French Affective Accent ~ Accent affectif

In English, speakers emphasize words simply by saying them louder, but as we learned in the rhythm lesson, this is not the case in French. French speakers use l'accent affectif (affective accent), also known as l'accent d'insistance (emphatic accent), to provide emphasis, usually to express an emotion.

There are three ways to pronounce l'accent affectif.			* Note Any liaison or enchaînement in front of the word is considered the first consonant sound. ** Note B cannot be used between words connected by enchaînement or a required liaison.
A.	Elongate the first or second consonant sound of a word*
	C'est formidable !	[say ffor mee dabl]
	Quel idiot ! or Quel idiot !	[ke lli dyo] or [ke li ddyo]
	C'est incroyable ! or C'est incroyable !	[say tta(n) krwa yabl] or [say ta(n) kkrrwa yabl]
B.	Pause before the word**
	C'est | incroyable !	[say | a(n) krwa yabl]
	Vous êtes | géniaux !	[vu zeht | zhay nyo]
	Quelle idée | extraordinaire !	[ke lee day | ek stra or dee nayr]
	C'était | magnifique !	[say tay | ma nyee feek]
			Pronunciation a   father eh   bed ee   meet u   fool uh   sun (n)   nasal n
C.	Pause between each syllable of the word
	For - mi - dable !	[for - mee - dabl]
	Im - po - ssible !	[a(n) - puh - seebl]
	C'était ma - gni - fique !	[say tay ma - nyee - feek]
There is another way to show emphasis in French: the accent tonique.

  

Related Lessons Tonic Accent Rhythm Liaisons Enchaînement Pronunciation Audio Lab     Offline Audio Tools

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