ou Rule for the formation 
 of eu^ Rule for the formation of eu* en in the conjugation of 
 avoir. 
 
 NASALS 20 
 
 Nasals defined an, am, en, em, in, im, ain, aim, ein, eim, yn, 
 y m on, om, un, urn Impure nasals ten oin Impure 
 nasals in viendrai, etc. 
 
 VOWELS MELTING TOGETHER . . . . . . 21 
 oi i, u, and ou, before vowels Exercises for pronunciation of 
 these combinations in one emission of the voice Syllabication 
 of vowel combinations. 
 
 CONSONANTS 23 
 
 List of consonants alike in French and English c and^-, before e 
 and i h, aspirate and inaspirate j q s, between vowels w 
 
 x y Rule for the formation of d, t, I, and n Voice placing 
 for^-, and k Two French r's Lingual r Uvular r Modifi- 
 cation of English r Dissimilarity of similar French and English 
 words. 
 
 CONSONANT COMBINATIONS 27 
 
 ch gn, in foreign derivations ph /, initial gu qu /*' 
 th Combinations which are not separated in syllabication. 
 
 DIACRITICAL MARKS 27 
 
 Cases in which accents do not count phonetically The apostrophe 
 
 The cedilla The diaeresis. 
 
 LIQUIDS 28 
 
 //, final ill, preceded by a, by eu, by ou ill, not initial gn, 
 liquid y. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS IX 
 
 MUTE SYLLABLES 29 
 
 When e is not pronounced When e is pronounced Sometimes 
 replaced by a pause without breath Often an involuntary and 
 unavoidable sound both in French and in English Series of mute 
 syllables in sentences In words. 
 
 LINKING SOUNDS TOGETHER . . . . . . . 32 
 
 Syllables and words linked together in elegant French Liaisons 
 Definition of a liaison Consonant sounds which change in 
 liaisons Tying nasals Trained ear the guide Rules for making 
 liaisons Linkings of sounds, not liaisons Consonants linked to 
 vowels Difference between linkings and liaisons Vowels linked 
 to vowels Linkings with substantives. 
 
 RHYTHM 38 
 
 French and English Rhythm compared Effect of syllabication 
 on rhythm Where stress should be placed Displaced stress. 
 
 STRESS GROUPS 40 
 
 Stress Groups defined Importance of correct placing of tonic 
 stress Sentences showing where stress falls in stress groups. 
 
 DISPLACED ACCENT ... 42 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE KNOWLES-FAVARD SYSTEM .... 43 
 
 READING LESSON OR DICTATION 44 
 
 PROSE FOR PRACTICE 45 
 
 Slow reading with stress groups indicated by vertical lines. 
 
A WORD TO TEACHERS. 
 
 To those who have still to be convinced of the utility, not 
 to say the necessity, of this method, and who say, "We prefer 
 imitation; our pupils imitate our pronunciation, and that 
 is better than all these comparisons of English and French 
 sounds," we would answer, "Our whole object is to awaken 
 the imitative sense, to cultivate it, to keep it alive by opening 
 the ears and the understanding of your pupil. In short, we 
 teach him to listen to you, to understand you, to imitate you. 
 But, admirable as imitation is, the pupil can nevertheless imi- 
 tate you only when with you, and this little book is to serve 
 as a guide in the many hours when he is studying alone." 
 
 This book should be not only on the teacher's desk 
 
 but in the hands of each one of the pupils 
 
 no matter how advanced. 
 
 Large type is for first lessons. Small type is for more advanced work. 
 The whole book is to be used continuously for reference. 
 
 x 
 
PERFECT FRENCH POSSIBLE. 
 
 SOME ESSENTIAL AND ADEQUATE HELPS TO FRENCH 
 PRONUNCIATION AND RHYTHM. 
 
 The intrinsic difference between the pronunciation of 
 French and English is first, that French is spoken from 
 the front of the mouth, and not on the molars ; second, that 
 a French word is not spoken as a word, as English words 
 are, but as a succession of syllables; third, that, in English, 
 a word is attacked with great energy, the force dying away 
 gradually to the end ; while, in French, on the contrary, the 
 initial syllable receives only a slight stress, which increases 
 gradually, culminating in the final syllable, whose conso- 
 nant-sound is often uttered with explosive force. 
 
 If the pupil bears these three things constantly in mind, 
 and observes the rules below, his pronunciation will be per- 
 fect and his accent French. 
 
 RULES. 
 
 I. Keep the vowel sounds pure. 
 II. Join each consonant or consonant combination to 
 
 the following vowel. 
 
 III. Place the tonic accent on the last sounded syl- 
 lable, and keep mute syllables mute. 
 
PERFECT FRENCH POSSIBLE 
 
 CHART OF FRENCH SOUNDS. 
 
 The thjrty : six elementary sounds of which the French 
 language is composed are: 
 
 PAGE 
 
 PAGE 
 
 a r= Ann 
 
 16 
 
 ch = 
 
 shine 
 
 27 
 
 ar= ah 
 
 16 
 
 b = 
 
 bed 
 
 23 
 
 e = up* and sometimes urn 
 
 16 
 
 d = 
 
 did, modified 
 
 23 
 
 e = Abe 
 
 16 
 
 r 
 
 fat 
 
 23 
 
 e = e bb 
 
 i? 
 
 g = 
 
 get 
 
 23 
 
 e = ebb, prolonged 
 
 i? 
 
 gn = 
 
 canyon, modified 
 
 28 
 
 i =eel 
 
 17 
 
 h = 
 
 hat (silent in Parisian 
 
 
 6 =. ode 
 
 17 
 
 
 French) 
 
 23 
 
 o awe, modified 
 
 18 
 
 \ 
 
 measure 
 
 23 
 
 u product of the union of 
 
 
 k = 
 
 kill 
 
 23 
 
 ou and i. 
 
 18 
 
 1 = 
 
 let, modified 
 
 23 
 
 eu 1 ^ product of the union of o 
 
 
 m = 
 
 met 
 
 23 
 
 and e. 
 
 19 
 
 n = 
 
 not 
 
 24 
 
 eu 2 =r product of the union of 6 
 
 
 P = 
 
 poor 
 
 23 
 
 and e. 
 
 19 
 
 r = 
 
 rat, modified 
 
 24 
 
 an = a 
 
 20 
 
 s = 
 
 sat 
 
 23 
 
 inz=a 
 
 20 
 
 t = 
 
 tan, modified. 
 
 23 
 
 on o 
 
 20 
 
 V = 
 
 vat 
 
 23 
 
 un = eu 1 
 
 20 
 
 y = 
 
 yearn 
 
 23 
 
 ou = ooze 
 
 17 
 
 z = 
 
 zone 
 
 23 
 
 This is a chart of sounds only. For letters see page 3. 
 
 When we use the arithmetical formula " a = Ann ", " e = ebb ", we 
 mean that French unaccented a equals, or has the same sound as, the 
 A in Ann, and that equals, or has the same sound as, e in ebb, and so 
 on. 
 
 When (in this book) French sounds are represented by English 
 sounds or words, consider that: a = a. We use the tilde (~) over a 
 vowel to show that that vowel is nasalized. When in examples of any 
 kind exceptions to our rules of pronunciation occur, the correct pro- 
 nunciation is indicated after the word. English equivalents for French 
 sounds and words are printed in bold face type. 
 
 * It is identical with the ever recurring obscured vowel in English : unattainable, 
 divisible, recollect, recent j and e in the German word bitte. 
 
VOWEL SOUNDS 3 
 
 We often find that the pronunciation of an English word differs 
 in different localities, but both Webster and the Century Dictionary 
 agree as to the pronunciation of the English words given as models in 
 the above chart. Although we have used the word " modified" for only 
 six of these sounds, it must be understood that they all need modi- 
 fication before they can be considered strictly French. We have for 
 convenience used the sign of equality between English and French 
 sounds, but, in reality, until the English sounds have been greatly 
 changed, no such equality exists. The English sound merely gives 
 you a starting point. By hard work you can do the rest, thus making 
 the sign of equality true. This is really a study of voice placing, 
 which will give you musical French and improve your English at the 
 same time. When you have succeeded in pronouncing the sounds 
 (not marked modified or nasal ~) which are indicated in the English 
 words we have given that is, in pronouncing them staccato with all 
 drawlings, additions and prolongations cleanly lopped off (for they 
 must be entirely freed from the intermediate sounds which naturally 
 precede and follow them in the English word) you are really pro- 
 nouncing perfect French sounds. 
 
 THE FRENCH ALPHABET. 
 
 Approximate pronunciation in English : 
 
 a ah h ash o oh u u* 
 
 b bay i ee p pay v vay 
 
 c say j zhee q ku* w doobl'vay 
 
 d day k kah r air x eeks 
 
 e urn / 1 ell s ess y eegrec 
 
 f eff m emm t tay z zedd 
 
 g zhay n enn * No equivalent English sound. See page 18. 
 
 VOWEL SOUNDS. 
 
 The following exercises all tend to bring the voice to the front of 
 the mouth, and to make articulation much more distinct and tones more 
 musical; they are consequently invaluable, not only to singers and stu- 
 
4 PERFECT FRENCH POSSIBLE 
 
 dents of French, but to all persons wishing to improve voice placing 
 and articulation in any language. 
 
 Back. Front. 
 
 ou i 
 
 6 e 
 
 o e 
 
 a a 
 
 Phoneticians have discovered that French vowels travel forward in 
 the mouth according to the above curious and interesting diagram. 
 Ou at the upper left hand is the farthest back ; / at the upper right 
 hand is the farthest forward. By practicing from ou to /, down one 
 side of the V and up the other, you will find that the tongue travels 
 continually forw'ard until at last you feel it pressing against the front 
 teeth; it has also changed its position from concave to convex; by 
 experimenting with your finger you will see that this is true.* 
 
 In order to rid yourself of any rasping and nasal sounds which may 
 occur in your ordinary tones, from the unnecessary use of muscles in the 
 throat, study the above diagram according to the following directions: 
 
 RULE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF PURE FRENCH VOWELS. 
 
 First pronounce ooze, then oo (ou) ode, o (6) ah (a) Ann, a 
 (a) ebb, e (e) Abe, a (/) eel, ee (i). Second, repeat these 
 sounds, watching closely each movement of the lips, a mirror in hand. 
 Third, exaggerate these movements of the lips without any sound. 
 Fourth, after each vowel, stiffen the lips so as to hold for an instant 
 the shape they have assumed. Fifth, repeat audibly. Holding the lips 
 stiff during the production of these vowels will prevent them from 
 lapsing into other vowels. The third sound of the above diagram (see 
 p. 1 8) is to be omitted for the present. Daily practice on these vowels 
 will make you sure of them, but until you are sure never practice them 
 without a mirror, for in order to get the desired result the lips must 
 be absolutely motionless. In the proper noun Abe, pronounced slow- 
 ly, we hear distinctly a ee b; but, in order to get out of it a perfect 
 /, you must, in practicing the English word, entirely eliminate this 
 extra accidental ee. A great deal of practice is necessary to do this. 
 The tendency (an unfortunate one) in English is to diphthongize every 
 
 *The movements of the tongue (page S) must now be taken up. 
 
NASALIZED VOWELS 5 
 
 vowel, as we have shown in (A) of Abe, while in French it is imperative 
 that every vowel be distinct in itself, and neither begin with nor lapse 
 into any other vowel sound. The pure French vowel may be illustrated 
 by a perfectly straight line, and an English one by a curve or a waving 
 line. In the French word "poule" the ou remains oo until it joins /, 
 while in the English word "pool" oo changes into uh, curving before 
 it strikes the final consonant. Briefly the English vowel is almost 
 always introduced or followed by some other sound and curves con- 
 tinually up or down; to use a homely term, it "wiggles", and that is 
 something which a French vowel must never be allowed to do. This 
 characteristic of English speech becomes a positive defect in the un- 
 educated who unconsciously exaggerate it. 
 
 Back. Front. 
 
 Normal. Abnormal. Normal. 
 OU U i 
 
 6 ^ eu* ^ e 
 
 o eu 1 e 
 
 a a 
 
 Up to this time we have mentioned only the normal vowels. These 
 exercises should now be repeated with the addition of the above vowels, 
 called abnormal because they are formed by the union of two others. 
 Note that in the diagram the abnormal vowel lies in each case between 
 the two vowels of which it is a product. 
 
 Take up the study of the abnormal sounds by learning o (page 18), 
 and introducing it into the diagram (page 4). Now in your daily 
 practice of this V, stop after %, round the lips as for o and tiy to re- 
 peat e. Then do the same thing with /. Continue this practice until 
 you have learned to understand the diagram on page 5. 
 
 NASALS, or more correctly speaking NASALIZED VOWELS. 
 
 The French nasals are an, in, on, un (see page 20), and they differ 
 from the pure vowel sounds, on which they are based, only because, 
 by the lowering of the soft palate, they are made to issue partly from 
 
 * We give a place to e in this second V, not because it needs any particular practice, 
 it being an involuntary sound which occurs accidentally in many languages, but be- 
 cause it will be interesting to you to see where it falls naturally in this diagram. 
 
6 PERFECT FRENCH POSSIBLE 
 
 the nose, instead of wholly from the mouth ; so that the best guides to 
 the formation of the nasals are the French vowels, o, a, a and eu l . 
 
 How TO STUDY THE NASALS. 
 
 Practice a, a, o, eu 1 , very softly, continually trying to produce the 
 sound farther and farther forward in the mouth until you can really 
 feel it floating between the lips. In doing this keep the mouth wide 
 open and the lips continually relaxed ; then, when the vowel sound has 
 become as perfect and as light as possible, sing it, and while singing, 
 lower the soft palate; this partly obstructs the passage of the air 
 through the mouth, and forces it up and forward through the nasal 
 passages and out of the nostrils. A singing tone is best for this 
 practice. Sing a for two beats, lower the soft palate,* continuing two 
 beats more; at the beginning of the third beat, the sound becomes 
 nasal. As an is the easiest of the nasals, confine your attention to it 
 at the outset. 
 
 If in practicing an, you at first get English ng as in thing, it is 
 because you are allowing the base of the tongue to move upward to 
 meet the soft palate. While singing an, in, on, and un, press the 
 tongue gently downward with a pencil. If the pencil moves, your 
 tongue is moving. When you have learned to keep the tongue motion- 
 less, the ng sound will disappear. 
 
 When properly produced, the nasals are among the most musical 
 sounds in the French language, and entirely different from the false 
 nasal twang of Yankee and Western American English. 
 
 * By practicing the table for consonants, according to the rule for r (that is by 
 keeping the tip of the tongue constantly down so as to make the uvula act, see 
 page 25), you will become conscious of the movement of the soft palate, and thus 
 better able to lower it at will. 
 
NASALIZED VOWELS 7 
 
 EXPERIMENT I. 
 
 To prove that the lowering of the soft palate changes an ordinary vowel to a 
 
 While singing # , give a succession of light, quick blows to Adam's 
 apple with your fingers, leaving an interval of two or three beats be- 
 tween them. Each little blow causes an involuntary swallowing, 
 bringing down the soft palate and thus momentarily changing the 
 sound to a nasal. 
 
 EXPERIMENTS II AND III. 
 
 To prove that in changing an ordinary vowel to a nasal, part of the air is 
 forced through the nostrils. 
 
 While singing #, press the side of the nose, just below the bridge, 
 with the tip of the index finger ; change the tone to a nasal, and you 
 will feel the vibration in the nasal passage. 
 
 While singing a, hold a cold mirror quite close to the face ; the glass 
 will be blurred by the breath from the mouth. While singing an hold 
 the mirror close to the face; the glass will become heavily blurred in 
 two spots corresponding to the two nostrils. 
 
 You now have acquired the nasals, and can introduce them into the 
 diagram for vowel practice. 
 
 CHART OF FRENCH VOWEL SOUNDS, INCLUDING ABNORMAL AND 
 NASALIZED VOWELS: 
 
 Back. Front. 
 
 Normal. Abnormal. Normal. 
 
 ou u i 
 
 6 eu 2 e 
 
 6 
 
 o eu 1 e 
 
 a eu 1 a 
 
 a a 
 
8 PERFECT FRENCH POSSIBLE 
 
 MOVEMENTS OF THE TONGUE. 
 
 With a bright light shining directly into your mirror, watch the 
 tongue recede from a to ou; then on opening the mouth, its almost 
 flat position; then watch it bulge and push forward steadily from d to 
 L In passing round the V from ou to z, at both / and i you will see 
 and feel the tongue pressing against the front and side teeth, and, if 
 this pressure be exaggerated, protruding between them. By this 
 energetic pushing forward of the tongue you will be perfecting your 
 vowels and placing them in the front of the mouth where French is 
 spoken. In order better to understand these movements of the tongue, 
 keep your finger on its tip while you are pronouncing ou, d, o, d, a, 2, /, /. 
 
 When you have once really acquired these sounds, guard against 
 the bad habit of keeping your lips stiffened, for, with stiffened lips, it 
 is impossible to produce musical sounds. In your subsequent study of 
 the abnormal vowels in words, be careful to moisten and relax your 
 lips. 
 
 CONSONANT SOUNDS. 
 
 Consonants* and consonant combinations are approximately the 
 same in the two languages. Consonants are pronounced farther for- 
 ward in French than in English and are therefore much better articu- 
 lated. Initial consonants and those carried from one word to another 
 are uttered without stress,f while the finals, on the contrary, are intense- 
 ly articulated and prolonged into what may well be called a veritable 
 explosion. The muscles of the French tongue and lips do very fine and 
 delicate work. They are better educated than those of the English 
 tongue and lips, which are lazy and which from the very first lesson 
 must be made to go to work seriously, and never be allowed to relax 
 in their strenuous effort, until they have become strong and supple 
 enough to pronounce " a la frangaise ", not in the labored way which 
 is almost always the natural and unavoidable result of first efforts, but 
 with the perfect ease and grace which can be obtained only by long 
 practice. 
 
 * See page 23. 
 
 t But, if a consonant is carried over to a syllable which has either the tonic or the 
 displaced accent, it becomes a part of that syllable and has its due share of the stress. 
 
SYLLABIC PRACTICE 
 
 SYLLABIC PRACTICE. 
 
 ba ba be be be be bi bo bout boi bo bu beu 1 beu 2 bia bid 
 
 ca ca ce ce ce ce ci co cou coi co cu ceil ceu cia cia 
 
 da da de de* de de di do dou doi do du deu deu dia dia 
 
 fa fa fe fe fe fe fi fo fou foi fo fu feu feu fia fia 
 
 ga ga ge ge ge ge gi go gou goi go gu geu geu gia gia 
 
 gna gna gne gne gne gne gni gno gnou gno gnu gneu gneu 
 
 ha ha he he he he hi ho hou hoi ho hu heu heu hia hia 
 
 ja ja je je je je ji jo jou joi jo ju jeu jeu jia jia 
 
 ka ka ke ke ke ke ki ko kou koi ko ku keu keu kia kia 
 
 la la le le le le li 16 lou loi lo lu leu leu lia lia 
 
 ma ma me me me me mi mo mou moi mo mu meu meu mia mia 
 
 na na ne ne ne ne ni no nou noi no nu neu neu nia nia 
 
 pa pa pe pe pe pe pi po pou poi po pu peu peu pia pia 
 
 ra ra re re re re ri ro rou roi ro ru reu reu ria ria 
 
 sa sa se se se se si so sou soi so su seu seu si a si a 
 
 ta ta te te te te ti to tou toi to tu teu teu tia tia 
 
 va va ve ve ve ve vi vo vou voi vo vu veu veu via via 
 
 Jya ya ye ye ye ye yi yo you yo yu yeu yeu 
 
 za za ze ze ze ze zi zo zou zoi zo zu zeu zeu zia zia 
 
 Practice these exercises daily according to rules given on pages 3-3. Every 
 other time, pronounce ab ac ad, and so on, instead of ba ca da, remembering to bring 
 out the final consonant with explosive force, using the lips and tongue much more 
 than in English. For practice of these columns with the tongue down, see page 25. 
 
 * To prove to yourself that the first intrinsic difference between French and Eng- 
 lish is that French is spoken in the front of the mouth, pronounce the English word 
 " day " naturally, and notice its position in the back of the mouth. Now bring it 
 forward to the lips and you will have the French word de. Having pronounced the 
 English word " see " as you usually do, bring it forward to the lips and you will have 
 the French word si. Try this with " low " (1'eau) and with the pronoun " we " (oui), 
 and you will be convinced that voice placing makes the first great difference between 
 English and French, and that practice in changing the English vowels to French ones 
 must be your first step in acquiring the purity and delicacy requisite to true French 
 sounds. 
 
 f See footnote, page 21. 
 
 J This line is very valuable for practice, as y gives the sound of liquid /. See page 28. 
 
10 PERFECT FRENCH POSSIBLE 
 
 bie bie bio bio bieu 2 bua bue bue bui boua boue bone boui 
 
 cie cie cio cio cieu cua cue cue cui coua coue coue coui 
 
 die die dio dio dieu dua due due dui ' doua doue doue doui 
 
 fie fie fio fio fieu fua fue fue fui foua foue foue foui 
 
 gie gie gio gio gieu gua gue gue gui goua goue goue goui 
 
 hie hie hio hio hieu hua hue* hue hui houa hou houe houi 
 
 .jie jie jio jio jieu jua jue* jue jui joua joue joue joui 
 
 kie kie kio kio kieu kua kue kue kui koua koue koue koui 
 
 lie lie lio lio lieu lua lue lue lui loua loue loue loui 
 
 mie mie mio mio mieu mua mue mue mui moua moue moue mou 
 
 nie nie nio nio nieu nua nue nue nui noua nou6 noue nDui 
 
 pie pie pio pio pieu pua pue pue ^ pui poua poue poue poui 
 
 rie rie rio rio rieu rua rue rue rui roua roue roue roui 
 
 sie sie sio sio sieu sua sue sue sui soua soue soue soui 
 
 tie tie tio tio tieu tua tue tue tui toua toue toue toui 
 
 vie vie vio vio vieu vua vue vue vui voua voue voue voui 
 
 zie zie zio zio zieu zua zue zue zui zoua zoue zoue zoui 
 
 bla bla bie bie bie bie bli bio bio blu blou bleu 2 bloi' 
 
 bra bra bre bre bre bre bri bro bro bru brou breu broi 
 
 cha cha che che che che chi cho cho chu chou cheu choi 
 
 cla cla cie cie cie cie cli cio cio clu clou cleu cloi 
 
 era era ere cr ere ere cri cro cro cru crou creu croi 
 
 dra dra dre dre dre dre dri dro dro dru drou dreu droi 
 
 fla fia fie fle fie fie fli flo flo flu flou fleu fioi 
 
 fra fra fre fre fre fre fri fro fro fru frou freu froi 
 
 gla gla gie gie gie gie gli gio gio glu glou gleu gloi 
 
 gna gna gne gne gne gne gni gno gno gnu gnou gneu gnoi 
 
 gra gra gre gre gre gre gri gro gro gru grou greu groi 
 
 pla pla pie pie pie pie" pli pio pio plu plou pleu ploi 
 
 pra pra pre pre pre pre pri pro pro pru prou preu proi 
 
 sea sea see see see see sci sco sco scu scou sceu scoi 
 
 sla sla sie sie sie sie sli sio sio slu slou sleu sloi 
 
 spa sp& spe spe spe spe spi spo spo spu spou speu spoi 
 
 sta sta ste ste ste ste sti sto sto stu stou steu stoi 
 
 tra tra tre tre tre tre tri tro tro tru trou treu troi 
 
 vra vra vre vre vre vre vri vro vr6 vru vrou vreu vroi 
 
 Practice these exercises daily according to rules given on pages 3 8, using the 
 lips much more than in English. 
 
SYLLABIC PRACTICE 
 
 I.I 
 
 ban 
 
 bin 
 
 bon 
 
 bun 
 
 bian 
 
 bien* 
 
 bion 
 
 boin 
 
 bouan 
 
 buan 
 
 can 
 
 cin 
 
 con 
 
 cun 
 
 cian 
 
 cien 
 
 cion 
 
 coin 
 
 couan 
 
 cuan 
 
 dan 
 
 din 
 
 don 
 
 dun 
 
 dian 
 
 dien 
 
 dion 
 
 doin 
 
 douan 
 
 duan 
 
 fan 
 
 %h 
 
 fon 
 
 fun 
 
 nan 
 
 fien 
 
 non 
 
 foin 
 
 fouan 
 
 fuan 
 
 gan 
 han 
 
 gin 
 bin 
 
 gon 
 hon 
 
 gun 
 hun 
 
 gian 
 hian 
 
 gien 
 hien 
 
 gion 
 hion 
 
 goin 
 hoin 
 
 gouan 
 houan 
 
 guan 
 huan 
 
 jan 
 kan 
 
 ji. n 
 kin 
 
 jon 
 
 kon 
 
 jun 
 
 kun 
 
 jian 
 kian 
 
 jien 
 kien 
 
 jion 
 kion 
 
 join 
 
 koin 
 
 jouan 
 kouan 
 
 juan 
 kuan 
 
 Ian 
 
 lin 
 
 Ion 
 
 lun 
 
 lian 
 
 lien 
 
 lion 
 
 loin 
 
 louan 
 
 luan 
 
 man 
 
 min 
 
 mon 
 
 mun mian 
 
 mien 
 
 mion 
 
 moin 
 
 mouan 
 
 muan 
 
 nan 
 
 nin 
 
 non 
 
 nun 
 
 nian 
 
 nien 
 
 nion 
 
 noin 
 
 nouan 
 
 nuan 
 
 pan 
 
 pin 
 
 pon 
 
 pun 
 
 pian 
 
 pien 
 
 pion 
 
 poin 
 
 pouan 
 
 puan 
 
 ran 
 
 rin 
 
 ron 
 
 run 
 
 rian 
 
 rien 
 
 rion 
 
 roin 
 
 rouan 
 
 ruan 
 
 san 
 
 sin 
 
 son 
 
 sun 
 
 sian 
 
 sien 
 
 sion 
 
 soin 
 
 souan 
 
 suan 
 
 tan 
 
 tin 
 
 ton 
 
 tun 
 
 tian 
 
 tien 
 
 tion 
 
 toin 
 
 touan 
 
 tuan 
 
 van 
 
 vin 
 
 von 
 
 vun 
 
 vian 
 
 vien 
 
 vion 
 
 voin 
 
 vouan 
 
 vuan 
 
 yan 
 
 yin 
 
 yon 
 
 yun 
 
 ian 
 
 yen 
 
 ion 
 
 oin 
 
 ouan 
 
 uan 
 
 zan 
 
 zin 
 
 zon 
 
 zun 
 
 zian 
 
 zien 
 
 zion 
 
 zoin 
 
 zouan 
 
 zuan 
 
 Monosyllables. 
 
 beau 
 mer 
 ton 
 ma 
 vu 
 
 va 
 le 
 loin 
 un 
 chien 
 
 coin 
 quoi 
 ta 
 crin 
 du 
 
 pas 
 nu 
 rien 
 pres 
 bol 
 
 mil sien de 
 mon bas fin 
 su ne jour 
 seul ni ble 
 mal moi tas 
 
 la sou ban sol 9a chou 
 me feu sel ne se bu 
 lui fou gueux bon nom 
 glu eau nain peu veuf 
 seau loi ri jet mi le 
 
 chef nceud tien veau non 
 lit mai mot toi mien tu 
 dos the fleurs 
 
 mas sec bai roc cas ha je 
 clou de lien bain bleu du 
 
 deuil lac foi lu mis 
 Final Syllables. 
 
 pon 
 
 peur jus ail que 
 
 cun fan ze dou nou tun reau 
 
 aim ce'au vec reux do gneau min 
 
 teur 
 
 pez 
 
 lac 
 
 chin plon rai tron cai ter 
 leil ille rrain lo vail tez ci 
 
 lez bot in gna Ion 
 
 tion gue fum lai ros 
 
 fon blic nin sse no 
 
 iller xe nir tif gle 
 
 plet quis bit ru ment let tail rant sai xer dant 
 Practice these exercises daily, according to rules given on pages 3 8, using 
 the lips much more than in English. 
 
 Do not consider syllables on this page as verb endings these are found on page 12. 
 
 *Ien is almost always final, and is in this case equal to / -j- in. See page 20. 
 
12 PERFECT FRENCH POSSIBLE 
 
 Syllables (Not Final). 
 
 fo ba de ve mer ke lou lam pa zou ba vo fu vio 
 
 no deu do nim veil fa fai ti no cha sui fleu stra 
 
 ca be plu po neu tre fe bi jo fa te ne pe leu re sen 
 
 be man bo min au fe di ga scou san vou bra se 
 
 ve tarn chu vi fan se fro me da li nei ra fe dan 
 
 pe lo hu leu ren syn tau reu ta che heu jau pre 
 
 Verbs and Participle Endings. 
 
 ce 
 
 nir 
 
 ris 
 
 tas 
 
 sses 
 
 part 
 
 chus 
 
 sons 
 
 stre 
 
 geant 
 
 nions 
 
 rromps 
 
 tu 
 
 pre 
 
 but 
 
 sez 
 
 nner 
 
 bous 
 
 gnit 
 
 vres 
 
 nont 
 
 llant 
 
 teint 
 
 strais 
 
 de 
 
 fai 
 
 mme 
 
 mas 
 
 yant 
 
 mens 
 
 blie 
 
 mets 
 
 clut 
 
 teins 
 
 ssait 
 
 ssions 
 
 mi 
 
 vez 
 
 chu 
 
 res 
 
 cons 
 
 sors 
 
 bent 
 
 faut 
 
 yons 
 
 scrit 
 
 mouds 
 
 quiers 
 
 ru 
 
 tai 
 
 lus 
 
 per 
 
 giez 
 
 pant 
 
 ront 
 
 vris 
 
 dois 
 
 ssois 
 
 scris 
 
 voient 
 
 ne 
 
 lla 
 
 dis 
 
 vra 
 
 Hat 
 
 tons 
 
 blez 
 
 crus 
 
 voie 
 
 mment 
 
 voies 
 
 raicnt 
 
 ye 
 
 sse 
 
 ras* 
 
 tta 
 
 eras 
 
 faut 
 
 rent 
 
 vert 
 
 geai 
 
 cours 
 
 rions 
 
 ttrons 
 
 ci 
 
 rez 
 
 ter 
 
 cle 
 
 rait 
 
 bout 
 
 doit 
 
 cois 
 
 vins 
 
 ssons 
 
 nnait 
 
 drions 
 
 te 
 
 mis 
 
 dre 
 
 bes 
 
 crit 
 
 pars 
 
 vint 
 
 liez 
 
 phre 
 
 drais 
 
 ssiez 
 
 iilant 
 
 nu 
 
 He 
 
 nut 
 
 pre 
 
 quis 
 
 tent 
 
 tins 
 
 ille 
 
 crut 
 
 illes 
 
 drait 
 
 ssieds 
 
 be 
 
 ait 
 
 met 
 
 tre 
 
 riez 
 
 vets 
 
 clus 
 
 coit 
 
 boit 
 
 ssant 
 
 illas 
 
 daient 
 
 ?u 
 
 bus 
 
 lir 
 
 rai 
 
 illi 
 
 tint 
 
 meus 
 
 pait 
 
 sons 
 
 ffrir 
 
 ssoit 
 
 quiert 
 
 ra 
 
 mit 
 
 cus 
 
 dre 
 
 rons 
 
 bois 
 
 nant 
 
 meut 
 
 rait 
 
 ssied 
 
 blies 
 
 rrompt 
 
 ca 
 
 vre 
 
 nit 
 
 pez 
 
 mmes 
 
 gnis 
 
 cais 
 
 chut 
 
 blai 
 
 nnait 
 
 chons 
 
 laient 
 
 eu 
 
 clu 
 
 llu 
 
 ner 
 
 rais 
 
 fait 
 
 soit 
 
 tons 
 
 lont 
 
 illit 
 
 flant 
 
 if rent 
 
 In dividing a word into syllables (phonetically), join consonants to the following 
 vowels. Even double consonants and consonants that combine are taken over to the 
 following vowel. (See page 13). 
 
 In spoken French ent, as the plural ending of verbs, is always silent. These exer- 
 cises are practiced as for singing, the otherwise mute e being pronounced and only 
 the nt remaining silent. 
 
 * S final and the circumflex ( * ) do not count phonetically in verb endings. 
 
SYLLABLES 13 
 
 SYLLABLES. 
 
 I. A French word has as many syllables as it has vowel 
 sounds : 
 
 u-ne, mer, me-re, ve-nir, ta-bleau, pro-to-co-lai-re. 
 
 II. In dividing a word into syllables, join the consonants 
 to the following vowels, for it is a basic principle of French 
 pronunciation that syllables should end with vowel sounds.* 
 Even double consonants and consonants that combine are 
 taken over to the following vowel : f 
 
 me-de-cin, ai-ma-ble, fi-xer, a-tta-cher, au-tre. 
 
 Syllabication is very important ; it radically affects the pronunciation 
 of words ; take the word i-nu-ti-le, for instance : a pupil not understand- 
 ing this basic principle is always tempted to pronounce this word in- 
 u-ti-le. Syllabication often changes the pronunciation of a syllable in 
 a word to which other syllables may be added in forming a derivative: 
 
 jardin jar-din 
 
 jardinier jar-di-nier 
 
 jardiniere jar-di-nie-re 
 
 When two French words are put together to make a new one, the 
 sound of one of them may be entirely changed ; for instance, vin and 
 aigre joined make vi-nai-gre. 
 
 III. Syllables ending in e are said to be mute, as in 
 most cases only the consonants in them are pronounced. 
 
 * In spite of this basic principle, we are sometimes obliged to leave a consonant 
 at the end of a syllable, when it will not combine with the consonant that follows it : 
 o^-te-nir. r will not combine with any consonant following it, so in syllabication we 
 often have to leave it at the end of a syllable : por-te. 
 
 t It is to be understood that this syllabication is for pronunciation only, and must 
 not interfere with the proper syllabication of worcls in written French. 
 
14 PERFECT FRENCH POSSIBLE 
 
 (In singing, e is almost always pronounced. In speaking, 
 it is almost always silent.) 
 
 peluc/ie, temples,* Mademoiselle. 
 
 (The subject of mute syllables is exhaustively treated on 
 page 29). 
 
 IV. The last syllable of every French word receives the 
 tonic accent, except when the word ends in e, in which 
 case the syllable before the last receives the tonic accent: 
 
 ]ar-dm, /z'-vre, do-maz'-ne. 
 
 (Do not accent, but gently caress the last sounded syllable. 
 See page 38). 
 
 Any vowel sound preceding a mute syllable at the end of a word is longer than it 
 would be if final. 
 
 tout tousse deltf* laine \a lame 
 
 bout boucle zero role \u h^tte 
 
 bas btfsse lundz d/'tes lit Iz'vre 
 
 EASY CONVERSATIONAL DRILL 
 
 For this, see Grammaire de la Conversation (D. C. Heath & Co.)'. 
 Lessons 1-20, easy vowel sounds; Lessons 21-29, abnormal vowel 
 sounds ; Lessons 30-40, nasals. 
 
 All lessons are arranged for practice in linkings and in liaisons, as 
 well as for the application of the rules of rhythm, which include the 
 principles of the mute e, of the tonic accent, and of stress groups. 
 
 * es = e, when s is a mark of the plural or the personal ending of verbs : pommes 
 = pomm^, paries = park. 
 
HOW TO LEARN TO PRONOUNCE ANY FRENCH WORD 
 PERFECTLY. 
 
 In order to learn how to pronounce a French word per- 
 fectly, begin by taking out its vowels and practicing each 
 one separately, according to the rules contained in this 
 book, until you can utter them all perfectly. Then add 
 consonants to the following vowels, articulating distinctly 
 each one of the syllables thus formed. Finally make the 
 mute syllables mute and place the tonic accent on the 
 last sounded syllable. The result will be a perfectly pro- 
 nounced French word. Indeed no French word, new to 
 the learner, ought ever J,o be pronounced without this 
 -preparatory analysis and drill. 
 
 orange 
 
 crayon 
 
 travailleuse 
 
 o-an- e 
 
 ai-on 
 
 a-a -eu-e 
 
 o-ran-ge 
 
 crai-yon 
 
 tra-va-illeu-se 
 
 o-r^-g e 
 
 crai-yon 
 
 tra-va -illeu-& 
 
 inutile 
 
 compagnon 
 
 evidemment 
 
 i-u-i-e 
 
 om-a -on 
 
 e-i-a -en 
 
 i-nu-ti-le 
 
 com-pa-gnon 
 
 e-vi-da-mment 
 
 com-pa-gnon 
 
PERFECT FRENCH POSSIBLE 
 
 VOWELS (see page 14). 
 
 e, when it pre- 
 cedes m 
 
 J 
 
 a. 
 
 \a, ma, sa, baba, iabac, banane, A\a\a, 
 
 attache, tfttaque. 
 f^mme, impud^mment.* 
 
 a 
 
 a(s)f 
 
 
 a(tion) I 
 
 = ah 
 
 a(ille) in- i final 
 
 
 nouns 
 
 
 dme, htfte, p^te, t#che, gtfte, tdte. 
 base, phrase, raser. 
 pas, tas, cas, bas', las, ras. 
 nation, station, ration, invitation. 
 p#ille, tailfe, bataille, 
 
 REM. i. a before s with another consonant = Ann : #spic, #stre. 
 REM. 2. a (ss) sometimes = ah : cl^sse, c^sser, tasse, etc. 
 
 e,t at the endl _ Tup k, m^, ce, d<?, \, che, ere. 
 
 of a syllable J ~~ 1 urn (when stress is needed) \e, me, ce, de, te, che, ere. 
 
 ez (final) 
 
 er (almost always 
 
 when final) 
 ai (final, in verbs 
 only) 
 
 I/, cl/, pr/, /t/, caf/, pat/, tat/, natt/. 
 chez, avez, \evez, cherch^, trouv^^. 
 fach^r, fan^r, dtal^r, braver, amen^r. 
 
 fat, fera/, battra/, parlera/, ser^/. 
 
 L 
 
 * And all similar adverbs. 
 
 f s and ( ~ ) do not affect the sound of a in verb endings : tu as, nous alUines. 
 
 J e is however in most cases inaudible. (See page 29.) 
 
o 
 
 ai 
 ei 
 
 et (final) 
 
 e, even when it is 
 the last letter of 
 a syllable, if fol- 
 lowed by a dou- 
 bled consonant, 
 or by two conso- 
 nants of which s 
 is the first. 
 
 6>t when it is not the 
 last letter of a 
 syllable. 
 
 J 
 
 VOWELS 
 
 >. uuu < 
 
 
 , gnhre, seme, stt're, ach^te, l^ve. 
 lait, fait, caisse, Claire, delai, parlais. 
 p^me, n^/ge, sizze, S^zhe, rczne, halizhe. 
 j^/, filet, cad^/, loqu^/, sujV/, Mon^/. 
 
 v^rre, ^spece, testament, r^ste, t^rre. 
 renne, essence, ^rratique, ellipse, ^lle, 
 d^tte, ndc^ssaire. 
 
 av^c, telj spectre, sd, s^c, b^c, f^r, ch^f, 
 nectar, lecture, ^s, l<?s, d^s, m<?s, ^st. 
 
 ebb, prolonged : m^me, t^te, f^te, r<?ve, b^te, tr^ve. 
 
 I =eel: I id, habzt, f/n/, samedz, ennemz, Racnie, zle. 
 y (vowel) J [ syllabe, rythme. 
 
 ou. 
 ou = ooze: fou, tout, bout, chou, genou, coucou, coul6, ourle. 
 
 0. 
 
 dipl^me, c^te, t^le, d^me, ^ter, ch^mer, tr^ne. 
 autre, saute, badtf&d, rivaux, fin^^d, chaud. 
 veau, gateau, peau, seau, beau, rideau. 
 ch0se, r^se, prt?se, d^se, p^?s^, generosite, p^sitif. 
 
 6 
 
 
 au 
 
 
 eau 
 
 
 o(s)* 
 o(tion) 
 
 =ode 
 
 OS] 
 
 
 ot[ final 
 
 
 o J 
 
 I 
 
 nation, potion, btion, 
 clos, prop^J, enclos, gros, dos, repos, dis 
 mot, pot, sabot, Got, gigot, jabot, tricot, paquebot. 
 , zer<?, ech^?, nume'n?, brav^?, Figaro, siroc<?. 
 
 Not ss, or any combination of s with another consonant : bn?sse, p0ste, hospi- 
 6. 
 t See page 14, footnote. 
 
1 8 PERFECT FRENCH POSSIBLE 
 
 VOWEL SOUNDS WHICH HAVE No ENGLISH EQUIVALENTS 
 There are four of these sounds: 0, u, euj- eu' 2 (see page 14). 
 
 RULE FOR THE FORMATION OF o.* 
 
 With the tip of the tongue pressing the lower teeth, and the lips 
 rounded and stiffened a little less than for 6, try to pronounce the Eng- 
 lish word awe, staccato and as far forward as possible. The result 
 will be French o. 
 
 Pronounce the words given below with rounded and 
 stiffened lips. The corresponding French words will result : 
 caught dawn fraught Maud naught sought 
 cotte donne frotte mode note sotte 
 
 to n<?te, m0de, j01i, L?terie, s<?tte, b^nne, tonne, n^nne, 
 
 RULE FOR THE FORMATION OF u. 
 
 Round the lips as for ou (ooze), and while holding them 
 stiff and motionless, try to say i (eel). The result will be 
 u. (See page 5.) 
 
 louet fou noue roue sou voue 
 lit fie nid riz si vie 
 
 lu fut nu rue su vu 
 
 u ] \u, bu, nu, su, tu, pu, rue, cru, bru, dru, e'tade, lu, Iwne. 
 u ) prz/de, brzme, e'l^cide', pzmition, talle, lugubre, bnZler, flwte. 
 As the lips have exactly the same position for ou and , the change 
 of sound in passing from one to the other is made by the tongue's 
 moving from its most backward position to its most forward position. 
 
 * No matter how advanced you are, practice this exercise, and all the others requir- 
 ing stiffened lips, for a few minutes daily and until your teacher is entirely satisfied 
 with the result. Never practice without a mirror in hand ; without this means of see- 
 ing the lips, there would be some slight motion, of which you might be entirely un- 
 conscious, which would prevent your producing the sound desired. 
 
 fau(r) C at the beginning ) ( j'wrai, Lawre. 
 
 . > sometimes = o < 
 au(t), ( of a word J ( auto, autorite. 
 
 | With the lips rounded as for the vowel sound of the first word, try to say the 
 
VOWELS 19 
 
 To gain ease in doing this, round and stiffen the lips and move the 
 tongue backward and forward. 
 
 i . Do this silently. 2. Repeat while whispering ou u. 3. Re- 
 peat No. 2 aloud. 4. Read the following words, slowly at first, 
 then more and more rapidly. 
 
 cousu du tout moulu du gout tu doutes tu boudes 
 coutume du bout pourvu voulu tout fume tu noues. 
 
 RULE FOR THE FORMATION OF eu. 1 
 Round the lips as for French o y and while holding them 
 stiff and motionless try to say e (ebb). The result will be 
 eu, before a pronounced consonant-^ (See page 5.) 
 bordp. iSfcor hors Laure pore sort 
 
 Berr Caire here Pair paire serre 
 
 beurre cceur heure leur peur soeur 
 
 *eu 1 \ 
 
 I veuf., leur, i\eur, neuve, ]eune. 
 
 C ceui, "bceui, cceur, <=>a>ur, ce\\, millet, adllade. 
 oe J 
 
 RULE FOR THE FORMATION OF eu* 
 Round the lips as for 6 (ode), and while holding them 
 stiff and motionless try to say e (Abe). The result will 
 be eu y final, or before a silent consonant. (See page 5.) 
 eauj nos dos faux Got 
 
 et nez dd fde gai () 
 
 eux noeud deux feu gueux 
 
 feu 2 ) }eu, ieu, peux, pleut, hideux, creux, 6meut, inleux, gueux. 
 (EU ) nceudj vceux, a?uis, b&ufs. 
 
 second word in each of the triplets given above. The result will be the third word. 
 (See page 5.) This is because the vowel sound of the first requires the same position 
 of the lips as that of the third, and that of the second the same position of the 
 tongue as that of the third. Given the first two, with lips as for the first and tongue 
 as for the second, you can always get the third. 
 
 * tie in cueillir, orgueil, cercueil, etc., and their compounds = eu. 
 
 f In eu had, and in fact whenever this combination occurs in the conjugation of 
 the verb avoir, the e is silent, the sound being simply u. 
 
 J Before se (final) however, eu = eu 2 : heur<?z*se, joy<r#se. In adverbs derived from 
 the above adjectives and others like them, eu r= eu 2 : heur<?sement, joy^wsement. 
 
2O PERFECT FRENCH POSSIBLE 
 
 NASALS (seepage 14). 
 
 A vowel, followed by a single n or m in the same syllable, 
 becomes a nasal (no English equivalents, see page 5). 
 
 REMARK: A vowel followed by mm, nn, or mn does not; somme, annee, 
 gymnase. 
 
 I. 
 
 ' an : dans, pan, an, rang, ancre, plante, manche, sanglant. 
 ~ J am: lampe, ambre, chambre, a?nple, crampe, rampe, flamber. 
 
 OL i i 
 
 en: mens, jument, lent, tente, tendre, vraiment, 
 
 em : ex^wple, ^/^baumer, ^;/2barquer, ^wbuche, 
 
 II. 
 
 in : \m t vzn, iin, mutz>/, but/, bullet/^, tocs/, Berl///, pin. 
 
 im : s/wple, t//^bre, z;;zbiber, ////poll, l/;/^pide, n/;/^be, /;//p6t. 
 
 ain : gtf/#, p^/;/, b^/>/, &ain, saint, pzrrain, grain, main, nain. 
 
 aim : faim, daim, essaim. 
 
 ein : plein, teint, ceinture, sein, peindre. 
 
 eim : Reims, (rass). 
 
 yn : sy;/taxe, sywdicat, s^^cope, sy^th^se. 
 
 ym : symptome, symbols, tympan, thym. 
 
 III. 
 
 ~ ( on : son, ion, don, bon, alb/zs, ancle, rond, mouton, ziglon. 
 
 (on: 
 1 ( om: 
 
 nom, pw/ipe, bombe, nombre, comble, <?/brelle, pnombre. 
 
 IV. 
 
 - ( un: Melun, lundi, un, brun, chacun, ?\un. 
 \ um : humble, pzrlum. 
 
 Impure Nasals. 
 
 {( mien, bien, tien, sien, rien, chrfrien, 
 = i -H in* ) comedten, mecanicien, chien, musicien, 
 
 ( citoyen, moyen. 
 oin = ou 4- in mains, poing, lain, sain, jaindre, ioin, point. 
 
 * In the conjugation of venir, tenir, and their compounds, this combination even 
 when not final = tin: v&drai, tient. 
 
VOWELS MELTING TOGETHER 21 
 
 FOR PRACTICE IN DIFFICULT SOUNDS. 
 
 Get etd j'ai ete desole. Je n'ai pas pu dtudier; je n'ai fait que vcgc- 
 ter en-villegiature au bord de la Mediterranee. J'ai passe mes jour- 
 nees et mes soire'es a contempler les beaute's de la nature. 
 
 Encore, ma bonne Laure, que j 'adore, tu as tort si tu sors avec Flore 
 comme ce coq sur le roc. 
 
 Ma bru, as-tu vu Lustucru dans la rue? 
 
 Pour une prune brune tu as voulu faire la culbute au bout de la 
 route. Tu ne nous as pas plu. II a plu, et c,a ne t'a pas plu, ni a nous, 
 non plus, du tout, du tout ! 
 
 Puisque je puis puiser au puits e'puise', sans nuire a celui qui me suit, 
 je 1'y conduirai a ce puits. 
 
 Quel malheur, soeur, que leurs fleurs meurent ! 
 
 Malheureux Hebreu qui ne peut pas avoir le peu de feu qu'il veut! 
 
 II vaut mieux dire adieu a ce curieux vieux monsieur. 
 
 VOWELS MELTING TOGETHER. 
 
 oi* = waft mei\ \oi, ioi, iois, b<?zs, (drink). 
 
 /and u, and the vowel combination ou,\ keep their true 
 sound before a vowel, but melt into it, linking the two 
 sounds into one emission of the voice. It is interesting to 
 note that the second of these sounds is often two or three 
 times as long as the first. Much practice is required to 
 unite these two sounds into one emission of the voice. Give 
 two or three times as much length to the second as to the 
 first, counting i 2 3 4 or i 2 3 as in music, being careful 
 to allow no hiatus between beats. Practice very slowly at 
 first, then faster and faster, until the two sounds melt into 
 pne-J 
 
 *oi, sometimes, = wan : mots, trots, cbztre, bois (wood). For the difference be- 
 tween the vowel sounds of -waft and -wan see Webster. 
 
 f In doing preparatory exercises for words containing ou, round and stiffen the 
 lips for this sound, in order to bring it out distinctly. 
 
 f Difficulties sometimes arise in regard to the syllabication of these words and 
 
PERFECT FRENCH POSSIBLE 
 
 The following diagrams will be helpful in this practice : 
 
 1234 
 
 u i i i puis; 
 
 i 2 3 
 
 i on on chantions; 
 
 1234 
 
 i eu eu eu mieux; 
 
 i 2 3 
 
 i an an riant. 
 
 In //, /, and oud, count i 2, i 2, i 2. (/)* is a very short sound. 
 The natural tendency of English speaking people is always to lengthen 
 it too much, and, in order to correct this tendency, it is best, in cases 
 like the following, to make the two beats equal. 
 
 edifie = fi e; situe = tu e; 
 
 er; 
 
 I 2 
 
 loue =. lou e ; cahier = hi 
 
 12 12 
 
 mieux. 
 
 I 2 
 
 papier = pi er. 
 
 I 2 
 
 IzVzsse 
 iiacre 
 manage 
 
 nuage 
 persuade 
 remua 
 
 riant 
 etudiant 
 viande 
 
 asszitte 
 piece 
 douzieme 
 
 tuer 
 suer 
 situe' 
 
 bien 
 lien 
 chien 
 
 socie f t6 
 acier 
 pied 
 
 duel 
 cruel 
 suede 
 
 passion 
 occasion 
 ration 
 
 violet 
 dictz0nn 
 hole 
 
 puis} 
 \ui 
 
 cuisine 
 
 Rouen 
 Chouan 
 nouant 
 
 out 
 
 lieux Louis 
 deux ]ouir 
 
 poua}\ iouet 
 louage soutiait 
 ouate ouest 
 
 buanderie 
 chat-huant 
 tuant 
 
 others like them, especially in the scansion of poetry, as certain words are monosyl- 
 labic or dissyllabic according to the exigencies of the metre. This is so fine a dis- 
 tinction, however, that the beginner need try only to perfect the linking and leave 
 the syllabication of these sounds until he is more advanced, when he might do well 
 to consult Littr6 on the subject. 
 
 * See footnote page 9. 
 
 f With lips nearly closed and extended as far as possible, practice the following 
 exercise: iiiu iiiu iii, at first silently, then whispering, then aloud, then singing. 
 Each rounding of the lips will of course bring u. After much practice you will be 
 able to do this rapidly and be singing ui on the very edge of the lips. Now reverse 
 the order of the vowels, and practice the following exercise in the four different ways 
 indicated above : uiii uiii uiii : \uit, cutt, nuit, b/s, f wz's, swz's, tz^'le, hw/le. 
 
CONSONANTS 23 
 
 CONSONANTS. 
 
 The folio wing consonants are approximately the same as in English: 
 b, f, k, m, n, p, s, v, z. The final consonant of a word is ordinarily 
 silent ; ent, as a verb ending, and j, as a mark of the plural, are always 
 silent, but ,/", /, r, and the combination ct^ are often sounded, as in 
 roc, cie/, vi/J fer, exa<:/. 
 
 c, before e or i, and g seen, celle, ctd, lefon. (See page 27.) 
 
 c, in all other cases = kite, de', ^or, ^rale. 
 g,* before e or i pleasure, ju^ 
 
 g, in all other cases = good, ^arde, ^ 
 
 h,f =. hat, but is silent in Parisian French, etre and hetre being 
 pronounced exactly alike. The only difference between aspirate and 
 inaspirate h is that elision of the preceding vowel takes place before 
 inaspirate h, as in /'heroine, and not before aspirate //, as in le hdros, 
 la ^onte. Consult a dictionary to find out whether or not h is aspirate. 
 
 j = measure, /uge. 
 
 q=:kin, cin^, co^. (See page 27.) 
 
 s between vowels has the sound of z, mauon, mre, brLre, phrase. 
 
 w is not recognized as a letter of the French alphabet. In words of 
 
 ( ooze, tramway, 
 foreign origin it = I 
 
 ( vat, wagon. 
 
 x = ks or gz; x usually occurs in words alike in English and 
 French and the English pronunciation of this letter can usually be 
 followed: ajfe, bo^re, ve^rer, tajre, e^rcepter, e^rces, ejrpirer, e^ract, 
 e^ralter. 
 
 y, consonant, = yearn : Fersin; y, vowel, = eel, syllabe; y, between' 
 
 vowels = i H- yearn. (See page 28.) 
 
 Pronounce g, and k, in the back of the mouth, but not so far back as 
 in English. 
 
 d, t, 1, and n, are consonants whose formation differs greatly from 
 the English. In saying English */, /, /, and #, the tip of the tongue is 
 rolled upward and brought into contact with the upper teeth and gums. 
 
 * In derivations, to preserve the sound of g in the original word, e is placed between 
 it and the following vowel : manger, mangeons. 
 
 t h is pronounced in interjections like Ah //a ! and Oh HQ \ 
 
24 PERFECT FRENCH POSSIBLE 
 
 To pronounce French d, /, /, and n, with the tip of the tongue against 
 the lower teeth press its upper surf ace against the upper teeth and gums, 
 dada, dame, de*, de'cider, dedans, dindon, tirade, lourde. 
 /apis, /aille, /an/e, /e/e, /enu, /i/re, fai/e, /ou/e. 
 /a, /ac, /ache, /dga/, /eque/, /i/as, se/, pou/e, toi/e, dro/e. 
 #on, i, weuf, JVil, TVeron, rei^e, Sei;ze, do/z/ze. 
 
 There are two French r's. 
 THE LINGUAL r. 
 
 The lingual r is the one produced by a vibration between the tip of 
 the tongue and the front upper gums. This is the r of the greatest 
 number of French people, it is the r of the provinces and, in its 
 exaggerated form, is one of the principal characteristics of the very 
 strong accent of the south of France. It is easy to produce this 
 vibration, but extremely difficult to do it delicately enough to satisfy 
 the French ear. This sound, so disagreeable in the accent of the 
 south of France, becomes still more objectionable in the imitation of 
 it by foreigners. Anyone able to appreciate the delicate music of 
 French as spoken by the educated classes can imagine what the effect 
 of an Irish or Scotch burr would be, introduced into the place of the 
 ever recurring French r. 
 
 THE UVULAR r. 
 
 The uvular r is the r of Paris and other large cities, consequently 
 *the one that most learners would like to imitate if it were possible. 
 The uvular r is formed, as its name indicates, by a vibration of the 
 uvula not very easily imitated. In very rare cases an agreeable 
 uvular r has been acquired. The rarity of these cases shoul'd not, how- 
 ever, deter you from practicing the exercise indicated on page 25, for, 
 even if you do not succeed in making an rwith few enough vibrations 
 and, entirely freed from disagreeable, throaty sounds, you will not 
 have lost your time, as this exercise is necessary for d, /, and espe- 
 cially for /, and very helpful in forming the nasals, as it makes you 
 conscious of the movements of the soft palate. It is also invaluable 
 for voice placing in general. 
 
CONSONANTS 25 
 
 EXERCISE FOR THE FORMATION OF UVULAR r. 
 
 With the upper surface of the end of the tongue touching the back 
 of the lower teeth, repeat the columns (see page 9), ba, ca, da, fa, ga, 
 gna, ha,ja, ka, la, ma, na, pa, ra. When you come to ra, the uvula 
 will vibrate of its own accord (perhaps not the first time), thus pro- 
 ducing a uvular r, for the position of the tongue makes a lingual r 
 impossible. Practice this exercise for two or three minutes at a time, 
 several times a day, and never when you are tired or if your throat is 
 not perfectly well. In two or three days you will be able to keep the 
 tongue down, without any conscious contact with the teeth. Then, of 
 course, the sounds you are making will become more natural and 
 musical. When you have continued this practice for some time, a 
 teacher skilled in the method will be able to decide as to the advisa- 
 bility of introducing the uvular r (which you may have learned) into the 
 French which you are acquiring. If in your case, uvular r has too 
 many vibrations to be used uniformly wherever r recurs in the printed 
 word, there may perhaps be no objection to your bringing it in at the 
 end of stress groups, especially in such words as alors, dire,faire. 
 
 As experience has proved that it is almost always impossible to 
 imitate acceptably either of the French r's, the lingual or the uvular, 
 you will probably do well to introduce into your French, your own 
 English r very much softened. This softening process will not be 
 very difficult (see rule p. 26), if your r happens to be the one common 
 to most people in the United States, the one formed by raising the tip 
 of the tongue to meet the hard palate.* If, however, your r is exag- 
 gerated, as in the accent of the middle West if naturally you roll 
 the tongue up and backwards, so that it touches the hard palate, perhaps 
 very far back, thus filling up your mouth and making musical tones 
 impossible, it will be much harder for you to follow this rule, but you 
 can do it by patient and continued practice. The sound produced may 
 become almost inaudible a mere suggestion of r which will not be 
 disagreeable to French ears. This is in the majority of cases the 
 most that can be hoped for. In much of the prettiest native French 
 
 * In your study of r determine the position of your tongue by using your finger 
 or a mirror. 
 
26 PERFECT FRENCH POSSIBLE 
 
 r is very little heard. An exceedingly delicate r, even though pro- 
 nounced a ranglaise^ need not mar otherwise perfect French. 
 
 RULE FOR SOFTENING ENGLISH r 
 
 (as usually pronounced in the United States) 
 
 With the tongue pointed toward the hard palate, pronounce r very 
 much more delicately than in English, and very much farther forward 
 in the mouth. 
 
 Remember that in the pronunciation of r the thing most particu- 
 larly to be avoided is the sound er, as in worker. Say dire, not dee-er, 
 or dee-uh, or dee-ah. 
 
 FRENCH ENGLISH 
 
 lire li r leer lee er 
 
 pour pou r poor poo er 
 
 dire di r dear dee er 
 
 rire ri r rear ree er 
 
 Notice the dissimilarity between these French words and the 
 English words which are so nearly their homonyms. This comes 
 mainly from the difference in the production of the French r and the 
 English r. In both English and French the tongue is far back in the 
 mouth and concave for the sound ou^ oo, but in the English r (of the 
 United States) necessary to complete the word "poor," for instance, 
 the tongue has to go up to meet the hard palate. This movement of 
 the tongue unavoidably brings out an e more or less marked in differ- 
 ent persons and localities. This e joined to r makes the syllable er as 
 in the English word, worker. This same syllable er is produced in- 
 voluntarily with more or less emphasis and is actually unavoidable in 
 such English words as those noted above, and will be also in the 
 French homonyms unless you succeed in modifying your English r 
 very materially before introducing it into your French, or, as suggested 
 above, acquire a uvular r good enough to be acceptable in these cases: 
 rat, rond, remarque*, car, fer, 
 
 heure, pour, tres, verre, alors. 
 
DIACRITICAL MARKS 27 
 
 CONSONANT COMBINATIONS. 
 
 ch = shine : ^aise, <r/zapeau. 
 
 ch, in words of Greek origin = kin: 6chv, ^ceur, ^oral, ^iromancie. 
 
 gn, liquid, see page 28. 
 
 gn, in words of foreign derivation Ag nes : ^Tzome. 
 
 ph inform: ^Aonetique. (Initial p, in other combinations, is always 
 
 sounded: /neu, /neumonie, /sychologie). 
 gu, before a vowel = good: dogue, lon^e. 
 qu = kill, before a vowel: ^westion, man^e, trin^er, publi^e. 
 ti,* not initial, before a vowel, usually = see: pa//ence, par/zal, na/zbn. 
 th = tin : /^e, /^eme, //ese, //^eorie. 
 
 In syllabifying for ordinary speech, do not separate the letters which 
 form the following combinations: 
 
 ill 
 
 cr 
 
 gn 
 
 ien 
 
 ou 
 
 phr 
 
 sn 
 
 tr 
 
 au 
 
 dr 
 
 g r 
 
 ieu 
 
 oua 
 
 Pi 
 
 sp 
 
 ua 
 
 bl 
 
 eau 
 
 gu 
 
 ill 
 
 ouan 
 
 Pr 
 
 spl 
 
 uan 
 
 br 
 
 ei 
 
 ia 
 
 io 
 
 oue 
 
 qu 
 
 spr 
 
 ue 
 
 ch 
 
 eu 
 
 jft 
 
 io 
 
 oue 
 
 sc 
 
 squ 
 
 ue 
 
 chl 
 
 fl 
 
 ian 
 
 ion 
 
 oui 
 
 scr 
 
 st 
 
 ui 
 
 chr 
 
 fr 
 
 ie 
 
 oi 
 
 ph 
 
 si 
 
 str 
 
 uin 
 
 cl 
 
 gl 
 
 ie 
 
 oin 
 
 phi 
 
 sm 
 
 th 
 
 vr 
 
 DIACRITICAL MARKS. 
 
 (") and (") are often used to show a difference of mean- 
 ing in words otherwise alike, in which case they do not in 
 any way influence the pronunciation. 
 
 a (has), a (at or to); la (the), la (there); ou (or), ou (where); 
 du (of the), du (owed); sur (on or sour), sur (sure). 
 
 An apostrophe does not affect pronunciation ; reau =. lean, d^huma- 
 
 A cedilla under a c makes it = s;gar$0n, commenqons.\ 
 
 A diaeresis is placed over the second of two consecutive vowels to x 
 
 show that they are pronounced separately each keeping its own sound; 
 
 tgoiste, cigue, aigue. 
 
 * When ti = sh in English words, in corresponding French words it usually equals 
 see, initial, notion, station, but when tion follows s the t retains its proper sound as 
 in ques/z'on, diges/z'on. 
 
 t The cedilla is used here to preserve the sound of c in the infinitive commen^er, 
 and in all similar cases. 
 
28 PERFECT FRENCH POSSIBLE 
 
 LIQUIDS. 
 
 1. z7, final, preceded by a vowel = yearn. 
 
 a// r attira// eVenta// trava// porta// 
 
 conse// eve// somme// sole// vie// 
 
 deu// ecureu// seu// orgue// oe// 
 
 2. ///, preceded by #, eu, on yearn. 
 
 a///eurs bata///e mura///e ta///eur trava///er 
 Neu///y feu///e feu///eton feu///age veu///ez 
 
 brou///ard bou///ir d^pou///er embrou///er mou///er 
 
 3. zY/, preceded by ^, z/ or any consonant i+ yearn. 
 sillon si-illon ; conseiller = consei-iller ; juillet = jui-illet. 
 f///e fam///e chen///e gent///e 
 
 pap///on br///er b///et hab///er 
 
 merve///e me///eur vie///ard 
 
 72 equals ny (modified) in canyon. 
 
 The modification consists in this the n and the y in canyon are 
 two distinct sounds, while the ny regarded as the equivalent of French 
 gn is only one sound made by the simultaneous production of n and y 
 in the upper front part of the mouth. Thus we have the difference 
 between the second syllables of the two words: pa-^ier, re^/zer. Pa- 
 pier = canyon. Re'-gv/er = canyon (modified). In the first of these 
 words, panier, the n is formed by pressing the upper surface of the 
 tongue against the front teeth, and the tongue has to move back from 
 the teeth to form y against the hard palate, thus making two sounds. 
 In the second, rtgner, the n is formed by a pressure of the tongue 
 against the back part of the palate and is simultaneous with y pro- 
 duced in nearly the same place as the n. No motion of the tongue 
 being necessary in passing from n toj, one sound only is produced. 
 a^/zeau campa^/ze compa^on cygno. ensei^zer 
 ma^/zifique re'pu^Tzance 
 
 y- 
 
 y, between vowels / -f- yearn ; the / going witb tbe pre- 
 ceding vowel, the y with the following : crayon = crai-yon, 
 envoyer = envoi-yer. 
 
 balayons citqyen ecujer foyer Iqyer fraj/eur jqj'eux voyage 
 
MUTE SYLLABLES 
 
 MUTE SYLLABLES. 
 
 A mute syllable is a syllable ending in unaccented e. 
 The following rules are for spoken French. 
 
 RULE I. 
 
 The e of a mute syllable is not pronounced : 
 a. When it ends a word of more than one syllable : 
 pal e elle une taxe rudfi 
 
 porche 
 
 planete 
 
 Edifice 
 
 Catherine 
 
 b. When that syllable 
 follows a vowel sound :* 
 
 If you always bear this rule in mind, 
 you can make hardly any mistake in 
 regard to the mute syllable, as it is 
 the most comprehensive, although 
 the simplest rule, that has ever been 
 formulated. 
 
 6 INAUDIBLE. <? AUDIBLE. 
 
 subv<?nir 
 
 arch^veque 
 
 obtenir 
 
 aperorvoir 
 
 parLrment 
 
 surj<?ter 
 
 quelqudEois 
 
 e INAUDIBLE. e AUDIBLE. 
 
 un demi-frere une d<?mi-sceur 
 
 la mesure toute m^sure 
 
 un pot de lait une tasse de lait 
 
 bois de 1'eau avec de 1'eau 
 
 la leon la bonne L?9on 
 
 les repas chaque r<?pas 
 
 plus de soupe encore de la soupe 
 
 souvenir 
 
 acheter 
 
 soutenir 
 
 recevoir 
 
 paletot 
 
 a Jeter 
 
 peu de f ois 
 
 In accordance with this general law, series of mute syllables in a sen- 
 tence naturally fall into couplets, each couplet having one sounded vowel, 
 the first :f 
 
 Je e le re verrai pas. Je / e le re dis. 
 
 * Even after a consonant sound or at the beginning of a stress group, e is some- 
 times unpronounced if between two consonants easily combined : 
 
 papeterie ce c6te*-ci ce matin 
 
 cette peluche ce qui est beau f erai-je mon devoir ? 
 
 f Briefly stated, when a succession of mute syllables occurs at the beginning of a 
 sentence, i, 3, and 5, are pronounced, and 2 and 4 are muted ; thus, je ne te le redirai 
 plus ; but when a succession of mute syllables follows a vowel sound, the rhythm 
 changes absolutely, i ? 3, and 5, being muted and 2 and 4 pronounced, as it is the ini- 
 tial vowel sound that decides the dominating pulse, thus ; il ne veut pas me le redevoir. 
 
30 PERFECT FRENCH POSSIBLE 
 
 Such couplets always occur when a mute syllable follows any vowel 
 sound : 
 
 Acfa to /e chapeau. Vous n* rec* vez pas fc paquet. 
 
 Tu ;/e bois /e cidr* que / e soir. Tu ne me l e rede mand e s pas. 
 
 RULE II. 
 
 The e of a mute syllable is pronounced : 
 
 a. In cases where the sense requires that the mute syllable should 
 be emphasized: 
 
 Je dis, je ridis, que e est presque toujours muet. 
 Prenez-1*. Frononcez le mot c^. 
 
 b. Between two consonants alike or nearly alike : 
 
 Donnez-moi \e lait,* pas de dessert, ne tomb*? pas. 
 
 c. When followed by an aspirate h: 
 
 un^ honte, cette hache, \e haricot, ce hibou, le haut. 
 
 d. When followed by a syllable ending in iez^ ier, ions: 
 
 e INAUDIBLE. e AUDIBLE. 
 
 atteler atelier 
 
 vous semez vous s<?miez 
 
 vous pelez vous p^liez 
 
 nous tenons nous tenions 
 
 nous chanterons nous chant^rions 
 
 vous aimerez vous aim<?riez 
 
 hence in the conditional of all regular verbs of the first conjugation, first 
 person plural, and second person plural. 
 
 * In these cases e is sometimes replaced by a pause without breath, as shown i;i 
 the following exercise : 
 
 Say without stopping : ne p&j ne paj ne pa. Repeat this several times, always 
 finishing without the j. You will find that you have been saying, " Je n'ai pas," as a 
 Frenchman does in speaking rapidly. 
 
 Then in the same way repeat : lej lej le. You will find that you have been saying 
 " Je 1'ai" or " gelee." Similar examples may be found ad infinitum. 
 
MUTE SYLLABLES 3! 
 
 e. If preceded by two consonant sounds in the same 
 syllable :* 
 
 entretenir entreprmeur agrdabl^ment 
 
 soumVter le gr^din autr^fois 
 
 le grmat mes bretelles vous compraiez 
 
 la cretonne vos crevettes les grinouilles 
 
 The rules that we have given you for mute syllables are those ob- 
 served consciously or unconsciously in conversation and on the stage. 
 They are sometimes seemingly contradicted in the deliberate utterance 
 of French professors and lecturers, who, in order to make themselves 
 better understood, especially by American and English audiences, 
 pronounce all their syllables distinctly, making the mute ones as prom- 
 inent as the others. 
 
 In inflecting words, avoid having two consecutive mute syllables by 
 placing a grave ( ") accent over the first or by doubling the consonant 
 of the second : 
 
 cher, ch<?re cruel, cru^lle premier, premiere 
 
 appeler, app^lle cadet, cad^tte parquet, parqu^tterie 
 
 acheter, ach^te Jeter, j^tte boulanger, boulang<?re 
 
 * This is true even at the end of a word followed by another word beginning with 
 a consonant : 
 
 e INAUDIBLE. e AUDIBLE. 
 
 tabl<? tabl<? ouverte tabk verte 
 
 bouck boucltf ordinaire boucltf soyeuse 
 
 pantoufk pantouflc? elegante pantoufk de soie 
 
 ensemble ensemble alors ensemble toujours 
 
 horrible horrible aventure horrible crime 
 
 rhumatisnu? rhumatism^ articulaire rhumatism^ musculaire 
 
 This e is sometimes heard not only in French but in English, even when it does 
 not exist in the printed word. Try to say " The cab passed the door" and you will 
 hear e between cab and passed, as also between the examples given below, 
 fat Thomas fat Thomas tic tac tick tick 
 
 cap double cap doubled bourn bourn boom boom 
 
 In the examples given above, note that e is an involuntary and unavoidable sound 
 which you do not have to learn to pronounce ; when we say unavoidable we mean 
 unavoidable in gentle speech. In certain examples of English in the Middle West of 
 the United States, this graceful vowel bridge e between consonants is avoided, but 
 the intense articulation necessary to make full stops between consonants causes ever 
 recurring shocks and jerks, and ought not to be copied. 
 
32 PERFECT FRENCH POSSIBLE 
 
 LINKING SOUNDS TOGETHER. 
 
 In English, elegance of diction often consists in keeping 
 sounds separate ; but in elegant French the exact opposite 
 obtains, and sounds are joined together just as much as 
 possible : 
 
 Mes amis en ont aussi = me za mi za no tau ci. 
 II y en a tant ici = i li a na ta ti ci. 
 
 LIAISONS. 
 
 A liaison is the carrying over of the final consonant of a 
 word to the initial vowel of the next word, when that 
 consonant is silent in the word to which it belongs :* 
 
 Nous sommes^,arrives tout^entier ils finissent^a temps 
 
 Vous avez^entendu aimerj^et(e) mourir achetentj;ils ? 
 
 In liaisons the sounds of d, f, g, s and x, are changed: 
 
 d = t, as in quand^il parle. 
 
 f = v, as in neuf^hommes. 
 
 g k, as in sang^et eau. 
 
 = z, as in pas^encore, je peux^entrer. 
 
 * The consonant thus carried over is very delicately though perfectly articulated, 
 and offers a marked contrast with the intensely articulated final consonant. 
 
 f This liaison with the infinitive of the first conjugation is used only in the 
 so-called high style of classical tragedy; never in conversation or even in comedy. 
 
 J (i) The otherwise silent t of the ent final of the plural of verbs is always tied to 
 the following vowel. 
 
 (2) In the interrogative form of the third person singular of verbs, the character- 
 istic t is always heard. Indeed, when it does not exist in the printed word, it is often 
 
 inserted for euphony : 
 
 partjl va-t-il 
 
 rendjl a-t-il 
 
LINKING SOUNDS TOGETHER - LIAISONS 33 
 
 In tying a nasalized vowel to the following word the nasal 
 is pronounced in all its purity and an additional n prefixed 
 to the next vowel : 
 
 un abricot 
 
 un nabricot 
 
 bien etabli 
 
 bien netabli 
 
 en Afrique 
 
 en nafrique 
 
 son habitude 
 
 son nabitude 
 
 il y en a 
 
 il y en na 
 
 j'en ai 
 
 j'en nai 
 
 en a-t-il 
 
 en na-t-il 
 
 rien a. dire 
 
 rien na dire 
 
 mon encre 
 
 mon nencre 
 
 bien a vous 
 
 bien na vous 
 
 ton ami 
 
 ton nami 
 
 on ecoute 
 
 on necoute* 
 
 As liaisons are used only to make sentences musical, 
 very few rules can be devised for them. A liaison is only 
 a question of taste, and what would be musical in one com- 
 bination of sounds would not be so in another. For in- 
 stance "II va aux^eaux" and "Nous_allons_au bois", are 
 perfectly musical, but "Nous_allons_aux_eaux" would be 
 very unmusical, and it is only the trained ear which leads 
 us to avoid the repetition of the z sound and makes us say 
 correctly, "Nous^allons aux^eaux". The following rules, 
 however, offer no exceptions: 
 
 A liaison always occurs : 
 I. Between a verb and its pronoun subject: 
 
 ils^ornent vous^habitez ils^auraient 
 
 nous^abritons vous^etes nous^alimentons 
 
 * Notice the fine distinction between the affirmative, in which the liaison occurs 
 and the negative in which it does not occur : 
 
 on ecoute on necoute : on n'6coute pas on necoute pas. 
 The difference is indicated by a pause, which brings out the n of the negative ne : 
 such pauses are often necessary in English also : 
 
 two little eggs : two little legs. 
 
34 PERFECT FRENCH POSSIBLE 
 
 its pronoun object: 
 
 nous en^avons il en^avait 
 
 ils les^ont vous les^auriez 
 
 its attribute or its adjective complement: 
 
 ils sont^Espagnols vous etes^aimable 
 c'est^elle il parait^abattu 
 
 ce sont^eux nous sommes^lieureux 
 
 il est^avocat il est^intelligent 
 
 Between an auxiliary and its participle: 
 il y est^alle vous etes^admire' tu as^approuve* 
 tu es^arrive' nous avons^obei ils sont^arriv^s 
 il aurait^e'te' ils se sont^aimes nous sommes^honores 
 
 II. With adverbs: 
 
 bien^entendu trop^^pais souvent^ennuyeux 
 
 tout^a vous assez^exact pauvrement^habilld 
 
 pas^encore point^en regie profondement^endorrni 
 
 With the articles un and les and the contractions aux and des: 
 
 un^ami des^iles 
 
 les^oreilles aux^abois 
 
 III. With adjectives preceding nouns: 
 
 gros^homme vosxiddes ces^oranges nos^impressions 
 
 petit^enfant mauvais^exemple son^meraude aucun^exemple 
 
 IV. With prepositions: 
 
 apr&s^elle en^, Italic sans^h^sitation 
 
 chez^eux dans^une minute sous^aucun pr^texte 
 
LINKING SOUNDS TOGETHER - LIAISONS 33 
 
 V. With s or x of the plural : 
 
 choux^et panais des bas^lastiques portes^ouvertes 
 personnes^aussi aimables que belles 
 rivieres^encore couvertes de glace 
 
 VI. And almost always with monosyllables (not substantive) 
 ending in n :* 
 
 son^e'le'ment un^homme bien^aimable 
 
 on^en^a en^Autriche rien^a proposer 
 
 A liaison never occurs : 
 
 I. Between words separated by a pause of any kind: 
 Lisez et vous verrez. "Mangez", insista-t-il. 
 
 Attends, et il viendra. Je te dis, coute bien. 
 
 II. With t of et() : et ensuite. 
 
 III. With n of on when it is the subject of an interrogative verb: 
 Y a-t-on &<*? Peut-on attendre? 
 
 L'a-t-on admire*? Veut-on y aller? 
 
 S.ait-on ou le trouver? 
 
 IV. With an aspirate h: en haut, not en naut. 
 
 LINKINGS. 
 
 There are other linkings of sounds which being more subtle, require 
 even more study and attention than those designated as liaisons. The 
 basic principle of carrying consonants over to the following vowel is 
 applied both to syllables and to words. 
 
 * As combien, selon, environ, enfin, quelqu'un, chacun, etc., are not monosyllables, 
 they do not come under this rule ; linkings with them must be made without the 
 additional n which we have in a liaison. 
 
 Linkings. Liaisons. 
 
 Combien avez-vous de pommes ? En^avez-vous ? 
 
 Sekvn^elle. On^est libre. 
 
 Environ une heure. On^unit les conjoints 
 
36 PERFECT FRENCH POSSIBLE 
 
 CONSONANTS LINKED TO VOWELS. 
 
 SYLLABLES. 
 
 WORDS. 
 
 
 ami 
 
 a mi 
 
 il a 
 
 i la 
 
 agneau 
 lunettes 
 
 a gneau 
 lu nettes 
 
 cet honneur 
 bel astre 
 
 ce tonneur 
 be lastre 
 
 comme 
 
 co mme 
 
 roc 6 tern el 
 
 ro keternel 
 
 
 
 finir a midi 
 
 fini ra midi 
 
 
 
 par Eugenie 
 leur idole 
 
 pa reug^nie 
 leu ridole 
 
 
 
 recevoir avec moi 
 
 recevoi ravec moi 
 
 Whole syllables are often carried over to the next word : 
 votre ami boucle e'le'gante Toncle Emile 
 
 aimable enfant vendre au rabais tendre et(e*) bon 
 
 rendre aussitot peuple admirable pourpre e'clatante 
 
 quatre heures aveugle admirateur pantoufle et bas 
 
 In the last six examples you can hear the English words, plaid, 
 glad, clay, dray, pray, flay. 
 
 The following examples show the difference between linkings and 
 liaisons : 
 
 LINKINGS. LIAISONS. 
 
 grande amie grand^ami 
 
 Qu'il repond^e^Ji mes questions II repond^a mes questions 
 
 harangue ennuyeuse sang^et(d) eau 
 
 In words ending in rd, rs, rt, the last letter is silent and it is the ? 
 which is tied to the following vowel : 
 
 vers elle bord^use* 
 
 le mors aux dents vert^et rose 
 
 univers entier part^egal 
 
 a travers eau et(e) flamme il part avec moi.* 
 
 * See footnote page 32, part 2. 
 
LINKING SOUNDS TOGETHER - LIAISONS 
 
 VOWELS LINKED TO VOWELS, 
 
 37 
 
 ideal 
 
 ide^al 
 
 obe*ir 
 
 obe^ir 
 
 agrdez 
 
 agre^ez 
 
 poeme 
 
 po^eme 
 
 ae're' 
 
 a^rd 
 
 bleuet 
 
 bleu^et 
 
 agrdable 
 
 agreeable 
 
 aeroplane 
 
 aeroplane 
 
 Qui a^ose^y^aller? 
 
 SYLLABLES. 
 
 II y^a^eujme heure d'attente. 
 J'ai_tudie'. 
 trou* ouvert 
 Atala^a^e'coute*. 
 LilMmite sa soeur. 
 II a bu^une tasse de the. 
 Jeannot au desespoir. 
 
 In the linking of two similar vowels, it is not one long sound that 
 is heard, but two complete sounds, each with its crescendo and dimin- 
 uendo, linked together without any break. The following diagrams 
 show that there is no break between the two vowels, but only a gradual 
 swelling and diminishing: 
 
 cre*d Papa a raison. 
 
 This is as true of English vowels as of French ones: g<? over, three 
 eels. 
 
 LlNKINGS WITH SUBSTANTIVES. 
 
 A linking is made with the last sounded consonant or vowel sound 
 of a substantive, in the singular. 
 
 jupje ample Jean est ici Ella^est un nom 
 
 ami^intime Emile a raison Maxime^pte le couvert 
 
 dcolier affair^ Georges ji tort Charles j^uvre la stance 
 
 * In cases where a sound is represented by more than one letter the tie has been 
 made from the middle of the combination in the first word to thejirst letter of the 
 combination in the second word. 
 
PERFECT FRENCH POSSIBLE 
 
 acteur^&nu 
 coliere_Jnstruite 
 1'acier aussi 
 le fer^aussi 
 gargon* actif 
 chauffeur^habile 
 raison admirable 
 lame ^mousse'e 
 
 Hdlenej3se tout 
 Constant embrasse 
 Gastqnjionteux 
 Emma^admire 
 Claire aime 
 Berth e aide 
 Rogerjipproche 
 Eustache a le trac 
 
 Henri^invite Pierre 
 Edouard agite la main 
 automobilejflectrique 
 un bas elastique 
 la ficelle^est forte 
 1'un et 1'autre 
 de lorn en loin 
 mettre fin a tout cela 
 
 RHYTHM. 
 
 Rhythm is much more strongly marked in French than in English. 
 Indeed we might safely say that French prose scans, so rhythmical 
 are its successive beats. The reason for this is obvious. Words in 
 English are accented now on the first, second, or on the third, fourth 
 or fifth syllable as the case may be, whereas in French the pulse is 
 perfectly regular, as it is only the last sounded syllable of a word or 
 of a stress-group, that receives the tonic accent, which accent, be it 
 parenthetically remarked, is not an accent in the English sense of the 
 word, not a blow^ but a caress felt in its lingering rather than in its 
 stress. 
 
 The rhythm of a French sentence thus depends upon the alternating 
 (more or less regular) of the accented f syllable (syllabe forte) and the 
 unaccented syllable (syllabe foible). Other syllables may be considered 
 intermediate and serve phonetically only to "fill in" between beats, and 
 it is especially in this filling-in process that we must remember to give 
 to each vowel its true sound without prefixing or adding another sound, 
 and to give to it its whole length. In the expression "au fur et a 
 
 * Notice the difference between a liaison and a linking ; in the linking there is no 
 additional n. 
 
 gargon actif on active le feu. 
 
 t We have usually avoided the word accent ', meaning stress, in order that the pupil 
 might not confound it with the English signification of the word or with the accent 
 aigu('). 
 
RHYTHM 39 
 
 mesure" fur and su are much longer and stronger than au, et and rt, 
 but that is no reason why these three syllables should, according to the 
 English tendency, be shortened or slighted in any way, nor must we 
 linger over the entirely mute e of me. 
 
 123 12345 
 
 au fur et k m su r 
 
 Notice what an important r61e the mute e plays in rhythm. In 
 Marseilles we hear four pronounced syllables in " a mesure." In Pa- 
 ris we hear only two.* 
 
 It must be remembered that French is a language in which the 
 syllable is the unit, whereas in English, it is the word which consti- 
 tutes entity. We cannot too often repeat that a French word, unless 
 isolated, is never pronounced as a word, with a regular beginning and 
 an end, but as a succession of syllables, which melt into the rest of the 
 sentence, and a French sentence is not a succession of strongly and 
 individually accented words, but a succession of syllables with a regu- 
 larly recurring beat. 
 
 For instance, the sentence Votre oncle est id is not pronounced 
 as four words, but as five syllables Vo tro cl& ti ci. No wonder that 
 so many people, who read French with ease, cannot understand it when 
 it is spoken. They do not recognize in what sounds exactly like " Sam 
 Fred lap Penn," and "lash me nay", the French words they know so 
 well by sight, "Qa me ferait de la peine" and "la chemine'e." 
 
 The tendency of Americans is to accent the first part of a French 
 word, and we hear people who speak the language very fluently say, 
 in a manner quite shocking to French ears, la^-gu-re, le ^r-ri-dor, le 
 ca-/#-ri-f e-re, when the simple expedient of placing the slight stress in 
 its proper place, la fi-g7/-re, le cor-ri-d<?r, le ca-lo-ri-f<?-re, would give to 
 these words their true French rhythm. Indeed nothing helps so much 
 to correct the American or English accent as removing the stress from 
 a syllable where there should be no stress, changing it to a slight caress 
 and putting it on the last sounded syllable, if one remembers at the 
 same time to give to all the preceding syllables their true length, no 
 more or less. 
 
 *" As to vowels it is Paris that gives the law." Ernest Legouve. L?art de la 
 Lecture ; page 51. 
 
4O PERFECT FRENCH POSSIBLE 
 
 The following diagrams in which the counting is even, show how 
 much more equally the length of a French word is divided among its 
 different syllables than is that of our English word. 
 123456 
 
 ka le i do scope 
 
 i ^ 3 _4 5 6 
 
 ka lei do scope 
 
 The question of displaced accent is quite another thing ; that comes 
 into play for emphasis only, but it occurs continually, seemingly con- 
 tradicting the general law of rhythm. Paul Passy, the famous French 
 phonetician, tells us that in English, and in many of the continental 
 languages, we emphasize by giving added strength to the already ac- 
 cented syllable, as in "butcher", which, when emphatic, becomes 
 "butcher" while in French we emphasize by displacing the accent, 
 "bou^r," becoming "fowcher." This displaced stress, being so 
 strong, is very noticeable ; and foreigners, struck by it, naturally think 
 that it is the normal tonic accent, and endeavor to imitate it, with the 
 result we know. It is as if, on hearing an orator, who, entirely disre- 
 garding the normal English accent, should say, in order to bring out a 
 point, " We must respect, not j^spect the Senate," a Frenchman should 
 go away pronouncing the words respect and suspect with the accent 
 on the first syllable, convinced that he is doing it correctly, because 
 he is saying the word exactly as he heard an English orator say it! 
 Normal French, reiterates Mr. Passy, requires that the last sounded 
 syllable should receive the tonic accent. Avoid using the misplaced 
 accent when not under the guidance of your teacher. In studying 
 alone, confine yourself strictly to the normal accent, until you are 
 sufficiently advanced to use the other in a manner inoffensive to 
 French ears. 
 
 STRESS GROUPS. 
 
 A stress group is generally composed of two or three words closely 
 connected by the sense they convey ; but a word standing alone often 
 constitutes a stress group. In reading sentences in any language, we 
 find that words naturally fall into stress groups and it is well to remen> 
 
STRESS GROUPS 
 
 ber that in French the last pronounced syllable of a stress group is 
 longer and stronger than any other in the group. 
 
 In the sentence "Vous comprenez" the last syllable nez receives 
 the tonic accent, while in the question "Comprenez-vous?" the word 
 vous receives the tonic accent, as it is the last syllable of the stress 
 group. If the learner will consider the words of every stress group, 
 not separate and distinct words, but component parts of a polysyl- 
 lable, and place the tonic stress upon the last sounded syllable of this 
 polysyllable, he will get a good idea of the phrasing of the sentence he 
 is reading, and of its true French rhythm. 
 
 When this method of learning French has been generally adopted, 
 students will no longer surprise French people by asking for "Oon 
 demmy </<?<?zane Granges" instead of " Une demi-douzame & oranges". 
 
 Sentences showing that it is always the last sounded syllable of a group which 
 
 gets the stress. 
 Vous etes Id ? 
 Quelle heure est-z7? 
 Avez-vous r/ieuiQ ? 
 Comment z\\ez-vous ? 
 Vous allez bien ? 
 Bien, mercz ; et vous ? 
 
 Neige-t-/7? 
 
 II neige. 
 
 Ya-t-il des/awtes?* 
 
 Oui, il y en a. 
 
 Y en a-t-/7? 
 
 II n'y en a pas. 
 
 Y etes-vous? 
 
 Vous y /tes? 
 
 Madame, y est-^lle? 
 
 Elle n'y estflas. 
 
 Copiez-/*. 
 
 Copiez-le done. 
 
 Le copiez'vou s ? 
 
 Telepho<?z. 
 
 Telephonez-w^'. 
 
 Vous compre#<?z? 
 
 Yims. 
 
 Finis-/*. 
 
 Finis done. 
 
 Finissez. 
 
 Finissez-Ar. 
 
 Le finissez-vous ? 
 
 Je chanie. 
 
 Je chanfozj. 
 
 Je chantenzz. 
 
 Je chanterflzj. 
 
 J'ai chan//. 
 
 * You will see that on this page, as on all others, we adhere to our plan of italiciz- 
 ing the thing in question; here it is the last sounded syllable. When the last sounded 
 consonant does not occur in the last sounded syllable, we have not italicized it, because 
 you already know that it must be pronounced with extra force. 
 
 Entendez-vous le tele- 
 
 J'aime chanter. 
 
 Qu'allez-vous/~tf/re ? 
 
 Je vais faire ce/#. 
 
 Voila le chat. 
 
 Le voi/iz. 
 
 II m'aime. 
 
 II m'aime bien. 
 
 Te leves-to ? 
 
 Tu te/^ves? 
 
 Ne te leves-tu/dfj? 
 
 Es-tu la ? 
 
 Tu y es ? 
 
 En onW/x? 
 
 Us en ont. 
 
 A qui est-CQ ? 
 
 C'est a moi. 
 
 Ou en sommes-nous ? 
 
 Nous en sommes la. 
 
 C'est vous1 
 
42 PERFECT FRENCH POSSIBLE 
 
 THE DISPLACED ACCENT. 
 
 When under the guidance of your teacher you begin the study of 
 the displaced accent, the following rule will be very helpful. 
 
 RULE. 
 
 In general, when you wish to use the displaced accent for any word, 
 put it on the first syllable beginning with a consonant.* 
 
 insupportable, f afominable, s^perbe, d'/licieux. 
 
 The following examples show that in each case, it is the meaning 
 of the sentence which decides whether, or not, a displaced accent shall 
 be added to the normal accent, f 
 
 Non, ce n'est phis mon fils.f 
 
 Est-ce votre fils? (fiss) 
 
 1 Oui, c'est lui. 
 
 . /MI -, ( Non, ce n'est pas une fille. 
 
 Est-ce une fille? \ . ' , 
 
 ( Oui, c est une fille. 
 
 Non, elle est a Vautre dame. 
 Non, c'est sa soupe. 
 
 Est-ce sa creme? 
 
 Pourquoi ne dites-vous ( Parce que ce n'est pas vrai. 
 pas que c'est vrai ? ( Parce que c'est faux. 
 
 * A free translation of rule given by Paul Passy " Sons du Frangais", page 51. 
 t Remember that, even where the displaced accent is used, the normal accent 
 remains more or less strongly marked. 
 
SUMMARY OF THE KNOWLES-FAVARD SYSTEM. 
 
 The Knowles-Favard System of Pronunciation may be 
 briefly summarized as follows: 
 
 I. Speak from the front of the mouth (as we have 
 shown you how to do in the exercises on pages 
 9-12). 
 
 II. Keep your vowels pure (following the directions 
 we have given you on pages 3-6). 
 
 III. Place consonants and consonant combinations 
 
 with the vowels that follow them. 
 
 IV. Remember that a French sentence is not a suc- 
 
 cession of words, but a succession of syllables 
 that fall into stress groups. 
 
 V. That the mute syllable must be muted (as we 
 
 have shown you on pages 29-31), and 
 
 VI. That the last sounded syllable of a stress group 
 must receive the tonic accent (pages 38-41). 
 
 43 
 
DICTEE. 
 
 Vous avez bien prepare les lemons de phonetique precedentes, 
 
 Vos voyelles sont pures. Pour former /, d, /, et , vous 
 appliquez la face superieure de la langue contre les dents. 
 Vos consonnes sont toutes clairement articulees. 
 
 Vos consonnes initiales sont distinctement, mais tres deli- 
 catement prononcees. 
 
 Vos consonnes finales sont de veritables explosions. 
 
 En decomposant les mots en syllabes, vous joignez une 
 consonne placee entre deux voyelles a la seconde de ces deux 
 voyelles. 
 
 Vous prononcez rarement e. 
 
 Vous effacez beaucoup la consonne finale que vous joignez 
 a la voyelle initiale du mot suivant. 
 
 Vous caressez plus que vous n'accentuez la derniere syllabe 
 sonore de votre groupe de force. 
 
 Done, vous commencez a bien prononcer et vous n'ignorez 
 pas les lois du rythme de la langue frangaise. Vous etes, a 
 present, pret a attaquer les lemons de conversation, de gram- 
 maire, et de litterature, source inepuisable de recreation et des 
 plus purs plaisirs intellectuels. 
 
 Ne discontinuez pas vos exercises de phonetique que vous 
 allez appliquer aux pages de prose suivantes et aussi a toutes 
 vos autres e'tudes en frangais. 
 
 Toutes les fois que vous serez dans le doute pour la pro- 
 nonciation d'un nouveau mot, consultez ce petit manuel. 
 
 44 
 
PROSE FOR PRACTICE. 
 
 Slow Reading in Which Stress Groups are Indicated. 
 Chaque bouton ne* | fleurit | qu'une fois | et chaque fleur | 
 n'a que sa minute | de parfaite | beaute;f de meme, dans le 
 jardin de | Tame, chaque sentiment | a comme sa minute | 
 florale, c'est-a-dire, son moment unique | de grace epanouie | 
 et de | rayonnante | royaute'. Chaque astre | ne passe qu'une 
 fois | par nuit | au meridien | sur nos tetes | et n'y brille | 
 qu'un instant; ainsi | dans le ciel | de 1'intelligence, il n'est, si 
 j'ose dire, pour chaque pensee | qu'un instant zenithal, ou elle 
 culmine | dans tout son eclat | et dans sa souveraine grandeur. 
 Artiste, poete ou penseur, saisis tes idees | et tes sentiments | 
 a ce point precis | et fugitif, pour les fixer | ou les eterniser, 
 car | c'est leur point supreme. Avant cet instant, tu n'as que 
 leurs e'bauches confuses | ou leurs pressentiments obscurs; 
 apres lui, tu n'auras | que des reminiscences affaiblies | ou | 
 des repentirs impuissants; cet instant | est celui de | 1'ideal. 
 
 AmieL 
 
 Le travail | certainement | est une loi sacree, puisqu'il suffit 
 d'en faire | la plus legere application | pour eprouver | je ne 
 sais quelle serenitd. L'homme | cependant | n'aime point le 
 travail: il n'en peut me'connaitre | les infaillibles bienfaits ; il 
 les goute chaque jour, s'en applaudit, et chaque lendemain | 
 il se remet au travail | avec la meme repugnance. II me 
 semble | qu'il y a la | une contradiction | singuliere et 
 mysterieuse, comme si nous sentions | a la fois | dans le 
 travail | le chatiment et le caractere | divin et paternel | du 
 juge. Octave Feuillet. 
 
 * The adverb ne is separated from the verb^wr/V which it modifies, because, by 
 the muting of its <?, n is left to become a part of the preceding syllable ton, thus : 
 ton. The muting of the e in monosyllables often causes such separations. 
 
 \ As marks of punctuation usually coincide with the end of stress groups, vertical 
 lines have been omitted in these places. 
 
 45 
 
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 Dumas's La Tulipe Noire (Fontaine). 45 cts. With vocabulary. 55 cts. 
 Dumas's Les Trois Mousquetaires (Spiers). Vocabulary. 50 cts. 
 Dumas's Monte-Cristo (Spiers). Vocabulary. 45 cts. 
 Feuillet's Roman d'un jeune homme pauvre (Bruner). Vocabulary. 55 cts. 
 Gautier's Voyage en Espagne (Steel). 35 cts. 
 Greville's Dosia (Hamilton). Vocabulary. 50 cts. 
 Hugo's Bug Jargal (Boielle). 45 cts. 
 
 Hugo's La Chute. From Les Miserable* (Huss). Vocabulary. 35 cts. 
 Hugo's Quatre-vingt-treize (Fontaine). Vocabulary. 55 cts. 
 Labiche's La Cagnotte (Farnsworth) . 35 cts. 
 La Brete's Mon Oncle et mon Cure (Colin). Vocabulary. 50 cts. 
 Lamartine's Graziella (Warren). 45 cts. 
 Lamartine's Jeanne d'Arc (Barrere). Vocabulary. 40 cts. 
 Lamartine's Scenes de la Revolution Francaise (Super). Vocab. 45 cts. 
 Lesage's Gil Bias (Sanderson). 50 cts. 
 
 Maupassant: Huit Contes Choisis (White). Vocabulary. 40 cts. 
 Michelet: Extraits de 1'histoire de France (Wright). 40 cts. 
 Musset: Trois Comedies (McKenzie). 35 cts. 
 Sarcey's Le Siege de Paris (Spiers). Vocabulary. 50 cts. 
 Taine's L'Ancien Regime (Giese). Vocabulary. 70 cts. 
 Theuriet's Bigarreau (Fontaine). Vocab. and exercises. 40 cts. 
 Tocqueville's Voyage en Amerique (Ford). Vocabulary. 45 cts. 
 Vigny's Cinq-Mars (Sankey). Abridged. 65 cts. 
 Vigny's Le Cachet Rouge (Fortier). 30 cts. 
 Vigny's La Canne de Jonc (Spiers). 45 cts. 
 Voltaire's Zadig (Babbitt). Vocabulary . 50 cts. 
 
Ibeatb's flDo&ern ^Language Series 
 
 INTERMEDIATE FRENCH TEXTS. (Partial List.) 
 Augier's Le Gendre de M. Poirier (Wells). Vocabulary. 40 cts. 
 Bazin's Les Oberle (Spiers) . Vocabulary. 55 cts. 
 Beaumarchais's Le Barbier de Seville (Spiers). Vocabulary. 40 cts. 
 French Lyrics (Bowen). 65 cts. 
 Gautier's Jettatura (Schinz). 40 cts. 
 
 Halevy's L'Abbe Constantin (Logic). Vocabulary. 45 cts. 
 Halevy's Un Mariage d'Amour (Hawkins). Vocabulary. 35 cts. 
 Historiettes Modernes (Fontaine). Vol. I, 40 cts. Vol. II, 40 cts. 
 La France qui travaille (Jago). Vocabulary. 55 cts. 
 Lectures Historiques (Moffett). Vocabulary. 60 cts. 
 Loti's Le Roman d'un Enfant. (Whittem). Vocabulary. 50 cts. 
 Loti's Pecheur d'Islande (Super). Vocabulary. 45 cts. 
 Loti's Ramuntcho (Fontaine). 40 cts. 
 
 Marivaux's Le Jeu del 'amour et du ha sard (Fortier). Vocab. 40 cts. 
 Mrim6e's Chronique du Regne de Charles IX (Desages). 35 cts. 
 Mdrimee's Colomba (Fontaine). Vocabulary . 50 cts. 
 Moliere en Recits (Chapuzet and Daniels). Vocabulary. 55 cts. 
 Moliere's L'Avare (Levi). 40 cts. 
 
 Moliere's Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (Warren). Vocabulary. 40 cts. 
 Moliere's Le Medecin Malgre Lui (Hawkins). Vocabulary. 35 cts. 
 Pailleron's Le Monde ou 1'on s'ennuie (Pendleton). Vocabulary. 45 cts. 
 Poemes et Chants de France (Daniels and Travers) . Vocabulary. 55 cts. 
 Racine's Andromaque (Wells). Vocabulary. 40 cts. 
 Racine's Athalie (Eggert). 35 cts. 
 Racine's Esther (Spiers). Vocabulary. 35 cts. 
 Renan's Souvenirs d'Enfance et de Jeunesse (Babbitt). 75 cts. 
 Sand's La Mare au Diable (Sumichrast). Vocabulary. 40 cts. 
 Sand's La Petite Fadette (Super). Vocabulary. 40 cts. 
 Sandeau's Mile de la Seigliere (Warren). Vocabulary. 45 cts. 
 Sardou's Les Pattes de Mouche (Farns worth). Vocabulary. 45 cts. 
 Scribe's Bataille de Dames (Wells). Vocabulary. 40 cts. 
 Scribe's Le Verre d'Eau (Eggert). Vocabulary. 45 cts. 
 Sept Grands Auteurs du XIXe Siecle (Fortier). Lectures. 65 cts. 
 Souvestre's Un Philosophe sous les Toits (Fraser). Vocabulary. 55 cts. 
 Thiers's Expedition de Bonaparte en Egypte (Fabregou). 40 cts. 
 Verne's Tour du Monde en quatre-vingts jours (Edgren). Vocab. 50 cts. 
 Verne's Vingt mille lieues sous les mers (Fontaine). Vocab. 50 cts. 
 Zola's La Debacle (Wells). Abridged. 65 cts. 
 
Ibeatb's /iDobern ^Language Secies 
 
 ADVANCED FRENCH TEXTS. 
 Balzac's Le Pere Goriot (Sanderson). $1.00. 
 Boileau: Selections (Kuhns). 55 cts. 
 Bornier's La Fille de Roland (Nelson). 35 cts. 
 Bossuet: Selections (Warren). 50 cts. 
 Calvin: Pages Choisies (Jordan). 70 cts. 
 Corneille's China (Matzke). 35 cts. 
 Corneille's Horace (Matzke). 35 cts. 
 Corneille's Le Cid (Warren). Vocabulary. 45 cts. 
 Corneille's Polyeucte (Fortier). 35 cts. 
 Delpit's L'Age d'Or de la Litterature Francaise. 90 cts. 
 Diderot: Selections (Giese). 55 cts. 
 Duval's Histoire de la Litteratmre Francaise. $1.20. 
 French Prose of the XVHth Century (Warren). $1.10. 
 Hugo's Hernani (Matzke). 65 cts. 
 Hugo's Les Miserables (Super). Abridged. $1.00. 
 Hugo's Les Travailleurs de la Mer (Langley). Abridged. $1.00. 
 Hugo's Poems (Schinz). 90 cts. 
 Hugo's Ruy Bias (Garner). 75 cts. 
 La Bruyere: Les Caracteres (Warren). 55 cts. 
 Lamartine's Meditations (Curme). 55 cts. 
 
 La Triade Francaise. Poems of Lamartine, Musset, and Hugo. 80 cts. 
 Lesage's Turcaret (Kerr). 35 cts. 
 
 Maitres de la Critique lit. au XIXe Siecle (Comfort). 50 cts. 
 Moliere's Le Misanthrope (Fortier). 40 cts. 
 Moliere's Les Femmes Savantes (Fortier). 35 cts. 
 Moliere's Les Fourberies de Scapin (McKenzie). Vocabulary. 40 cts. 
 Moliere's Les Precieuses Ridicules (Toy). 30 cts. 
 Moliere's Le Tartuffe (Wright). 35 cts. 
 Montaigne: Selections (Wright). 90 cts. 
 Pascal: Selections (Warren). 55 cts. 
 Racine's Les Plaideurs (Wright). 35 eta. 
 Racine's Phedre (Babbitt). 35 cts. 
 Rostand's La Princesse Lointaine (Borgerhoff). 45 cts. 
 Voltaire's Prose (Cohn and Woodward). $1.20. 
 Voltaire's Zaire (Cabeen). 35 cts. 
 
 ROMANCE PHILOLOGY. 
 
 Introduction to Vulgar Latin (Grandgent). $1.50. 
 Provencal Phonology and Morphology (Grandgent). $1.50. 
 
1beatb>5 /IDo&ern ^Language Series 
 
 GERMAN GRAMMARS AND READERS. 
 
 Ball's German Drill Book. Companion to any grammar. 90 cts. 
 
 Ball's German Grammar. $1.00. 
 
 Bishop and McKinlay's Deutsche Grammatik. $1.00. 
 
 Deutsches Liederbuch. With music. 96 cts. 
 
 Foster's Geschichten und Marchen. For young children. 45 cts. 
 
 Fraser and Van der Smissen's German Grammar. $1.20. 
 
 Greenfield's Grammar Summary and Word List. 30 cts. 
 
 Guerber's Marchen und Erzahlungen, I, 65 cts. II, 65 cts. 
 
 Haertel and Cast's Elements of Grammar for Review. 50 cts. 
 
 Harris's German Composition. 60 cts. 
 
 Harris's German Lessons. 70 cts. 
 
 Hastings' Studies in German Words. $1.20. 
 
 Heath's German Dictionary. $1.60. 
 
 Hewitt's Practical German Composition. 35 cts. 
 
 Holzwarth's Gruss aus Deutschland. $1.00. 
 
 Huebsch-Smith's Progressive Lessons in German. 60 cts. 
 
 Huebsch-Smith's Progressive Lessons in German. Rev. 70 cts. 
 
 Huss's German Reader. 80 cts. 
 
 Jones's Des Kindes erstes Lesebuch 35 cts. 
 
 Joynes-Meissner German Grammar. $1.25. 
 
 Joynes and Wesselhoeft's German Grammar. $1.25. 
 
 Kriiger and Smith's Conversation Book. 30 cts. 
 
 Manfred's Ein praktischer Anfang. $1.25. 
 
 Meras' Ein Wortschatz. 25 cts. 
 
 Mosher and Jenney's Lern- und Lesebuch. $1.25. 
 
 Pattou's An American in Germany. A conversation book. 75 cts. 
 
 Schmidhofer's Lese-Ubungen fur Kinder. 3 Gets. 
 
 Schmidhofer's Erstes Lesebuch. 44 cts. With vocab., 60 cts. 
 
 Schmidhofer's Zweites Lesebuch. 60 cts. 
 
 Spanhoofd's Elementarbuch der deutschen Sprache. $1.15. 
 
 Spanhoofd's Erstes deutsches Lesebuch. 80 cts. 
 
 Spanhoofd's Lehrbuch der deutschen Sprache. $1.15. 
 
 Wallentin's Grundziige der Naturlehre (Palmer). $1.20. 
 
 Wesselhoeft's Elementary German Grammar. $1.00. 
 
 Wesselhoeft's Exercises. Conversation and composition. 55 cts. 
 
 Wesselhoeft's German Composition 50 cts. 
 
 Zinnecker's Deutsch fiir Anf anger. $1.25. 
 
,'40 (6936s) 
 
YB OUfin 
 
 K41889 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY