Phonological history of French explained

French exhibits perhaps the most extensive phonetic changes (from Latin) of any of the Romance languages. Similar changes are seen in some of the northern Italian regional languages, such as Lombard or Ligurian. Most other Romance languages are significantly more conservative phonetically, with Spanish, Italian, and especially Sardinian showing the most conservatism, and Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, and Occitan showing moderate conservatism.^[1]

French also shows enormous phonetic changes between the Old French period and the modern language. Spelling, however, has barely changed, which accounts for the wide differences between current spelling and pronunciation. Some of the most profound changes have been:

• The loss of almost all final consonants.
• The occasional elision of final pronounced as /link/, which caused many newly-final consonants.
• The loss of the formerly strong stress that had characterized the language throughout much of its history and triggered many of the phonetic changes.
• Significant transformations in the pronunciation of vowels, especially nasal vowels.

Only some of the changes are reflected in the orthography, which generally corresponds to the pronunciation of c. 1100–1200 CE (the Old French period) rather than modern pronunciation.

This page documents the phonological history of French from a relatively technical standpoint. See also History of French#Internal phonological history for a less technical introduction.

Overview

pronounced as /notice/A profound change in very late spoken Latin (Vulgar Latin, the forerunner of all the Romance languages) was the restructuring of the vowel system of Classical Latin. Latin had thirteen distinct vowels: ten pure vowels (long and short versions of), and three diphthongs .^[2] What happened to Vulgar Latin is set forth in the table.^[3]

Essentially, the ten pure vowels were reduced to the seven vowels pronounced as //a ɛ e i ɔ o u//, and vowel length was no longer a distinguishing feature. The diphthongs and fell in with pronounced as //ɛ// and pronounced as //e//, respectively. was retained, but various languages (including Old French) eventually turned it into pronounced as //ɔ// after the original pronounced as //ɔ// fell victim to further changes.

Development of French pronunciation over time

Form ("to sing")	Latin	Vulgar Latin^1	Old French		Modern French
			spelling	pronunciation	spelling	pronunciation
Infinitive	Latin: cantāre	pronounced as / /kanˈtaːre/ /	French, Old (842-ca.1400);: chanter	pronounced as //tʃanˈtæɾ//	French: chanter	pronounced as //ʃɑ̃ˈte//
Past Part.	Latin: cantātum	pronounced as / /kanˈtaːtu/ /	French, Old (842-ca.1400);: chanté(ṭ)	pronounced as //tʃanˈtæ(θ)//	French: chanté	pronounced as //ʃɑ̃ˈte//
Gerund	Latin: cantandum	pronounced as / /kanˈtandu/ /	French, Old (842-ca.1400);: chantant	pronounced as //tʃanˈtant//	French: chantant	pronounced as //ʃɑ̃ˈtɑ̃//
1sg. indic.	Latin: cantō	pronounced as / /ˈkanto/ /	French, Old (842-ca.1400);: chant	pronounced as //tʃant//	French: chante	pronounced as //ʃɑ̃t(ə)//
2sg. indic.	Latin: cantās	pronounced as / /ˈkantas/ /	French, Old (842-ca.1400);: chantes	pronounced as //ˈtʃantəs//	French: chantes	pronounced as //ʃɑ̃t(ə)//
3sg. indic.	Latin: cantat	pronounced as / /ˈkantat/ /	French, Old (842-ca.1400);: chante(ṭ)	pronounced as //ˈtʃantə(θ)//	French: chante	pronounced as //ʃɑ̃t(ə)//
1pl. indic.^2	Latin: cantāmus	pronounced as / /kanˈtaːmos/ /	French, Old (842-ca.1400);: chantons	pronounced as //tʃanˈtuns//	French: chantons	pronounced as //ʃɑ̃ˈtɔ̃//
2pl. indic.	Latin: cantātis	pronounced as / /kanˈtaːtes/ /	French, Old (842-ca.1400);: chantez	pronounced as //tʃanˈtæts//	French: chantez	pronounced as //ʃɑ̃ˈte//
3pl. indic.	Latin: cantant	pronounced as / /ˈkantant/ /	French, Old (842-ca.1400);: chantent	pronounced as //ˈtʃantə(n)t//	French: chantent	pronounced as //ʃɑ̃t(ə)//
1sg. subj.	Latin: cantem	pronounced as / /ˈkante/ /	French, Old (842-ca.1400);: chant	pronounced as //tʃant//	French: chante	pronounced as //ʃɑ̃t(ə)//
2sg. subj.	Latin: cantēs	pronounced as / /ˈkantes/ /	French, Old (842-ca.1400);: chanz	pronounced as //tʃants//	French: chantes	pronounced as //ʃɑ̃t(ə)//
3sg. subj.	Latin: cantet	pronounced as / /ˈkantet/ /	French, Old (842-ca.1400);: chant	pronounced as //tʃant//	French: chante	pronounced as //ʃɑ̃t(ə)//
1pl. subj.^2	Latin: cantēmus	pronounced as / /kanˈteːmos/ /	French, Old (842-ca.1400);: chantons	pronounced as //tʃanˈtuns//	French: chantions	pronounced as //ʃɑ̃ˈtjɔ̃//
2pl. subj.	Latin: cantētis	pronounced as / /kanˈteːtes/ /	French, Old (842-ca.1400);: chantez	pronounced as //tʃanˈtæts//	French: chantiez	pronounced as //ʃɑ̃ˈtje//
3pl. subj.	Latin: cantent	pronounced as / /ˈkantent/ /	French, Old (842-ca.1400);: chantent	pronounced as //ˈtʃantə(n)t//	French: chantent	pronounced as //ʃɑ̃t(ə)//
2sg. impv.	Latin: cantā	pronounced as / /ˈkanta/ /	French, Old (842-ca.1400);: chante	pronounced as //ˈtʃantə//	French: chante	pronounced as //ʃɑ̃t(ə)//
2pl. impv.^3	Latin: cantāte	pronounced as / /kanˈtaːte/ /	French, Old (842-ca.1400);: chantez	pronounced as //tʃanˈtæts//	French: chantez	pronounced as //ʃɑ̃ˈte//

The complex but regular French sound changes have caused irregularities in the conjugation of Old French verbs, like stressed stems caused by historic diphthongization (amer, aim, aimes, aime, aiment, but amons, amez), or regular loss of certain phonemes (vivre, vif, vis, vit). Later in Modern French, these changes were limited to fewer irregular verbs. Modern French also had lost the class of rather unpredictable French: -ier verbs (resulting from ejection of pronounced as //j// into the infinitive suffix Latin: -āre, which still exists in some langues d'oïl), having been replaced by simple French: -er verbs plus instead, as in French: manier, but Old French French, Old (842-ca.1400);: laissier → French: laisser.

Vowel length became automatically determined by syllable structure, with stressed open syllables having long vowels and other syllables having short vowels. Furthermore, the stress on accented syllables became more pronounced in Vulgar Latin than in Classical Latin. That tended to cause unaccented syllables to become less distinct, while working further changes on the sounds of the accented syllables. That especially applied to the new long vowels, many of which broke into diphthongs but with different results in each daughter language.

Old French underwent more thorough alterations of its sound system than did the other Romance languages. Vowel breaking is observed to some extent in Spanish and Italian: Vulgar Latin Latin: focu(s) "fire" (in Classical Latin, "hearth") becomes Italian Italian: fuoco and Spanish Spanish; Castilian: fuego. In Old French, it went even further than in any other Romance language; of the seven vowels inherited from Vulgar Latin, only pronounced as //i// remained unchanged in stressed open syllables:

• The sound of Latin short e, turning to pronounced as //ɛ// in Proto-Romance, became in Old French: Latin Latin: mel, "honey" > OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: miel
• The sound of Latin short o > Proto-Romance pronounced as //ɔ// > OF, later : cor > cuor > cuer, "heart"
• Latin long ē and short i > Proto-Romance pronounced as //e// > OF ei: Latin: habēre > French, Old (842-ca.1400);: aveir, "to have"; this later becomes pronounced as //oi// in many words, as in French: avoir
• Latin long ō and short u > Proto-Romance pronounced as //o// > OF ou, later eu: Latin: flōrem > French, Old (842-ca.1400);: flour, "flower"
• Latin a, ā > Proto-Romance pronounced as //a// > OF pronounced as //e//, probably through an intervening stage of pronounced as //æ//; Latin: mare > French, Old (842-ca.1400);: mer, "sea". That change also characterizes the Gallo-Italic languages of Northern Italy (cf. Bolognese pronounced as /[mɛːr]/).

Furthermore, all instances of Latin long ū > Proto-Romance pronounced as //u// became pronounced as //y//, the lip-rounded sound that is written in Modern French. That occurred in both stressed and unstressed syllables, regardless of whether open or closed.

Latin au did not share the fate of pronounced as //ɔ// or pronounced as //o//; Latin Latin: aurum > OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: or, "gold": not *œur nor *our. Latin au must have been retained at the time such changes were affecting Proto-Romance.

Changes affecting consonants were also quite pervasive in Old French. Old French shared with the rest of the Vulgar Latin world the loss of final . Old French also dropped many internal consonants when they followed the strongly stressed syllable; Latin Latin: petram > Proto-Romance pronounced as /

• /ˈpɛðra/

/ > OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: pierre; cf. Spanish Spanish; Castilian: piedra ("stone").

Letter! rowspan="2"

Classical Latin	Vulgar Latin	Proto- Western Romance	Early Old French (through early 12th c.)		Later Old French (from late 12th c.)
closed			open	closed	open
a	pronounced as //a//	pronounced as //a//		(a) pronounced as //a//	(e, ie) pronounced as //æ, iə//	(a) pronounced as //a//	(e, ie) pronounced as //ɛ, jɛ//
ā	pronounced as //aː//
ae	pronounced as //ai//	pronounced as //ɛ//		(e) pronounced as //ɛ//	(ie) pronounced as //iə//	(e) pronounced as //ɛ//	(ie) pronounced as //jɛ//
e	pronounced as //e//
oe	pronounced as //oi//	pronounced as //e//	pronounced as //e//	(e) pronounced as //e//	(ei) pronounced as //ei//		(oi) pronounced as //oi/ > /wɛ//
ē	pronounced as //eː//
i	pronounced as //i//	pronounced as //ɪ//
y	pronounced as //y//
ī	pronounced as //iː//	pronounced as //i//		(i) pronounced as //i//
ȳ	pronounced as //yː//
au	pronounced as //aw//	pronounced as //aw//		(o) pronounced as //ɔ//
o	pronounced as //o//	pronounced as //ɔ//		(o) pronounced as //ɔ//	(uo) pronounced as //uə//	(o) pronounced as //ɔ//	(ue) pronounced as //wɛ/ > /ø//
ō	pronounced as //oː//	pronounced as //o//	pronounced as //o//	(o) pronounced as //o//	(ou) pronounced as //ou//	(o(u)) pronounced as //u//	(eu) pronounced as //eu/ > /ø//
u	pronounced as //u//	pronounced as //ʊ//
ū	pronounced as //uː//	pronounced as //u//		(u) pronounced as //y//

In some contexts, pronounced as //oi// became pronounced as //e//, still written in Modern French. During the early Old French period, it was pronounced as the writing suggests, as pronounced as //oi// as a falling diphthong: pronounced as //oi̯//. It later shifted to become rising, pronounced as //o̯i//, before becoming pronounced as //o̯e//. The sound developed variously in different varieties of Oïl: most of the surviving languages maintain a pronunciation as pronounced as //we//, but Literary French adopted a dialectal pronunciation, pronounced as //wa//. The doublet of French: français and French: François in modern French orthography demonstrates the mix of dialectal features.

At some point during the Old French period, vowels with a following nasal consonant began to be nasalized. While the process of losing the final nasal consonant took place after the Old French period, the nasal vowels that characterize Modern French appeared during the period in question.

Table of vowel outcomes

The following table shows the most important modern outcomes of Vulgar Latin vowels, starting from the seven-vowel system of Proto-Western Romance stressed syllables: pronounced as //a/, /ɛ/, /e/, /i/, /ɔ/, /o/, /u//. The vowels developed differently in different contexts, with the most important contexts being:

• "Open" syllables (followed by at most one consonant), where most of the vowels were diphthongized or otherwise modified.
• Syllables followed by a palatal consonant. An pronounced as //i// usually appeared before the palatal consonant, producing a diphthong, which subsequently evolved in complex ways. There were various palatal sources: Classical Latin pronounced as //jj// (e.g. Latin: peior^[4] "worse"); any consonant followed by a pronounced as //j// coming from Latin short pronounced as //e// or pronounced as //i// in hiatus (e.g. Latin: balneum "bath", Latin: palātium "palace"); pronounced as //k// or pronounced as //ɡ// followed by pronounced as //e// or pronounced as //i// (e.g. Latin: pācem "peace", Latin: cōgitō "I think"); pronounced as //k// or pronounced as //ɡ// followed by pronounced as //a// and preceded by pronounced as //a//, pronounced as //e// or pronounced as //i// (e.g. Latin: plāga "wound"); pronounced as //k// or pronounced as //ɡ// after a vowel in various sequences, such as pronounced as //kl/, /kr/, /ks/, /kt/, /ɡl/, /ɡn/, /ɡr// (e.g. Latin: noctem "night", Latin: veclum < Latin: vetulum "old", Latin: nigrum "black").
• Syllables preceded by a palatal consonant. An pronounced as //i// appeared after the palatal consonant, producing a rising diphthong. The palatal consonant could arise in any of the ways just described. In addition, it could stem from an earlier pronounced as //j// brought into contact with a following consonant by loss of the intervening vowel: e.g. Latin: medietātem > Proto-Romance pronounced as //mejjeˈtate// > Gallo-Romance pronounced as //mejˈtat// (loss of unstressed vowels) > Proto-French pronounced as //meiˈtʲat// (palatalization) > Old French pronounced as //moiˈtjɛ// > French: moitié pronounced as //mwaˈtje// "half".
• Nasal syllables (followed by an pronounced as //n// or pronounced as //m//), where nasal vowels arose. Nasal syllables inhibited many of the changes that otherwise happened in open syllables; instead, vowels tended to be raised. Subsequently, the following pronounced as //n// or pronounced as //m// was deleted unless a vowel followed, and the nasal vowels were lowered; but when the pronounced as //n// or pronounced as //m// remained, the nasal quality was lost, with no lowering of the vowel. This produced significant alternations, such as masculine French: fin pronounced as //fɛ̃// vs. feminine French: fine pronounced as //fin//.
• Syllables closed by pronounced as //s// followed by another consonant. By Old French times, this pronounced as //s// was "debuccalized" into pronounced as //h//, which was subsequently lost, with a phonemic long vowel taking its place. These long vowels remained for centuries, and continued to be indicated by an, and later a circumflex, with alternations such as French: bette pronounced as //bɛt// "chard" vs. French: bête (formerly pronounced as //bɛːt//) "beast" (borrowed from Latin: bēstiam). Sometimes the length difference was accompanied by a difference in vowel quality, e.g. French: mal pronounced as //mal// "bad" vs. French: mâle pronounced as //mɑːl// "male" (Latin Latin: māsculum < pronounced as /
  • /ˈmaslə/
  /). Phonemic length disappeared from Parisian French by the 18th century, but survived regionally (now especially in Belgian French).
• Syllables closed by pronounced as //l// followed by another consonant (although the sequence -lla- was not affected). The pronounced as //l// vocalized to pronounced as //w//, producing a diphthong, which then developed in various ways.
• Syllables where two or more of the above conditions occurred simultaneously, which generally evolved in complex ways. Common examples are syllables followed by both a nasal and a palatal element (e.g. from Latin -neu-, -nea-, -nct-); open syllables preceded by a palatal (e.g. Latin: cēram "wax"); syllables both preceded and followed by a palatal (e.g. Latin: iacet "it lies"); syllables preceded by a palatal and followed by a nasal (e.g. Latin: canem "dog").

The developments in unstressed syllables were both simpler and less predictable. In Proto-Western Romance, there were only five vowels in unstressed syllables: pronounced as //a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u//, as low-mid vowels pronounced as //ɛ/, /ɔ// were raised to pronounced as //e/, /o//. These syllables were not subject to diphthongization and many of the other complex changes that affected stressed syllables. This produced many lexical and grammatical alternations between stressed and unstressed syllables. However, there was a strong tendency (especially beginning in the Middle French period, when the formerly strong stress accent was drastically weakened) to even out these alternations. In certain cases in verbal paradigms an unstressed variant was imported into stressed syllables, but mostly it was the other way around, with the result that in Modern French all of the numerous vowels can appear in unstressed syllables.

Table of modern outcomes of Vulgar Latin vowel combinations! Gallo-Romance! Context ! Proto-French! Later Old French! Modern French! Example

Vowels not followed by pronounced as //s/, /n/, /l/, /ɲ//
pronounced as //a//	closed	pronounced as //a//			Latin: partem > French: part pronounced as //paʁ// "part"
	open	pronounced as //æ//	pronounced as //ɛ//	pronounced as //ɛ// pronounced as //e/+#/	> French: mer pronounced as //mɛʁ// "sea", > pronounced as //aiˈmɛθ// > French: aimé pronounced as //eˈme// "loved"
	before Gallo-Romance pronounced as //u, o// or pronounced as //w//	pronounced as //ɔ//	pronounced as //ɔ//, combines with next element (pronounced as //w, u, o, ɣu, ɣo//) to make a new diphthong, pronounced as //ɔw//	pronounced as //u//	> Gallo-Romance pronounced as //faɣo// > Old French French, Old (842-ca.1400);: fou pronounced as //fɔw// + diminutive French, Old (842-ca.1400);: -et > French: fouet pronounced as //fwɛ// "beech tree"; bavan (< Gaulish) > pronounced as //bɔwə// > French: boue pronounced as //bu// "mud"
	palatal + open	pronounced as //iæ//	pronounced as //jɛ//	pronounced as //jɛ// pronounced as //je/+#/	> Vulgar Latin pronounced as //mejeˈtate// > pronounced as //mejˈtʲate// > Early Old French pronounced as //meiˈtiɛθ// > Late Old French pronounced as //moiˈtjɛ// > French: moitié pronounced as //mwaˈtje// "half"; Latin: cārum > Old French French, Old (842-ca.1400);: chier pronounced as //tʃjɛr// > French: cher pronounced as //ʃɛʁ// "dear"
pronounced as //ɛ//	closed	pronounced as //ɛ//			> French: sept pronounced as //sɛt// "seven"
	open	pronounced as //iɛ//	pronounced as //jɛ//	pronounced as //jɛ// pronounced as //je/+#/	> French: hier pronounced as //jɛʁ// "yesterday"; Latin: pedem > French: pied pronounced as //pje// "foot"
pronounced as //e//	closed	pronounced as //e//	pronounced as //ɛ//		> French: sec pronounced as //sɛk// "dry"
	open	pronounced as //ei//	pronounced as //oi// > pronounced as //wɛ//	pronounced as //wa//	> French: poire pronounced as //pwaʁ//; > early Old French French, Old (842-ca.1400);: vedeir pronounced as //vəˈðeir// > Old French French, Old (842-ca.1400);: vëoir pronounced as //vəˈoir// > French: voir pronounced as //vwaʁ// "to see"
	palatal + open	pronounced as //iei//	pronounced as //i//		> French: cire pronounced as //siʁ// "wax"; > French: merci pronounced as //mɛʁˈsi// "mercy"
pronounced as //i//	all	pronounced as //i//			> French: vie pronounced as //vi// "life"; > French: ville > pronounced as //vil// "town"
pronounced as //ɔ//	closed	pronounced as //ɔ//		pronounced as //ɔ// pronounced as //o/+#/	> French: porte pronounced as //pɔʁt// "door"; Latin: *sottum, *sottam > French: sot, sotte pronounced as //so//, pronounced as //sɔt// "silly"
	open	pronounced as //uɔ//	pronounced as //wɛ//	pronounced as //œ/, /ø//	> French: neuf pronounced as //nœf// "new"; > > French: cœur pronounced as //kœʁ// "heart"
pronounced as //o//	closed	pronounced as //o//	pronounced as //u//		> pronounced as //ˈsottos// > French: sous pronounced as //su// "under"; > French: sourd pronounced as //suʁ// "deaf"
	open	pronounced as //ou//	pronounced as //eu//	pronounced as //œ/, /ø//	> French: nœud pronounced as //nø// "knot"
pronounced as //u//	all	pronounced as //y//			> French: dur pronounced as //dyʁ// "hard"; > French: nulle pronounced as //nyl// "none (fem.)"
pronounced as //au//	all	pronounced as //au//	pronounced as //ɔ//	pronounced as //ɔ// pronounced as //o/+#/	> French: or pronounced as //ɔʁ// "gold"
	followed by pronounced as //z//		pronounced as //oː//	pronounced as //o//	> French: chose pronounced as //ʃoz// "thing"
	followed by Gallo-Romance pronounced as //w/, /ɣu/, /ɣo//	pronounced as //ɔ//	combining with second element to make pronounced as //ɔw//	pronounced as //u//	*traucon (< Gaulish) > Gallo-Romance pronounced as //trauɣo// > Old French pronounced as //trɔw// > French: trou pronounced as //tʁu// "hole"
Vowels + pronounced as //n// or pronounced as //m//
pronounced as //an//	closed	pronounced as //an//	pronounced as //ã//	pronounced as //ɑ̃// pronounced as /[ɒ̃]/	> French: an pronounced as //ɑ̃// "year"; > French: chant pronounced as //ʃɑ̃// "song"
	open	pronounced as //ain//	pronounced as //ɛ̃n//	pronounced as //ɛn//	> French: saine pronounced as //sɛn// "healthy (fem.)"; > French: aime pronounced as //ɛm// "(he) loves"
	late closed		pronounced as //ɛ̃//	pronounced as //ɛ̃// pronounced as /[æ̃]/	> French: sain pronounced as //sɛ̃// "healthy (masc.)"; > French: faim pronounced as //fɛ̃// "hunger"
	palatal + late closed	pronounced as //iain// > pronounced as //iɛn//	pronounced as //jɛ̃//	pronounced as //jɛ̃// pronounced as /[jæ̃]/	> French: chien pronounced as //ʃjɛ̃// "dog"
pronounced as //ɛn//	closed	pronounced as //en//	pronounced as //ã//	pronounced as //ɑ̃// pronounced as /[ɒ̃]/	> French: dent pronounced as //dɑ̃// "teeth"
	open	pronounced as //ien//	pronounced as //jɛ̃n//	pronounced as //jɛn//	> French: tiennent pronounced as //tjɛn// "(they) hold"
	late closed		pronounced as //jɛ̃//	pronounced as //jɛ̃// pronounced as /[jæ̃]/	> French: bien pronounced as //bjɛ̃// "well"; Latin: tenet > French: tient pronounced as //tjɛ̃// "(he) holds"
pronounced as //en//	closed	pronounced as //en//	pronounced as //ã//	pronounced as //ɑ̃// pronounced as /[ɒ̃]/	> French: langue pronounced as //lɑ̃ɡ// "tongue"
	open	pronounced as //ein//	pronounced as //ẽn//	pronounced as //ɛn//	> French: peine pronounced as //pɛn// "sorrow, trouble"
	late closed		pronounced as //ẽ//	pronounced as //ɛ̃// pronounced as /[æ̃]/	> French: plein pronounced as //plɛ̃// "full"; > French: sein pronounced as //sɛ̃// "breast"
	palatal + late closed	pronounced as //iein// > pronounced as //in//	pronounced as //ĩ//		> French: raisin pronounced as //rɛzɛ̃// "grape"
pronounced as //in//	closed, late closed	pronounced as //in//			> *cīnque > French: cinq pronounced as //sɛ̃k// "five"; > French: fin pronounced as //fɛ̃// "fine, thin (masc.)"
	open		pronounced as //ĩn//	pronounced as //in//	> French: fine pronounced as //fin// "fine, thin (fem.)"
pronounced as //ɔn//	closed	pronounced as //on//	pronounced as //ũ//	pronounced as //ɔ̃// pronounced as /[õ]/	> French: pont pronounced as //pɔ̃// "bridge"
	open	pronounced as //on//, pronounced as //uon//	pronounced as //ũn//, pronounced as //wɛ̃n//	pronounced as //ɔn//	> French: bonne pronounced as //bɔn// "good (fem.)"
	late closed		pronounced as //ũ//, pronounced as //wɛ̃//	pronounced as //ɔ̃// pronounced as /[õ]/	> OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: buen > French: bon pronounced as //bɔ̃// "good (masc.)"; > OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: cuens "count (noble rank) (nom.)"
pronounced as //on//	closed, late closed	pronounced as //on//	pronounced as //ũ//	pronounced as //ɔ̃// pronounced as /[õ]/	> French: don pronounced as //dɔ̃// "gift"
	open		pronounced as //ũn//	pronounced as //ɔn//	> French: donne pronounced as //dɔn// "(he) gives"
pronounced as //un//	closed, late closed	pronounced as //yn//	pronounced as //ỹ//	pronounced as //œ̃// > pronounced as //ɛ̃// pronounced as /[æ̃]/	> French: un pronounced as //œ̃// > pronounced as //ɛ̃// "one"; > French: parfum pronounced as //paʁˈfœ̃// > pronounced as //paʁˈfɛ̃// "perfume"
	open		pronounced as //ỹn//	pronounced as //yn//	> French: une pronounced as //yn// "one (fem.)"; > French: plume pronounced as //plym// "feather"
Vowels + pronounced as //s// (followed by a consonant)
pronounced as //as//	closed	pronounced as //ah//	pronounced as //ɑː//	pronounced as //ɑ// pronounced as /[a]/	Latin: bassum > French: bas pronounced as //bɑ// "low"
pronounced as //ɛs//	closed	pronounced as //ɛh//	pronounced as //ɛː//	pronounced as //ɛ//	> French: fête pronounced as //fɛt// "feast"
pronounced as //es//	closed	pronounced as //eh//			> French: bête pronounced as //bɛt// "beast"
pronounced as //is//	closed	pronounced as //ih//	pronounced as //iː//	pronounced as //i//	> *abīsmum > French: abîme pronounced as //abim// "chasm"
pronounced as //ɔs//	closed	pronounced as //ɔh//	pronounced as //oː//	pronounced as //o//	> French: côte pronounced as //kot// "coast", > French: gros, grosse pronounced as //ɡʁo//, pronounced as //ɡʁos// "fat"
pronounced as //os//	closed	pronounced as //oh//	pronounced as //uː//	pronounced as //u//	> *cōstat > French: coûte pronounced as //kut// "(it) costs"
pronounced as //us//	closed	pronounced as //yh//	pronounced as //yː//	pronounced as //y//	> French: fût pronounced as //fy// "bole"
Vowels + pronounced as //l// (followed by a consonant, but not pronounced as //la//)
pronounced as //al//	closed	pronounced as //al//	pronounced as //au//	pronounced as //o//	> French: faux pronounced as //fo// "false"; Latin: palmam > French: paume pronounced as //pom// "palm"
pronounced as //ɛl//	closed	pronounced as //ɛl//	pronounced as //ɛau//		> French: beau pronounced as //bo// (but Latin: bellam > French: belle pronounced as //bɛl//) "beautiful"
	late closed	pronounced as //jɛl//	pronounced as //jɛu//	pronounced as //jœ/, /jø//	> pronounced as //miɛʎts// > pronounced as //mjɛus// > French: mieux pronounced as //mjø// "better"
pronounced as //el//	closed	pronounced as //el//	pronounced as //ɛu//	pronounced as //œ/, /ø//	> French: cheveu pronounced as //ʃəˈvø// "hair"; > French: feutre pronounced as //føtʁ// "felt"
pronounced as //il//	closed, late closed	pronounced as //il//	pronounced as //i//		> French: gentil pronounced as //ʒɑ̃ˈti// "nice"
pronounced as //ɔl//	closed	pronounced as //ɔl//	pronounced as //ou//	pronounced as //u//	> French: fou (but Latin: *follam > French: folle pronounced as //fɔl//) "crazy"; > > French: coup pronounced as //ku// "blow"
	late closed	pronounced as //wɔl//	pronounced as //wɛu//	pronounced as //œ/, /ø/, /jœ/, /jø//	Latin: *volet > OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: vueut > French: veut "(he) wants" pronounced as //vø//; > OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: uelz > French: yeux "eyes" pronounced as //jø//
pronounced as //ol//	closed	pronounced as //ol//	pronounced as //ou//	pronounced as //u//	> French: pousse pronounced as //pus// "(he) pushes"
pronounced as //ul//	closed, late closed	pronounced as //yl//	pronounced as //y//		> French: cul pronounced as //ky// "buttocks"
pronounced as //aul//	closed, late closed	pronounced as //awl//	pronounced as //ou//	pronounced as //u//	> French: chou pronounced as //ʃu// "cabbage"
Vowels + pronounced as //i// (from a Gallo-Romance palatal element)
pronounced as //ai//	all	pronounced as //ai//	pronounced as //ɛ//		> pronounced as //fait// > French: fait pronounced as //fɛ// "deed"; > French: palais pronounced as //paˈlɛ// "palace"; > French: plaie pronounced as //plɛ// "wound"; > pronounced as //plaist// > French: plaît pronounced as //plɛ// "(he) pleases"; Latin: paria > French: paire pronounced as //pɛʁ// "pair"
	palatal +	pronounced as //iai// > pronounced as //i//	pronounced as //i//		> OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: gist > French: gît pronounced as //ʒi// "(he) lies (on the ground)"; Latin: cacat > French: chie pronounced as //ʃi// "(he) shits"
pronounced as //ɛi//	all	pronounced as //iɛi//			> pronounced as //lɛit// > French: lit pronounced as //li// "bed"; > French: six pronounced as //sis// "six"; > French: pire pronounced as //piʁ// "worse"
pronounced as //ei//	all	pronounced as //ei//	pronounced as //oi// > pronounced as //wɛ//	pronounced as //wa//	> pronounced as //teit// > French: toit pronounced as //twa// "roof"; Latin: rēgem > pronounced as //rei// > French: roi pronounced as //ʁwa// "king"; > pronounced as //neir// > French: noir pronounced as //nwaʁ// "black"; > pronounced as //ˈfeira// > French: foire pronounced as //fwaʁ// "fair"
pronounced as //ɔi//	all	pronounced as //uɔi//	pronounced as //yi//	pronounced as //ɥi//	> pronounced as //nɔit// > French: nuit pronounced as //nɥi// "night"; Latin: hodiē > pronounced as //ˈɔje// > French: hui pronounced as //ɥi// "today"; > pronounced as //ˈkɔisə// > French: cuisse pronounced as //kɥis// "thigh"
pronounced as //oi//	all	pronounced as //oi//	pronounced as //oi// > pronounced as //wɛ//	pronounced as //wa//	> pronounced as //ˈboista// > French: boîte pronounced as //bwat// "box"; French: crucem > French: croix pronounced as //kʁwa// "cross"
pronounced as //ui//	all	pronounced as //yi//	pronounced as //yi//	pronounced as //ɥi//	> pronounced as //fruit// > French: fruit pronounced as //fʁɥi// "fruit"
pronounced as //aui//	all	pronounced as //ɔi//	pronounced as //oi// > pronounced as //wɛ//	pronounced as //wa//		> pronounced as //ˈdʒɔiə// > French: joie pronounced as //ʒwa// "joy"
Vowels plus pronounced as //ɲ// (from pronounced as //n// + a Gallo-Romance palatal element)
pronounced as //aɲ//	closed, late closed	pronounced as //aɲ// > pronounced as //ain//	pronounced as //ɛ̃//	pronounced as //ɛ̃// pronounced as /[æ̃]/	Latin: ba(l)neum > pronounced as //baɲ// > pronounced as //bain// > French: bain pronounced as //bɛ̃// "bath"; > > pronounced as //saɲt// > pronounced as //saint// > French: saint pronounced as //sɛ̃// "holy"
	open	pronounced as //aɲ//	pronounced as //ãɲ//	pronounced as //aɲ//	> pronounced as //monˈtaɲ// > French: montagne pronounced as //mɔ̃ˈtaɲ// "mountain"
pronounced as //ɛɲ//	unattested?
pronounced as //eɲ//	closed, late closed	pronounced as //eɲ// > pronounced as //ein//	pronounced as //ẽ//	pronounced as //ɛ̃// pronounced as /[æ̃]/	> pronounced as //peɲt// > pronounced as //peint// > French: peint pronounced as //pɛ̃// "painted"
	open	pronounced as //eɲ//	pronounced as //ẽɲ//	pronounced as //ɛɲ//	> French: enseigne pronounced as //ɑ̃ˈsɛɲ// "sign"
pronounced as //iɲ//	closed, late closed	unattested?
	open	pronounced as //iɲ//	pronounced as //ĩɲ//	pronounced as //iɲ//	> French: ligne pronounced as //liɲ// "line"
pronounced as //ɔɲ//	closed, late closed	pronounced as //oɲ// > pronounced as //oin//	pronounced as //wɛ̃//	pronounced as //wɛ̃// pronounced as /[wæ̃]/	> pronounced as //loɲ/?/ > pronounced as //loin// > French: loin pronounced as //lwɛ̃// "far"
	open	pronounced as //oɲ//	pronounced as //ũɲ//	pronounced as //ɔɲ//	*frogna (Gaulish) > French: frogne pronounced as //fʁɔɲ// "frown"
pronounced as //oɲ//	closed, late closed	pronounced as //oɲ// > pronounced as //oin//	pronounced as //wɛ̃//	pronounced as //wɛ̃// pronounced as /[wæ̃]/	> pronounced as //poɲt// > pronounced as //point// > French: point pronounced as //pwɛ̃// "point"; > pronounced as //koɲ// > pronounced as //koin// > French: coin pronounced as //kwɛ̃// "wedge"
	open	pronounced as //oɲ//	pronounced as //ũɲ//	pronounced as //ɔɲ//	> French: vergogne pronounced as //vɛʁˈɡɔɲ// "shame"
pronounced as //uɲ//	closed, late closed	pronounced as //yɲ// > pronounced as //yin//	pronounced as //ɥĩ//	pronounced as //ɥɛ̃// pronounced as /[ɥæ̃]/	> pronounced as //dʒyɲ// > pronounced as //dʒyin// > French: juin pronounced as //ʒɥɛ̃// "June"
	open	unattested?

"Context" refers to the syllable context at the Vulgar Latin or Gallo-Romance stage. The contexts are as follows:

• An "open" context is a stressed syllable followed by at most a single consonant at the Vulgar Latin stage.
• A "closed" context is any other syllable type (unstressed, or followed by two or more consonants).
• A "late closed" context is a context that is open at the Vulgar Latin (Proto-Romance) stage but becomes closed in the Gallo-Romance stage due to loss an unstressed vowel (usually pronounced as //e// or pronounced as //o// in a final syllable).
• A "palatal" context is a stressed syllable where the preceding consonant has a palatal quality, causing a yod pronounced as //j// to be generated after the preceding consonant, before the stressed vowel.

Changes that occurred due to contexts that developed during the Old French stage or later are indicated in the "Modern French" column. In particular, "+#" indicates a word-final context in modern French, which generally evolved due to loss of a final consonant in Old French or Middle French. For example, loss of pronounced as //θ// in French: aimé "loved" (originally pronounced as //aiˈmɛθ//) occurred in Old French, while loss of pronounced as //t// in French: sot "silly" occurred in Middle French (hence its continuing presence in spelling, which tends to reflect later Old French).

Both pronounced as //œ// and pronounced as //ø// occur in modern French, and there are a small number of minimal pairs, e.g. French: jeune pronounced as //ʒœn(ə)// "young" vs. French: jeûne pronounced as //ʒøn(ə)/ [ʒøːn(ə)]/ "fast (abstain from food)". In general, however, pronounced as //ø// only occurs word-finally, before pronounced as //z//, and usually before pronounced as //t//, while pronounced as //œ// occurs elsewhere.

However, the sequences pronounced as /

• /ueu/

/ from multiple origins regularly dissimilate to pronounced as //jɛw// (and later pronounced as //jœ/, /jø//) except after labials and velars (Latin Latin: locus → pronounced as //lueu// → French: lieu pronounced as //ljø//, but Latin: *volet → pronounced as /[vuoɫt]/ → pronounced as /[vueɫt]/ → pronounced as /[vueut]/ → French: veut pronounced as //vø//).

The changes producing French French: moitié pronounced as //mwaˈtje// were approximately as follows:

1. Latin: medietātem (Classical Latin form)
2. pronounced as //medjeˈtaːtẽː// (pronunciation c. 1st century BC)
3. pronounced as //mejjeˈtaːtẽː// (1st century AD: pronounced as //dj// > pronounced as //jj//)
4. pronounced as //mɛjjɛˈtaːteː// (2nd century AD, Proto-Romance)
5. pronounced as //mɛjˈtaːte// (3rd century AD: loss of intertonic pronounced as //e//, loss of vowel quantity, new lengthening under stress)
6. pronounced as //mɛjˈtʲaːte// (3rd century AD: late palatalization of pronounced as //t// by preceding pronounced as //j//)
7. pronounced as //mejˈtʲaːde// (4th century AD: first lenition of second pronounced as //t//, but first one protected by preceding consonant pronounced as //j//; raising of pronounced as //ɛ// to pronounced as /[e]/ in unstressed syllables)
8. pronounced as //mejˈtʲede// (5th century AD, Gallo-Romance)
9. pronounced as //mejˈtʲieðe// (5th century AD)
10. pronounced as //mejˈtʲieð// (7th century AD: loss of final unstressed pronounced as //e//)
11. pronounced as //mejˈtieθ// (7th century AD: final devoicing)
12. pronounced as //mejˈtieθ// (9th century AD, Early Old French)
13. pronounced as //mejˈtie// (11th century AD: loss of dentals)
14. pronounced as //mɔiˈtje// (12th century AD, Later Old French)
15. pronounced as //mueˈtje// (12th century AD)
16. pronounced as //mweˈtje// (12th century AD)
17. pronounced as //mwɛˈtje// (13th century AD)
18. pronounced as //mwaˈtje// (18th century AD, Classical French and Modern French)

Chronological history

To Proto-Romance

See main article: Phonological changes from Classical Latin to Proto-Romance.

• Loss of pronounced as //h//.
• Loss of final pronounced as //m// (except in monosyllables: Modern French French: rien < rem).
• pronounced as //ns// > pronounced as //s//. The preceding vowel was long as a result of compensatory lengthening (already in Classical Latin).
• pronounced as //rs// > pronounced as //ss// in some words (Latin: dorsum > Vulgar Latin *dossu > Modern French French: dos) but not others (Latin: ursum > Modern French French: ours).
• Fusion of the diphthongs and to pronounced as //ɛ(ː)// and pronounced as //e(ː)// respectively (it is disputed whether the fusion of initially produced a short or long vowel, or postdated the neutralization of Latin vowel length). The diphthong pronounced as //au// was retained.
• Development of Latin pronounced as //w// and intervocalic pronounced as //b// to a voiced labial fricative. The original phonetic realization of this sound was probably bilabial pronounced as /[β]/ (found today in Spanish as an allophone of pronounced as //b//), but it eventually became labiodental pronounced as /[v]/ in French, and so will be transcribed pronounced as //v// below.
• Introduction of prosthetic short pronounced as //i// before words beginning with pronounced as //s// + consonant, becoming closed pronounced as //e// with the Romance vowel change (Spanish Spanish; Castilian: espina, Modern French French: épine "thorn, spine" < French, Old (842-ca.1400);: espine <).
• Vulgar Latin unstressed vowel loss: Loss of intertonic (unstressed and in an interior syllable) vowels between pronounced as //k//, pronounced as //ɡ// and pronounced as //r//, pronounced as //l//.
• Final pronounced as //-er// > pronounced as //-re//, pronounced as //-or// > pronounced as //-ro// (Spanish Spanish; Castilian: cuatro, sobre < quattuor, super).
• Reduction of pronounced as //e// and pronounced as //i// in hiatus to pronounced as //j//, which would eventually be followed by palatalization of the resulting consonant + pronounced as //j// sequences.
• Affrication of pronounced as //tj// (2nd–3rd centuries AD).
• Gemination of pronounced as //kj// to pronounced as //kkj//.

To Proto-Italo-Western Romance

• Reduction of ten-vowel system to the seven vowels pronounced as //a ɛ e i ɔ o u// (see table). In unstressed syllables, pronounced as //ɛ ɔ// become pronounced as //e o//, resulting in only five distinct vowels.
• Palatalization of pronounced as //k//, pronounced as //ɡ// before the front vowels pronounced as //ɛ e i// (around the fifth century AD). For simplicity, the outcomes can be transcribed as pronounced as //kʲ//, pronounced as //ɡʲ//; the steps involved in their subsequent phonetic development are debated.

To Proto-Gallo-Ibero-Romance

• Further changes involving palatalized sounds:
  • pronounced as //kʲ// and pronounced as //tj// merge as an affricate pronounced as //tsʲ// (treated as a single sound). The double version of this affricate, pronounced as //ttsʲ//, is the regular outcome of pronounced as //kkj//, from earlier pronounced as //kj//, from unstressed Latin pronounced as //ki// or pronounced as //ke// + vowel.
  • pronounced as //j//, pronounced as //dj//, pronounced as //ɡj//, pronounced as //ɡʲ// have all merged as pronounced as //j// by this point. (A merge of some or all of these sounds is also widely seen in other Romance languages, but some languages show divergent developments in at least some words, particularly for pronounced as //dj//.)
  • pronounced as //ɡn// and pronounced as //nj// become pronounced as //ɲ//.
  • pronounced as //ɡl// and pronounced as //kl// become pronounced as //ʎ//. The intermediate steps are disputed.
  • pronounced as //kt// > pronounced as //jt// and pronounced as //ks// > pronounced as //js//; first going through pronounced as //xt// and pronounced as //xs//, respectively.
• First lenition (did not happen in a small area around the Pyrenees): chain shift involving intervocalic singleton consonants. Voiced stops and unvoiced fricatives become voiced fricatives, while unvoiced stops become voiced stops. Specifically, intervocalic pronounced as //d ɡ// > pronounced as /[ð ɣ]/ (Latin intervocalic pronounced as //b// had already become pronounced as //v//); intervocalic pronounced as //s f// > pronounced as /[z v]/, and intervocalic pronounced as //p t k tsʲ// > pronounced as //b d ɡ dzʲ//. The dating is debated; it is sometimes placed as early as the 3rd century AD, but was probably not completed until later; it seems to have been complete in Gaul by the end of the sixth century. Consonants before pronounced as //r// are lenited, also, and pronounced as //pl// > pronounced as //bl//. Final pronounced as //t// and pronounced as //d// are lenited when preceded by a vowel.
  • Latin: *malefatius > Early Old French pronounced as /[maɫvais]/.
• First unstressed vowel loss: Loss of intertonic (unstressed and in an interior syllable) vowels except pronounced as //a// when pretonic. That occurred at the same time as the first lenition, and individual words inconsistently show one change before the other. Hence Latin: manica > French: manche but Latin: grānica > French: grange. Latin: carricāre becomes either French, Old (842-ca.1400);: charchier or French, Old (842-ca.1400);: chargier in Old French. However, in some analyses, the standard for central French was initially for lenition to occur before the unstressed vowel loss, and patterns of the order being reversed, resulting in voiceless consonants, were loaned from the more Frankish-influenced Northern dialects of Normandy, Champagne and Lorrain, eventually spreading to some other words by analogy, leading to known cases of divergent development, such as French, Old (842-ca.1400);: grange and French, Old (842-ca.1400);: granche, and French, Old (842-ca.1400);: venger and French, Old (842-ca.1400);: (re)vencher (the latter both from Latin Latin: vindicāre).^[5]

To Early Old French (c. 840)

Evidence of 9th century French phonology is relatively limited, being based largely on two short documents, the Oaths of Strasbourg, written in 842 in what was likely a deliberately Latinized, archaic form of Romance, and the Sequence of Saint Eulalia, written around 880 in some Romance vernacular of north central France, not directly ancestral to modern French (the modern French form chose requires palatalization of pronounced as //ka// to have taken place before monophthongization of pronounced as /[au̯]/, whereas the Sequences "cose" shows only the latter of these two sound changes, as in modern Picard). Nevertheless, the following sound changes may be identified as having taken place before or around this period:

• Diphthongization of open-mid vowels pronounced as //ɛ, ɔ// in stressed open syllables (where the vowels had likely been allophonically lengthened to pronounced as /[ɛː, ɔː]/), and also in stressed closed syllables if followed by a palatal sound (often later absorbed). They remain unchanged in other kinds of closed syllables, hence Latin: semper > French, Old (842-ca.1400);: sempre pronounced as /[ˈsɛmprə]/ (Eulalia line 10) and Latin: mort(u)a > French, Old (842-ca.1400);: morte pronounced as /[ˈmɔrtə]/ (Eulalia line 18). Unstressed pronounced as //ɛ, ɔ// did not exist, having merged with pronounced as //e, o//. The diphthongs resulting from this sound change are variously transcribed by modern linguists as pronounced as /[iɛ, uɔ]/ or pronounced as /[jɛ, wɔ]/. Old French assonances and rhymes suggest that diphthongization initially produces falling diphthongs such as pronounced as /[ie̯, uo̯]/ or pronounced as /[iɛ̯, uɔ̯]/, with pronounced as /[ie̯]/ later evolving into a rising diphthong (pronounced as /[jɛ, je]/) and pronounced as /[uo̯]/ later evolving into a front rounded vowel pronounced as /[œ, ø]/ (possibly with pronounced as /[ue̯]/ or pronounced as /[wɛ, we]/ as intermediate steps). However, Porter 1960 reconstructs the rising diphthongs pronounced as /[jɛ, wɔ]/ as occurring already in Eulalia.
  • In stressed open syllables: Latin Latin: bona, Latin: caelum > Early Old French French, Old (842-ca.1400);: buona, French, Old (842-ca.1400);: ciel (Eulalia lines 1, 6)
  • Followed by a palatal in stressed closed syllables: Latin: peior >> pronounced as //ˈpejro// > pronounced as //ˈpiejro// >> French: pire "worst"; Latin: noctem > pronounced as //ˈnojte// > pronounced as //ˈnuojte// >> pronounced as //nujt// French: nuit; but Latin: tertium > pronounced as //ˈtertsʲo// >> French: tierz.
  • Diphthongization in the contexts described above predates the earliest Old French texts, but the exact date of this sound change for northern Gallo-Romance languages is uncertain: some place it in the 6th or 7th century, others as early as the 3rd–4th centuries, although Loporcaro 2015 argues the early dating has not been established. Although diphthongization of pronounced as //ɛ, ɔ// is a widespread sound change in Romance languages (suggesting it arose relatively early, possibly within a shared community of Late Latin speakers) the conditions in which it occurs are not uniform between languages: for example, pronounced as //ɛ, ɔ// diphthongize in both closed and open stressed syllables in Romanian and Spanish.
• Second lenition of intervocalic voiced stops (not in all Gallo-Romance): between vowels, singleton pronounced as /[b d ɡ]/ (from Latin pronounced as /[p t k]/) become pronounced as /[v ð ɣ]/. As before, intervocalic pronounced as /[br dr ɡr]/ were also affected: Latin: patrem, capra, Latin: sacrāmentum > pronounced as /[ˈpaːdre, ˈkaːbra, saɡraˈmento]/ > EOF pronounced as /[ˈpæðrə, ˈtʃie̯vrə, saɣraˈment]/ > French French: père, chèvre, serment. Cf. French, Old (842-ca.1400);: soure pronounced as /[sovrə]/ 'over' (Eulalia, line 12). This lenition did not affect pronounced as /[d]/ that had come into contact with a preceding consonant via intertonic vowel loss, even if that preceding consonant was eventually lost or vocalized, as in Latin: adcubitāre > French French: accouder, Latin: *subitānum > French French: soudain, Latin: *placitāre > French French: plaider, Latin: adjūtāre > French French: aider. (Pope 1952 interprets forms such as OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: aidier, French, Old (842-ca.1400);: sodain, French, Old (842-ca.1400);: bondir as showing voicing of pronounced as /[t]/ to pronounced as /[d]/ by progressive assimilation after pronounced as /[j, β, b]/.) In contrast, the glide that developed from diphthongization of pronounced as /[eː]/ (see below) did not protect a following consonant, as seen in Latin: monēta > pronounced as /[moˈneːda]/ > pronounced as /[moˈnei̯ðə]/ > Old French French, Old (842-ca.1400);: moneie, French, Old (842-ca.1400);: monoie.
• Palatalization of velars before pronounced as //a//:
  • pronounced as /[k, ɡ]/ before pronounced as //a// become palatal affricates pronounced as /[tʃ, dʒ]/ (late fifth to early sixth century). Very few words failed to palatalize: Latin: cavea >> French, Old (842-ca.1400);: cage, not **chage.
  • pronounced as /[ɣ]/ before pronounced as //a// becomes a palatal glide pronounced as /[i̯]/ when preceded by an unrounded vowel.
• pronounced as /[pʲ]/ and pronounced as /[fʲ]/ become pronounced as /[tʃ]/; pronounced as /[bʲ]/ and pronounced as /[vʲ]/ become pronounced as /[dʒ]/; pronounced as /[mʲ]/ becomes pronounced as /[ndʒ]/. This development was also seen in Occitan and Ligurian.^[6]
• When not preceded by a vowel, pronounced as //j// becomes pronounced as /[dʒ]/. The ultimate source can be Late Latin pronounced as //dj//, pronounced as //ɡj//, pronounced as //ɡ(e, i)//, or word-initial pronounced as //j//:
  • Latin: diurnum > EOF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: jorn pronounced as /[dʒurn]/, Latin: Georgius > OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: Georges, Latin: argentum > OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: argent pronounced as /[arˈdʒent]/, Latin: iacet > OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: gist pronounced as /[dʒist]/.
• Where intertonic vowel loss had brought pronounced as /[j]/ into contact with following pronounced as /[d t n r]/, it palatalized them to pronounced as /[dʲ tʲ nʲ rʲ]/ (as indicated by the development of a following pronounced as //a// in a stressed originally open syllable). The preceding vowel developed to a diphthong ending in the glide pronounced as /[i̯]/. Examples:
  • French, Old (842-ca.1400);: impeiorāre > pronounced as /[empejˈraːre]/ > pronounced as /[empei̯ˈrʲaːre]/ > pronounced as /[empei̯ˈrie̯r]/ > OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: empoirier "to worsen" (compare Latin: peior > pronounced as /[ˈpɛjro]/ > pronounced as /[ˈpie̯i̯rʲe]/ > French, Old (842-ca.1400);: pire)
  • Latin: medietātem > pronounced as /[mejeˈtaːte]/ > pronounced as /[mejˈtaːde]/ > pronounced as /[mei̯ˈtʲaːðe]/ > pronounced as /[mei̯ˈtie̯θ]/ > French, Old (842-ca.1400);: moitié
• A glide pronounced as /[i̯]/ develops between a vowel and a following palatalized consonant in some cases:
  • Before double pronounced as /[ssʲ]/ (from pronounced as //ssj//, pronounced as //stj//, pronounced as //skj//, or pronounced as //sk(e,i)//). This will ultimately develop to pronounced as /[i̯s]/ (spelled "iss"), merging with original pronounced as //ks//.
    • Latin: messiōnem > French, Old (842-ca.1400);: meisson, Latin: pisciōnem > French, Old (842-ca.1400);: peisson, Latin: nāscentem > French, Old (842-ca.1400);: naissant
  • Before single pronounced as /[zʲ]/ or pronounced as /[dz]/ (from intervocalic pronounced as //sj//, pronounced as //tj//, pronounced as //k(e,i)//). This will ultimately develop to pronounced as /[i̯z]/ (spelled "is").
    • Latin: mānsiōnem > French: maison, Latin: ratiōnem > French: raison, Latin: placēre > French: plaisir
  • Before pronounced as /[rʲ]/ (which ultimately develops to pronounced as /[i̯r]/, spelled "ir") and also before certain clusters ending in pronounced as /[rʲ]/:
    • Latin: corium > French: cuir, Latin: ostrea > French: uistre
  • Before syllable-final pronounced as /[ɲ]/. This will ultimately develop to pronounced as /[i̯n]/ (spelled "in"): > *pronounced as //ˈjonjet// > pronounced as /[dʒoɲt]/ > pronounced as /[dʒoi̯nt]/ French: joint
• In contrast, a glide typically does not develop between a vowel and the following consonants:
  • pronounced as /[tʃ]/, pronounced as /[dʒ]/ (which were possibly normally double pronounced as /[ttʃ]/, pronounced as /[ddʒ]/ in intervocalic position)
  • pronounced as /[tsʲ]/ (which was possibly normally double pronounced as /[ttsʲ]/ in intervocalic position)
  • double pronounced as /[ddz(ʲ)]/, which developed to Old French pronounced as /[dz]/ (as in OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: doze, treze, seze, from pronounced as /[doddze]/,^[7] pronounced as /[treddze]/, pronounced as /[seddze]/)
  • pronounced as /[ʎ]/ (although in writing pronounced as /[ʎ]/ was represented by "il" or "ill").
• Morphemic pronounced as /[-arʲ-]/ in inherited words becomes pronounced as /[-ie̯r-]/ instead of pronounced as /[-ai̯r-]/, hence Latin: operārium > pronounced as /[obˈraːrʲo]/ > pronounced as /[obˈrie̯ro]/ (not pronounced as /
  • [obˈrai̯ro]
  /) >> French, Old (842-ca.1400);: ouvrier "worker", but Latin: ārea >> French, Old (842-ca.1400);: aire "area" did not participate.
• Diphthongization of pronounced as //e, o// and fronting of pronounced as //a// in stressed, originally open syllables. In other words, these changes affect long pronounced as /[aː, eː, oː]/, which were either allophones of pronounced as //a, e, o// (if it is assumed that diphthongization preceded degemination and final vowel apocope) or distinct phonemes (if degemination and final vowel apocope preceded diphthongization). There is disagreement about the relative ordering of these sound changes. Diphthongization did not affect vowels followed by a palatal glide or palatalized sound. This diphthongization can be dated to the fourth century; it did not occur in all Gallo-Romance.
  • pronounced as /[oː]/ becomes pronounced as /[ou̯]/.
  • pronounced as /[eː]/ becomes pronounced as /[ei̯]/ when not preceded by a palatal sound.
    • After a palatal or palatalized consonant, pronounced as /[eː]/ evolves instead to pronounced as //i// (likely via simplification of pronounced as /[ie̯i̯]/; see below). Examples: Latin: c'''ē'''ra > OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: c'''i'''re, Latin: pag'''ē'''nsem > OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: pa'''ï'''s, Latin: plac'''ē'''re > OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: plais'''i'''r, Latin: iac'''ē'''re > OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: ges'''i'''r
  • pronounced as /[aː]/, when not followed by a nasal or preceded by a palatal sound, becomes a vowel that can be transcribed as pronounced as //æ//. Its actual phonetic quality is debated: in Early Old French, it is usually written (e) but does not assonate with either pronounced as //ɛ// or pronounced as //e//. It evolves later in French to pronounced as /[ɛ]/ in a closed syllable, pronounced as /[e]/ in an open one. A diphthong such as pronounced as /[aɛ̯]/ may have been a stage in its development, but alternatively it may have simply developed by fronting of pronounced as /[aː]/ to pronounced as /[æː]/, resulting in a phonemic distinction between the four vowel qualities pronounced as //a//, pronounced as //æ//, pronounced as //ɛ// and pronounced as //e//. Another common interpretation supposes that pronounced as /[aː]/ evolved to pronounced as //eː// or pronounced as //ɛː//, a distinctively long vowel in contrast to short pronounced as //ɛ// and pronounced as //e//, although this would be the only phonemic length contrast in the Early Old French vowel system.
    • Before a nasal, pronounced as /[aː]/ evolves instead to pronounced as //ai̯// when not preceded by a palatalized consonant: Latin: manum, amat > OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: main, aime
    • After a palatalized consonant (including the affricates pronounced as /[tʃ, dʒ, tsʲ]/ as well as pronounced as /[tʲ, dʲ, nʲ, rʲ]/), pronounced as /[aː]/ evolves instead to pronounced as /[ie̯]/. This is known as Bartsch's law, and can be dated to the sixth or seventh century. Examples: Latin: *cugit'''ā'''re > pronounced as /[kujeˈtaːre]/ > pronounced as /[kujeˈdaːre]/ > pronounced as /[kujˈdaːre]/ > pronounced as /[kui̯ˈdʲaːre]/ >> pronounced as /[kui̯ˈdie̯r]/ OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: cuid'''ie'''r "to think", Latin: mansiōn'''ā'''tam > pronounced as /[mazʲoˈnaːda]/ > pronounced as /[mazʲˈnʲaːda]/ > pronounced as /[mai̯zˈnie̯ðə]/ > OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: maisn'''ié'''e "household".
• Other vowel changes:
  • pronounced as /[au̯]/ > pronounced as /[ɔ]/. This took place after the palatalization of velars before pronounced as //a//.
  • pronounced as /[ie̯i̯, uo̯i̯]/, from Proto-Italo-Western Romance *pronounced as /[ɛ, ɔ]/ before a palatal glide, are simplified to pronounced as /[i, ui̯]/. (Alternatively, Pope 1952 explains the development of the second as pronounced as /[ue̯j]/ > pronounced as /[ye̯j]/ > pronounced as /[yi̯j]/ > pronounced as /[yi̯]/.)
    • Latin: lectum > *pronounced as /[liejte]/ > French, Old (842-ca.1400);: lit, Latin: noctem > *pronounced as /[nuo̯i̯t]/ > French: nuit
    • Compare the development of pronounced as /[eː]/ to pronounced as /[i]/ when preceded by a palatal or palatalized consonant, described above.
  • Similarly, pronounced as /[ai̯]/ becomes pronounced as /[i]/ when preceded by a palatal consonant: Latin: i'''a'''cet > OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: g'''i'''st pronounced as /[d͡ʒist]/, Latin: c'''a'''cat > OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: ch'''i'''e pronounced as /[ˈtʃiə]/.
  • Second unstressed vowel loss: All vowels except pronounced as //a// are lost in unstressed final syllables. This change was complete by around 700 AD.
  • Addition of a final, supporting pronounced as //e// when necessary, to avoid words with impermissible final clusters.
  • pronounced as //a// > pronounced as /[ə]/ in unstressed open non-word-initial syllables.
• Other consonant changes:
  • pronounced as //h// (one of the first consonants lost from Classical Latin) is reintroduced in borrowings from Germanic languages.^[8]
  • Single intervocalic pronounced as /[dzʲ]/ is eventually deaffricated to pronounced as /[zʲ]/, upon which it merges with the outcome of pronounced as //sj//. There is conflicting evidence of the date of this sound change. The consonant derived from Latin pronounced as //k// before a front vowel seems to have still been a palatalized affricate pronounced as /[dzʲ]/ or pronounced as /[i̯dz]/ when the following vowel was lost in a final syllable, resulting in word-final pronounced as /[i̯ts]/ in Early Old French (spelled "iz"), later simplified to pronounced as /[i̯s]/. In contrast, the consonant derived from Latin pronounced as //t// + yod seems to have become a palatalized fricative by the time the following vowel was lost in a final syllable, resulting in word-final pronounced as /[i̯s]/ in Early Old French. In the Sequence of Saint Eulalia, the letter (z) may represent pronounced as /[dz]/ in the words "domnizelle" and "bellezour" (from Latin *Latin: domnicella and *Latin: bellatiorem).
    • Latin: picem > EOF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: peiz, Latin: nucem > EOF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: noiz, Latin: crucem > EOF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: croiz, Latin: pacem > EOF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: paiz, Latin: vocem > EOF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: voiz
    • Latin: palatium > EOF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: palais, Latin: pretium > EOF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: pris
  • Degemination of obstruents: At some point after the lenition of single intervocalic pronounced as /[b d ɡ dzʲ]/ to pronounced as /[v ð ɣ zʲ~i̯z]/, geminate obstruents are simplified to single consonants. This change is variously dated from the 7th-9th century. Since diphthongization of pronounced as //ɛ ɔ//, diphthongization of pronounced as //e, o// and fronting of pronounced as //a// (discussed above) occur only in originally open syllables, some analysts assume that degemination must postdate all of these sound changes. However, it is possible that the distinction at the time of these sound changes was not in the length of the consonant, but in the length of the vowel.
  • Intervocalic pronounced as //v// (probably still pronounced as bilabial pronounced as /[β]/) is lost when followed, or sometimes when preceded by a rounded vowel:
    • Latin: *nūba > pronounced as /[ˈnuβa]/ > French French: nue, Latin: *habūtum > pronounced as /[əˈy]/ > French French: eu, Latin: *bibūtum > pronounced as /[bəˈy]/ > French French: bu
  • pronounced as /[ɣ]/ is lost in contexts where it did not evolve to pronounced as /[j]/; namely, when either the preceding or the following vowel was rounded:
    • Latin: locāre > pronounced as /[loˈɣaːre]/ > French French: louer, Latin: rūga > French French: rue
  • Obstruents are devoiced when final or when followed by a voiceless obstruent, including after vowel loss.
  • pronounced as //s// is affricated to pronounced as /[ts]/ after palatal pronounced as /[ɲ]/ or pronounced as /[ʎ]/ (Latin: dolēs > French, Old (842-ca.1400);: duels "you hurt" but Latin: colligis > *pronounced as //ˈkɔljes// > French, Old (842-ca.1400);: cuelz, cueuz "you gather"; Latin: iungis > *pronounced as //ˈjonjes// > French, Old (842-ca.1400);: joinz "you join"; Latin: fīlius > French, Old (842-ca.1400);: filz "son": in such words represents pronounced as /[ts]/).
  • Palatal pronounced as /[ɲ]/, pronounced as /[ʎ]/ are depalatalized to pronounced as /[n]/, pronounced as /[l]/ when not followed by a vowel (ie. when final or followed by a consonant).
    • In first-person verb forms, they may remain palatal when final because of the influence of the palatalized subjunctives.
    • pronounced as /[ɲ]/ > pronounced as /[i̯n]/ when depalatalising but pronounced as /[ʎ]/ > pronounced as /[l]/, without a yod. (Latin: *veclum > pronounced as //ˈvɛlʲo// > pronounced as //ˈviɛlʲo// > French, Old (842-ca.1400);: viel "old" but Latin: cuneum > pronounced as //ˈkonʲo// > French, Old (842-ca.1400);: coin, Latin: balneum > pronounced as //ˈbanjo// > French, Old (842-ca.1400);: bain but Latin: montāneam > pronounced as //monˈtanja// > French, Old (842-ca.1400);: montagne.)

To Old French, c. 1100

• pronounced as //f//, pronounced as //p//, pronounced as //k// lost before final pronounced as //s//, pronounced as //t//. (Latin: dēbet > Strasbourg Oaths French, Old (842-ca.1400);: dift pronounced as //deift// > OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: doit.)
• pronounced as /[ei̯]/ > pronounced as /[oi̯]/ (blocked by nasalization; see below).
• pronounced as /[ou̯]/ > pronounced as /[eu̯]/, however this is blocked if a labial consonant follows, in which case the segment remains pronounced as /[ou̯]/, ultimately becoming pronounced as /[u]/ later. (Latin: lupa > OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: louve.)
• pronounced as /[uo̯]/ > pronounced as /[ue̯]/ (blocked by nasalization; see below).
• pronounced as //a// develops allophone pronounced as /[ɑ]/ before pronounced as //s//, which later develops into a separate phoneme.
• Loss of pronounced as //θ// and pronounced as //ð//. When it results in a hiatus of pronounced as //a// with a following vowel, the pronounced as //a// becomes a schwa pronounced as //ə//.
• Loss of pronounced as //s// before voiced consonant (passing first through pronounced as //h//), with lengthening of preceding vowel. That produces a new set of long vowel phonemes, as is described more completely in the following section.
• pronounced as //u// > pronounced as //y//. (This shift, along with the later pronounced as //o// > pronounced as //u//, is an areal feature common to most Gallo-Romance languages.)
• Word-final pronounced as //rn//, pronounced as //rm// > pronounced as //r// (Latin: diurnum > EOF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: jorn > OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: jor; Latin: vermem > EOF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: verm > OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: ver; Latin: dormit > OF French, Old (842-ca.1400);: dort).

To Late Old French, c. 1250–1300

Changes here affect oral and nasal vowels alike, unless otherwise indicated.

change	condition	notes
pronounced as //o// > pronounced as //u//	everywhere
pronounced as /[ue̯]/, pronounced as /[eu̯]/ > pronounced as //œ//	everywhere	Nasal pronounced as //wɛ̃// segments, for which there had dialectal variation with nasal pronounced as //ũ// previously, are all shifted (or returned) to pronounced as //ũ// (ultimately becoming pronounced as //ɔ̃//) before this can occur.
Rising diphthongs develop when the first element of diphthong is pronounced as //u//, pronounced as //y//, pronounced as //i//. Stress shifts to second element.	everywhere	Hence pronounced as /[yi̯]/ > pronounced as /[ɥi]/
pronounced as /[oi̯]/ > pronounced as //we//	everywhere	Later, pronounced as //we// > pronounced as //ɛ// in some words like French: français; note doublet French: François.
pronounced as /[ai̯]/ > pronounced as //ɛ//	everywhere	afterward, (ai) is a common spelling of pronounced as //ɛ//, regardless of origin.
pronounced as //e// > pronounced as //ɛ//	In closed syllables.
Deaffrication: pronounced as //ts// > pronounced as //s// pronounced as //tʃ// > pronounced as //ʃ// pronounced as //dʒ// > pronounced as //ʒ//	everywhere
Phonemicization of pronounced as //a// vs. pronounced as //ɑ//	pronounced as /[ɑ]/ was initially an allophone of pronounced as //a// before pronounced as //s//, pronounced as //z// that was phonemicized when pronounced as //ts// > pronounced as //s//.	pronounced as / [ˈtʃatsə] / > pronounced as //ʃas(ə)//, French: chasse ("he hunts"). pronounced as / [ˈtʃɑsə] / > pronounced as //ʃɑs(ə)//, French: châsse ("reliquary, frame") Later losses of pronounced as //s// produced further minimal pairs.
syllable-final consonant loss fusion with or compensatory lengthening of preceding vowels	word-internal syllable-final position	Consonants in coda position word-internally underwent weakening and loss (Gess 1996). This affected pronounced as //S// (pronounced as /[z]/ before voiced consonants and pronounced as /[s]/ before voiceless ones), pronounced as //N// (=nasal consonants), pronounced as //l//, and to some extent the most sonorous coda consonant, pronounced as //r//. Syllable-final pronounced as //s// reduced to pronounced as /[h]/ before deleting. Borrowings into English suggest that the process occurred first when the following consonant was voiced but not when it was unvoiced (this explains the English pronunciations isle vs. feast). This process was accompanied by compensatory lengthening of the preceding vowel. Preconsonantal (s) was retained as a marker of vowel length (sometimes non-etymologically) until being substituted by (ˆ). Syllable-final nasal consonants nasalized and then were absorbed into the preceding vowels, leading to phonemic nasal vowels. Syllable-final pronounced as //l// (probably already velarized in this position) vocalized to pronounced as /[w]/ and fused with the preceding vowel to produce falling diphthongs. Where syllable-final pronounced as //r// was weakened and lost word-internally, it was mostly later restored with the notable exception of morphemic French: -er.

To Middle French, c. 1500

Changes here affect oral and nasal vowels alike, unless otherwise indicated.

• pronounced as //ei// > pronounced as //ɛ// (the pronounced as /[ei̯]/ diphthong is maintained in Quebec French: French: neige "snow" pronounced as /[nei̯ʒ(ə)]/ or pronounced as /[naɪ̯ʒ(ə)]/).
• Loss of final consonants before a word beginning with a consonant. That produces a three-way pronunciation for many words (alone, followed by a vowel, followed by a consonant), which is still maintained in the words French: six "six" and French: dix "ten" (and until recently French: neuf "nine"), e.g. French: dix pronounced as //dis// "ten" but French: dix amis pronounced as //diz aˈmi// "ten friends" and French: dix femmes pronounced as //di ˈfam(ə)// "ten women".
• Subject pronouns start to become mandatory because of loss of phonetic differences between inflections.
• Medieval apical s, as in French: saint, merges into deaffricated as in French: ceint, thus merging soft and .

To Early Modern French, c. 1700

• pronounced as //au// > pronounced as /[ɔː]/ > pronounced as //o// in Late Middle French (around the 16th century).
• pronounced as //ɛau// > pronounced as /[e̯au̯]/ > pronounced as /[e̯o]/ in Later Middle French > pronounced as //o// (from around the end of the 16th century to the mid-17th century).
• Loss of most phonemically lengthened vowels (preserved in Belgian, Acadian French and Quebec French).
• Loss of final consonants in a word standing alone. That produces a two-way pronunciation for many words (in close connection with a following word that begins with a vowel), often still maintained: French: nous voyons pronounced as //nu vwaˈjɔ̃// "we see" vs. French: nous avons pronounced as //nuz aˈvɔ̃// "we have". That phenomenon is known as liaison.
• pronounced as //we// > pronounced as //wa//^[9] (see above – To Late Old French) or pronounced as //ɛ// (French, Middle (ca.1400-1600);: étoit > French: était; the spelling was not changed until the 19th century). This also affects certain other instances of pronounced as //we ~ o̯e//; e.g. French: moelle pronounced as //mwal//, French: poêle pronounced as //pwɑl//. Change into pronounced as //ɛ// is relatively rare in standard French, it occurs notably in the imperfect tense suffixes, and the adjectival suffix French: -ois > French: -ais.
  • The pronunciation pronounced as //we// is preserved in some forms of Quebec and Acadian French, especially by old speakers.
• Instances of pronounced as //h// were again deleted in the late seventeenth century. The phoneme pronounced as //h// had been reintroduced to the language through the absorption of loanwords, primarily of Germanic origin, and these are the pronounced as //h// instances that were lost this time around.^[8] However a Germanic usually disallows liaison: French: les halles pronounced as //le.al(ə)//, French: les haies pronounced as //le.ɛ//, French: les haltes pronounced as //le.alt(ə)//, whereas a Latin allows liaison: French: les herbes pronounced as //lezɛrb(ə)//, French: les hôtels pronounced as //lezotɛl//.

To Modern French, c. 2000

• pronounced as //r// becomes a uvular sound ("Guttural R"), realized as either a trill pronounced as //ʀ// or fricative pronounced as //ʁ//, in most accents. The alveolar trill is maintained in Acadia, Louisiana, some parts of Québec and in Francophone Africa.
• Merger of pronounced as //ʎ// (spelled in French: œil and French: travail) into pronounced as //j//, which had begun in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, reaches completion around the beginning of the nineteenth century^[10] (see Mouillé)
• Elision of final pronounced as //ə//, and occasionally of pronounced as //ə// elsewhere, unless a sequence of three consonants would be produced (such constraints operate over multiword sequences of words that are syntactically connected). Occitan French tends to be more conservative, while the elision of final pronounced as //ə// does not occur in Francophone Africa.
• Changing use of liaison, which overall becomes rarer.
• In Metropolitan French, gradual merging of pronounced as //œ̃// and pronounced as //ɛ̃//, both are realized as pronounced as /[æ̃]/, but the distinction is maintained in Southern France, Switzerland, Belgium, Quebec and Francophone Africa.
• In Metropolitan French, loss of the phoneme pronounced as //ɑ//, merged with pronounced as //a//, both are realized as pronounced as /[ä]/, but the distinction is maintained in French Switzerland, Belgium, Quebec and Francophone Africa.
• In Metropolitan French, loss of the phoneme pronounced as //ə//, merged with pronounced as //ø//, both are realized as pronounced as /[ø]/, but the distinction is maintained in Quebec French.
• In Metropolitan French, loss of the phoneme pronounced as //ɛː//, merged with pronounced as //ɛ//, both are realized as pronounced as /[ɛ]/, but the distinction is maintained in Northern French, Switzerland, Belgium, Quebec and Francophone Africa.
• In Metropolitan French, merger of pronounced as //ɔ// into pronounced as //o// when word-final, but the distinction is maintained in Belgian French.

Nasalization

Nasalization of vowels before pronounced as //n// or pronounced as //m// occurred gradually over several hundred years, beginning with the low vowels, possibly as early as 900, and finishing with the high vowels, possibly as late as c. 1300. Numerous changes occurred afterwards that are still continuing.

The following steps occurred during the Old French period:

• Nasalization of pronounced as //a//, pronounced as //e//, pronounced as //ɔ// before pronounced as //n// or pronounced as //m// (originally, in all circumstances, including when a vowel followed).
• Nasalization occurs before and blocks the changes pronounced as //ei// > pronounced as //oi// and pronounced as //ou// > pronounced as //eu//. However, the sequence pronounced as //õĩ// occurs because pronounced as //oi// has more than one origin: French, Old (842-ca.1400);: coin "corner" < . The sequences pronounced as //ĩẽn// or pronounced as //ĩẽm//, and pronounced as //ũẽn// or pronounced as //ũẽm//, also occur, but the last two occur in only a few words, in each case alternating with a non-diphthongized variant: French, Old (842-ca.1400);: om or French, Old (842-ca.1400);: uem (ModF French: on), and French, Old (842-ca.1400);: bon or French, Old (842-ca.1400);: buen (ModF French: bon). The version without the diphthong apparently arose in unstressed environments and is the only one that survived.
• Lowering of pronounced as //ẽ// and pronounced as //ɛ̃// to pronounced as /[æ̃]/ but not in the sequences pronounced as //jẽ// and pronounced as //ẽj//: French: bien, French: plein. The realization of pronounced as //ẽ// to pronounced as /[æ̃]/ probably occurred during the 11th or early 12th century and did not affect Old Norman or Anglo-Norman. Ultimately pronounced as /[æ̃]/ merged into pronounced as //ã//.
• Nasalization of pronounced as //i//, pronounced as //u//, pronounced as //y// before pronounced as //n// or pronounced as //m//.
• It is not clear if the third-person plural ending French: -ent contained a nasalized schwa pronounced as //ə̃//; although the n is consistently kept in writing, by Early Modern French at the latest it had become non-nasal pronounced as //ə//.

The following steps occurred during the Middle French period:

• Lowering of pronounced as //ũ// > pronounced as //õ// > pronounced as //ɔ̃//. (pronounced as //ũ// usually comes from original pronounced as //oN//, as original pronounced as //u// became pronounced as //y//.)
• Denasalization of vowels before pronounced as //n// or pronounced as //m// followed by a vowel or semi-vowel. (Examples like French, Middle (ca.1400-1600);: femme pronounced as //fam// "woman" < OF pronounced as //ˈfãmə// < and French, Middle (ca.1400-1600);: donne pronounced as //dɔn// "(he) gives" < OF pronounced as //ˈdũnə// <, with lowering and lack of diphthongization before a nasal even when a vowel followed, show that nasalization originally operated in all environments.)
• Deletion of pronounced as //n// or pronounced as //m// after remaining nasal vowels (when preceding a consonant or word-final): French: dent pronounced as //dɑ̃// "tooth" < pronounced as /
  • /dãt/
  / < OFr French, Old (842-ca.1400);: dent pronounced as //dãnt// < EOFr pronounced as /
  • /dɛ̃nt/
  / < .

The following steps occurred during the Modern French period:

• pronounced as //ĩ// > pronounced as //ẽ// > pronounced as //ɛ̃// > pronounced as /[æ̃]/ (pronounced as /[ẽɪ̯̃]/ in Quebec French). That also affects diphthongs such as pronounced as //ĩẽ// > pronounced as //jẽ// > pronounced as //jɛ̃// (French: bien pronounced as //bjɛ̃// "well" < Latin: bene); pronounced as //ỹĩ// > pronounced as //ɥĩ// > pronounced as //ɥɛ̃//, (French: juin pronounced as //ʒɥɛ̃// "June" < Latin: iūnium); pronounced as //õĩ// > pronounced as //wẽ// > pronounced as //wɛ̃//, (French: coin pronounced as //kwɛ̃// "corner" < Latin: cuneum). Also, pronounced as //ãĩ// > pronounced as //ɛ̃//, (French: pain pronounced as //pɛ̃// "bread" < Latin: pānem); pronounced as //ẽĩ// > pronounced as //ɛ̃//, (French: plein pronounced as //plɛ̃// "full" < Latin: plēnum).
• pronounced as //ã// > pronounced as //ɑ̃// > pronounced as /[ɒ̃]/, but the pronounced as /[ã]/ sound is maintained in Quebec French.
• pronounced as //ɔ̃// > pronounced as /[õ]/ (pronounced as /[õʊ̯̃]/ in Quebec French)
• pronounced as //ỹ// > pronounced as //œ̃// (pronounced as /[ɚ̃]/ in Quebec French). In the 20th century, this sound has low functional load and has tended to merge with pronounced as //ɛ̃//.

That leaves only four nasal vowels: pronounced as //ɛ̃//, pronounced as //ɑ̃//, pronounced as //ɔ̃//, and pronounced as //œ̃//, the last often no longer being distinguished from the first.

See also

• Bartsch's law

Bibliography

• • Book: Brittain, Margaret S. . 1900 . Historical Primer of French Phonetics and Inflection . Clarendon Press . Oxford .
• Gess, Randall (1996) Optimality Theory in the Historical Phonology of French. PhD dissertation, University of Washington
• Buckley . Eugene . 2009 . Phonetics and phonology in Gallo-Romance palatalisation . Transactions of the Philological Society . 107 . 31–65. 10.1111/j.1467-968X.2008.00212.x .
• Fought . John . 1979 . The 'Medieval Sibilants' of the Eulalia-Ludwigslied Manuscript and Their Development in Early Old French . Language . 55 . 4 . 842–858. 10.2307/412747 . 412747 .
  • • Book: Loporcaro, Michele . 2015 . Vowel Length from Latin to Romance . Oxford University Press.
• Politzer. Robert L.. 1954. On the Development of Latin Stops in Aragonese. WORD. 10. 1. 60–65. 10.1080/00437956.1954.11659513 .
  • Porter . L. C. . The "Cantilène de Sainte Eulalie": Phonology and Graphemics . Studies in Philology . 1960 . 57 . 4 . 587–596 . 4173323 . 0039-3738.
  • Web site: Recasens . Daniel . 2020 . Palatalizations in the Romance languages . Oxford Research Encyclopedias . 10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.435. 978-0-19-938465-5 .
• Book: Repetti, Lori . 2016 . Ledgeway . Adam . Maiden . Martin . The Oxford guide to the Romance languages . Oxford University Press . 658–668 . Palatalization . 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199677108.001.0001. 978-0-19-967710-8 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: Sardegna, isola del silenzio, Manlio Brigaglia . 2018-08-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170510160305/http://www.mclink.it/com/lol/sardegna/g_tour/bri_i.htm . 2017-05-10 . dead .
2. In this article:
   • Italics indicate Old French and other Romance language words;
   • An *asterisk marks a conjectured or hypothetical form;
   • Phonetic transcriptions appear pronounced as //between slashes//, in the International Phonetic Alphabet.
3. The changes occurred in the majority of Vulgar Latin, specifically the Italo-Western Romance area, which underlies the vast majority of Romance languages spoken in Italy, France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, and Andorra. However, different vowel changes occurred elsewhere, in the Vulgar Latin underlying modern Romanian, Sardinian, Corsican, and a few modern southern Italian varieties.
4. Found as "worse" in many 19th and 20th century editions, but was actually pronounced pronounced as //ˈpej.jor//, with a short pronounced as //e// followed by a geminate pronounced as //jj//; writing the macron is a convention to mark the resulting syllable weight.
5. Book: Deborah L. Arteaga. Research on Old French: The State and the Art. 162–164.
6. Operstein, Natalie. Consonant Structure and Prevocalization. Pages 109-110, 112-118
7. Book: Morin, Yves . Romanische Sprachgeschichte. Ein internationales Handbuch zur Geschichte der romanichen Sprachen . 235. Histoire interne du français: Histoire des systèmes phonique et graphique du français. 2008 . 2917. Ernst. Gerhard. Gleßgen. Martin-Dietrich. Schmitt. Christian. Schweickard. Wolfgang. De Gruyter.
8. Book: Trask's Historical Linguistics. Robert McColl Miller. Larry Trask. 20 February 2015. Routledge . 9781317541769. Between the fifth and eighth centuries, French borrowed a number of Germanic words with [h]... and [h] thus rejoined the French phonological system... the [h]s had disappeared by the eighteenth century..
9. Huchon, Mireille, Histoire de la langue française, pages 214 and 223.
10. The variable palatal lateral in Occitan and Catalan: linguistic transfer or regular sound change?. Mooney. Damien. Hawkey. James. Journal of French Language Studies. 2019. 29. 2 . 286. 10.1017/S0959269519000127 . 1983/0c02d596-48f3-4b60-8901-a1f73f44c86a . free.