Question on phonetics

Andrea N.B2Kwiziq community member

Question on phonetics

My French teacher just discussed that words such as Intelligent, imprimer, australien, fin.... All utilise a short "ang" nasal sound rather like what is used with the english word 'sang'. (The phonetic sound is identified with a symbol resembling epsilon with a squiggly over it- ɛ̃).  Listening to your recordings it sounds a lot like "ung" to me. Are both pronunciations OK? On Google it sounds like your usual recording (ung-), but on reverso it sounds just like 'ang-ɛ̃'. Clarification would be so welcome.

Asked 3 years ago
CélineNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Bonjour Andrea,

That's a very interesting question! The sound [ ɛ̃ ] has different spellings in French as mentioned by your French teacher: -ain, -aim, -ein, -eim, -en, -em, -in, -im, -un, -um, -ym, -yn

Depending on where you are from in France or other French-speaking countries, it may be pronounced very slightly differently due to regional influences. Yet, the nasal I should be pronounced as [eh(n)]

See a link to one of our partners' sites: Nasal I 

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée !

Question on phonetics

My French teacher just discussed that words such as Intelligent, imprimer, australien, fin.... All utilise a short "ang" nasal sound rather like what is used with the english word 'sang'. (The phonetic sound is identified with a symbol resembling epsilon with a squiggly over it- ɛ̃).  Listening to your recordings it sounds a lot like "ung" to me. Are both pronunciations OK? On Google it sounds like your usual recording (ung-), but on reverso it sounds just like 'ang-ɛ̃'. Clarification would be so welcome.

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