A FRENCH ACCENT

INTRODUCTION
There are many dialects of French spoken throughout the French-speaking world. The
regional dialects of France are as varied as the dialects of Britain, and just as Britain
exported English throughout the world, so, too, France exported her language all across
the globe. The French spoken in Montreal, Haiti, Louisiana, or Madagascar, is as
different from the French of Paris as the English of Australia, Mississippi, Capetown, or
Delhi is from Received Pronunciation.
And, as you might imagine, when French speakers from those various places throughout
the world come to speak English, their French-accented English is influenced by their
French dialect. Listen on IDEA to Krista Scott's recordings of subjects from Quebec
City, Montreal and Guinea; or Megan Schemmel's recording of a Haiti subject and you
will hear the differences. (Interestingly, Schemmel's Haiti subject speaks the Lord's
Prayer in both French and Creole to demonstrate the even bigger differences between
various dialects of French than among the various accents of French.)
So yes, it is important for your French accent to know where your character is from, and
to listen to a wide variety of speakers from that region.
The accent I offer here is based on the accents heard among natives of France, of which
IDEA has many examples.

CD TRACK 1
SIGNATURE SOUNDS
1.

The French language, like all Romance languages, lacks the short Iii [I] of the
English lexical set kit. As it is acoustically close to the French vowel [i], there is
a strong tendency for that vowel to be used instead. This sound also tends to be
longer in duration. This is a subtle mispronunciation and, therefore, one that
lingers in the English of some French speakers long after they have corrected
grosser mispronunciations.
EXAMPLES: little, busy, ticket, biscuit, shipping, business, rehearsal,
minister, mythical, England, women, sieve
As with any phonetic feature of a foreign language accent, this one is subject to
what I have called reverse mistakes, i.e. making a 'correction' where none is
needed. Hence: sheepdog, feeling, weekend, Tim's team, steam ship, etc.

[SIpdng, fIliQ, wIknd,

tirnz tIm, stIrn Sip]

261

A French Accent
2.

Some dialects of English use a diphthong [I] in the face set, although others use
the long monophthong [e :], which is the French speaker's strong tendency.
EXAMPLES:
reign

rain, great, place, failure, famous, maintain, crepe, weight,

Sometimes, particularly if the word has come from French in the first place, there
is a natural tendency to use the French pronunciation, at least until the English
pronunciation has been learned. Hence: famous, maintenance, etc.

[famus, ma:tana:s]

3.

The RP and GenAm140 [re] vowel of the trap set is not one that is natural to the
French speaker whose tendency when reading the short lal is to use the more open
vowel, [a]. In attempting to imitate the English sound, the French speaker may
overshoot and use []. American English is evolving towards this vowel anyway,
often being rendered as the diphthong [a] e.g. man [me an]. So French speakers
learning English from American models have strong tendencies in that direction.
EXAMPLES:
plaid

4.

The short English vowel [u] of the foot set, which in RP has a little lip-rounding,
is often rendered rather longer, and more lip-round by the French speaker,
resulting in a vowel in the vicinity of [u].

I EXAMPLES:
5.

tap, mass, cab, badge, ham, hang, hand, lapse, Paris, marriage,

put, bush, full, butcher, cook, woman, bosom, could, shouldn't

The long 101of goat - [a u] in RP - also tends to receive more lip-rounding from
the French speaker, making it closer to the GenAm treatment of this vowel, and
result in a vowel near [0].
EXAMPLES: soap, road, rose, hole, home, don't, brooch, gauche, beau, blow,
soul, colt, roll, sew, though

6.

The English language is rare in having the dental fricatives [8, 0] in its
inventory of sounds. French does not use them, pronouncing Ithl words like

140 RP (Received Pronunciation) is Standard Southern British English. GenAm (General American) is a
more loosely defined, non-regional style of US speech.

262

A French Accent
theatre with a [t]. However, in imitating the English style, the closest, easiest
sounds are [8, z], perhaps dentalized [,?;]. Other varieties are a simultaneous
dental and alveolar hybrid [t8, eM],and a hyper-correct version, with the
tongue tip visible between the teeth. I will demonstrate these various possibilities.
EXAMPLES: through, thought, bath, theatre, health, thing, anthropology,
anthem, AND THE VOICED TYPE though, them, these, either, mother,
gather, bathe, soothe

7.

Written Ihl is silent in French,

for the French speaker. There
English. Again, the conscious
exaggerated correctness. You

and so phonetic [h] is a new and awkward sound

is a strong tendency to elide the /hI when speaking
decision to attempt it can sometimes result in an
may also have heard French speakers put a [h]
i8R], instead of [hi

IZ

h i s-].

Remember not to intrude a glottal ['2] in place of the elided Ih! ['2i

'2iz

'2i8H]

where none belongs, as in he is here [i hiz

EXAMPLES:
key-hole

8.

in hell, behind, hit his head, rehearsal, inhabited, inhuman,

The post-vocalic III of/eel and stale, which is a velarized or dark III in RP and
GenAm: [1], is rendered as a light 11/ [l]in French; e.g. mal, oncle, Balzac
[mal,
ok L, balzak].
So, this habit is brought into the speaking of English.
I have found it to be a mispronunciation that survives long after other English
sounds have been mastered.

I
9.

EXAMPLES:

ill, well, temple, small, malcontent, self, almost, baffle, careful

One of the strongest markers for this accent is the treatment of Irl. In French,
whether Irl precedes or follows the vowel, it is sounded, and the place of
articulation is the uvula. French uses the trilled uvular /rl [R], although, in
connected speech, it does not always achieve that degree of definition. It is often
just a cursory, little fricative scrape [H] often devoiced [X], or even simply a
gesture in that direction without any contact at all, resulting in an approximant
[Ii]. Actors adopting a French accent will do better if they understate the Ir/ in
this way. Interestingly, with the RP and GenAm approximant [J] being so
different from [R], both English and French speakers are apt to 'have a go' at
doing each other's Ir/, and often overdo it. An 'overdone' English Irl might sound

263

A French Accent
like this: strange, parents, arrange, etc. So, a good tip is to either understate the
[R] or overstate the [.1].
EXAMPLES: run, bring, bird brain, car park, forty, strict, approach, crowd,
growl, fear, score, careful

10.

The voiceless plosives [p,

h-sound [ph,

k] are pronounced in English with aspiration, an

t,

t h, k h]. These are pronounced without aspiration in French in

initial and medial positions. Additionally [t], like [d] and [n], is rendered with
the tongue tip nearer the teeth than in English. This is also a subtle difference,
and, therefore, a hard mispronunciation to overcome.
EXAMPLES: place, possible, proud, empower, time, tour, entire, California,
kill, account, increase, BUT IN FINAL POSITIONS steep, Philip, light, rate,
like, arc

CD TRACK 2
ADDITIONAL
a.

b.

c.

A vowel followed by a nasal consonant often results in a nasalized vowel in

French. There is a tendency to render such combinations in English the same
way. Thus, we might hear: fancy, judgment, infant, etc.
[f'a r s i . 3Y3ma, <Efa].
Words with the suffixes
-sion, and -tion, are rendered III French as
[sj5,
zj5,
tj5];
hence in English we might hear, question, fashion,
permission, [k as t j o , fasj5,
pe snu s j o ] and the like.
The letter lul is so often realized in French as [y] that in guessing at an unfamiliar
English word containing that letter, the French speaker might mistakenly use this
sound. Hence: judge, justice, usual, humour, etc.
[3Y3,

d.

e.

FEATURES

3ystis,

Y3yal,

ymrnH].

The /chi spelling demands a [S] pronunciation in French, rather than [tl], which
it usually does in English. So, a French person might say: choose, chicken,
cheese, etc [Suz, SLk.en , Siz].
Errors of stress As English has no predictable stress pattern within polysyllabic
words, the actor should reflect the foreigner's confusion by making almost
arbitrary errors of stress. A help in this is to know that French people stress the
final syllable of many words in their own language, and so are likely to do the
same for English words. So we might hear: fantaSY, parTY, moment
[fanta
z i , pas ti,
mo merrt] and so on.
I

264

A French Accent
f.

Reverse mistakes I referred to these earlier and they are a lot of fun for the actor.
I call them reverse mistakes based on the observation that, as we start to correct
our mistakes in another language not our own, we inevitably make some
'corrections' where none are needed. The following are typical in French: steam
ship, suit, shoes, his eyes t
Sip, sut, Suz, iz
[s

rm

ha

rz].

CD TRACK 3
RHYTHM, STRESS, INTONATION, TONE
All dialects and accents have characteristic acoustic patterning and tonal qualities. Often
a successful imitation depends as much on capturing the intonation, rhythm and tone of a
dialect as on capturing the phonemic features.
However, one can describe these features only in terms relative to other dialects. Any
blanket description is difficult if not impossible. Depending on your dialect you will
have to make different accommodations to 'capture' these features.

English is particularly rich in weak forms - unstressed syllables and words resulting in a distinctive rhythm and an enormous number of neutral vowels; e.g.
return, possible, neighborly, can I help, for the time
[uat an , n e rbe I r , ken a r he l p , fe oe t arrn ]. GenAm is a little
less so. But French rhythm can be caricatured by giving equal value to all words
and syllables. So in single polysyllabic words we might hear: return, possible,
fantastic, elementary,
[n i t asn , posibl,
fantastik,
e l i.ment as i jetc. And, in connected
speech, when in English one uses the weak forms of many unstressed words, the
French speaker may not do this as much as English demands. This effect may be
partly attributable to our tendency, when speaking a language not our own, to
speak it onelwordlatlaltime.
Liaison. It is the style of French to use the final consonant of one word to initiate
a vowel-initial word that follows. Every word in the following sentence begins
with a vowel and the French speaker will tend to join each word to the one
following. All Americans eat every ounce of avocado available. This has the
effect, not only of eliminating any glottal stops, but also of lengthening all the
vowels, one of the reasons we take such pleasure in listening to French. By
contrast, an American speaker might glottally attack key words in the same
sentence, producing a more aggressive, staccato style

[?al

?ern~Ikenz it'

?8vJi

?auns ev ?ffivekado ?evelebl].

American actors, particularly, will need to adopt this legato, linked style of speech
to successfully imitate a French accent.
The 'growled' style of the male French speaker, although something of a
stereotype, has its basis in fact. Hence: This is the way I always speak. There is

265

,------------------------------------------A French Accent

nothing strange about it at all. In complete contrast, the French female speaker
often uses a very clear tone and fairly high pitches: And this is the way I always
speak. There is nothing strange about it at all. This mayor may not contrast
with your own tonality.
French uses more rising inflections than most English dialects, a good feature to
imitate.

CD TRACK 4
SIGNATURE SOUNDS IN SENTENCE CONTEXT
1.

His little sister Hilda is in the pink.

2.

James laid the table with champagne and snails.

3.

Carol's marriage in Paris was naturally a family matter.

4.

The butcher should take a good look at the woman's cookbook.

5.

Old Joe was alone at home on the phone.

6.

This is a thoughtful thesis this is.

7.

Hugh's home in Hawaii is happy but his heart is heavy.

8.

Jill almost felt a little chilled in the old school hall.

9.

The gardener started to hurriedly rearrange Mary's red roses.

10.

Please try to come to Christopher's party at ten past two o'clock.

CD TRACK 5
REAL-LIFE

DIALECT SPEAKERS ON IDEA

Now it's time to listen to recordings of authentic speakers of this dialect, which you can
access from the IDEA 141 website. This is an essential part of your dialect study. Listen
to all the examples of this dialect you can find, on IDEA, and elsewhere.

141TheIDEA recordings are in two parts: extemporaneous speech, and the reading of a text. Notice the
differences between these two activities. Most of the IDEA speakers read Comma Gets A Cure, a
diagnostic passage for accent study specially composed using the J.c. Wells lexical sets that you are now

266

A French Accent
Among the recordings of French speakers in the archive at the time of this edition, you
will hear all the signature sounds, though no individual uses all of them, or is consistent
in these mistakes. This is exactly what you expect of a foreign language accent speaker.
Of the seven examples I have chosen, only France8 reads Comma Gets A Cure. The
others read The Rainbow Passage'[", the passage we used at the time of their recordings.
France 2 , is a fairly mild accent. You will, nevertheless, hear the following features:
Signature Sound #1 in different, English [dif .rerrt , iIJgliS], and a 'reverse
mistake' in reach [J I

tl ].

SS#2 in shape [S e: p].

SS#7 in horizon [oi "n.r i znn].

SS#8 in old, school [old, skul].

SS#9 in year [j i8H] though the subject's command of the English Irl is good.

France 3 has good American English, and has even acquired the creaky voice, or vocal
fry of the American young women she associates with. It is interesting to note how few
signature sounds she uses, yet clearly speaks English with a French accent. This shows
how significant the less tangible qualities of tone, rhythm, intonation, and stress are in
conveying accent and dialect.
France 4, brought up in Belgium of French-speaking parents (French and Flemish are the
two major languages of Belgium) demonstrates the following features:
SS#1 in living [li v i n].
SS#4 in looking [1 uk i.rj].
SS#6 in these, south [diz, saut].

SS#7 in came here [ke: m i8H].

SS#8 inpeople [pipl].

France 5, whose mistakes in English grammar are also revealing, demonstrates the
following features:
SS#linlittletown,live[litl
taun,
liv].

SS#2 in rainbow [ue : nbo].

SS#3 in angry [aIJgJ i].

SS#4 in looks [luks].

SS#7 in horizon, in the hall [oRiz5,

SS#8 in school [skul].

SS#10 in town [taun], but has a good grasp of the aspiration needed for English

in di 01].

[p, t, k].

familiar with, 2000, Douglas N. Honorof, Jill McCullough, and Barbara Somerville. The text of the
passage is in Section I, and on the website.
142Thetext of the passage is on the website.

267

A French Accent
France 6, who grew up in Alsace on France's border with Germany, where they speak a
local Germanic dialect, exhibits some interesting sounds. Of all the eight speakers, he
and his wife, France 7, are the clearest in their use of the consonant signature sounds. In
his speech, notice:
SS#6innorth, with my wife, path [nos, wiz mar war f , pas].

SS#7 in horizon [0 aa rzan].

SS#9 in born, foreign, schoolyard, return, fourteen
[bORn, fORan, skuljaRd,
RiteRn,
fORtin].
I

France 7, whose first language is French, also grew up in Alsace. Her speech is
interesting in its staccato quality, often more associated with German. Like her husband,
her uvular Irl is very strong. It should be noted that this is the type of Irl used in both the
French and the German they speak. Notice the following:
SS#9 in strikes, rainbow, round, born
[stRaIks,
Re:nbo,
Raund, bORn].
France 8143 demonstrates the following:
SS#l in district, porridge [d i s t r i.k t , pO.lid3]'

SS#2 in gave [ge: v].

SS#4 in woman [wuman].

SS#7 in in a hurry, Mary Harrison, laid her
[in a 2:ri, mea.r i, 2a.lisan,
le:d
23'], and a good 'reverse mistake' in
different idea [dif .ren t ha rd La].

CD TRACK 6
COORDINATION EXERCISES
(the numbers under the text refer to the signature sounds needed)
1.

I find that true change is harder the older we become.

a

6 3

9c d

7 9

9 6

58

1 10 e

at rand zat tny Se:nd3 iZ_Q:B"d~B"~i oldos wi 'bikam

2.

Moliere is remembered as the greatest French dramatist of all time.

S

1 9 e

9 2 10

93

10 1

8 10

moljesiz IRimEmEB"d az ~~ gRe:tEst fREnS dsamatist ov ::>1

jaim

143

Contributed by Elizabeth van den Berg.

268

A French Accent
3.

The weather we I44having on our holiday is perfectly horrible.

6

6 9

73

97

~;} we'zex wiavin

4.

6 9

zoz

I 89

I 10 9

bi in sku:l

96e910103

e2

las'ninau

tu Ri:d ~;}ba:bl

6584

17

631718

lamp if i wil

1010 c e 9

16 10

8 5

9 6

98

ol ovex ~;}wsxld

The landing party hopes to confirm the little tropical island largely uninhabited.
6

IIOe9

~;}landin

75

10

paxlttops

10e

96

189101108

173110

tu 'knnfasm ~;}litl txnpikl ailand lalf3li xninabited

Throughout history, people have disgraced themselves with alarming regularity.

69

71e910

10873

'~xuaut):st;}'Ifi

pipl

le92

av

16

'disqse.st zernselvz

c391el0

wiz olasmln neqylasi'ti

Peter put his heart and soul into building the house of his dreams.
10109104

717

9 3

pit;}Xput iz axt an

10.

10 9

ask j~x fa'~ex tu pas mi ~i old buk biarnd zo

bol 'qe.mz as veni popy'les wiz pipl

9.

Ball games are very popular with people all over the world.
8

8.

9 e I

Please ask your father to pass me the old book behind the lamp ifhe will.
10

7.

7 e9 I 8

iz pesfsktli n'nibl

A~;}Ifsiks jildssn ju.d

pli:z

6.

Those other six children should be in schoolleaming how to read the Bible.
6

5.

nn auonulide:

sol

8110

18

intu bildin

71

~i aus

nv iz dRi:mz

Henry's chocolate pudding was the triumph of the dinner party.

7

enniz

[okolot

104

pudin

6
WDZ~;}

Ie

910e910

txaIAIDf nv ~;}di'ncx paX'ti

144 Errors in grammar and syntax are part and parcel of a foreign language accent. The playwright or
screenwriter will often write such errors into the role, but I believe an actor has a right, when playing such a
character, to make such errors that are consistent with the character's command of English, even if the
author has not written them in.

269

r
A French Accent
CD TRACK 7
MONOLOGUE ONE
From The Scarlet Pimpemei",
This is a scene between Chauvelin, a leader in the
Revolution; Marguerite, his former lover, now married to the English aristocrat, Percy;
Percy himself, disguised as Grappin; and Coupeau. The scene is a French prison, where
Marguerite has come to try to free her brother, Armand.
CHAUVELIN
An excellent performance, Marguerite.
3

10 9

an ekselont pesfosmons

trap what one catches

1093

(pulls her headpiece oft)

It's amazing when one sets a

I

masqeait

its amezin WEn WAn sets ;}

Ah. Grappin. Do you recognize Mademoiselle

(Percy enters as Grappin)

103

9310a

tsap wat WAIlkatjsz

910e

gRapre

du ju

ne'knqnaiz mamzsl

St. Just? She has taken off her British ...costume, and dressed herself more in her...true
a

73

sre 3yst

ji

102

7 9

91 101

az teken of If bsitij'

10

c e

7 9

109c

and dssst esself mOR in 15 try

kns'tym

colors. Marguerite, allow me to introduce the man who has been tracking your every step
10

kolnsz

1011095

masqenit

alau

mi tu intsodys

these many weeks. The Belgian, Grappin.

6

ziz

rneni wiks

~;}

9310

d5;} man
(Marguerite

73

1093101

u az bin

spits at his feet)

tsakin

jOR evsi step

Tsk-tskI46, Marguerite. Such

belgon gl5apre

masqenit

SAtS

bad manners and from an English lady ...Grappin, you go...question the boy. I have better
3

e 9 3

bad ma'nssz and fsnm an inli] ledi

9310

gl5apre

ju

go kM.stj;}n~;}bot

73

10 9

at av betex

145 Excerpt from the musical play, The Scarlet Pimpernel, with books and lyrics by Nan Knighton and
music by Frank Wildhorn, copyright Nan Knighton 1997. Used by permission.
146 This is the dental click. See http://www.paulmeier.com/ipa/nonpulmonics.html
for demonstration of this
and other rarer phonemes.

270

A French Accent
things to do tonight...Coupeau, lead Grappin down to the boy. I'm sure you know how to
6 1

10

10

10

~ilJz tu du tunart

10

kupo

use torture most effectively.

c

93 10 a

lid

10 6

c 9

glfapre daun tu zo bot

(to Marguerite)

arm SYIfju

no

10

au tu

You want your brother to live? I need to know

jyz tostjss most ifektivli

ju

want joa

9 6

910

10

bIfA~EIftu liv at nid tu no

who is the Pimpernel and where does he hide while he is in Paris? If you fail, your
7

101

10 9

8 3

iz ~;}pimpesnel and WEIf dxz i

8 7

ard

391

28

wall i iz in parris if ju fel jna

brother dies.
969

blfAPIf darz

CD TRACK 8
MONOLOGUE TWO
From Shakespeare's Henry VI, Pt. J, Joan (Joan of Arc) La Pucelle's address to the
Dauphin (the heir-apparent to the French throne) in which she challenges him to combat,
in proof of her God-given power to drive the English foe from France. It is not usual to
play this character with a French accent, but it will make a good exercise, nevertheless.
In view of the character's idiomatic command of English (rising to speaking it in verse, to
boot!), I will demonstrate how one can moderate the gross mispronunciations of the ten
signature sounds.
JOAN: Dauphin, I am by birth a shepherd's daughter,
3

dofse

96

ar am bar b3IfB ;}SEP3Jfdzdotas

My wit untrain'd in any kind of art.

1

10

mal wit Antxe:nd in eni kamd nv aJf1

Heaven and our Lady gracious hath it pleased

7

EV

92

736

1 10

and aU;}Jfle:di gRe:S;}S as it pli:zd

271

A French Accent
To shine on my contemptible estate:
10

10

tu Sam

10

10 I 8

10210

nn mal knntemptibl estet

Lo, whilst I waited on my tender lambs,

5

210 I

10

10 warlst ar we:tid nn mal tendox lamz

And to sun's parching heat display'd my cheeks,

3

10

10

el 10 2

and tu SAllZ paXtsilJ)t

'disple:d mal tjiks

God's mother deigned to appear to me

6 9

gndz

10

10

910

demsd tu apix tu mi

IllA~;:}K

And in a vision full of majesty

3

48

and in o vizj5 ful nv madyesti

Will'd me to leave my base vocation

18

10

wild

mi tu liv

147

5102

mal be:s vokeijicn

And free my country from calamity:

3

10

103 3

I 10

and fXi mal kAntxi fxnm kalamiti

Ask me what question thou canst possible,

6

103

10

ask mi wnt kwestjon zau kanst pnsibl

And I will answer unpremeditated:

3

183

11021

and a wil ansex Allpximedite:ted

147 By a happy coincidence, the scansion requires 'vocation' to be expanded to four syllables, just as it
would be rendered in French!

272

A French Accent
My courage try by combat, if thou darest,
10

10

1 6

mal kARid3 txai bar knmbat if zau desest

And thou shalt find that I exceed my sex.

3

38

63

and zau Salt rand zat

at

eksid mal seks

Resolve on this, thou shalt be fortunate,

9

niznlv

61

on zis

38

148

9 c

zau Salt bi fostjyne.t

If thou receive me for thy warlike mate.

1

9 1

if zau 'nisiv

9 6

10

210

mi blf zai woslaik me:t

NOTES

148 The option here is to use the strong form of the final syllable (something a French speaker is likely to do
in English) and hence, reinforce the rhymed couplet which concludes the speech.

273