From: Marc Verhaegen
Message: 8849
Date: 2001-08-30
>Danny:[twA:].
>>I still have trouble with French words like _trois_, which is
>>supposed to be pronounced [tXwA:], but I end up cheating and saying
>Yes, a schwa. Can be both unrounded or a bit rounded IMO.
>It's easier if you go for the rolled r option [trWa] but I manage
>fine with my uvular r. What I really have trouble with is the
>word "programme"... Every time I say it, I have to be careful not
>to drown in my own phlegm.
>This talk of French pronunciation is informative. I looked up
>the pronunciation of "grenouille" in a French dictionary next to
>me and sure enough, it's pronounced [uj] even though I swear
>by [ui]. I have a feeling that [uj] is more a Quebecois
>pronunciation though since, as I understand, European French is
>more "syllabic" than Quebecois French. Quebecois [dz^ne] for
>"diner" for example. In my mimickry of European French, I find
>myself adding a very short final schwa to words like "donne" or
>"mange". Back to "grenouille", I guess I'm really using a
>short rounded _schwa_ for "e" and not [o"], it's definitely
>rounded however so I wonder how Marc V feels about this.