Quebec French pronunciation
Encyclopedia
Quebec French
has more phoneme
s than Metropolitan French as it retains phonemic distinctions between /a/ and /ɑ/, /ɛ/ and /ɛː/, and /ɛ̃/ and /œ̃/ whereas the latter of each pair
has disappeared in Paris and several other parts of France
.
with their lax
equivalents when the vowels are both short (e.g. not before [ʁ], [ʒ], [z] and [v]) and in a closed syllable. This means that the masculine and feminine adjectives petit and petite ([pəti] and [pətit] in France) are [pət͡si] and [pət͡sɪt] in Quebec. The same goes with [y] → [ʏ] and [u] → [ʊ]. In some areas, notably Beauce, Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean and (to a lesser extent) Quebec City and the surrounding region, even long tense vowels may be laxed.
This laxing of the high vowels /i/, /u/ and /y/, in the specified context is compulsory in stressed syllables, e.g. lutte [lʏt], but it is optional in unstressed syllables, e.g., vulgaire can be [vʏlɡɛːʁ] or [vylɡɛːʁ]. The lax allophone of a high vowel may also appear in open syllables by assimilation to a lax vowel in a following syllable, e.g., musique can be either [myzɪk] or [mʏzɪk]. The lax vowel may even be retained in derived words where the original stressed lax vowel has disappeared, e.g. musical can be [myzikal] or [mʏzikal]. Also, the lax allophone may arise optionally in open syllables through dissimilation as in toupie [tupi] or [tʊpi], especially in reduplicative forms such as pipi [pipi] or [pɪpi]. These phenomena are conditioned lexically and regionally. For example, for the word difficile, the expected pronunciation [d͡zifisɪl] is found throughout Quebec, but the alternative pronunciation [d͡zifɪsɪl] is characteristic of the Beauce region, while [d͡zɪfisɪl] is characteristic of Montreal French.
The nasal vowel
s are slightly different. [ɛ̃] and [ɔ̃] are pronounced [ẽ] (or even [ĩ]) and [õ], whereas [ɑ̃] is fronted into [ã]. Also, nasal vowels under stress in a final closed syllable are long and may be diphthong
ized in colloquial speech
.
One distinct pronunciation in Quebec French is the sound represented by the letter A. The normal realization in final open syllable is [ɔ], which is nowadays strongly marked as colloquial, with [ɑ] being seen as more socially elevated. Parisian [a] is often perceived as very formal. Word-internally, [aː] and [ɑː] often change into [ɑː] and [oː] respectively although this too is increasingly considered to be colloquial. These variations are also found in several European pronunciations.
Metropolitan French's [wa] (represented by) can be [wa], [wɑ], or [wɑː] in formal Quebec French. It can also be realized in six additional different ways in less formal contexts, including [ɛ] found (exclusively) in droit, froid, flexions of noyer and croire, and soit. These pronunciations are remnants from one of the founding French dialects.
Another informal archaic trait from 17th century Parisian popular French is the tendency to open [ɛ] into [æ] in a final open syllable. On the other hand, in grammatical word endings, as well as in the indicative forms of verb être, the [ɛ] is tensed into [e]. This is also common in France, but the failure to tense the [ɛ] in Quebec is usually perceived as quite formal.
vowels are normally diphthong
ized when stressed. For instance père (father), /pɛʀ/, is [pɛːʀ] in France but [paɪʀ] in Quebec. Other cases include:
→ [aɪ] → [œʏ] → [ɔʊ] → [ɑʊ] → [aœ] → [ãũ] → [ẽĩ] → [õũ] → [œ̃ỹ]
Diphthongization is considered as marking less educated speech and avoided in more formal contexts. Diphthongization of [oː] and [øː] is unaffected by this stigma, however, and usually goes unnoticed by most speakers.
provide interesting evidence of a phonological feminine. For instance, although most adults would probably say that autobus is masculine if they were given reflection time, specific bus routes defined by their number are always feminine. Bus No. 10 is known as l'autobus 10, or more often la 10. Using le 10 in this context, although normal in France, would be strikingly odd in Quebec (especially Montreal), except in some regions, particularly the Outaouais, where it is the standard. (An alternative explanation for this, however, is that bus routes in Montreal are called "lines", and therefore "la 10" is short for "la ligne 10", and not "l'autobus 10", since it is the route being referred to, and not an individual bus.)
There are many differences in informal grammar: for instance, some words have a different gender than in standard French (une job rather than un job). This is partially systematic. For example, just as the difference in pronunciation between chien /ʃjɛ̃/ (masc.) and chienne /ʃjɛn/ (fem.) is the presence or absence of a final consonant, likewise ambiguous words ending in a consonant (such as job (/dʒɔb/)) are often assigned to the feminine. Also, vowel-initial words that in standard grammar are masculine, are sometimes patterned as feminine; since preceding masculine adjectives are homophonous to feminine adjectives (un bel avion; bel /bɛl/ = belle fem.), the word is patterned as feminine (une belle avion). Another explanation would be that many other words ending in -ion are feminine (nation, élection, mission, etc), and that the grammatical gender of avion is made to conform to this pattern, although the number of "-ion" words that are masculine ("lion, pion, camion, lampion" etc.) weakens this explanation.
are used in Quebec, depending on region, age and education among other things. The uvular trill
[ʀ] has lately been emerging as a provincial standard, whereas the alveolar trill
[r] was used before in and around Montreal
. The voiced fricative [ʁ] can also be heard among younger people. As a matter of comparison, the voiced velar fricative
or voiceless uvular fricative [χ] is more generally used in France. There is a tendency to vocalize final [ʀ] into [w] or drop it altogether.
The velar nasal
[ŋ] is often found as an allophone
of the palatal nasal
[ɲ].
Dental stops
are very often affricated
before high
front
vowel
s and semivowels
: in other words, /ty/, ti/, /dy/, /di/ are then pronounced [t͡sy], [t͡si], [d͡zy], [d͡zi]. Depending on the speaker, the fricative may be more or less strong or sometimes even assimilate
the stop in informal speech. For example, constitution could have any of the following pronunciations: [kõstɪtʏsjõ] → [kõst͡sɪt͡sʏsjõ] → [kõssɪsʏsjõ].
In very informal speech, some final mute t
s will sometimes be pronounced:
There is also the special case of "debout" and [ɪsɪt], ici (sometimes actually written icitte). On the other hand, the t in but and août are not pronounced in Quebec, but they are in France (albeit decreasingly for but). These often reflect centuries-old variation or constitute archaisms.
Many of the features of Quebec French are mistakenly attributed to English influence; however, the historical evidence shows that most of them either descend from earlier forms from specific dialects, forms that have since changed in France, or internal developments (i.e., changes that have occurred in Canada alone but not necessarily in all parts).
s with more "strength" than consonant
s, a pattern reversing that of European French.
Consonant clusters finishing a word are reduced, often losing altogether the last or two last consonants, in both formal and informal Quebec French. It seems that the liquids /ʀ/ and /l/ are especially likely to get dropped, as in table, [tabl] → [tab], or astre, [astʀ] →[ast] → [as].
The phone /l/ in article
determiners and even more in personal pronoun
s in most dialects doesn't exist in the mental representation of these words. As a matter of fact, pronouncing il and elle as [ɪl] and [ɛl] is seen as very formal and by some pedantic. Elle is further modified into [aː] in informal speech, a sound change similar to that of [ɛ] into [a] before /r/.
In colloquial speech, the combination of the preposition sur + definite article
is often abbreviated: sur + le = su'l; sur + la = su'a or sà; sur + les = sès. Sometimes dans + un and dans + les is abbreviated to just dun and dins. In the informal French of France
, sur + le also becomes su'l, such as "L'dimanche, i'est su'l pont dès 8 heures du mat'" ('On Sundays, he's hard at work from 8am'). No other contractions are used.
Some initial consonants are also reduced: [ɰœl] gueule (France, [ɡœl]), especially in the construction ta gueule [tæɰœl], "shut up".
Much more generalized (but only in Quebec and Ontario) is the nasalization of vowels placed after (or occasionally before) a nasal consonant
: [mɛːm] → [mɛ̃ːm], [nɛːʒ] → [nɛ̃ːʒ].
Similarly, consonants in clusters
are often assimilated, usually with the consonant closer to the stress (that is, to the end of the word) transmitting its phonation
(or its nasalization
): [dmãd] → [nmãd]. Progressive assimilation, although rare, also exists in very "strong" consonants such as [ʃ], [ʃval] → [ʃfal].
The drop of the /ə/, which is as usual in Quebec as it is in France (although it does not happen in the same places), creates consonant clusters, hence making a ground for assimilation to happen. For instance, the 1st person singular pronoun "je" may be devoiced before a verb with a voiceless consonant initial. This is most notable in verbs normally beginning with an [s], as the well-known example "je suis" ("I am") that is often realized as "chu" ([ʃy]), or "je sais" ("I know"), realized as "ché" ([ʃe]). Since the drop of /ə/ is not exclusive to Quebec, this phenomenon is also seen in other dialects.
One extreme instance of assimilation in Quebec French is vocalic fusion, associated with informal speech, rapid elocution, and consonant drops. Vocalic fusion can be total – as in prepositional determiners sur la, /sʏʀla/ → [sʏa] → [saː] or dans la, /dãla/ → [dãa] → [dãː] – or it can be partial, as in il lui a dit, /ɪlɥiɑd͡zi/ → [iɥiɑd͡zi] → [ijɑd͡zi]. Partial fusion can happen also in slow elocution.
where an otherwise mute final consonant is moved to the beginning of a following word beginning with a vowel.
The rules for linking are complex in both standard and Quebec French. The general belief among linguists is that Quebecers link less frequently than their European counterparts (this is a feature also common in regional varieties of French in France). Linking is mandatory only if the first word is monosyllabic or is petit (normally monosyllabic anyway) or méchant and is usually avoided in all other cases.
Quebec French
Quebec French , or Québécois French, is the predominant variety of the French language in Canada, in its formal and informal registers. Quebec French is used in everyday communication, as well as in education, the media, and government....
has more phoneme
Phoneme
In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
s than Metropolitan French as it retains phonemic distinctions between /a/ and /ɑ/, /ɛ/ and /ɛː/, and /ɛ̃/ and /œ̃/ whereas the latter of each pair
Minimal pair
In phonology, minimal pairs are pairs of words or phrases in a particular language, which differ in only one phonological element, such as a phone, phoneme, toneme or chroneme and have distinct meanings...
has disappeared in Paris and several other parts of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Vowels
Quebec French replaces tense vowelsClose vowel
A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.This term is prescribed by the...
with their lax
Near-close vowel
A near-close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a near-close vowel is that the tongue is positioned similarly to a close vowel, but slightly less constricted. Near-close vowels are sometimes described as lax variants of the fully close vowels...
equivalents when the vowels are both short (e.g. not before [ʁ], [ʒ], [z] and [v]) and in a closed syllable. This means that the masculine and feminine adjectives petit and petite ([pəti] and [pətit] in France) are [pət͡si] and [pət͡sɪt] in Quebec. The same goes with [y] → [ʏ] and [u] → [ʊ]. In some areas, notably Beauce, Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean and (to a lesser extent) Quebec City and the surrounding region, even long tense vowels may be laxed.
This laxing of the high vowels /i/, /u/ and /y/, in the specified context is compulsory in stressed syllables, e.g. lutte [lʏt], but it is optional in unstressed syllables, e.g., vulgaire can be [vʏlɡɛːʁ] or [vylɡɛːʁ]. The lax allophone of a high vowel may also appear in open syllables by assimilation to a lax vowel in a following syllable, e.g., musique can be either [myzɪk] or [mʏzɪk]. The lax vowel may even be retained in derived words where the original stressed lax vowel has disappeared, e.g. musical can be [myzikal] or [mʏzikal]. Also, the lax allophone may arise optionally in open syllables through dissimilation as in toupie [tupi] or [tʊpi], especially in reduplicative forms such as pipi [pipi] or [pɪpi]. These phenomena are conditioned lexically and regionally. For example, for the word difficile, the expected pronunciation [d͡zifisɪl] is found throughout Quebec, but the alternative pronunciation [d͡zifɪsɪl] is characteristic of the Beauce region, while [d͡zɪfisɪl] is characteristic of Montreal French.
The nasal vowel
Nasal vowel
A nasal vowel is a vowel that is produced with a lowering of the velum so that air escapes both through nose as well as the mouth. By contrast, oral vowels are ordinary vowels without this nasalisation...
s are slightly different. [ɛ̃] and [ɔ̃] are pronounced [ẽ] (or even [ĩ]) and [õ], whereas [ɑ̃] is fronted into [ã]. Also, nasal vowels under stress in a final closed syllable are long and may be diphthong
Diphthong
A diphthong , also known as a gliding vowel, refers to two adjacent vowel sounds occurring within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: That is, the tongue moves during the pronunciation of the vowel...
ized in colloquial speech
Colloquialism
A colloquialism is a word or phrase that is common in everyday, unconstrained conversation rather than in formal speech, academic writing, or paralinguistics. Dictionaries often display colloquial words and phrases with the abbreviation colloq. as an identifier...
.
One distinct pronunciation in Quebec French is the sound represented by the letter A. The normal realization in final open syllable is [ɔ], which is nowadays strongly marked as colloquial, with [ɑ] being seen as more socially elevated. Parisian [a] is often perceived as very formal. Word-internally, [aː] and [ɑː] often change into [ɑː] and [oː] respectively although this too is increasingly considered to be colloquial. These variations are also found in several European pronunciations.
Metropolitan French's [wa] (represented by
Another informal archaic trait from 17th century Parisian popular French is the tendency to open [ɛ] into [æ] in a final open syllable. On the other hand, in grammatical word endings, as well as in the indicative forms of verb être, the [ɛ] is tensed into [e]. This is also common in France, but the failure to tense the [ɛ] in Quebec is usually perceived as quite formal.
Diphthongization
Long and nasalizedNasal vowel
A nasal vowel is a vowel that is produced with a lowering of the velum so that air escapes both through nose as well as the mouth. By contrast, oral vowels are ordinary vowels without this nasalisation...
vowels are normally diphthong
Diphthong
A diphthong , also known as a gliding vowel, refers to two adjacent vowel sounds occurring within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: That is, the tongue moves during the pronunciation of the vowel...
ized when stressed. For instance père (father), /pɛʀ/, is [pɛːʀ] in France but [paɪʀ] in Quebec. Other cases include:
→ [aɪ] → [œʏ] → [ɔʊ] → [ɑʊ] → [aœ] → [ãũ] → [ẽĩ] → [õũ] → [œ̃ỹ]
Diphthongization is considered as marking less educated speech and avoided in more formal contexts. Diphthongization of [oː] and [øː] is unaffected by this stigma, however, and usually goes unnoticed by most speakers.
Phonological feminine
MetonymiesMetonymy
Metonymy is a figure of speech used in rhetoric in which a thing or concept is not called by its own name, but by the name of something intimately associated with that thing or concept...
provide interesting evidence of a phonological feminine. For instance, although most adults would probably say that autobus is masculine if they were given reflection time, specific bus routes defined by their number are always feminine. Bus No. 10 is known as l'autobus 10, or more often la 10. Using le 10 in this context, although normal in France, would be strikingly odd in Quebec (especially Montreal), except in some regions, particularly the Outaouais, where it is the standard. (An alternative explanation for this, however, is that bus routes in Montreal are called "lines", and therefore "la 10" is short for "la ligne 10", and not "l'autobus 10", since it is the route being referred to, and not an individual bus.)
There are many differences in informal grammar: for instance, some words have a different gender than in standard French (une job rather than un job). This is partially systematic. For example, just as the difference in pronunciation between chien /ʃjɛ̃/ (masc.) and chienne /ʃjɛn/ (fem.) is the presence or absence of a final consonant, likewise ambiguous words ending in a consonant (such as job (/dʒɔb/)) are often assigned to the feminine. Also, vowel-initial words that in standard grammar are masculine, are sometimes patterned as feminine; since preceding masculine adjectives are homophonous to feminine adjectives (un bel avion; bel /bɛl/ = belle fem.), the word is patterned as feminine (une belle avion). Another explanation would be that many other words ending in -ion are feminine (nation, élection, mission, etc), and that the grammatical gender of avion is made to conform to this pattern, although the number of "-ion" words that are masculine ("lion, pion, camion, lampion" etc.) weakens this explanation.
Consonants
Around twelve different rhoticsRhotic consonant
In phonetics, rhotic consonants, also called tremulants or "R-like" sounds, are liquid consonants that are traditionally represented orthographically by symbols derived from the Greek letter rho, including "R, r" from the Roman alphabet and "Р, p" from the Cyrillic alphabet...
are used in Quebec, depending on region, age and education among other things. The uvular trill
Uvular trill
The uvular trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , a small capital R...
[ʀ] has lately been emerging as a provincial standard, whereas the alveolar trill
Alveolar trill
The alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar trills is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r. It is commonly called the rolled R, rolling R, or trilled R...
[r] was used before in and around Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. The voiced fricative [ʁ] can also be heard among younger people. As a matter of comparison, the voiced velar fricative
Voiced velar fricative
The voiced velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in various spoken languages. It is not found in English today, but did exist in Old English...
or voiceless uvular fricative [χ] is more generally used in France. There is a tendency to vocalize final [ʀ] into [w] or drop it altogether.
The velar nasal
Velar nasal
The velar nasal is the sound of ng in English sing. It is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is N....
[ŋ] is often found as an allophone
Allophone
In phonology, an allophone is one of a set of multiple possible spoken sounds used to pronounce a single phoneme. For example, and are allophones for the phoneme in the English language...
of the palatal nasal
Palatal nasal
The palatal nasal is a type of consonant, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , a lowercase letter n with a leftward-pointing tail protruding from the bottom of the left stem of the letter. The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is J...
[ɲ].
Dental stops
Stop consonant
In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or an oral stop, is a stop consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases. The occlusion may be done with the tongue , lips , and &...
are very often affricated
Affricate consonant
Affricates are consonants that begin as stops but release as a fricative rather than directly into the following vowel.- Samples :...
before high
Close vowel
A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.This term is prescribed by the...
front
Front vowel
A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also...
vowel
Vowel
In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
s and semivowels
Approximant consonant
Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough or with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do produce a turbulent airstream, and vowels, which produce no...
: in other words, /ty/, ti/, /dy/, /di/ are then pronounced [t͡sy], [t͡si], [d͡zy], [d͡zi]. Depending on the speaker, the fricative may be more or less strong or sometimes even assimilate
Assimilation (linguistics)
Assimilation is a common phonological process by which the sound of the ending of one word blends into the sound of the beginning of the following word. This occurs when the parts of the mouth and vocal cords start to form the beginning sounds of the next word before the last sound has been...
the stop in informal speech. For example, constitution could have any of the following pronunciations: [kõstɪtʏsjõ] → [kõst͡sɪt͡sʏsjõ] → [kõssɪsʏsjõ].
In very informal speech, some final mute t
T
T is the 20th letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet. It is the most commonly used consonant and the second most common letter in the English language.- History :Taw was the last letter of the Western Semitic and Hebrew alphabets...
s will sometimes be pronounced:
- [li] → [lɪt].
There is also the special case of "debout" and [ɪsɪt], ici (sometimes actually written icitte). On the other hand, the t in but and août are not pronounced in Quebec, but they are in France (albeit decreasingly for but). These often reflect centuries-old variation or constitute archaisms.
Many of the features of Quebec French are mistakenly attributed to English influence; however, the historical evidence shows that most of them either descend from earlier forms from specific dialects, forms that have since changed in France, or internal developments (i.e., changes that have occurred in Canada alone but not necessarily in all parts).
Consonant reduction
It has been postulated that the frequency of consonant reduction in Quebec French is due to a tendency to pronounce vowelVowel
In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
s with more "strength" than consonant
Consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are , pronounced with the lips; , pronounced with the front of the tongue; , pronounced with the back of the tongue; , pronounced in the throat; and ,...
s, a pattern reversing that of European French.
Consonant clusters finishing a word are reduced, often losing altogether the last or two last consonants, in both formal and informal Quebec French. It seems that the liquids /ʀ/ and /l/ are especially likely to get dropped, as in table, [tabl] → [tab], or astre, [astʀ] →[ast] → [as].
The phone /l/ in article
Article (grammar)
An article is a word that combines with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun. Articles specify the grammatical definiteness of the noun, in some languages extending to volume or numerical scope. The articles in the English language are the and a/an, and some...
determiners and even more in personal pronoun
Pronoun
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun , such as, in English, the words it and he...
s in most dialects doesn't exist in the mental representation of these words. As a matter of fact, pronouncing il and elle as [ɪl] and [ɛl] is seen as very formal and by some pedantic. Elle is further modified into [aː] in informal speech, a sound change similar to that of [ɛ] into [a] before /r/.
In colloquial speech, the combination of the preposition sur + definite article
Definite Article
Definite Article is the title of British comedian Eddie Izzard's 1996 performance released on VHS. It was recorded on different nights at the Shaftesbury Theatre...
is often abbreviated: sur + le = su'l; sur + la = su'a or sà; sur + les = sès. Sometimes dans + un and dans + les is abbreviated to just dun and dins. In the informal French of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, sur + le also becomes su'l, such as "L'dimanche, i'est su'l pont dès 8 heures du mat'" ('On Sundays, he's hard at work from 8am'). No other contractions are used.
Some initial consonants are also reduced: [ɰœl] gueule (France, [ɡœl]), especially in the construction ta gueule [tæɰœl], "shut up".
Vowel harmonization and consonant assimilation
The high front vowels in Quebec French show a net tendency to be unvoiced, as in municipalité, [mʏnɪsɪpalɪte] → [mʏ̥nɪ̥sɪ̥palɪ̥te] (sometimes even noted [mnspalte]). Interestingly, the unvoiced vowels are not immediately audible to native French speakers of other dialects, causing incomprehension.Much more generalized (but only in Quebec and Ontario) is the nasalization of vowels placed after (or occasionally before) a nasal consonant
Nasal consonant
A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :...
: [mɛːm] → [mɛ̃ːm], [nɛːʒ] → [nɛ̃ːʒ].
Similarly, consonants in clusters
Consonant cluster
In linguistics, a consonant cluster is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. In English, for example, the groups and are consonant clusters in the word splits....
are often assimilated, usually with the consonant closer to the stress (that is, to the end of the word) transmitting its phonation
Phonation
Phonation has slightly different meanings depending on the subfield of phonetics. Among some phoneticians, phonation is the process by which the vocal folds produce certain sounds through quasi-periodic vibration. This is the definition used among those who study laryngeal anatomy and physiology...
(or its nasalization
Nasalization
In phonetics, nasalization is the production of a sound while the velum is lowered, so that some air escapes through the nose during the production of the sound by the mouth...
): [dmãd] → [nmãd]. Progressive assimilation, although rare, also exists in very "strong" consonants such as [ʃ], [ʃval] → [ʃfal].
The drop of the /ə/, which is as usual in Quebec as it is in France (although it does not happen in the same places), creates consonant clusters, hence making a ground for assimilation to happen. For instance, the 1st person singular pronoun "je" may be devoiced before a verb with a voiceless consonant initial. This is most notable in verbs normally beginning with an [s], as the well-known example "je suis" ("I am") that is often realized as "chu" ([ʃy]), or "je sais" ("I know"), realized as "ché" ([ʃe]). Since the drop of /ə/ is not exclusive to Quebec, this phenomenon is also seen in other dialects.
One extreme instance of assimilation in Quebec French is vocalic fusion, associated with informal speech, rapid elocution, and consonant drops. Vocalic fusion can be total – as in prepositional determiners sur la, /sʏʀla/ → [sʏa] → [saː] or dans la, /dãla/ → [dãa] → [dãː] – or it can be partial, as in il lui a dit, /ɪlɥiɑd͡zi/ → [iɥiɑd͡zi] → [ijɑd͡zi]. Partial fusion can happen also in slow elocution.
Linking (liaison)
Linking (liaison) is a phenomenon found in spoken FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
where an otherwise mute final consonant is moved to the beginning of a following word beginning with a vowel.
The rules for linking are complex in both standard and Quebec French. The general belief among linguists is that Quebecers link less frequently than their European counterparts (this is a feature also common in regional varieties of French in France). Linking is mandatory only if the first word is monosyllabic or is petit (normally monosyllabic anyway) or méchant and is usually avoided in all other cases.