ON LETTERS AND SYLLABLES.
The following words are irregular in their pronunciation:
enivrer, to intoxicate, pronounced an-ivrer. enorgueillir, to make proud, pronounced an-orgueillir.
ennemi, enemy, " en-nemi (not nasal).
nenni, nay, " nan-ni.
hennir, to neigh, " an-nir.
solennel, solemn, " solanel.
femme, woman, " fam (not nasal).
faon, fawn, " fan (nasal).
paon, peacock, " pan (nasal).
Laon (city of), " Lan (nasal).
Caen (city of), " Can (nasal).
Saône (river of), " Sone.
monsieur, sir, or Mr. " mosieur.
Vowels suffer certain changes of pronunciation.
3. When they are joined to other vowels.
In French, when two vowels are combined, they may either produce together a simple sound, different from that which they produce separately, or they may form one syllable, in which, however, each vowel preserves its proper sound. The latter combination alone produces diphthongs.
a. The following vowels, when joined, produce compound sounds:
ai and ei have the sound of French e, sharp or broad, like é or è.
Ex. j'ai, I have ; affaire, affair ; paire, pair ; peine, pain ; Seine (river) ; veine, vein.
Ai and ei, followed by m or n, have the sound of in. Hence pain, bread, and pin, pine-tree, sound alike; so do faim, hunger, and fin, end ; dessein, design, and dessin, drawing.
Ai is pronounced like a (i being silent) in Montaigne, a proper name.
Au has the sound of o. Ex. mauve, mallow ; pauvre, poor ; audace, boldness.
