French Pronunciation Question

Guest   Mon Jan 08, 2007 2:20 am GMT
Is there a difference in pronunciation between "parlé" and "parlais", for example?
Guest   Mon Jan 08, 2007 2:27 am GMT
It depends on your accent. In much of France, there is no difference in pronunciation, with both being pronounced "parlé".

But there are some people who pronounce -ais in parlais with a more open e sound like in "anglaise". Read up on "e accent grave" : è and ê.
Guest   Mon Jan 08, 2007 6:48 am GMT
Thank you. I have some more questions.

Is there a difference between "étudions" and "étudiions"?

Do you know anything that tells you how to pronounce verb forms, by the way? The dictionary I have only tells you how to say the infinitive, not the conjugated forms.
Guest   Mon Jan 08, 2007 7:15 am GMT
>>Is there a difference between "étudions" and "étudiions"? <<

No.

>>Do you know anything that tells you how to pronounce verb forms, by the way? The dictionary I have only tells you how to say the infinitive, not the conjugated forms. <<

You just know when you've been speaking/reading for long enough.

Post the pattern of the verb forms you're learning to pronounce and I'll help you out.
Guest   Mon Jan 08, 2007 7:17 am GMT
>> >>Is there a difference between "étudions" and "étudiions"? <<

No. <<

When I say no, I mean not in pronunciation.
Guest   Mon Jan 08, 2007 7:49 am GMT
Thank you again.

I am trying to learn the "imparfait" conjugations.

je parlais (parlé)
tu parlais (parlé)
il/elle parlait (parlé)
nous parlions (parlion)
vous parliez (parlié)
ils/elles parlaient (parlé)

I put the way I think they're pronounced in parentheses. Correct me if I made any mistakes.

If it's not too much trouble, I have another question too.

Is there a difference in pronunciation between "il parle" and "ils parlent"?
Guest   Mon Jan 08, 2007 8:07 am GMT
>>nous parlions (parlion)
vous parliez (parlié)<<

I would write them as "parlyon" and "parlyé". (The "y" as in "yeah")

>>Is there a difference in pronunciation between "il parle" and "ils parlent"? <<

No.
Guest   Mon Jan 08, 2007 8:09 am GMT
Thanks a lot for your help.

So, anyway, do you just have to go by context to tell the difference between them?
Guest   Mon Jan 08, 2007 8:44 am GMT
Yes. But then, you could think of it as how the same word/pronunciation "speaking" is used in English for each conjugation.

Il parle - he's speaking (or he speaks)
Tu parles - you're speaking (or you speak)
Ils parlent - they're speaking (or they speak)
Guest   Mon Jan 08, 2007 8:58 am GMT
I was talking about ""il parle" and "ils parlent". The "s" in "ils" ins't pronounced, right? Because "parlent" starts with a consonant. So they sound the same even though one is singular and the other is plural.

This can happen in English too, though, because sometimes the word "they" is used as a singular pronoun.
Guest   Mon Jan 08, 2007 9:08 am GMT
I was talking about ""il parle" and "ils parlent". The "s" in "ils" ins't pronounced, right?<<

Right. So the context sorts it out.
Guest   Mon Jan 08, 2007 9:14 am GMT
Okay. Thank you again.
greg   Mon Jan 08, 2007 7:08 pm GMT
Guest 1 : « Is there a difference between "étudions" and "étudiions"? »

Guest 2 : « No. »



Ça dépend. La plupart des gens (la plupart du temps) ne différencient pas <étudions> (indicatif présent 1ère p. pl.) de <étudiions> (indicatif imparfait 1ère p. pl.) à l'oral.
C'est-à-dire qu'ils prononcent [etydjÕ] (X-Sampa) = [etydjɔ̃] (API) dans tous les cas.

D'autres, en revanche, distinguerons nettement <étudions> de <étudiions>.
Et voici quelle serait la différence : <étudions> = [etydjÕ] (X-Sampa) = [etydjɔ̃] (API) — <étudiions> = [etydijÕ] (X-Sampa) = [etydijɔ̃] (API).

Pour les symboles phonétiques, voir : http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/Annexe:Prononciation , et aussi : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-SAMPA .