Aspiration in French

Komtu   Fri Jan 29, 2010 3:18 am GMT
Ok, so i have a question.
I want to know how much(if any) aspiration there is French. I only have spanish to compare with, and spanish has no aspiration(at least not in my dialect).
I have heard aspiration in French, but it wasn't as strong as English, it was more like Japanese.
I'm not sure if it was a native speaking, as one time the speaker was from belgium and the other time it was the french anthem.
Please don't change the subject of this topic as I wish to know before i start sounding like an idiot by either aspirating my consonants or not aspirating them.
Thanks in advance.
-Komtu
Amadís   Fri Jan 29, 2010 4:03 am GMT
Pues mira, en francés, al igual que en Español, ninguna consonante se aspira, por lo tanto no deberías hacerlo, resultaría ridículo ya que no suena nada natural. Lo que pasa es que algunos belgas francófonos sí aspiran las consonantes oclusivas sordas (sobre todo en posición final), pero aún así, está mal visto, se considera que es de gente poca educada.

Y con respecto a la persona que cantaba la Marsellesa, será que al cantar ocurra un fonómeno de aspiración porque te puedo asegurar que nunca oirás un francés aspirar ninguna consonante.

Espero que haya quedado claro y que mi respuesta te haya sido útil ;)

Un saludo
Amadís   Fri Jan 29, 2010 4:07 am GMT
*oirás a un francés*
* * *   Fri Jan 29, 2010 6:19 am GMT
French fortis consonants are indeed slightly aspirated. It's a matter of voice onset time. There is virtually none in Spanish or Italian (the vowel sound is audible as soon as the preceeding plosive consonant is released), in French the vowel starts after a delay of a few milliseconds.

Because of that, French "tout" sounds quite differently of Sp. "tu". More air is needed.
greg   Fri Jan 29, 2010 8:19 am GMT
Il n'y a pas d'aspiration en français — sauf quand on parle en aspirant quelque peu (agacement, contrariété, fatigue etc). Il existe certainement une EXPIRATION modulée au niveau phonétique (environnement immédiat), mais ce phénomène physique n'a aucune valeur phonématique. C'est peut être différent avec certaines normes françaises autres que les pseudonormes méridionale et septentrionale du français de France.
Franco   Fri Jan 29, 2010 10:05 am GMT
Mexican Spanish has aspired H. Andalusian Spanish aspires H and final S.
Komtu   Fri Jan 29, 2010 11:00 pm GMT
So, French is normally aspired as mush as Japanese? Or less?
If some native speaker could record there voice to show me or send me a video link of a native i would understand better.
Bob   Sat Jan 30, 2010 3:24 pm GMT
http://www.forvo.com/word/taureau/
http://www.forvo.com/word/toro

There is hardly any difference in the "T"