The Phonetic and Phonological Characteristics of Nasal Vowels in French
DOI :
https://doi.org/10.69760/egjlle.2602030Mots-clés :
French language, nasal vowels, phonetics, phonology, articulationRésumé
This article examines the special role of nasal vowels (voyelles nasales) within the phonetic and phonological system of the French language. Unlike other Romance languages and many members of the Indo-European family, French is distinguished by its nasal vowels. The articulatory mechanism of these vowels is characterized by the lowering of the soft palate, allowing the airflow to pass simultaneously through both the oral and nasal cavities. This process produces a unique acoustic timbre that contributes to the distinctiveness of French phonology. From a phonological perspective, nasal vowels function as independent phonemes with a distinctive meaning-bearing role. Minimal pairs (such as beau "beautiful" and bon "good") clearly demonstrate their semantic significance. Contemporary phonological tendencies reveal neutralization processes, particularly between [œ̃] and [ɛ̃], which indicate a simplification trend in modern French, especially in Parisian speech. The article also discusses orthographic manifestations of nasal vowels, denasalization phenomena, and the challenges they pose for learners of French as a foreign language. Ultimately, nasal vowels are evaluated as fundamental components that ensure the structural integrity, phonetic richness, and dynamic evolution of French. Their study provides valuable insights into both theoretical linguistics and practical pronunciation training.
Références
Benson, P. (2013). Teaching and researching autonomy (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Borg, S., & Al-Busaidi, S. (2012). Learner autonomy: English language teachers' beliefs and practices. British Council.
Callamand, M. (1981). Méthodologie de l'enseignement de la prononciation. Hachette.
Carignan, C., Shosted, R. K., Fu, M., Liang, Z. P., & Sutton, B. P. (2015). A real-time MRI investigation of the role of lingual and pharyngeal articulation in the production of the nasal vowel system of French. Journal of Phonetics, 52, 15–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2015.04.002
Charliac, L., Thierry, J., Loreil, B., & Motron, A.-C. (2003). Phonétique progressive du français avec 400 exercices: Niveau débutant. CLE International.
Charliac, L., Thierry, J., Loreil, B., & Motron, A.-C. (2006). Phonétique progressive du français avec 400 activités: Niveau avancé. CLE International.
de Boer, G., Islam, J., & Charis, C. (2023). Revisiting the nasal continuum hypothesis: A study of French nasals in continuous speech. Journal of Phonetics, 98, 101244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2023.101244
Delvaux, V., & Soquet, A. (2007). The influence of ambient speech on the development of nasal vowels in French. Speech Communication, 49(2), 130–152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.specom.2007.01.004
Elsaadani, A. (2022). Cours de phonétique du français. Mansourah University.
Fougeron, C., & Smith, C. L. (1999). French nasal vowels: Acoustic and articulatory properties. Phonetics, 56(2–4), 128–152. https://doi.org/10.1159/000028448
Gürses, Ö. (2021). Learner autonomy in French language education in Turkey. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(1), 85–108. https://doi.org/10.32601/ejal.911189
Kamoun, C., & Ripaud, D. (2016). Phonétique essentielle du français. Didier.
Kerimova, G. (2025). Phonetics of the French language: Sounds, structure, and pronunciation analysis.
Little, D. (2007). Language learner autonomy: Some fundamental considerations revisited. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 1(1), 14–29. https://doi.org/10.2167/illt040.0
Littlewood, W. (1996). Autonomy: An anatomy and a framework. System, 24(4), 427–435. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0346-251X(96)00039-5
Rodriguez, F., Pouplier, M., Alderton, R., Lo, J. J. H., Evans, B. G., Reinisch, E., & Carignan, C. (2023). What French speakers' nasal vowels tell us about anticipatory nasal coarticulation. In R. Skarnitzl & J. Volín (Eds.), Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS 2023) (pp. 848–852). International Phonetic Association.
Téléchargements
Publié
Numéro
Rubrique
Licence
Cette œuvre est sous licence Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.
This is an open access article published under the Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
