French phonology

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French phonology is the sound system of French. This article discusses mainly the phonology of all the varieties of Standard French. Notable phonological features include the uvular r present in some accents, nasal vowels, and three processes affecting word-final sounds: liaison, a specific instance of sandhi in which word-final consonants are not pronounced unless they are followed by a word beginning with a vowel; elision, in which certain instances of /ə/ (schwa) are elided (such as when final before an initial vowel); enchaînement (resyllabification), in which word-final and word-initial consonants may be moved across a syllable boundary, with syllables crossing word boundaries. An example of the above is this: Written: On a laissé la fenêtre ouverte. Meaning: "We left the window open." In isolation: /ɔ̃ a lɛse la fənɛːtʁə uvɛʁtə/ Together: [õ.na.le.se.la.f(ø)nɛ.tʁu.vɛʁt] (Paris), [õ.nɑ.le.se.la.f(ə)nɛː.tʁu.vɛʁt] (Northern)

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