French Pronunciation and IPA Transcription Guide

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Table of Contents

• Getting Started
  • About This Tool
  • Phonemic vs Phonetic
  • Dialects & Limitations
• Quick Reference (Glossary)
• How to Read IPA Symbols
  • Vowel Symbols
  • Consonant Symbols
  • Diacritical Marks
  • Interactive Features
  • Multiple Pronunciation Variants
• French Pronunciation Guide
  • Oral Vowels and Accents
  • Nasal Vowels
  • Mute E (Schwa)
  • Silent Final Letters
  • Consonant Rules
  • Glides, Y and ILL
  • Apostrophes, Hyphens and Liaison
• Orthography to IPA Mapping
  • Comprehensive Mapping Tables
• Using the Tool: Practical Notes
• For Developers
  • Implementation Details
  • Common Issues & Limitations
• Related Pronunciation Guides

About This Tool

This French transcription app uses the Wiktionary French Pronunciation Module to generate phonemic transcriptions for French text. IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standardized system for transcribing speech sounds using symbols based on the Latin alphabet. The tool converts French orthography into IPA. A phonemic transcription represents the abstract sound system of the language (phonemes), as opposed to the actual speech variants (allophones).

The system uses comprehensive Wiktionary data dumps^[1][2] as a lexicon to first retrieve transcriptions from the dictionary. When a word is not found in the lexicon, it falls back to generating transcriptions with the rules of the pronunciation module.

The text is transcribed word by word: the converter splits the input at spaces and transcribes each word on its own. Liaison and elision between separate words are therefore not applied (see Apostrophes, Hyphens and Liaison).

Dialects & Limitations

• Supported: two style options for Metropolitan French, Default and Parisian (experimental), described below.
• Not supported: separate profiles for other varieties of French (Quebec, Belgian, Swiss, southern French and others).
• Edge cases: loanwords, proper names, and words whose pronunciation is an exception to the spelling rules may be transcribed incorrectly when they are not in the lexicon (see Common Issues & Limitations).
• Technical limit: each word is processed independently, and characters other than letters, the apostrophe, the hyphen and the liaison mark ‿ are removed from the input before transcription.

Available Style Profiles

• Default - conservative standard French

  This option keeps all four nasal vowels distinct, a contrast that is retained in some varieties of French, for example Quebec and Belgian French, and is common in dictionary transcriptions.

  • brun is pronounced /bʁœ̃/ /bʁœ̃/
  • brin is pronounced /bʁɛ̃/ /bʁɛ̃/
  • blanc is pronounced /blɑ̃/ /blɑ̃/
  • bon is pronounced /bɔ̃/ /bɔ̃/
• Parisian (experimental) - Parisian nasal-vowel pattern

  This option rewrites the nasal vowels of the Default result so that the four-vowel system becomes a three-vowel system. It is a fixed substitution on the transcription, not a separate pronunciation module, and it changes nothing but nasal vowels. The substitutions run in this order:

  • The "un/in" merger: /œ̃/ (in brun) and /ɛ̃/ (in brin) both become /ɑ̃/.
    • brun: /bʁœ̃/ → /bʁɑ̃/
    • brin: /bʁɛ̃/ → /bʁɑ̃/
    • Result: brun and brin become homophones.
  • The "an/on" chain shift: This is a two-step shift, not a merger.
    1. First, /ɔ̃/ (as in bon) is replaced by /õ/ (the letter o with a tilde).
    2. Then /ɑ̃/ (as in blanc) is replaced by /ɔ̃/. Because this step runs after the first one, the /ɔ̃/ that it produces is not changed again.
    • bon: /bɔ̃/ → /bõ/
    • blanc: /blɑ̃/ → /blɔ̃/
    • Result: bon and blanc remain distinct.

  The substitution is applied to the Default result whether it came from the lexicon or from the rules. No other Parisian feature is modelled.

General Limitations

• No liaison, elision or h aspiré handling between separate words (each word is transcribed alone).
• The rules know no exceptions of their own beyond those listed under Implementation Details; irregular words are correct only when the lexicon contains them.
• Digits, punctuation and other symbols are discarded.

Phonemic vs Phonetic

• Phonemic (with dictionary support): A simplified, broad transcription that shows only the sounds that are essential for distinguishing meaning (phonemes). It represents the abstract sound system of the language. Uses the Wiktionary lexicon when the word is in it and falls back to the rules otherwise.
• Phonetic: not available for French. Only the Phonemic form exists.

Quick Reference (Glossary)

Phoneme

The smallest unit of sound in a language that distinguishes meaning (e.g., /p/ vs. /b/ in English "pat" vs. "bat").

Allophone

A variant pronunciation of a phoneme that doesn't change meaning (e.g., aspirated [pʰ] vs. unaspirated [p]).

Nasal Vowel

A vowel pronounced with air passing through the nose, written with a combining tilde: pain /pɛ̃/. French has four: /ɑ̃/, /ɛ̃/, /ɔ̃/, /œ̃/.

Schwa (Mute E)

The reduced vowel ə, written e: le /lə/. In many positions it is not pronounced: samedi /sam.di/.

Optional Schwa

A schwa shown in parentheses, (ə), may be pronounced or dropped: porte-monnaie /pɔʁ.t(ə).mɔ.nɛ/.

Syllable Boundary

A dot (.) showing where syllables divide.

Liaison

The pronunciation of a normally silent final consonant before a following vowel. The module marks the junction with the undertie ‿.

Elision

The loss of a final vowel before a vowel, written with an apostrophe: l'arbre /l‿aʁbʁ/.

Aspirated H (h aspiré)

An initial h that behaves like a consonant and blocks liaison and elision. The rules treat every h as silent: homme /ɔm/, haricot /a.ʁi.ko/.

Glide (Semivowel)

A consonant-like vowel sound: /j/ in pied /pje/, /w/ in oui /wi/, /ɥ/ in nuit /nɥi/.

Hiatus

Two vowels in adjacent syllables with no glide between them: théâtre /te.atʁ/.

Diaeresis (tréma)

The two dots in ë, ï, ü, marking a vowel that is pronounced separately from the preceding one: maïs /ma.i/.

Uvular R

The French r, /ʁ/, produced at the back of the mouth, not with the tip of the tongue as in English.

Silent Letter

A letter that is written but not pronounced, most often a word-final consonant.

Geminate

A doubled consonant letter. In French it is read as a single consonant: terre /tɛʁ/.

Devoicing

The change of a voiced consonant to a voiceless one. The module writes b as p before s or t: absurde /ap.syʁd/.

Assibilation

The change of t to s before i and a vowel in some endings: nation /na.sjɔ̃/. It is blocked after s: question /kɛs.tjɔ̃/.

Voiced and Voiceless S

Between vowels a single s is voiced, a double ss is voiceless: poison /pwa.zɔ̃/, poisson /pwa.sɔ̃/.

Open and Closed Vowels

French has paired mid vowels, closed /o/, /ø/ and open /ɔ/, /œ/, whose choice depends on the position in the word: jeu /ʒø/, peur /pœʁ/.

Ligature œ

The written combination of o and e, read as the vowel of cœur /kœʁ/.

Respelling

Typing a different spelling to obtain a different transcription, for example vile /vil/ for ville. See Common Issues & Limitations.

Lexicon and Rules

The lexicon is the stored Wiktionary transcription of a word. The rules are the spelling-to-sound algorithm of the pronunciation module, used when the word is not in the lexicon.

How to Read IPA Symbols

The tables list the symbols that the French rules produce, with approximate English equivalents where they exist. The examples are rule output.

Vowel Symbols

IPA	Example	English Approximation	Notes
/a/	chat /ʃa/	"father" (short)	Front open vowel
/e/	été /e.te/	"say" (without glide)	Closed e
/ɛ/	père /pɛʁ/	"bed"	Open e
/ə/	le /lə/	"about"	Schwa, often dropped
/i/	ami /a.mi/	"see"	Written i, î, y
/y/	rue /ʁy/	No English equivalent	Lips rounded as for /u/, tongue as for /i/
/o/	chaud /ʃo/	"go" (without glide)	Closed o
/ɔ/	porte /pɔʁt/	"law" (UK)	Open o
/ø/	deux /dø/	No English equivalent	Lips rounded as for /o/, tongue as for /e/
/œ/	peur /pœʁ/	No English equivalent	Open counterpart of /ø/
/u/	vous /vu/	"food" (without glide)	Written ou, où, oû
/ɑ̃/	blanc /blɑ̃/	No English equivalent	Nasal vowel, written an, am, en, em
/ɛ̃/	pain /pɛ̃/	No English equivalent	Nasal vowel, written in, im, ain, ein
/ɔ̃/	bon /bɔ̃/	No English equivalent	Nasal vowel, written on, om
/œ̃/	brun /bʁœ̃/	No English equivalent	Nasal vowel, written un, um
/õ/	bon (Parisian)	No English equivalent	Only in the Parisian (experimental) style, in place of /ɔ̃/

The module also generates the back vowel /ɑ/ (for â and final as, az) as a second variant. The app uses the first variant, which has /a/, so a bare /ɑ/ does not occur in rule output; the nasal /ɑ̃/ is not affected.

Consonant Symbols

IPA	Example	English Approximation	Notes
/p/, /t/, /k/	porte /pɔʁt/, coq /kɔk/	"spin", "stop", "skip"	Voiceless stops, not aspirated
/b/, /d/, /ɡ/	table /tabl/, gare /ɡaʁ/	"bat", "dog", "go"	Voiced stops
/f/, /v/	vite /vit/	"fat", "vat"	Written f, ph and v
/s/, /z/	sauce /sos/, rose /ʁoz/	"sit", "zoo"	Written s, ss, c, ç, t (+ion) and s between vowels, z
/ʃ/	chat /ʃa/	"shoe"	Written ch, sh, sch
/ʒ/	geai /ʒɛ/	"measure"	Written j, g before e, i, y
/m/, /n/	mère /mɛʁ/, reine /ʁɛn/	"man", "no"	Not after a vowel that is followed by a consonant or the end of the word; there the vowel is nasalized instead
/ɲ/	agneau /a.ɲo/	"canyon"	Palatal nasal, written gn
/ŋ/	parking /paʁ.kiŋ/	"sing"	Only in the ending -ing of loanwords
/l/	lent /lɑ̃/	"light"	Light l, never "dark" l
/ʁ/	rue /ʁy/	No English equivalent	Uvular r, written r, rr, rh
/j/	fille /fij/, yeux /jø/	"yes"	Glide, written y, i before a vowel, ill, final il
/w/	oui /wi/	"we"	Glide, written ou before a vowel, oi
/ɥ/	nuit /nɥi/	No English equivalent	Glide, written u before a vowel

Diacritical Marks

Symbol	Name	Meaning	Example
̃	Combining tilde	Nasalization of the preceding vowel	pain /pɛ̃/
.	Syllable boundary	Division between syllables	ami /a.mi/
‿	Undertie	Liaison or elision junction; appears only when the input has an apostrophe or the mark itself	c'est /s‿ɛ/
( )	Parentheses	The enclosed schwa is optional	porte-monnaie /pɔʁ.t(ə).mɔ.nɛ/

The French output has no stress marks and no length marks.

Interactive Features

• Click words to cycle variants: Some words have more than one transcription in the lexicon. Click a transcribed word to see the alternatives.
• Audio playback: Click the speaker icon next to any word or line to hear text-to-speech pronunciation (requires browser TTS support).
• Export results: Use the PDF or CSV buttons to save transcriptions.

Multiple Pronunciation Variants

• Lexicon entries: A lexicon entry may hold several readings. The first is displayed and a click cycles through the others.
• Rule output: The module itself can generate alternatives (for example /pa/ and /pɑ/ for pas; /sɔ.sja.lism/ and /sɔ.sja.lizm/ for socialisme; /tjɛ.nɑ̃/ and /tje.nɑ̃/ for tiennent), but the app displays only the first one.
• Lexicon vs. rules: Dictionary lookup and rule-based generation may produce different results for the same word.

French Pronunciation Guide

This guide describes what the module does with a word typed in ordinary spelling. The examples were generated by the rules alone; in the app a word that is in the lexicon shows its Wiktionary transcription instead, which may differ.

Oral Vowels and Accents

Accents

• é is /e/: été /e.te/, musée /my.ze/
• è, ê are /ɛ/: père /pɛʁ/, tête /tɛt/
• à, ù, î do not change the vowel: là /la/, où /u/
• â is the back vowel /ɑ/ in the second variant only, so the app shows /a/: âme /am/
• ô is always /o/: hôtel /o.tɛl/, rôle /ʁol/
• û is /y/: mûr /myʁ/ (jeûne /ʒøn/ has /ø/)
• ë, ï, ü mark a separate vowel; the dots are then dropped: Noël /nɔ.ɛl/, naïf /na.if/

The Letter E

• e before a doubled consonant is /ɛ/, but initial e + double consonant gives /e/: terre /tɛʁ/, serrer /sɛ.ʁe/, effacer /e.fa.se/
• e before a final d, g, p, t (optionally + s) is /ɛ/: permet /pɛʁ.mɛ/, legs /lɛ/
• ai, ei are /ɛ/: maison /mɛ.zɔ̃/, neige /nɛʒ/
• -er, -ez, -es (short words) are /e/: parler /paʁ.le/, nez /ne/, les /le/; in a one-syllable word -er is /ɛʁ/: fer /fɛʁ/, mer /mɛʁ/

Vowel Digraphs

Spelling	IPA	Examples
ou	/u/	vous /vu/, loup /lu/
au, eau	/o/	chaud /ʃo/, beau /bo/
au before r (not eaur)	/ɔ/	dinosaure /di.no.zɔʁ/, restaurant /ʁɛs.tɔ.ʁɑ̃/, Beauregard /boʁ.ɡaʁ/
eu, œu (final, word-initial, before z or t)	/ø/	deux /dø/, jeu /ʒø/, Europe /ø.ʁɔp/
eu, œu (elsewhere)	/œ/	peur /pœʁ/, cœur /kœʁ/, neuf /nœf/
oi	/wa/	moi /mwa/, trois /tʁwa/
u	/y/	rue /ʁy/

Open and Closed O

The letter o is closed /o/ when it ends the word or precedes z, and open /ɔ/ elsewhere. The accent ô is always closed.

• Closed: zéro /ze.ʁo/, chose /ʃoz/, trop /tʁo/
• Open: porte /pɔʁt/, sol /sɔl/

Nasal Vowels

A vowel followed by n before a consonant or at the end of a word is nasalized and the n is not pronounced. A vowel followed by m is nasalized before b, p and f, and in final -om and -aim/-eim.

Spelling	IPA	Examples
an, am, en, em	/ɑ̃/	blanc /blɑ̃/, champ /ʃɑ̃/, dent /dɑ̃/, ensemble /ɑ̃.sɑ̃bl/
in, im, yn, ym, ain, aim, ein	/ɛ̃/	pain /pɛ̃/, faim /fɛ̃/, sympa /sɛ̃.pa/, syndicat /sɛ̃.di.ka/
on, om	/ɔ̃/	bon /bɔ̃/, nom /nɔ̃/, plomb /plɔ̃/
un, um	/œ̃/	brun /bʁœ̃/, lundi /lœ̃.di/
ien (final)	/jɛ̃/	bien /bjɛ̃/, chien /ʃjɛ̃/
oin	/wɛ̃/	loin /lwɛ̃/, point /pwɛ̃/

• No nasalization before a vowel or before a doubled n or m: année /a.ne/, inutile /i.ny.til/, femme /fɛm/, bonne /bɔn/
• Final -um is /ɔm/: maximum /mak.si.mɔm/, album /al.bɔm/
• In the Parisian (experimental) style the nasal vowels are rewritten; see Dialects & Limitations.

Mute E (Schwa)

• Final e after a consonant is dropped in a word of two or more syllables: porte /pɔʁt/, table /tabl/, femme /fɛm/, rose /ʁoz/
• In a one-syllable word the schwa is kept: le /lə/, je /ʒə/, de /də/
• In the first syllable the schwa is kept: petit /pə.ti/, venir /və.niʁ/, leçon /lə.sɔ̃/
• Inside a word, between a vowel and a single consonant followed by another consonant, the schwa is dropped: samedi /sam.di/, médecin /med.sɛ̃/
• The schwa is kept where dropping it would create a cluster that the module lists as impossible (ʁʁ, ɲʁ, ɲl): agnelet /a.ɲə.lɛ/, indignerez /ɛ̃.di.ɲə.ʁe/, déchirerez /de.ʃi.ʁə.ʁe/; and after a consonant plus ʁ: vendredi /vɑ̃.dʁə.di/
• Undecided cases are shown as optional: porte-monnaie /pɔʁ.t(ə).mɔ.nɛ/

Silent Final Letters

Final letter	Rule	Examples
d, g, p, t, s, z	Silent	grand /ɡʁɑ̃/, long /lɔ̃/, trop /tʁo/, petit /pə.ti/, nez /ne/, gros /ɡʁo/
x	Silent after i, u, eu; otherwise /ks/	prix /pʁi/, deux /dø/, lynx /lɛ̃ks/
c, f, k, l, q, r	Pronounced	sac /sak/, chef /ʃɛf/, mal /mal/, coq /kɔk/, tard /taʁ/
-st, -kt, -ct	The t is kept	ouest /wɛst/, respect /ʁɛs.pɛkt/, strict /stʁikt/
-nct	Both c and t are silent	instinct /ɛ̃s.tɛ̃/
-ngt	Read as nt, so g is silent	vingt /vɛ̃/
-mb, -mp	Silent, after nasalizing the vowel	plomb /plɔ̃/, champ /ʃɑ̃/
-er	/e/ in words of two or more syllables	parler /paʁ.le/, premier /pʁə.mje/

The rules do not know words in which one of these letters is pronounced anyway (os, fils, huit, cinq); see Common Issues & Limitations.

Consonant Rules

C and Ç

• c is /s/ before e, i, y and /k/ elsewhere: cinéma /si.ne.ma/, cygne /siɲ/, coq /kɔk/
• ç is always /s/: ça /sa/, garçon /ɡaʁ.sɔ̃/
• œ before c does not soften it in cœur /kœʁ/

G, GU and GN

• g is /ʒ/ before e, i, y: manger /mɑ̃.ʒe/, gymnase /ʒim.naz/; ge before a, o, u also gives /ʒ/: geai /ʒɛ/
• g is /ɡ/ elsewhere: gare /ɡaʁ/, gorge /ɡɔʁʒ/
• gu + vowel is /ɡ/: guerre /ɡɛʁ/, guitare /ɡi.taʁ/; with a diaeresis the u is kept: aigüe /ɛ.ɡy/
• gn is /ɲ/: agneau /a.ɲo/, ignorer /i.ɲɔ.ʁe/

QU

qu is /k/: qui /ki/, quelque /kɛlk/, quoi /kwa/.

CH, PH and TH

• ch is /ʃ/: chat /ʃa/, machine /ma.ʃin/; before r, l, n it is /k/: chrétien /kʁe.sjɛ̃/, chlore /klɔʁ/, technique /tɛk.nik/
• ph is /f/: pharmacie /faʁ.ma.si/
• th is read as t, because the h is silent: thé /te/

S and SS

• Between vowels a single s is /z/: maison /mɛ.zɔ̃/, désert /de.zɛʁ/, poison /pwa.zɔ̃/
• Elsewhere, and for ss, it is /s/: sauce /sos/, basse /bas/, poisson /pwa.sɔ̃/

X

• ex before a vowel, and initial x, are /ɡz/: examen /ɛɡ.za.mɑ̃/, exact /ɛɡ.zakt/, xylophone /ɡzi.lɔ.fɔn/
• Other x is /ks/: taxi /tak.si/, texte /tɛkst/, excellent /ɛk.sɛ.lɑ̃/

H

h is silent: homme /ɔm/, hôtel /o.tɛl/, bonheur /bɔ.nœʁ/. The rules do not distinguish h muet from h aspiré.

T Before I (Assibilation)

ti is /si/ before on, en, al, el when the t does not follow s, x or ç and does not start the word: nation /na.sjɔ̃/, action /ak.sjɔ̃/, patient /pa.sjɑ̃/, initial /i.ni.sjal/. After s the t stays: question /kɛs.tjɔ̃/. Other ti is /tj/ or /ti/: amitié /a.mi.tje/, entier /ɑ̃.tje/.

B Before S or T

b before s or t is pronounced as voiceless /p/: absurde /ap.syʁd/, obtenir /ɔp.tə.niʁ/, subtil /syp.til/.

Doubled Consonants

A doubled consonant letter is read as one consonant: terre /tɛʁ/, pomme /pɔm/, bonne /bɔn/.

Glides, Y and ILL

I, U and OU Before a Vowel

• i + vowel: /j/: pied /pje/, lieu /ljø/
• u + vowel: /ɥ/: nuit /nɥi/, cuire /kɥiʁ/
• ou + vowel: /w/: oui /wi/, jouer /ʒwe/
• After a consonant plus l or r, i and ou stay full vowels, with a separate glide or vowel after them: crier /kʁi.je/, prier /pʁi.je/, brouette /bʁu.ɛt/. The glide /ɥ/ is kept before i: fruit /fʁɥi/, bruit /bʁɥi/

The Letter Y

• Initial y before a vowel is /j/: yeux /jø/
• Initial y before a consonant, or y between consonants, is /i/: yttrium /i.tʁi.jɔm/, cycle /sikl/
• Y between vowels counts as i plus j: voyage /vwa.jaʒ/, crayon /kʁɛ.jɔ̃/, payer /pɛ.je/, joyeux /ʒwa.jø/
• Final -ay is read as -ai: Gamay /ɡa.mɛ/

ILL and IL

• ill after a consonant is /ij/: fille /fij/, famille /fa.mij/
• ill after a vowel is /j/: travailler /tʁa.va.je/, bouteille /bu.tɛj/, pavillon /pa.vi.jɔ̃/
• uill after a consonant: /ɥij/; cuillère /kɥi.jɛʁ/, juillet /ʒɥi.jɛ/
• Final il after a vowel is /j/: soleil /sɔ.lɛj/, travail /tʁa.vaj/; after a consonant the l is pronounced: fil /fil/, avril /a.vʁil/

Hiatus

A diaeresis, or two vowels that no rule joins, gives two syllables: naïf /na.if/, haïr /a.iʁ/, théâtre /te.atʁ/, aïe /a.i/.

Apostrophes, Hyphens and Liaison

The converter transcribes each space-separated word on its own. Liaison, elision and h aspiré between words are therefore not applied: les and amis are transcribed independently. Only material inside one written word is joined.

Apostrophe

An apostrophe inside a word marks elision. It becomes the junction mark ‿ in the output, and a consonant that precedes it is kept:

• l'arbre /l‿aʁbʁ/, l'homme /l‿ɔm/
• c'est /s‿ɛ/, n'est /n‿ɛ/, s'il /s‿il/
• qu'on /k‿ɔ̃/, jusqu'à /ʒys.k‿a/, aujourd'hui /o.ʒuʁ.d‿ɥi/

Hyphen

Each part of a hyphenated word is processed as a word of its own, so silent final letters of the first part are dropped: grand-père /ɡʁɑ̃.pɛʁ/, peut-être /pø.ɛtʁ/, porte-monnaie /pɔʁ.t(ə).mɔ.nɛ/.

Typed Liaison Mark

The input filter keeps the undertie ‿ (U+203F). If it is typed or pasted between two parts of a word, the module applies liaison to the first part. Results of the rules:

Input	Consonant of liaison	IPA
grand‿homme	d is read /t/	/ɡʁɑ̃.t‿ɔm/
neuf‿heures	f is read /v/	/nœ.v‿œʁ/
les‿amis, beaux‿arts	s and x are read /z/	/le.z‿a.mi/, /bo.z‿aʁ/
y‿a	a glide /j/ is inserted after i	/i.j‿a/
mon‿ami, un‿ami	nasal vowel kept, n pronounced	/mɔ̃.n‿a.mi/, /œ̃.n‿a.mi/
bon‿ami	vowel denasalized, n pronounced	/bɔ.n‿a.mi/

The nasal vowel is kept in the words matched by mon, ton, son, on, en, bien, rien, un and similar endings, and dropped before a liaison n in other words (bon, certain).

Comprehensive Spelling-to-IPA Mapping

These tables summarize the spelling-to-sound rules of the module as applied to a single word. Examples are rule output.

1. Vowels (Monophthongs and Digraphs)

Spelling	IPA	Example	Context
a, à	/a/	chat /ʃa/	Default
â, final as, az	/a/	pas /pa/, gaz /ɡa/	The back-vowel variant /ɑ/ is the second alternative
é	/e/	été /e.te/	Always
è, ê, ai, ei	/ɛ/	mère /mɛʁ/, reine /ʁɛn/	Always
e	/ɛ/	terre /tɛʁ/, permet /pɛʁ.mɛ/	Before a doubled consonant or a final d, g, p, t
e	/e/	parler /paʁ.le/, assez /a.se/	Final -er (polysyllabic), -ez
e	/ə/ or silent	petit /pə.ti/, samedi /sam.di/	Unstressed e; see Mute E
i, î	/i/	ami /a.mi/	Not before a vowel
o	/ɔ/ or /o/	porte /pɔʁt/, trop /tʁo/	/o/ when final or before z
ô	/o/	rôle /ʁol/	Always
au, eau	/o/	sauce /sos/, beau /bo/	/ɔ/ before r
ou	/u/	foule /ful/	Not before a vowel
eu, œu	/ø/ or /œ/	jeu /ʒø/, fleur /flœʁ/	/ø/ when final, initial or before z, t
oi	/wa/	roi /ʁwa/	Always
u, û	/y/	mûr /myʁ/	Not before a vowel
ui	/ɥi/	suite /sɥit/	Always

2. Nasal Vowels

Spelling	IPA	Example	Context
an, am, en, em	/ɑ̃/	enfant /ɑ̃.fɑ̃/, temps /tɑ̃/	Before a consonant or at the end of the word
in, im, yn, ym, ain, aim, ein	/ɛ̃/	vin /vɛ̃/, train /tʁɛ̃/	Before a consonant or at the end of the word
on, om	/ɔ̃/	maison /mɛ.zɔ̃/, nom /nɔ̃/	om only before b, p, f or finally
un, um	/œ̃/	un /œ̃/, brun /bʁœ̃/	-um at the end of a word is /ɔm/
ien	/jɛ̃/	rien /ʁjɛ̃/	At the end of a word
oin	/wɛ̃/	coin /kwɛ̃/	Always

3. Consonants and Digraphs

Spelling	IPA	Example	Context
c	/s/ or /k/	cible /sibl/, sac /sak/	/s/ before e, i, y
ç	/s/	leçon /lə.sɔ̃/	Always
g	/ʒ/ or /ɡ/	gorge /ɡɔʁʒ/, agenda /a.ʒɑ̃.da/	/ʒ/ before e, i, y
gu, qu	/ɡ/, /k/	guitare /ɡi.taʁ/, qui /ki/	Before a vowel
j	/ʒ/	jaune /ʒon/	Always
gn	/ɲ/	peigne /pɛɲ/	Always
ch	/ʃ/ or /k/	bouche /buʃ/, chrono /kʁɔ.no/	/k/ before r, l, n
ph	/f/	pharmacie /faʁ.ma.si/	Always
s	/s/ or /z/	sauce /sos/, rose /ʁoz/	/z/ between vowels
x	/ks/ or /ɡz/	taxi /tak.si/, exact /ɛɡ.zakt/	/ɡz/ in initial x and in ex- before a vowel
h	silent	homme /ɔm/	Always
r, rr, rh	/ʁ/	rue /ʁy/	Always
w	/w/	whisky /wis.ki/	Always
b, d, f, k, l, m, n, p, t, v, z	/b d f k l m n p t v z/	vite /vit/, club /klyb/	Unchanged; doubled letters count once

4. Context-Dependent and Special Rules

Pattern	Effect	Example
ti + on, en, al, el	/si/ unless the t follows s, x, ç	nation /na.sjɔ̃/, question /kɛs.tjɔ̃/
b + s, t	b is written p	absurde /ap.syʁd/
(h)ex- before a vowel	/ɛɡz/	examen /ɛɡ.za.mɑ̃/
trans-, intrans- + vowel	s is /z/	intransigeant /ɛ̃.tʁɑ̃.zi.ʒɑ̃/
désh-	s is /z/	déshabiller /de.za.bi.je/
eu- at the start, neur-	/ø/ even before r	Europe /ø.ʁɔp/, neuro /nø.ʁo/
hyper-, super-	er is /ɛʁ/	supermarché /sy.pɛʁ.maʁ.ʃe/
-emment	/a.mɑ̃/	évidemment /e.vi.da.mɑ̃/
-ing after a consonant	/iŋ/	parking /paʁ.kiŋ/
psych-	/psik/	psychologie /psi.kɔ.lɔ.ʒi/
-ied, -ieds	/je/	pied /pje/
Final -ill, -il after a vowel	/j/	soleil /sɔ.lɛj/
Final d, g, p, t, s, z	Silent	grand /ɡʁɑ̃/

Using the Tool: Practical Notes

Why does the output for a word differ from the rules described on this page?

The app looks a word up in the Wiktionary lexicon first and uses the rules of the pronunciation module only when the word is missing, so a dictionary word shows the Wiktionary transcription, including exceptions that the rules do not know. Open in the converter

What exactly does the Parisian (experimental) style change?

It is not a separate module but a post-processing step applied to the Default output, whether that output came from the lexicon or from the rules. Only nasal vowels are rewritten, in this order: /ɔ̃/ becomes /õ/, then /ɑ̃/ becomes /ɔ̃/, then /œ̃/ and /ɛ̃/ both become /ɑ̃/. Because the steps run in sequence, the /ɔ̃/ that results from /ɑ̃/ is not changed again. For maison the rules alone give /mɛ.zɔ̃/ in Default and /mɛ.zõ/ in Parisian. See Dialects Supported.

Is there a phonetic transcription?

No. Only the Phonemic form exists for French; see Transcription Forms.

Can the lexicon be switched off?

Not from the interface; the app has no setting for it. The lexicon is used by default, and opening the converter with dict=false in the address (for example ?lang=French&dict=false) turns it off, so that every word is transcribed by the rules. This is useful for seeing what the rules alone produce for a word.

Implementation Details (for Developers)

Processing in the App

1. Input filter: The converter splits the text at spaces. Each word is then reduced to letters, combining marks, the apostrophe (the typographic ’ is converted to '), the hyphen and the mark ‿, and is normalized to NFKC. Digits and other symbols are discarded.
2. Lexicon lookup: In the Phonemic form, if the lexicon french_lexicon_v3.zip is loaded, the word is looked up with every character except letters, marks and hyphens removed (so an apostrophe is removed from the key), first as typed and then in lower case. A hit is used as the result and may hold several readings.
3. Rule generation: If there is no hit, the result is the first alternative returned by fr_ipa.show(word) of the Wiktionary module. No part-of-speech argument is passed.
4. Parisian (experimental) post-processing: if that style is selected and a result exists, the string is rewritten as described below.

The lexicon is on by default. Opening the converter with dict=false in the address turns it off and leaves only step 3. There is no interface setting for this.

Parisian Post-processing

Three replacements run in sequence on the whole result string:

1. ɔ̃ is replaced by õ (o with tilde).
2. ɑ̃ is replaced by ɔ̃.
3. œ̃ and ɛ̃ are replaced by ɑ̃.

Because of the order, the ɔ̃ created in step 2 is not changed by step 1, and the ɑ̃ created in step 3 is not changed by step 2. Example: lundi goes /lœ̃.di/ to /lɑ̃.di/.

Module Pipeline (fr-pron)

The module works on one string with string-replacement rules. The stages below follow the order in the code.

Internal Notation

The module uses temporary symbols that do not appear in the final output.

Symbol	Meaning
⁀	Word boundary, added at the start and end and around hyphens.
‿	Liaison or elision mark. This one remains in the output.
_	Separator that blocks a rule (for example en_h); removed before syllabification ends.
E, O, U, A, N, M, B, P, T, J, W, Ə	Capital placeholders that stop a later rule from firing on the output of an earlier one; lower-cased near the end.

Common Issues & Limitations

Known Transcription Problems

The table lists words that the rules transcribe incorrectly. System Output is the rule output (the test harness has no lexicon). In the Phonemic form a word that is in the lexicon is normally taken from it; the output shown here appears for words that are not in the lexicon, and for every word when the lexicon is switched off. The last column shows a respelling and its engine output.

Input	System Output	Correct IPA	Cause	What to Do
ville	/vij/	vile /vil/	ill after a consonant is always read as /ij/; the rules have no list of exceptions (mille, tranquille)	Respell with a single l
hiver	/i.ve/	hivèr /i.vɛʁ/	Final -er of a word of two or more syllables is read as /e/, as in infinitives (amer, cancer are affected too)	Respell with è
fils	/fil/	fiss /fis/	Final s is always dropped	Double the final s (also os, ours)
os	/o/	oss /ɔs/	Final s is dropped, and the o is then final and therefore closed	Double the final s
huit	/ɥi/	huite /ɥit/	Final t is always dropped	Add a final e
cinq	/sɛ̃/	cinque /sɛ̃k/	The rule that silences c and t in -nct also removes the final k sound of -nq	Respell with a final e
parlent	/paʁ.lɑ̃/	parle /paʁl/	The silent verb ending -ent needs the part of speech, which the app does not pass to the module	Type parle, which is pronounced the same
tient	/tjɑ̃/	tiain /tjɛ̃/	Final -ient in verb forms is not covered; the module notes that these need respelling	Respell with iain
orchestre	/ɔʁ.ʃɛstʁ/	orkestre /ɔʁ.kɛstʁ/	ch is /k/ only before r, l, n; Greek-origin ch elsewhere (chaos, écho) is read /ʃ/	Respell with k
football	/fɔ.ɔt.bal/	foutbol /fut.bɔl/	English loanword read by French rules; oo is split into two vowels	Respell phonetically
second	/sə.kɔ̃/	segond /sə.ɡɔ̃/	c is always /k/ before a consonant or back vowel; the exceptional /ɡ/ is not known	Respell with g
oeil	/ɔ.ɛj/	œil /œj/	Only the ligature spelling œil and the sequence oeu are recognized	Use the ligature œ
enivrer	/ə.ni.vʁe/	ennivrer /ɑ̃.ni.vʁe/	The vowel is nasalized only before a consonant, so en before a vowel stays oral	Double the n
femme	/fɛm/	famme /fam/	e before a doubled consonant is always open /ɛ/; the irregular /a/ is not known	Respell with a
doigt	/dwaɡ/	doit /dwa/	Only the last of final gt is dropped (except in ngt), so g remains	Type the homophone doit

Respelling

A transcription can be changed by typing a different spelling, as in the table. Only ordinary letters, the accents, the apostrophe, the hyphen and ‿ survive the input filter, so the bracket and underscore notations of the Wiktionary template are not available. Example of a typed liaison mark: see Apostrophes, Hyphens and Liaison.

Limitations

• Liaison, elision and h aspiré between separate words are not applied, because each word is transcribed alone.
• Only the first reading generated by the module is shown.
• Words with irregular pronunciation are correct only when they are in the lexicon.
• There are no stress marks or length marks.

Related Pronunciation Guides

Help pages for related languages in this tool:

• Spanish
• Portuguese
• Latin
• All languages

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