Me,mes,mais
Te,tes,tais
Le,les,laid
De,des,des (with accent grave)
Three different phonemes, three different meanings.
How to distinguish è é e ê
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Re: How to distinguish è é e ê
Kraut wrote:Me,mes,mais
Te,tes,tais
Le,les,laid
De,des,des (with accent grave)
Three different phonemes, three different meanings.
Aren't mes and mais homophones? Along with tes/tais, les/laid, des/dés?
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Re: How to distinguish è é e ê
jeffers wrote:Kraut wrote:Me,mes,mais
Te,tes,tais
Le,les,laid
De,des,des (with accent grave)
Three different phonemes, three different meanings.
Aren't mes and mais homophones? Along with tes/tais, les/laid, des/dés?
Mes has a closed e-sound: /me/
Mais has an open e-sound: /mɛ/
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Re: How to distinguish è é e ê
jeffers wrote:Aren't mes and mais homophones? Along with tes/tais, les/laid, des/dés?
Not according to dictionary. There's a tendency among many French speakers in France (don't know about others) to conflate these two sounds at the end of words and pronounce them in the same way.
Also, it's "dès".
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Re: How to distinguish è é e ê
Youtube has done me dirty. So many videos about homophones use these two as examples! I haven't managed to find a video comparing the different pronunciation, but the videos showing just how to pronounce one or the other certainly sound different.
Here's an interesting discussion on the Wordreference forums: https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/mais-%C9%9B-mes-e.2329766/.
The OP has a dictionary which marks mes and mais as having the same pronunciation, but they are asking because they thought they were differtn. One French respondent says they personally pronounce them differently, another French respondent says he knows the difference but pronounces them the same whenever speaking, and he initially thought that was what everyone in France did.
Here's an interesting discussion on the Wordreference forums: https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/mais-%C9%9B-mes-e.2329766/.
The OP has a dictionary which marks mes and mais as having the same pronunciation, but they are asking because they thought they were differtn. One French respondent says they personally pronounce them differently, another French respondent says he knows the difference but pronounces them the same whenever speaking, and he initially thought that was what everyone in France did.
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Re: How to distinguish è é e ê
^ It's true. Another happy French minefield, words ending with sounds representing 'o'. -au, -eau, -os, -ot, -aud, -aut and -o itself.
Why is the 'l' not sounded on the end of cul, but the 't' is sounded on the end of but? Famous last words in French: "there are exceptions".
Why is the 'l' not sounded on the end of cul, but the 't' is sounded on the end of but? Famous last words in French: "there are exceptions".
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Re: How to distinguish è é e ê
tractor wrote:Still, it makes more sense than English spelling.
Does it though? English spelling is wayward and unreformed, but at least you can hear the endings and it has no diacritics.
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Re: How to distinguish è é e ê
Le Baron wrote:tractor wrote:Still, it makes more sense than English spelling.
Does it though? English spelling is wayward and unreformed, but at least you can hear the endings and it has no diacritics.
Yes, it does.
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