French of France

Paris

In Paris, nasal vowels are no longer pronounced as in traditional Parisian French: /ɑ̃/ → [ɔ̃], /ɛ̃/ → [ɐ̃], /ɔ̃/ → [õ] and /œ̃/ → [ɐ̃]. Many distinctions are lost: /a/ and /ɑ/, /ɛ/ and /ɛː/, /ø/ and /ə/, /ɛ̃/ and /œ̃/, and /nj/ and /ɲ/.

Southern regions

In the South of France, nasal vowels have not changed and are still pronounced as in traditional Parisian French: enfant [ɑ̃ˈfɑ̃], pain [pɛ̃], bon [bɔ̃] and brun [bʁœ̃], but some speakers add a [ŋ] at the end. Many distinctions are lost. At the end of words, most speakers do not distinguish /e/ and /ɛ/: both livré and livret are pronounced [liˈvʁe]. In closed syllables, they no longer distinguish /ɔ/ and /o/ or /œ/ and /ø/: both notre and nôtre are pronounced [nɔtʁ̥], and both jeune and jeûne are pronounced [ʒœn]. The distinctions of /a/ and /ɑ/ and of /ɛ/ and /ɛː/ are lost. Older speakers pronounce all es: chaque [ˈʃakə] and vêtement [ˈvɛtəmɑ̃].

Northern regions

In the North, both /a/ and /ɑ/ are pronounced as [ɔ] at the end, with là is pronounced [lɔ] and mât [mɔ]. In Jura, the phoneme /ʁ/ is pronounced as a uvular trill: rouge is pronounced [ʀuːʒ], rêve is pronounced [ʀeːv], phonemic long vowels are still maintained: pâte [pɑːt] and fête [feːt], etc. In Brittany and Nord-Pas-de-Calais, phonemic long vowels are also maintained: neige [neːʒ] and tête [teːt].