Template:fr-IPA/documentation

	Documentation for Template:fr-IPA. ^[edit]
	This page contains usage information, categories, interwiki links and other content describing the template.

This template uses Module:fr-pron to generate the IPA pronunciation of French words or text. If no parameter is provided, it will use the page title. Normally the text should be the standard written form of the text.

Examples

Many tricky cases are handled correctly.

Text	Result	Comments
intransitives	IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.tʁɑ̃.zi.tiv/
château	IPA^(key): /ʃa.to/ ~ /ʃɑ.to/
accueil	IPA^(key): /a.kœj/
plomb	IPA^(key): /plɔ̃/
prudemment	IPA^(key): /pʁy.da.mɑ̃/
mangeait	IPA^(key): /mɑ̃.ʒɛ/
baignoire	IPA^(key): /bɛ.ɲwaʁ/ ~ /be.ɲwaʁ/
étudiions	IPA^(key): /e.ty.di.jɔ̃/
joindre	IPA^(key): /ʒwɛ̃dʁ/
shopping	IPA^(key): /ʃɔ.piŋ/
tînmes	IPA^(key): /tɛ̃m/
Cameroun	IPA^(key): /kam.ʁun/	-oun is not a nasal vowel
prier	IPA^(key): /pʁi.je/	i before a vowel after Cl and Cr is /ij/ not /j/
truelle	IPA^(key): /tʁy.ɛl/	u before a vowel after Cl and Cr is /y/ not /ɥ/
bruit	IPA^(key): /bʁɥi/	but ui is always /ɥi/
troua	IPA^(key): /tʁu.a/	ou before a vowel after Cl and Cr is /u/ not /w/
trois	IPA^(key): /tʁwa/	but oi is always /wa/
dresser	IPA^(key): /dʁɛ.se/ ~ /dʁe.se/	e before ss is usually /ɛ/
essaim	IPA^(key): /e.sɛ̃/	but initial e before ss is /e/
ressemelez	IPA^(key): /ʁə.sə.m(ə).le/	and initial ress- is /rəs/
vous ressemelez	IPA^(key): /vu ʁ(ə).sə.m(ə).le/	note the schwa handling in this and the previous example
aimerons	IPA^(key): /ɛm.ʁɔ̃/
aimerions	IPA^(key): /ɛ.mə.ʁjɔ̃/ ~ /e.mə.ʁjɔ̃/	note the schwa handling in this and the previous example
ouest	IPA^(key): /wɛst/	final -st is pronounced by default
il est	IPA^(key): /il ɛ/	but est, es and et are special-cased

But in some cases it is necessary to use respelling to indicate the correct pronunciation. Example:

Text	Result	Respelling	Result	Comments
hiver	IPA^(key): /i.ve/	hivèr, hiverre	IPA^(key): /i.vɛʁ/	-r in final -er not transcribed by default
fils	IPA^(key): /fil/	fisse	IPA^(key): /fis/	another possibility is fiç
soixante	IPA^(key): /swak.sɑ̃t/	soissante	IPA^(key): /swa.sɑ̃t/	another possibility is soiçante
août	IPA^(key): /a.u/	oute	IPA^(key): /ut/
mille	IPA^(key): /mij/	mile	IPA^(key): /mil/	-ill after a consonant is transcribed by default like fille
grenouille	IPA^(key): /ɡʁə.nuj/	grenouiille	IPA^(key): /ɡʁə.nwij/	-ill after a vowel is transcribed by default like paille
caoutchouc	IPA^(key): /ka.ut.ʃuk/	caoutchou	IPA^(key): /ka.ut.ʃu/	final -c after a vowel is transcribed by default
suspect	IPA^(key): /sys.pɛkt/	suspet	IPA^(key): /sys.pɛ/	final -ct after a vowel is transcribed by default
chaos	IPA^(key): /ʃa.o/	caos	IPA^(key): /ka.o/	in some loanwords of Latin or Greek origin, ch is pronounced like k or hard c
donc	IPA^(key): /dɔ̃/	donque	IPA^(key): /dɔ̃k/	final -c in -nc is not transcribed by default
parfum	IPA^(key): /paʁ.fɔm/	parfun	IPA^(key): /paʁ.fœ̃/	final -um transcribed by default like maximum
shampooing	IPA^(key): /ʃɑ̃.pɔ.wɛ̃/	shampoing	IPA^(key): /ʃɑ̃.pwɛ̃/
œufs	IPA^(key): /œf/	œux	IPA^(key): /ø/
Vientiane	IPA^(key): /vjɑ̃.tjan/	Viaintiane	IPA^(key): /vjɛ̃.tjan/
cowboy	IPA^(key): /kɔw.bwaj/	cauboille	IPA^(key): /ko.bɔj/	English loanwords usually require respelling
boycotter	IPA^(key): /bwaj.kɔ.te/	boillcotter	IPA^(key): /bɔj.kɔ.te/	note that -ill- can be used even before a consonant

Use |pos=v to indicate that a word is a verb. This currently only affects final -ai, -ent, and -tions.

Text	Result without pos=v	Result with pos=v
aimerai	IPA^(key): /ɛm.ʁɛ/	IPA^(key): /ɛm.ʁe/
aiment	IPA^(key): /ɛ.mɑ̃/ ~ /e.mɑ̃/	IPA^(key): /ɛm/
portions	IPA^(key): /pɔʁ.sjɔ̃/	IPA^(key): /pɔʁ.tjɔ̃/

Use the symbols ŏ, eŭ, ă to force the "lax" sounds /ɔ/ /œ/ /a/ in certain circumstances where the "tense" variants /o/ /ø/ /ɑ/ would otherwise be used (see below). These are the opposite of the standard symbols ô, eû, â, which force the "tense" variants.

Text	Result	Respelling	Result	Comments
sosie	IPA^(key): /so.zi/	sŏsie	IPA^(key): /sɔ.zi/	o is /o/ before /z/
putter (respelled "peuter")	IPA^(key): /pø.te/	peŭter	IPA^(key): /pœ.te/	eu is /ø/ word-initially and before /t/
aimas	IPA^(key): /ɛ.ma/ ~ /ɛ.mɑ/ ~ /e.ma/ ~ /e.mɑ/	aimăs	IPA^(key): /ɛ.ma/ ~ /e.ma/	a is /ɑ/ before final written s, z

Schwas of various sorts:

Use ə (a schwa symbol) to force a normal schwa where e would otherwise be interpreted differently (e.g. in -ess-; but note that ress- /rəs/ is special-cased). This may be indicated as mandatory, optional or deleted depending on context, exactly like any other schwa.
Use (ə) (a schwa in parens) to force an optional schwa.
Use ĕ to force an always-pronounced schwa.
Use ė to force a never-pronounced schwa.

Text	Result	Respelling	Result	Comments
dessous	IPA^(key): /de.su/	dəssous	IPA^(key): /də.su/	another possibility is the respelling deçous
sens dessus dessous	IPA^(key): /sɑ̃ de.sy de.su/	sens dəssus dəssous	IPA^(key): /sɑ̃ d(ə).sy d(ə).su/	shown here as optional, just as normal e would
syndrome d'Asperger	IPA^(key): /sɛ̃.dʁɔm d‿as.pɛʁ.ʒe/	syndrome d'Asperguĕr	IPA^(key): /sɛ̃.dʁɔm d‿as.pɛʁ.ɡəʁ/	regular ə would also work here

Use an underscore to break up a set of letters that would be interpreted specially and force the letters on either side to be interpreted on their own. Examples:

Text	Result	Respelling	Result	Comments
gnou	IPA^(key): /ɲu/	g_nou	IPA^(key): /ɡnu/
week-end	IPA^(key): /wə.ɛ.kɑ̃/ ~ /wə.e.kɑ̃/	wik-e_nde	IPA^(key): /wi.kɛnd/	use an underscore between vowel and n to force the n to be fully transcribed
sprinter	IPA^(key): /spʁɛ̃.te/	spri_nter	IPA^(key): /spʁin.te/	another possibility is the respelling sprineter or sprinėter
amuïr	IPA^(key): /a.mɥiʁ/	amu_ir	IPA^(key): /a.my.iʁ/
Washington	IPA^(key): /wa.ʃɛ̃.tɔ̃/	Washing_tonne	IPA^(key): /wa.ʃiŋ.tɔn/	-ing after consonant is /iŋ/ if final or followed by an underscore

Use the symbol ‿ to indicate liaison.

Text	Result	Respelling	Result
vous avez	IPA^(key): /vu a.ve/	vous‿avez	IPA^(key): /vu.z‿a.ve/
s'en aller	IPA^(key): /s‿ɑ̃ a.le/	s'en‿aller	IPA^(key): /s‿ɑ̃.n‿a.le/
bon ami	IPA^(key): /bɔ̃ a.mi/	bon‿ami	IPA^(key): /bɔ.n‿a.mi/
pied-à-terre	IPA^(key): /pje.a.tɛʁ/	pied‿à-terre	IPA^(key): /pje.t‿a.tɛʁ/
premier étage	IPA^(key): /pʁə.mje e.taʒ/	premier‿étage	IPA^(key): /pʁə.mjɛ.ʁ‿e.taʒ/ ~ /pʁə.mje.ʁ‿e.taʒ/
peut-être	IPA^(key): /pø.ɛtʁ/	peut‿être	IPA^(key): /pø.t‿ɛtʁ/
neuf ans	IPA^(key): /nœf ɑ̃/	neuf‿ans	IPA^(key): /nœ.v‿ɑ̃/
beaux-arts	IPA^(key): /bo.aʁ/	beaux‿arts	IPA^(key): /bo.z‿aʁ/
jouent-ils, pos=v	IPA^(key): /ʒu.il/	jouent‿ils, pos=v	IPA^(key): /ʒu.t‿il/

Many more examples can be found in Module:fr-pron/testcases.

Substitution specs

In place of a respelling, you can use a substitution spec. For example, the spec [ch:k] says "respell <ch> as <k> in the page name" (i.e. wherever it occurs), and similarly [vient:vien] says "respell <vient> as <vien> in the page name". This is useful in long page names, to avoid having to repeat most of the page name in the respelling:

Text	Result	Respelling	Result	Comments
acide glycocholique	IPA^(key): /a.sid ɡli.kɔ.ʃɔ.lik/	`{{fr-IPA\|[ch:c]}}`	IPA^(key): /a.sid ɡli.kɔ.kɔ.lik/
a beau mentir qui vient de loin	IPA^(key): /a bo mɑ̃.tiʁ ki vjɑ̃ də lwɛ̃/	`{{fr-IPA\|[vient:vien]}}`	IPA^(key): /a bo mɑ̃.tiʁ ki vjɛ̃ də lwɛ̃/
ils vécurent heureux et eurent beaucoup d’enfants	IPA^(key): /il ve.kyʁ œ.ʁø e øʁ bo.ku d‿ɑ̃.fɑ̃/	`{{fr-IPA\|[heur:heûr,eurent:urent]\|pos=v}}`	IPA^(key): /il ve.kyʁ ø.ʁø e yʁ bo.ku d‿ɑ̃.fɑ̃/	separate multiple substitution specs with a comma
jouer au chat et à la souris	IPA^(key): /ʒwe o ʃa e a la su.ʁi/	`{{fr-IPA\|+\|[er au:ér‿au]\|qual2=more formal}}`	IPA^(key): /ʒwe o ʃa e a la su.ʁi/, (more formal) /ʒwe.ʁ‿o ʃa e a la su.ʁi/	specs can cross word boundaries

If you precede a substitution spec with ^, e.g. [^as:a], it restricts the substitution to apply to a whole word; by default, substitution specs can match within a word.

Parameters

|1=, |2=, etc. are used to indicate one or more pronunciations, possibly respelled. See examples above for how this respelling works. An omitted parameter defaults to the pagename. You can indicate multiple pronunciations, e.g.

{{fr-IPA|almana|almanac}}: IPA^(key): /al.ma.na/, /al.ma.nak/

|pos=v indicates that a word in the text is a verb, and controls the handling of certain endings (-ai, -ent, -tions); see examples above.

You can tag any pronunciation with a qualifier using |qual=, |qual2=, etc. and a reference using |n=, |n2=, etc., as with {{IPA}}.

|noalternatives=1 disables the automatic generation of alternative pronunciations (see above).

Details

Consonants

b is normally /b/, but:
- It is silent in final -mb(s).
- It is /p/ in the sequence bs (obstacle).
c is normally /k/, but:
- It is /s/ before a front vowel, i.e. e, i, y, æ, ə or accented versions of these; also œ (cœliaque), except in the sequence œu (cœur with /k/). To get a hard c before a front vowel, write k or qu; to get a soft c before a back vowel, write ç.
- ch is /ʃ/.
- c is silent in final nc(t)(s).
ç is always /s/.
d is /d/, but:
It is silent in final -d and -ds. -ied(s) is /je/ (pied, assieds, etc.).
f is always /f/.
g is normally /ɡ/ (note, this is a special IPA character, not the normal g character), except:
- g is /ʒ/ before a front vowel, i.e. e, i, y, æ, ə or accented versions of these; also œ, except in the sequence œu (Argœuves with /ɡ/). To get a hard g before a front vowel, write gu; to get a soft g before a back vowel, write j; to get a pronounced gu before a front vowel, write gü.
- gn is /ɲ/. To get /ɡn/, write g_n.
- ng is /ŋ/ (as in parking, shopping) in the sequence consonant+ing when word-finally, before final s, or before _. Use _ to get ing -> /iŋ/ elsewhere in a word, e.g. respell Washington as Washing_tonne and swinguer as swing_guer. Note that vowel+ing (as in poing) is interpreted by the next rule.
- Final g(s) is silent, as in rang, long, seing, joug and plurals.
- g is silent in the sequence ngt, as in vingt.
h is normally silent. Note:
- ch, sh, sch, ssh are /ʃ/, except that initial désh- is /dez/ (déshonorer, déshabitué).
- ph is /f/.
- h between vowels prevents conversion of /i/ and /y/ into glides (as in nihilisme, jihad respelled djihade), but does not have a similar effect on /u/ (hence souhaite is rendered as /swɛt/).
- nh is treated as if spelled n (as in inhérent, anhédonie), except in word-initial enh-, rendered as /ɑ̃/ (as in enhardir, enhaché, enhucher). For words where the h is "mute" and the enh- needs to be rendered as /ɑ̃n/ (enharmonie, enherber), use a respelling beginning with enn-.
- Word-initial eu- is normally rendered as /ø/, but word-initial h blocks this, hence euro is /ø.ro/ but heureux is /œ.rø/.
j is always /ʒ/.
k is always /k/.
l is /l/, except:
- ill is /j/ after a vowel (faillir), /ij/ after a consonant fille, and /il/ word-initially illustrer. This applies regardless of what follows, which is useful in respellings (e.g. boycotter can be respelled boillcotter to get /bɔj.kɔ.te/). An exception is the sequence uill following a consonant, which is rendered /ɥij/ (as in juillet, cuillère) rather than expected */yj/. Note that many words having ill after a consonant are pronounced with /il/ rather than /ij/ (mille, village, tranquillité), and will need respelling using il.
- The sequence oil is /wal/ (poil), unless another l follows (to allow respellings like cauboille /ko.bɔj/ for cowboy).
- Otherwise, word-final il(s) is /j/ after a vowel (travail, orteil), /il/ otherwise (ils, avril, profil).
- In the sequence vowel+il+consonant, il is rendered as /j/; this is an alternative way to get /j/ in respellings.
- Special cases:
  - œil (œil, œillet) is interpreted as if spelled œuil.
  - cueil (accueil) is interpreted as if spelled keuil.
  - gueil (orgueil) is interpreted as if spelled gueuil.
  - oel, oêl (moelle, poêle) are interpreted as if spelled wal.
m is /m/, except that it normally indicates nasalization when preceding b, p, or f (tomber, imprimer, symphonie), and also in the word-final sequences om(s), aim(s), eim(s) (faim, Reims, nom). Exceptions and special cases:
- The sequence oum represents /um/ (schtroumpf), not a nasal vowel.
- Word-final um(s) represents /ɔm/ (maximum, album).
n is normally /n/, but usually indicates nasalization when following a vowel and not preceding a vowel or another n. Exceptions and special cases:
- The sequence oun represents /un/ (Cameroun, Bouroundi), not a nasal vowel.
- Word-final ing(s) after a consonant represents /iŋ/ (parking, shopping). See the entry for g above for the precise rules.
- nh is rendered as /n/ except in word-initial enh-. See the entry for h above for the precise rules.
p is /p/, except:
- ph is /f/ (philosophe).
- Word-final p(s) is silent (drap, loup, corps).
- The sequence compt is as if spelled cont (compte, comptable, décompter).
q and qu are always /k/. To represent a pronounced u, use ü if pronounced /ɥ/ (as in aquifère, ubiquité), and w if pronounced /w/ (as in adéquat, équanimité, squatter).
r is /ʁ/, but is silent in final -er(s), which is rendered /e/ (aimer, volontiers, dîners, papiers). Exception: -er(s) in single-syllable words (cher, vers) is rendered /ɛʁ/. Words with pronounced final -er(s) in multisyllabic words will need respelling with -erre, e.g. travers, tiers.
s is normally /s/, but:
- It is /z/ between vowels and silent word-finally.
- Words where s between vowels is /s/ (asocial, susurrer) will need respelling with ç, ss or (if before a front vowel) c. (Be careful with respelling using ss, as it may change the interpretation of a preceding e.)
- Words where final s is pronounced (ours, métis, sens) will need respelling (e.g. ourse/ource/ourss/ourç/etc., métisse, sense).
- sh, sch, ssh are /ʃ/, except that initial désh- is /dez/ (déshonorer, déshabitué).
- In initial trans- and intrans- preceding a vowel, s is /z/.
- The words es and est are rendered as if spelled ès and èt, respectively (i.e. they will be rendered as /ɛ/ except in a liaison context).
- Except in the word est, final -st is pronounced (ouest, podcast, permafrost).
t is normally /t/, but:
- Word-final t(s) is silent except in st(s) (ouest, podcasts, permafrost) and ct(s) (correct, compact); but it **is** silent in nct(s) (instinct, succinct). The word est is handled specially; see above for details. Note that final -et(s) is rendered /ɛ/ (effet, filets).
- t in the sequences tion (portion, national, sélection), tien (martien, quotient, patience), tial (partial, initialiser), tiel (présidentiel, substantiellement) is pronounced /s/, except when those sequences come at the beginning of a word (tien, tiens) or directly follow s, x or ç (combustion, questionnaire, admixtion). To force a /t/ in these sequences, insert an underscore after the t, e.g. cation spelled cat_ion, chrétien spelled crét_ien.
- As an exception to the above rule, final -tions is rendered with /t/ not /s/ when |pos=v (portions, collections with final /sjɔ̃/ as plural nouns, but final /tjɔ̃/ as present subjunctive verbs).
v is always /v/.
w is always /w/.
x is normally /ks/, but:
- Word-final x is silent after i and u (prix, paix, chevaux, deux, bijoux). It is pronounced after other letters (inox, latex, Max).
- Word-initial x is /ɡz/ (xénon, xylophone).
- x is also /ɡz/ in the following circumstances: word-initial ex- (exister, examen), word-initial hex- (hexane), word-initial inex- (inexorable), and -ex- after a vowel (coexister, réexaminer).
z is normally /z/, but:
- Final z is silent (allez, nez). [FIXME: Should only apply to -ez.] Final -ez is rendered as /e/.

Vowels

a is /a/, except that it is /ɑ/ before final -s and -z.
(continue to fill in)