Liaison (French): Difference between revisions

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In [[French language|French]], '''liaison''' ({{IPA-|fr|ljɛzɔ̃|-|Fr-Paris--liaison.ogg}}) is the pronunciation of a linking consonant between two words in an appropriate [[phonetic]] and [[syntax|syntactic]] context. For example, the word ''{{wikt-lang|fr|les''}} ('{{gloss|the'}}) is pronounced {{IPA|/le/}}, the word ''{{wikt-lang|fr|amis''}} ('{{gloss|friends'}}) is pronounced {{IPA|/ami/}}, but the combination ''{{lang|fr|les amis''}} is pronounced {{IPA|/le‿zamilez‿ami/}}, with a linking {{IPA|/z/}}.

Most frequently, liaison arises from a mute word-final consonant that used to be pronounced, but in some cases it is inserted from scratch, as in ''{{wikt-lang|fr|a-t-il''}} ('{{gloss|has he?'}}), which is the inverted form of ''{{lang|fr|il a''}} ('{{gloss|he has'}}). In certain [[syntax|syntactic]] environments, liaison is impossible; in others, it is mandatory; in others still, it is possible but not mandatory and its realization is subject to wide stylistic variation.

Silent final consonants may be pronounced, in some syntactic contexts, when the following word begins with a vowel or [[Aspirated h|non-aspirated ''h'']]. It is important to note that many words with silent final consonants have utterly lost them, e.g. neither the 'n' in ''million'' nor the 't' in ''art'' areis ever pronounced. A liaison should not be made just because a word ends in a silent consonant and the next one starts with a vowel.

|6= ''-f'' = {{IPA|/.v‿/}}: ''neuf ans'' ("nine years") = {{nowrap|{{IPA|/nœ.v‿ɑ̃/}}.}}

|9= ''-g'' = {{IPA|/.k‿/}} or {{IPA|/.g‿ɡ‿/}}: ''long article'' ("long article") = {{nowrap|{{IPA|/lɔ̃.k‿aʁ.tikl/}}.}}

Traditionally, a liaison with a word ending in ''-g'' was realized as {{nowrap|{{IPA|/k/}},}} as in ''sang et eau'' {{nowrap|{{IPA|/sɑ̃.k‿e.o/}}}} "blood and water", but this sounds dated in modern French.<ref name="monsu.desiderio.free.fr">{{cite web |title=La liaison |url=http://monsu.desiderio.free.fr/curiosites/liaison.html |language=fr |work=The cabinet of curiosities |access-date=17 June 2018}}</ref> The name of the city of [[Bourg-en-Bresse]] retains the traditional liaison: {{nowrap|{{IPA|/buʁ.k‿ɑ̃.bʁɛs/}}}}. It is mostly popular to use {{IPA|/.g‿ɡ‿/}} (''long article'' {{IPA|/lɔ̃.g‿aʁɡ‿aʁ.tikl/}}), or simply omit the liaison (''long article'' {{IPA|/lɔ̃. aʁ.tikl/}}).

|11= ''-ille'' = {{IPA|/i.j‿/}}: ''fille affable'' ("friendly girl") = {{nowrap|{{IPA|/fi.j‿afablj‿a.fa.bl/}}.}}

As indicated in the phonetic representations above, liaison consonants are typically realized with ''enchainement'' – that is, the originally word-final consonant is pronounced as the [[Syllable onset|onset]] of the following syllable. Enchainement is also observed for stable''pronounced'' (in contrast to the silent ones of this section) word-final consonants when followed by a vowel-initial word in connected speech, as in ''cher ami'' {{IPA|[ʃɛ.ʁa.mi]}} ("dear friend"). In both cases, ''enchainement'' can be seen as a strategy for avoiding syllables without onsets in French.

* ''cinq'' ("five"): It is always pronounced as {{IPA|/sɛ̃k/}}. However, an oral stop in French may assimilate to a nasal one when it appears after a nasal vowel and before another consonant, so "cinq minutes" is frequently pronounced {{IPA|/sɛ̃ŋ.mi.nyt/}}.

* ''six'' ("six"): It is pronounced {{IPA|/siz/}} before a vowel-initial noun, adjective or month name, i.e. ''six hommes'' {{IPA|/si.zɔm/}}, ''six avril'' {{IPA|/si.za.vril/}}. However, it is pronounced {{IPA|/si/}} before a consonant-initial noun, adjective or month name, i.e. ''six pommes'' {{IPA|/si.pɔm/}}, ''six beaux oiseaux'' {{IPA|/si.bo.zwa.zo/}}, ''six mars'' {{IPA|/si.mars/}}. Elsewhere, it is pronounced {{IPA|/sis/}}, i.e. ''six ou neuf'' {{IPA|/sis.u.nœf/}}.

* ''sept'' ("seven"): It is consistently pronounced the same: {{IPA|/sɛt/}}, as a homophone of ''cette''.

* ''huit'' ("eight"): It is {{IPA|/ɥi/}} when before a consonant-initial noun, adjective or month name, i.e. ''huit minutes'' {{IPA|/ɥi.mi.nyt/}}. Elsewhere, it is {{IPA|/ɥit/}}, i.e. ''huit ou neuf'' {{IPA|/ɥi.tu.nœf/}}.

* ''neuf'' ("nine"): It is pronounced {{IPA|/nœf/}}, with the exception of {{IPA|/nœv/}} in ''neuf ans'', ''neuf heures'' and, rarely, ''neuf hommes''. Traditionally ''neuf'' is also pronounced {{IPA|/nø/}} before a consonant-initial noun, adjective or month name, like its homophone ''neuf'' meaning "new" (''see [[Neuf-Brisach]]'').

* ''dix'' ("ten"): With respect to liaison, it behaves like ''six''. However, the common combinations ''dix-sept'' ("seventeen"), ''dix-huit'' ("eighteen") and ''dix-neuf'' ("nineteen") are respectively pronounced {{IPA|/di.sɛt/}}, {{IPA|/di.zɥit/}} and {{IPA|/diz.nœf/}}.

* ''vingt ("twenty")'': It is pronounced {{IPA|/vɛ̃t/}} before a vowel-initial noun, adjective or digit from one to nine, i.e. ''vingt-six'' {{IPA|/vɛ̃t.sis/}}, ''vingt amis'' {{IPA|/vɛ̃.ta.mi/}}. Elsewhere, it is pronounced {{IPA|/vɛ̃/}}.

* ''quatre-vingt'' ("eighty"): The ''t'' is never pronounced: ''quatre-vingt-dix-neuf'' (99) is {{IPA|/ka.tʁə.vɛ̃.diz.nœf/}}, ''quatre-vingt-un'' (81) is {{IPA|/ka.tʁə.vɛ̃.œ̃/}} and ''quatre-vingt-onze'' (91) is {{IPA|/ka.tʁə.vɛ̃.ɔ̃z/}}. However, ''quatre-vingts'' makes a {{IPA|/z/}} liaison before vowel-initial nouns or adjectives.

Imperative verbs followed by ''en'' and ''y'' always acquire liaison, {{IPA|/z‿ɑ̃/}} and {{IPA|/z‿i/}} respectively.

The imperative suffixes ''moi + en'' and ''moi + y'' give as a result ''m’en'' and ''m’y'', and analogically ''toi + en'' and ''toi + y'' become ''t’en'' and ''t’y''. However, in colloquial speech the expressions ''moi-z-en'', ''toi-z-en''; ''moi-z-y'' and ''toi-z-y'' have become widespread (also registered as ''-z’en'' and ''-z’y''). The possible reason for this phonological trend is because it follows the same logic, in which all verbs ending on ''en'' and ''y'' always use the liaison {{IPA|/z‿/}}, like in ''parles-en'' {{IPA|/paʁlz‿ɑ̃/}} (talk [about it]!), ''vas-y'' {{IPA|/vɑz‿i/}} (go [here/there]!).

|| donnes-en {{IPA|/dɔnz‿ɑ̃/}} || - || give some of it!

|| donnez-en {{IPA|/dɔnez‿ɑ̃/}} || - ||give some of it!

|| donnons-en {{IPA|/dɔ.nɔ̃z‿ɑ̃/}} || - ||let's give some of it!

|| donne-m’en {{IPA|/dɔn.mɑ̃/}} || donne-moi-z-en {{IPA|/dɔn.mwɑ‿z‿ɑ̃/}}, donnes-en-moi {{IPA|/dɔnz‿ɑ̃.mwa/}} || give me some of it!

|| donne-lui-en {{IPA|/dɔn.lɥi.ɑ̃/}} || donne-lui-z-en {{IPA|/dɔn.lɥi‿z‿ɑ̃/}}, donnes-en-lui {{IPA|/dɔnz‿ɑ̃.lɥi/}} || give to him/her some of it!

* after certain words, for example ''et'' ("and"), and all singular nouns. This can help disambiguate between word uses: ''un précieux insolent'' {{IPA|/œ̃ pʁe.sjø ɛ̃.sɔ.lɑ̃/}} (pronounced without liaison) could mean "an insolent member of the ''[[précieuses]]'' literary movement" (''précieux'' can be a noun), but with liaison ''un précieux insolent'' {{IPA|/œ̃ pʁe.sjø.z‿ɛ̃.sɔ.lɑ̃/}} can only refer to a precious insolent person (''précieux'' can also be an adjective).

Grammars mention other contexts where liaison is "forbidden", despite (or precisely because of) the fact that speakers sometimes do produce them spontaneously.

* ''Règle de Littré''. A liaison consonant should not be pronounced immediately after {{IPA|/ʁ/}}, as in ''pars avec lui'' {{IPA|/paʁ a.vɛk lɥi/}}, ''fort agréable'' {{IPA|/fɔʁ a.gʁeɡʁe.abl/}} or ''vers une solution'' {{IPA|/vɛʁ yn sɔ.ly.sjɔ̃/}}. Plural {{IPA|/z/}} is recognized as an exception to this rule, and various other counterexamples can be observed, like ''de part et d'autre'' {{IPA|/də paʁ.t‿e.dotʁ/}}.

On the other end, producing a liaison where one is impossible is perceived as an error. For example, pronouncing a liaison consonant instead of respecting hiatus before an [[Aspirated h|aspirated ''h'']] is taken to indicate an uncultivated or unsophisticated speaker. While all speakers know the rule, theythere mayis havevariation incompleteas knowledge aboutto which words it mustis applyapplied to.{{cn|date=April 2024}} The effect is less noticeable with rare words (such as ''hiatus'' itself), which many speakers may not spontaneously identify as aspirated ''h'' words.

Liaison is a form of vestigial '''enchainement''' that involves a follow-through between a final consonant and an initial vowel. However, what is particularly distinct for both liaison and enchainement is that the final consonant in both cases resyllabifies with the following vowel. Liaison is therefore a [[phonology|phonological]] process occurring at word boundaries, specifically aan [[sandhi|external sandhi]] phenomenon that may be disrupted in [[pausa]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Morin|first1=Yves-Charles|last2=Kaye|first2=Jonathan D.|date=1982|title=The Syntactic Bases for French Liaison|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4175640|journal=Journal of Linguistics|volume=18|issue=2|pages=291–330|doi=10.1017/S0022226700013621|jstor=4175640|issn=0022-2267}}</ref>

For example, the word ''grand'' is written ''grant'' in medieval manuscripts (''grant'' served for both masculine and feminine gender). The orthography of that age was more phonetic; the word was in all likeliness pronounced {{IPA|[ɡrɑ̃nt]}}, with an audible final {{IPA|/t/}}, at least until the twelfth century. When that consonant became mute (like the majority of ancient final consonants in French), the word continued to be written ''grant'' (the preservation of this written form is explained by other reasons; see note), and then became ''grand'' by influence of its Latin etymology ''grandis'', with a new (analogic) feminine form ''grande''. The current spelling with a final mute ''d'' allows to better show the alternation between ''grand'' and ''grande'' (an alternation ''gran'' ~ ''grande'' or ''grant'' ~ ''grande'' would look less regular to the eye), as well as the lexical relation to ''grandeur'', ''grandir'', ''grandiloquent'', etc. The [[root (linguistics)|root]] ''grand'' is written thus regardless of whether the ''d'' is pronounced {{IPA|[d]}}, {{IPA|[t]}} or muteit is silent, in order for its [[derivation (linguistics)|derivatives]] to have a single graphic identity, which facilitates memorization and reading.

Bearing in mind that grammatical stress in French falls on the final full syllable of a word, or of a group of words when they are bound grammaticallyphrase, this situation can be symbolized as follows (the symbol ''' ˈ ''' indicates stress):