Most people think of French as a nasal language, primarily because French has nasal vowels. I used to think that nasal vowels did not pose a problem for English students of French, but the more I engage with students in private lessons, the more I realize that these vowels need more attention.
Those of us who learned French “in the old days”, were taught that there are 4 nasal vowels: [ɑ̃] (as in “France”); [ɔ̃] (as in “mon”); [ɛ̃] (as in vingt); and [œ̃] (as in “un” or “brun”). That last nasal vowel has been eliminated over the years, and the sound for that spelling is now the same as the vowel in “vingt”. Most students of French will have no regrets about this change, since the sound for that vowel was pretty unattractive and a bit hard to produce.
Nasal vowels have different spellings but will always have an ”n” or an “m” to indicate nasality. However, a double n or m denasalizes the vowel (see below).
Remember: When the “n” or “m” makes the vowel nasal, those consonants are no longer pronounced. In a sense it's as if the nasal consonant gave away its nasality to the preceding vowel, and it no longer exists. So it is /sɛ̃-patik/ not /sɛ̃m-patik/.
The nasal vowel [ɑ̃] has several possible spellings: an, am, en, em. Examples: France, enfant, dans, enchanté, client, patient, embrasser, chambre etc. This is the vowel [ɑ] as in “pas” or “bas” nasalized.
Note: with a double n or m the vowel is not nasalized; this applies to words in the feminine as: “an” but “année”; Jean but Jeanne /ʒan/; courant but couramment, il prend but ils prennent /il prɛn/.
As always, there are exceptions: “femme” is pronounced /fam/ and words from foreign sources are not nasalized: Islam, Amsterdam, barman, pollen, and indemnité.
The nasal vowel [ɔ̃] is spelled on or om. Examples: bon, onze, monde, ombre, nombre. This is the vowel [o] (as in beau or faute, nasalized.
Again, in the feminine, or with a double n or m, the vowel is not nasal: bon but bonne (/bɔn/; “son” but “sonne”; “baron” but “baronne”.
Note: “bon” denasalizes in front of a vowel and makes the liaison with the oral vowel (like bonne) : bon anniversaire /bɔnanivɛrsɛr/; bon ami /bɔnami/; bon appétit /bɔnapeti/.
Note one major exception: the word “monsieur” where the “mon” is replaced entirely by the mute e sound: /məsjø/ (the final “r” is also not pronounced).
The nasal vowel [ɛ̃] can have several spellings, but there will always be an in or an im in the word, or sometimes a yn or ym, since the letter “y” often is a substitute for “i”. Possible spellings : in, im, aim, ain, eim, ein, yn, ym. Examples: vingt, pain, jardin, cinq, ceinture, plein, Reims, sympatique, syndicat.
This is the vowel [a] as in “Paris”, nasalized.
Notes and Exceptions on this nasal vowel:
--The spelling oin is pronounced with this nasal vowel (point, loin, moins) /mwɛ̃/.
--In words ending in -ien, -yen, and -éen the “en” is pronounced with this nasal vowel: bien /bjɛ̃/, rien /rjɛ̃/, moyen /mwajɛ̃/ lycéen /liseɛ̃/, je viens /vjɛ̃/, tiens /tjɛ̃/, il se souvient /suvjɛ̃/.
--Some other words ending in -en are also pronounced with this nasal vowel:
examen /ɛgzamɛ̃/, chrétienté /kretjɛ̃te/, appendice /apɛ̃dis/, Stendhal /stɛ̃dal/, St. Ouen /sɛ̃twɛ̃/.
--This nasal vowel denasalizes in the feminine: prochain /prɔʃɛ̃/ but prochaine /prɔʃɛn/, certain /sɛrtɛ̃/ but certaine /sɛrtɛn/.
--The prefixes in-, -inn-, im-, imm are nasal when followed by a consonant: intelligent /ɛ̃tɛliʒɑ̃/, interdit /ɛ̃tɛrdi/, imbécile /ɛ̃besil/ imprimé /ɛ̃prime/.
--When followed by a vowel, these prefixes de-nasalize: inégal /inegal/, initial /inisjal/, inattendu /inatɑ̃dy/, imminent /iminɑ̃/, immeuble /imœbl/, immodeste /imɔdɛst/.
--final -im is denasalized in “la clim” /klim/ (air conditiioning) and intérim. /ɛ̃terim/.
Wow! Good we don't have nasal vowels in English right? Wrong!!
This is a subject I taught in my video course, lesson 7. Without going into too much detail here, English speakers are always surprised to realize that we do in fact nasalize many—if not most—of our sounds. This is because the way to block a sound from being nasal, is to raise the back of the throat to close off the passage that allows air to go into the nasal passages. Because of the tension in French speech, this passageway is always blocked, EXCEPT when it is lowered for a nasal consonant or a nasal vowel. Like when you have a cold in the nose—(cold id da doze)!
Since In English our speech organs are very relaxed, this portal is usually a bit open all the time. Now in French, whether a vowel is nasal or not changes the meaning of the word (ton-tonne; dont-donne), whereas in English this is not the case, so we don't pay any attention to this feature—which means that all of our sounds can be quite nasal.
Say the word “tone” a few times, then stop on the”o” sound. You will see that it sounds just like the nasal French vowel [ɔ̃]; also the name “Don”; hesitate on the “o” and you will hear that it sounds just like the French nasal vowel [ɑ̃].
There are a few cases in English where nasality does change the meaning of the word: cat/can't, what/want. In these cases, “can't” and “want” /wɑ̃t/ have nasal vowels that distinguish them from the oral vowels in “cat” and “what”, and that changes the meaning of the word. Notice we do not pronounce the “n” in can't or want: the “n” has nasalized the vowel.
A good reminder: bon vin blanc
et Bonne Journée