Pronouncing French with Bescherelle64

Bescherelle is a phonetic alphabet developed in the 19th century by Louis-Nicolas Bescherelle and is still widely used today for pronouncing French words. It is a system of diacritics that is added to the standard French alphabet to indicate the proper pronunciation of each letter. Bescherelle is a valuable tool for learners of French, as it can help them to avoid making common pronunciation mistakes.

There are a number of different diacritics used in Bescherelle, each of which represents a different sound. The most common diacritics are the acute accent (´), the grave accent (`), the circumflex accent (^), and the apostrophe ('). Other diacritics, such as the cedilla (ç), the diaeresis (¨), and the tilde (~), are also used in some cases.

The acute accent is used to indicate that the vowel is pronounced with a high, clear sound. The grave accent is used to indicate that the vowel is pronounced with a low, muffled sound. The circumflex accent is used to indicate that the vowel is pronounced with a long, drawn-out sound. The apostrophe is used to indicate that the vowel is elided, or not pronounced.

Bescherelle is a very useful system for pronouncing French words, but it is important to remember that it is only a guide. There are many different regional variations in French pronunciation, and the pronunciation of some words may vary depending on the context in which they are used.

Here are some examples of how Bescherelle is used to pronounce French words:* é is pronounced [e]
* è is pronounced [ɛ]
* ê is pronounced [ɛː]
* a is pronounced [a]
* à is pronounced [a]
* â is pronounced [ɑː]
* o is pronounced [o]
* ò is pronounced [ɔ]
* ô is pronounced [ɔː]

Bescherelle is a valuable tool for learners of French, but it is important to use it in conjunction with other resources, such as dictionaries and audio recordings, in order to get the most accurate pronunciation possible.## How to Use Bescherelle

To use Bescherelle, simply add the appropriate diacritics to the standard French alphabet. For example, to pronounce the word "étudiant", you would add the acute accent to the letter "e" and the circumflex accent to the letter "u". The word would then be pronounced [etydjɑ̃].

Here are some additional tips for using Bescherelle:* The acute accent is always placed on the last vowel of a word.
* The grave accent is usually placed on the first vowel of a word.
* The circumflex accent can be placed on any vowel.
* The apostrophe is always placed after a vowel.

With a little practice, you will be able to use Bescherelle to pronounce French words with confidence.

2025-02-03

Previous：French Pronunciation Guide

Next：Is it easier to learn Spanish or French?