FrenchLesson 2 of 3 in the course French phonology

French Orthography: History, Diacritics, Ligatures, and Conventions

5 flashcards · 4 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

French spelling reflects both the sounds of the language and its history. Because pronunciation has changed more than spelling, written French can contain silent letters and several spellings for the same sound. This lesson explains how those features arose and how spelling can still help readers pronounce unfamiliar words.

French orthography is not a simple letter-for-sound system. Much of its spelling is based on the pronunciation of Old French around 1100–1200, and many spellings remained even as pronunciation changed substantially. Later, some spellings were altered to reflect words’ Latin origins, adding letters that are no longer pronounced.

All flashcards

Acute accent (accent aigu)
Written over e as é, it commonly represents the sound /e/.
Diaeresis (tréma)
A mark that clarifies a vowel sequence, often signaling that adjacent vowels are pronounced separately.
French ligatures æ and œ
Joined letter forms collated like ae and oe, respectively.
1990 spelling recommendations
Recommended spelling alternatives while allowing traditional forms to remain valid.
French circumflex
A mark that can reflect historical changes or distinguish words such as sûr and sur.

Quiz questions

  1. When working with an unfamiliar French word, which task is generally more predictable?Answer: Reading its spelling aloud, using familiar spelling-to-sound patterns
  2. Many French spellings reflect the pronunciation of which historical stage?Answer: Old French around 1100–1200
  3. In many Greek-origin French words, what sounds do ph, th, and ch represent, respectively?Answer: /f/, /t/, and /k/
  4. How should traditional spellings generally be treated alongside forms recommended in 1990?Answer: Both forms may be accepted; recommendations did not automatically make older forms errors.

Based on the Wikipedia article French orthography, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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