How to distinguish è é e ê

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Kraut
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Re: How to distinguish è é e ê

Postby Kraut » Fri May 13, 2022 11:04 pm

Me,mes,mais
Te,tes,tais
Le,les,laid
De,des,des (with accent grave)

Three different phonemes, three different meanings.
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Re: How to distinguish è é e ê

Postby jeffers » Sat May 14, 2022 7:54 am

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

Postby tractor » Sat May 14, 2022 9:40 am

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

Postby Dragon27 » Sat May 14, 2022 9:42 am

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

Postby jeffers » Sat May 14, 2022 10:11 am

Youtube has done me dirty. :lol: 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.
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Re: How to distinguish è é e ê

Postby guyome » Sat May 21, 2022 12:02 pm

This thread reminded me of this video:

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Re: How to distinguish è é e ê

Postby Le Baron » Sat May 21, 2022 5:23 pm

^ 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".
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Re: How to distinguish è é e ê

Postby tractor » Sat May 21, 2022 5:55 pm

Still, it makes more sense than English spelling.
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Re: How to distinguish è é e ê

Postby Le Baron » Sat May 21, 2022 7:17 pm

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

Postby tractor » Sat May 21, 2022 7:47 pm

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.

though, thought, taught, tough, cuff, cough, find, wind, wind, life, live, have, save, bus, busy, tow, now, sow, sew, blew, blue, hi, high, lead, lead, led, read, read, red
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