Pronunciation of Quebec French
Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2020 6:44 am
Do we have any Québécois in the house? I remember we used to have two or three. I have several questions. I don't ask to receive an answer for everything in one go, just do what you can: time is a resource.
I am aware that endings with word-final a-ish sounds have /a/ in the passé simple and imparfait du subjonctif forms: tu aimas /tyɛma/, il aima /ilɛma/, elle aimât /ɛlɛma/. This is in contrast with most other such words (typically nouns and some function-like words), which have /ɑ/: je veux ça /ʒvøsɑ/, le matelas /ləmatlɑ/, là /lɑ/, là-bas /labɑ/, l'au-delà /lodlɑ/, Québécois /kebekwɑ/, le choix /ləʃwɑ/.
Question #1: what about the future -as and -a endings? Are they common enough that they have popular /ɑ/, or are they uncommon enough that they have /a/? Is tu aimeras rather like /t(y)ɛmʁɑ/ or /tyɛmʁa/?
Relatedly, many linguistic works on Quebec French say that /ɑ/, when phonetically short, is variously realized with formal [ɑ] or colloquial [ʌ] (note: this is the general IPA [ʌ], a back vowel, not the English "[ʌ]", and yes, I'm aware actual published works tend to simply use "[ɔ]" here). However, whenever I hear Quebec French I tend to simply hear [ʌ], e.g. je veux ça [ʒvøsʌ], trois /tʀwɑ/ [tʀ̥wʌ], but maybe the difference between formal [ɑ] and colloquial [ʌ] is more subtle than what my brain can perceive. (When /ɑ/ is phonetically long, it can be [ʌ:] or [ɑʊ] of course, as in pâte.)
Question #2: do you feel that these allophones, formal [ɑ] and colloquial [ʌ], continue to exist, or do you feel I might be somewhat right when I say it's mostly just [ʌ] nowadays, at least for "many" speakers?
There are various words that are known to differ between the French of Quebec City and that of Montreal, e.g. baleine Montreal /balɛ:n/ [balɛ̃ɪ̃n] ~ [balãɪ̃n] QCity /balɛn/ [balɛn], arrête Montreal /aʀɛ:t/ [aʀɛɪt] ~ [aʀaɪt] QCity /aʀɛt/ [aʀɛt], photo Montreal /foto/ [foʊto] QCity /fɔto/ [fʌto]. Someone from Quebec City once told me clôture is pronounced /klotyʀ/ [klotsʏyʀ] ([kloʊtsʏyʀ]?) in Quebec City but /klɔtyʀ/ [klʌtsʏyʀ] in Montreal.
Question #3: was that person right about clôture?
Some works say that Elle est où? can be pronounced [ɛ.u] ("è'où?") or [ale.u] ("a-l-est où?"), apparently with that epenthetic /l/ also heard in the equivalent of standard Ç'a bien été, [salabjæ̃nete] ("ça-l-a bien été"). However, in my not-at-all-extensive experience, I have only heard [ɛ.u].
Question #4: do people use [ale.u], and if so, how much do you feel they use it? Am I totally wrong if I say it's almost always [ɛ.u]?
Finally, some three morphophonological shenanigans.
Question #5: how extensive is the merger of non-final /o/ and /ɔ/ in open syllables? Does noter need to be [nʌte] or can it be [note] (well, [noʊte]...) as well? Does ça côtait have to be [sako(ʊ)tɛ] or can it be [sakʌtɛ] as well? What about chocolat, is that [ʃʌkʌlʌ] or [ʃokolʌ]? (French Wiktionary in fact has a recording with [ʃʌkʌlʌ], but I wonder if [ʃokolʌ] or maybe [ʃokʌlʌ] are possible.)
Question #6: can stem vowels with /ɑ/ gain length in verbs conjugated in the 1S/2S/3S present indicative/subjunctive, and retain a short vowel elsewhere? E.g. je me hâte [ʒmœ.ʌ:t] ~ [ʒmœ.ɑʊt] but se hâter [sœ.ʌte] (does it have to be [sœ.ʌ:te] ~ [sœ.ɑʊte]?). I notice pâté, derived from pâte, is often [pɑʊte]...
Question #7: What about the other lengthening-happy vowel, /o/, as in the adjective côtier ([koʊtje]?) cf. the related noun côte [koʊt], or the verb ôter [oʊte] ([ote]?) vs. j'ôte [ʒoʊt]. I notice that verbs with /ɛ:/ tend to retain a long stem (fêter [fɛɪte] ~ [faɪte]), but /ɛ:/ is its own beast.
I am aware that endings with word-final a-ish sounds have /a/ in the passé simple and imparfait du subjonctif forms: tu aimas /tyɛma/, il aima /ilɛma/, elle aimât /ɛlɛma/. This is in contrast with most other such words (typically nouns and some function-like words), which have /ɑ/: je veux ça /ʒvøsɑ/, le matelas /ləmatlɑ/, là /lɑ/, là-bas /labɑ/, l'au-delà /lodlɑ/, Québécois /kebekwɑ/, le choix /ləʃwɑ/.
Question #1: what about the future -as and -a endings? Are they common enough that they have popular /ɑ/, or are they uncommon enough that they have /a/? Is tu aimeras rather like /t(y)ɛmʁɑ/ or /tyɛmʁa/?
Relatedly, many linguistic works on Quebec French say that /ɑ/, when phonetically short, is variously realized with formal [ɑ] or colloquial [ʌ] (note: this is the general IPA [ʌ], a back vowel, not the English "[ʌ]", and yes, I'm aware actual published works tend to simply use "[ɔ]" here). However, whenever I hear Quebec French I tend to simply hear [ʌ], e.g. je veux ça [ʒvøsʌ], trois /tʀwɑ/ [tʀ̥wʌ], but maybe the difference between formal [ɑ] and colloquial [ʌ] is more subtle than what my brain can perceive. (When /ɑ/ is phonetically long, it can be [ʌ:] or [ɑʊ] of course, as in pâte.)
Question #2: do you feel that these allophones, formal [ɑ] and colloquial [ʌ], continue to exist, or do you feel I might be somewhat right when I say it's mostly just [ʌ] nowadays, at least for "many" speakers?
There are various words that are known to differ between the French of Quebec City and that of Montreal, e.g. baleine Montreal /balɛ:n/ [balɛ̃ɪ̃n] ~ [balãɪ̃n] QCity /balɛn/ [balɛn], arrête Montreal /aʀɛ:t/ [aʀɛɪt] ~ [aʀaɪt] QCity /aʀɛt/ [aʀɛt], photo Montreal /foto/ [foʊto] QCity /fɔto/ [fʌto]. Someone from Quebec City once told me clôture is pronounced /klotyʀ/ [klotsʏyʀ] ([kloʊtsʏyʀ]?) in Quebec City but /klɔtyʀ/ [klʌtsʏyʀ] in Montreal.
Question #3: was that person right about clôture?
Some works say that Elle est où? can be pronounced [ɛ.u] ("è'où?") or [ale.u] ("a-l-est où?"), apparently with that epenthetic /l/ also heard in the equivalent of standard Ç'a bien été, [salabjæ̃nete] ("ça-l-a bien été"). However, in my not-at-all-extensive experience, I have only heard [ɛ.u].
Question #4: do people use [ale.u], and if so, how much do you feel they use it? Am I totally wrong if I say it's almost always [ɛ.u]?
Finally, some three morphophonological shenanigans.
Question #5: how extensive is the merger of non-final /o/ and /ɔ/ in open syllables? Does noter need to be [nʌte] or can it be [note] (well, [noʊte]...) as well? Does ça côtait have to be [sako(ʊ)tɛ] or can it be [sakʌtɛ] as well? What about chocolat, is that [ʃʌkʌlʌ] or [ʃokolʌ]? (French Wiktionary in fact has a recording with [ʃʌkʌlʌ], but I wonder if [ʃokolʌ] or maybe [ʃokʌlʌ] are possible.)
Question #6: can stem vowels with /ɑ/ gain length in verbs conjugated in the 1S/2S/3S present indicative/subjunctive, and retain a short vowel elsewhere? E.g. je me hâte [ʒmœ.ʌ:t] ~ [ʒmœ.ɑʊt] but se hâter [sœ.ʌte] (does it have to be [sœ.ʌ:te] ~ [sœ.ɑʊte]?). I notice pâté, derived from pâte, is often [pɑʊte]...
Question #7: What about the other lengthening-happy vowel, /o/, as in the adjective côtier ([koʊtje]?) cf. the related noun côte [koʊt], or the verb ôter [oʊte] ([ote]?) vs. j'ôte [ʒoʊt]. I notice that verbs with /ɛ:/ tend to retain a long stem (fêter [fɛɪte] ~ [faɪte]), but /ɛ:/ is its own beast.