11. NASAL VOWELS

Nasal vowels are signaled by a following final 'm' or 'n' in the syllable.

What is a nasal vowel?

When you have finished listening to all the examples, click on Pratique at the bottom of the page.


Ceiling fresco from the Louvre Museum
Courtesy of Erin Henry
You will hear the vowel in isolation first, then the examples.
en en, comment, trente, quarante ans, sans
in incroyable, pain, saint, main, hein?  
impossible, daim, teint
on on, mon, son, long, bombe, comte
un un, brun, cajun

There are operations of grammar which affect the nasal quality of a vowel, such as changing masculine to feminine.

In the following examples , the word on the left is masculine and has a final nasal vowel (the n is not voiced).
The final n of the word on the right is pronounced because of the feminine mark of 'e' added.
The addition of the 'e' causes the n to sound, which in turn, denasalizes the vowel.

Nasal Denasalized
Américain Américaine 
Canadien  Canadienne
cousin cousine
brun brune
bon bonne
 
The nasal vowel does not denasalize when there is a voiced consonant after the n or m.
  Saint -- Sainte  mont -- monte

Glossary

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