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4.3: On prononce - the French /R/

4.3: On prononce - the French /R/

Last updated

Jul 1, 2024
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- 4.2: On découvre - la description physique
- 4.4: On découvre - la description morale

Géraldine Blattner, Amanda Dalola, and Stéphanie Roulon
Florida Atlantic University, University of Minnesota, and Portland State University

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The French /R/ sound bears no resemblance to the American or English sound typically associated with the letter r. The French /R/ is a fricative produced when air "rubs" against the back of the throat. The result is a sound similar to a light clearing of the throat. To produce a French /R/, place the tip of the tongue behind the lower teeth and actively produce friction in the back of the tongue.

Ecoutez et répétez : La consonne /R/

Variations sociales : les adjectifs spécialisés

Some adjectives in human languages have restricted uses. This means they cannot be used universally in reference to all objects and people. You are probably sensitive to these restrictions in your language(s) without even being aware of them. For instance, in English, people with orange hair are described as having red hair, but red onions refers to onions with purple skins. A man who is perceived good-looking may be described as handsome, but a woman who is perceived good-looking is more often described as beautiful. People with long legs are described as being tall, chairs with long legs are described as being high and stockings with long legs are described as being long. Despite the similarity in meaning, there are subtle nuances that dictate speakers’ preferences for one adjective over another in certain situations.

These kinds of adjectives exist in French, as well, particularly in the sphere of physical description. Check out the prescribed uses of the below forms:

Meaning	Adjective	Used for describing…
Black	brun / brune / bruns / brunes	hair
brown	châtain / châtaine	hair
brown	marron (invariable)	eyes, other objects
hazel	noisette (invariable)	eyes, other objects (not hair)
red	roux / rousse / roux / rousses	hair
red	rouge / rouges	eyes, other objects
short	court / courte / courts / courtes	objects
short	petit / petite / petits / petites	people
tall	long / longue / longs / longues	objects
tall	grand / grande / grands / grandes	people

To make matters more interesting, the specifications of an adjective in one language, say, French, are not the same in another language, say, English. This means that speakers could say someone has brown eyes and hair in English, but would probably say les yeux marron et les cheveux châtains in French.

Can you think of other adjectives with restricted uses in English, French or other languages you know?

Variations sociales : les adjectifs spécialisés

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