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The stress in french words | ||
Tags: Pronunciation | French | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| altito425 Triglot Groupie United States Joined 5963 days ago 65 posts - 70 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 1 of 7 05 July 2009 at 9:07pm | IP Logged |
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Since I've started studying French a few months ago I've been trying to determine the proper way to stress the words. I've read in various places that the stress usually goes on the last syllable ( ex. bonJOUR ) and it seems like I hear that a lot in authentic French conversations but at the same time, different websites that I've been using to learn vocabulary seem to teach the stress a different way, or the person speaking in the sound files tends to (at least I here it this way) stress the FIRST syllable ( BONjour ). Am I just hearing it wrong? Or does it change when it's spoken in a sentence? Or is the way that French words are stressed different from the way that Spanish words are stressed? I guess the reason I'm having such a difficult time with this is because Spanish has such a wonderful and efficient method for determining the stress in the written language and now that I'm learning a language that's a bit less regular it's hard to accept that it wouldn't follow a pattern.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| staf250 Pentaglot Senior Member Belgium emmerick.be Joined 5700 days ago 352 posts - 414 votes Speaks: French, Dutch*, Italian, English, German Studies: Arabic (Written) | Message 2 of 7 06 July 2009 at 8:53pm | IP Logged |
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I write in French and translate what was being learned to me about stressing French words. I remember indeed
how straightforward this point is in Spanish. FR "L'accent tonique tombe toujours sur la dernière syllabe sonore." "The stress comes always on the last sonorous syllable (of the word)." You have thus to know when a syllable isn't sonorous. Ex. FR: bonJOUR, il CHANte (he sings), manGER (to eat). PS "Bonjour" is a greeting and is not a good example. Edited by staf250 on 07 July 2009 at 11:16am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Calvino Diglot Groupie Sweden sammafllod.wordpress Joined 5969 days ago 65 posts - 66 votes 2 sounds Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: French, Spanish, German | Message 3 of 7 07 July 2009 at 5:22am | IP Logged |
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The reason why it may sometimes sound like the first syllable is being stressed, is, if I'm not entirely mistaken, that the French accent is falling. Thus, for an English-speaking fellow like yourself, used to a rising accent, it may sound like the Frenchman stresses the first syllable, since it is the higher of the two, while for him, the stress comes clearly on the second and last syllable.
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| goosefrabbas Triglot Pro Member United States Joined 6371 days ago 393 posts - 475 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish Studies: German, Italian Personal Language Map | Message 4 of 7 07 July 2009 at 5:53am | IP Logged |
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I agree with Calvino. I frequently hear "bonjour" with a rising then falling pitch. Keep in mind that pitch isn't the same as stress.
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| altito425 Triglot Groupie United States Joined 5963 days ago 65 posts - 70 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 5 of 7 07 July 2009 at 8:30am | IP Logged |
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Aha! I think that was my problem. Thanks, that helps a lot. Edited by altito425 on 07 July 2009 at 8:30am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| jimbo baby! Senior Member United States Joined 5980 days ago 202 posts - 208 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English* | Message 6 of 7 09 July 2009 at 6:32am | IP Logged |
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The way I interpret it is, BONjour is used when someone is in a good mood and they want to convey that feeling by stressing the BON in bonjour. But the most common way it's said is with the stress on the final syllable. So bonJOUR is more of a neutral way of saying it.
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| staf250 Pentaglot Senior Member Belgium emmerick.be Joined 5700 days ago 352 posts - 414 votes Speaks: French, Dutch*, Italian, English, German Studies: Arabic (Written) | Message 7 of 7 09 July 2009 at 2:11pm | IP Logged |
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I agree
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